Pam Allyn
Tim Daly
Kristen Goldmansour
Jorge Izquierdo
Linda Lantieri
Roy Moskowitz
Hector Nazario
Jen Rehn
Susan Stires
Executive Director LitLife
Pam Allyn is the Executive Director of LitLife and the Founding Director of Books for Boys, a literacy initiative at the Children's Village, a residential treatment center and school for at risk boys ages 6-21. She is the recipient of the James Patterson Page Turner Award for excellence in bringing literacy to underserved populations and she also recently received a Disney Points of Light Foundation Award for her work bringing books and literacy to children. In May 2007 The Children's Village presented Pam with its Legacy of Service Award for her tireless efforts to bring the magic of books and reading and companionship to kids whose path through life has been very hard. Pam has started a not-for-profit, LitWorld International, Inc., to further this dream. She is also is a board member of Global Action for Children. A graduate of Amherst College, Pam received an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University. For ten years, Pam enjoyed wonderful learning and leadership opportunities at the Columbia University Reading and Writing Project, first as a staff developer, and then as Director of Funded Projects.
President of The New Teacher Project
Tim advises school districts on teacher quality reforms, including recruitment, selection, training, and staffing. He has been with TNTP since 2001 and previously served as TNTP's managing partner for multiple contracts including the NYC Teaching Fellows program (NYCTF), the largest of The New Teacher Project's teacher hiring programs. In the past three years, NYCTF has attracted over 50,000 applications from individuals interested in teaching; today, there are nearly 8,000 Teaching Fellows active in more than 1,000 public schools across New York City. Tim began his career in education as a Teach For America corps member at Northeast Middle School in Baltimore and spent two summers as a teacher in Harlem RBI’s REAL Kids program. He holds a BA in American Studies from Northwestern University and a MA in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University.
Founder and Director Goldmansour and Rutherford Consulting
Kristen has been a passionate advocate for inclusive education for over 20 years. She has helped to develop successful and dynamic programs in dozens of schools in the NYC area. She has worked on district, regional and schools level planning committees to help educator create viable and effective inclusive programs for their schools. Kristen works closely with principals, administrators and teachers in order to ensure that the schools vision and strengths are an integral part of their inclusive programming. Kristen particularly enjoys spending time with teachers in classrooms problem solving and creating individualized programs for students. Kristen received her Master’s of Special Education at Syracuse University. She is a recipient of the Bank Street Early Childhood Education Award and she has served as adjunct faculty at CUNY Hunter College.
Community School District 4 Superintendent
Dr. Izquierdo has a long record of service with the Department of Education. His pedagogical career started as a Bilingual Classroom teacher in Upper Manhattan where he taught for seven years, followed by one year as a Bilingual Education Program Coordinator, six years as assistant principal and nine years as principal of an elementary school with a large Latino population in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Currently serving as Community Superintendent for District 4 in addition to teaching graduate courses in administration/supervision at CUNY. Dr. Izquierdo has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hostos Community College since 1982.
Director Inner-Resilience Program
Linda Lantieri, MA is a Fulbright Scholar, keynote speaker, and internationally known expert in social and emotional learning, conflict resolution, intergroup relations, and crisis intervention. She is the cofounder of the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), which has been implemented at 400 schools in 15 school districts in the United States, with pilot sites in Brazil and Puerto Rico. Linda is also one of the founding board members of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) whose central office is at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Linda has 40 years of experience in education as a former teacher, assistant principal, director of an alternative middle school in East Harlem, and faculty member of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Hunter College in New York City. Linda is the author Building Emotional Intelligence (Sounds True, 2008). She was selected as an Educational Innovator by the National Education Association, received the Richard R. Green Distinguished Educator Award and the Spirit of Crazy Horse Award for "creating courage in discouraged youth." She also received the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) 2001 Making a Difference Award. Linda is a Senior Scholar at the Fetzer Institute, a nonprofit organization that supports research and education in the relationship between body, mind, and spirit. She is a Fellow of the George Lucas Educational Foundation and also serves as a Senior Educational Advisor of Operation Respect, which was founded by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary.
General Counsel The New School University
Roy P. Moskowitz, Esq. has an extensive background in the public school world, having served as the Deputy Inspector General for the NYC Board of Education, as the Deputy and General Counsel to the City University of New York, as Special Counsel for Community District 2 and as Deputy to the Regional Superintendent of Region 9. He is currently the General Counsel and VP of Legal Affairs to Bob Kerry at the New School. Roy has been an adjunct professor at Bank Street, and he has a working knowledge of the intricacies of the public school world. He received his BA in Political Science from the State University of New York and his law degree from Hofstra University.
President, Community Education Council CSD 4
Born and raised in East Harlem, Hector is the consummate student advocate. Hector serves the East Harlem community in many capacities. He has been President of Community School District 4’s Community Education Council since 2004 and served as the PTA President and School Leadership Team member for PS 112 for three years. He is a certified Learning Leader, volunteering his time in schools for the past five years and is a certified EPIC Facilitator. He believes that everyone student deserves a sound education and that parents, as key stakeholders, hold a vital role in a school’s success.
Principal MS 167/ Wagner Middle School
Jennifer Rehn has been working with children her entire life. Currently, Jennifer is the Principal of Robert F. Wagner Middle School, the biggest public middle school in Manhattan. She is beginning her fifth year as principal of this well performing school. She also served as an Assistant Principal and mathematics teacher in the New York City public school system for over ten years. Jennifer has a Masters Degree in Mathematics Education from New York University and another in Administration from Baruch College.
Professor Bank Street College of Education
Susan Stires teaches language and literacy courses and advises graduate students at Bank Street College in New York City. Formerly, she was a lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University and an instructor at the University of New Hampshire. Her 30 years of elementary teaching includes experience at the primary and intermediate levels, as well as specializing in learning disabilities. She taught in urban schools in Boston and rural schools in Maine, including the Center for Teaching and Learning. She has consulted throughout the country and presents at literacy conferences frequently. She is the author of numerous chapters and articles, the most recent of which is “Learning English in School: Rethinking Curriculum, Relationships, and Time” in "Diversities in Early Childhood Education :Rethinking and Doing. Susan specializes in teaching reading and writing with elementary English language learners.
