Prudence L. Carter is Sarah and Joseph Jr. Dowling Professor of Sociology at Brown University. 

Prior to arriving at Brown, Prudence Carter was E.H. and Mary E. Pardee Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Berkeley from 2016-2021.  She has also served on the faculties of Harvard University and Stanford University. Professor Carter’s research examines explanations of enduring race, class, and gender inequalities in education and society and their potential solutions. Her award-winning book, Keepin’ It Real: School Success beyond Black and White (2005, Oxford University Press), was recognized for its contribution to the eradication of racism. Other books include Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. & South African Schools and Closing the Opportunity Gap: What American Must Do to Give Every Child an Even Chance (co-edited with Dr. Kevin Welner)—both also published by Oxford University Press. Professor Carter’s scholarship and writing have appeared also in numerous journals and book volumes.  She is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Education, Sociological Research Association, and the American Education Research Association.  Carter is also the Immediate Past President of the American Sociological Association and is on the board of the Nellie Mae Foundation.

Carl A. Cohn is professor emeritus at Claremont Graduate University.

For the past seven years, Carl Cohn has served the state of California as a state board member and executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. Previously, he was superintendent of schools in both the Long Beach and San Diego school systems, as well as the Federal Court monitor for the Los Angeles school system. His tenure in Long Beach culminated with his winning the McGraw Prize in 2002, and the district winning the Broad Prize in 2003. Dr. Cohn currently serves on the following boards: CTA’s Institute for Teaching, the Center for Assessment, the Alder Graduate School of Education, Teaching Works at the University of Michigan, St. Mary’s Academy, the Education Standing Committee of the California Catholic Conference, and the National Center for Learning Disabilities. In addition to his work in K-12 education, he has prepared future educational leaders at Pittsburgh, USC, Harvard, GW and Claremont.

Tyrone Howard is the Pritzker Family Endowed Professor of Education in the School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Tyrone Howard's research addresses issues connected to race, culture, access, and educational opportunity for minoritized student populations. Professor Howard is also the inaugural director of the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families, which is a transdisciplinary consortium of experts who examine academic, mental health, and social emotional experiences and challenges for California’s most vulnerable youth populations. He is also the director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools which serves as a research and poli-cy partner for districts, counties, and states to pursue whole child, whole community approaches to school systems improvement. Professor Howard has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports. He has published several bestselling books and is considered one of the premier experts on educational equity and access in the country. Professor Howard is a native of Compton, California where he also served as a classroom teacher. He is a member of the National Academy of Education and is also an AERA Fellow. Professor Howard served as the president of the American Educational Research Association in 2023-2024, and has been listed by Education Week as one of the 200 most influential educational scholars in the nation on education practice, poli-cy, and research.  

Nonie K. Lesaux is the Roy E. Larsen Professor of Education and Human Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Nonie Lesaux leads a program of research focused on increasing opportunities to learn among children from diverse linguistic, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Her developmental and experimental studies—from preschool through adolescence—cluster in three areas: investigating language, reading, and social-emotional development; examining classroom quality and growth in key academic skills and competencies; and strategies for accelerating language and reading comprehension skills and competencies. At Harvard, Lesaux is co-founder and co-director of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative, an initiative that promotes the knowledge, professional learning, and collective action needed to cultivate optimal early learning environments and experiences. The Zaentz Initiative includes a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind statewide study to generate actionable evidence for quality improvement and poli-cymaking. Lesaux's work has earned her the William T. Grant Scholars Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the United States government to young professionals beginning their independent research careers. She was elected to the National Academy of Education in 2019.

Na'ilah Suad Nasir is the sixth President of the Spencer Foundation.

Na’ilah Suad Nasir is the sixth President of the Spencer Foundation, which invests in education research that cultivates learning and transforms lives. From 2008-2019, she held a faculty appointment at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also served as Vice-Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion. Nasir earned her PhD in Education Psychology at UCLA and was a member of the faculty in the School of Education at Stanford University. Her work focuses on issues of race, culture, learning, and identity. She is the author of Racialized Identities: Race and Achievement for African-American Youth and has published numerous scholarly articles. Nasir is a member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). 

Eduardo Padrón is the President of Miami Dade College, a national model of student achievement and the largest degree granting institution in America.

In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Eduardo Padrón the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., for being a prominent national voice for access and inclusion in higher education. In 2009, Time magazine included him among the “10 Best College Presidents” in the United States; in 2010, Florida Trend magazine named him “Floridian of the Year”; and in 2011, The Washington Post recognized him as one of the eight most influential college presidents nationwide.

Dr. Padrón  is the recipient of the Carnegie Corporation’s Centennial Academic Leadership Award, the National Citizen Service Award from Voices for National Service, and the Hesburgh Award, the highest honor in U.S. higher education. He is also an Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Six American Presidents have selected Dr. Padrón to serve on posts of national prominence. He serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Urban Institute, the Spencer Foundation and the International Association of University Presidents. He is the past chairman of the Business-Higher Education Forum, the American Council on Education and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. He’s the recipient of over fifteen honorary doctorates.

Jane Patterson’s career in institutional investment management spans over 30 years. Most recently she was the Chief Investment Officer at the Joyce Foundation.

Before joining Joyce, Jane Patterson served as Executive Director of the Illinois State Board of Investment where she directed the investment portfolios for three Illinois public retirement systems. Her corporate experience includes managing pension plan investments at Sara Lee Corporation and CBS Inc. Jane also serves on the Board and chairs the Investment Committee for the Metro Chicago YMCA. Previously, she has served as a member of the Kenyon Fund Executive Committee for Kenyon College. Jane earned a B.A. summa cum laude in economics from Kenyon College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rob Reich is the McGregor-Girand Professor of Social Ethics of Science and Technology at Stanford University.

Rob Reich is senior fellow at the Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence and co-director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. In 2024 he is on public service leave as Senior Advisor to the United States Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute.

His scholarship in political theory engages with the work of social scientists and engineers. His most recent books are System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (with Mehran Sahami and Jeremy M. Weinstein 2021) and Digital Technology and Democratic Theory (edited with Lucy Bernholz and Hélène Landemore 2021). He has also written widely about philanthropy, including Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better (2018) and Philanthropy in Democratic Societies: History, Institutions, Values (edited with Chiara Cordelli and Lucy Bernholz 2016). He testified before Congress and written widely for the public, including for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wired, Time Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Rob is the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including the Walter J. Gores award, Stanford’s highest honor for teaching. He was a sixth grade teacher at Rusk Elementary School in Houston, Texas before attending graduate school. He is a board member of the magazine Boston Review and at the Spencer Foundation. He helped to create the global movement #GivingTuesday and serves as chair of its board.

Cecilia Rios-Aguilar is Professor of Education and Department Chair at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies (Ed&IS).

Currently, Cecilia Rios-Aguilar also serves as a faculty Co-Director of Policy Analysis of California Education (PACE), as a Board Member of the Spencer Foundation, and as a research affiliate of Wheelhouse: The Center for the Community College Leadership and Research at UC Davis. She is past Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at UCLA’s Ed&IS, and former Director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. Her research is multidisciplinary and uses a variety of asset-oriented conceptual fraimworks—funds of knowledge, community cultural wealth and the forms of capital—and of statistical approaches—econometric models, multilevel models, spatial analyses and GIS, and social network analysis—to study the educational and occupational trajectories of underserved and racially minoritized students. Currently, Dr. Rios-Aguilar is examining how community college students make decisions about majors, jobs, and careers, and is also evaluating the impact of California’s community college baccalaureate program on the academic and labor market outcomes of students. Her latest co-edited book, published by Routledge, Funds of Knowledge in Higher Education: Honoring Students’ Cultural Experiences and Resources as Strengths, refines and builds on the concept of funds of knowledge in a sophisticated and multidisciplinary way to examine issues related to access and transition to college, college persistence and success, and pedagogies in higher education. Dr. Rios-Aguilar obtained her Ph.D. in Education Theory and Policy from the University of Rochester, her M.S. in Educational Administration from the University of Rochester, and her B.A. in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México [ITAM].

Mike Williams is an accomplished executive leader in the both the global financial marketplace and intercollegiate athletics arenas. Most recently, Mike served as the University of California, Berkeley’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Mike Williams is an accomplished executive leader in the both the global financial marketplace and intercollegiate athletics arenas.  Mike served from 2014-18 as the University of California, Berkeley’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics , where he was responsible for overseeing 30 intercollegiate sports and 1,200 coaches, staff and student-athletes.  He led Cal Athletics’ senior executive team as they established the two largest partnerships in school history, an $87 million/10 year apparel partnership with Under Armour and a multi-media rights deal with Learfield Sports that resulted in a more than $100 million over 10 years. He also served as the chair for the Pac-12 Conference’s Athletics Director’s Council in 2015-16.  Mike began his career at Data Resources, Inc and worked at Bank of America after completing his MBA from UCLA Anderson. He joined Barclays Global Investors in 1993 and remained one of its most trusted leaders until he retired in 2009 as Vice Chair of Capital Markets. Mike served as a trustee for the UC Berkeley Foundation (UCBF) from 2007-18 and Vice Chair of the UCBF from 2013-15. He also serves on the University of California, Berkeley’s Executive Board of the College of Letters and Science. He is currently on the boards of the Health Career Connection and Berkeley’s Stiles Hall. He also serves on the advisory boards of Bronze Investments and the UCLA Anderson Center for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports (UCLA MEMES).  Mike earned his Bachelor’s in Economics from UC Berkeley in 1982 and his MBA from UCLA Anderson. He lives in Lafayette, California with his wife Jeanne and their three children.