Angel Adams Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology, and senior fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Parham is passionate about education across the K-16 educational spectrum.  At the college level she is Associate Director of the Political and Social Thought major at the University of Virginia and does research in historical sociology, examining the past in order to better understand how to live well in the present and envision wisely for the future. At the K-12 level she homeschooled her daughters from pre-k through ninth grade, and is the co-founder and executive director of Nyansa Classical Community, an educational non-profit focused on K-12 students which creates classical curricula for schools and homeschools. Nyansa curricula and programs are designed to connect with students from diverse backgrounds, inviting them to take part in the Great Conversation, cultivate the moral imagination, and strengthen foundational academic skills. Parham is the co-author (with Anika Prather) of The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature (Classical Academic Press, 2022) which examines the lives of several Black intellectuals, their formation in the classics, and their contributions to their communities.  In addition to publishing scholarly work in various journals and with Oxford University Press, Parham has written for popular outlets including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Public Discourse, The Hedgehog Review, and Common Good Magazine.   She is a contributing editor to Comment Magazine: Public Theology for the Common Good and for Principia: A Journal of Classical Education. Parham completed her B.A. in sociology at Yale University, her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was the recipient of a Fulbright grant.

Christen Arbogast currently serves an Assistant Headmaster at Archway Trivium. Ms. Arbogast has served at Great Hearts since 2013 in a variety of roles, including teacher, team lead, Dean of Curriculum, Dean of Faculty, and the Network ELA coach. She holds a Bachelor degree in the Humanities and a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has two wonderful children who both attend a Great Hearts school.

Michael Austin graduated from Thomas Aquinas College in 2002 and pursued further studies in Philosophy from the University of Dallas, where he received his master's degree. He currently serves Great Hearts Academies as Director of Curriculum for the Upper School. Prior to this, he served for many years at Veritas Preparatory Academy as teacher and administrator. He has a wide love for the whole of the Great Hearts Curriculum, from the study of Shakespeare's Sonnets in Grade 6 to the proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus in Grade 12.

Alison Chaney has served Great Hearts for 17 years in a variety of leadership and instructional roles. She began as a founding teacher at Scottsdale Prep, later served as a network instructional coach and Master Teacher, and went on to lead Scottsdale Prep as Headmaster for eight years. She now serves as Senior Director of Talent, where she oversees key aspects of talent acquisition for the network, including leadership recruiting and recruitment marketing. Alison holds degrees from The Ohio State University and Baylor University. A classically trained singer, she performed for 15 seasons with the Grammy Award winning Phoenix Chorale, where she now serves on the board.

Mary Chin (M.Ed., Arizona State University, M.Eng. M.I.T.) is a Professional Development Associate for Great Hearts working to support PD and instructional coaching throughout the network. Prior to this role, Mary was a Master Teacher in mathematics and an instructional coach. She also developed and ran PD and served on the Academic Leadership Team on her campus. She believes in instructional coaching because the autonomy it provides to teachers while also helping to improve learning outcomes through addressing behaviors and beliefs. Outside of education, Mary is passionate about ice hockey: playing in women's tournaments in the Southwest and coaching her children's youth teams in Gilbert, AZ.

Eric Cook is the President and CEO of the Society for Classical Learning (SCL), an organization dedicated to fostering human flourishing through the advancement of classical Christian education. He provides executive leadership for SCL, overseeing the organization’s vision, strategy, thought leadership, and fundraising efforts. As President and CEO, Eric plays a pivotal role in the classical Christian school movement, seeking to revive timeless principles to reform education, renew culture, and promote human flourishing. 

Marisa Cook is in her 10th year working for Great Hearts in San Antonio, TX.  She started in 2016 as an Apprentice Teacher in 2nd grade.  She was promoted to 2nd Grade Lead Teacher in 2017 working for Great Hearts Northern Oaks.  After three years, she transferred to Great Hearts Forest Heights to become the 2nd Grade Team Lead and founding faculty member.  After 7 years of teaching 2nd grade, she was promoted to Dean of Teachers.  In this capacity, Marisa has focused on training and coaching faculty, developing new teachers, and implementing the school's first Lead Teacher Training Program, where she develops apprentice teachers who aspire to become lead teachers.  Prior to teaching, she spent 2 years coaching college volleyball and 15 years coaching club volleyball. An avid volleyball player, Marisa played D1 at UMBC in Baltimore, Maryland.  She was inducted to her high school's Hall of Fame in May 2025 for her achievements in Volleyball.  Marisa and her husband Levi are the proud parents of two kids, Nora and Whitson, who attend Great Hearts Forest Heights.  Nora is in 6th grade and will be part of the school's first K-12 graduating class and Whitson is in 2nd grade. Outside of school, Marisa and Levi are very active in their children's sports, both coaching and being spectators. Her daughter is a synchronized swimmer and her son plays football.

I am a life longer learner with bachelor degrees from ASU in Latin and English as well as a Masters in Secondary Education from GCU. I am passionate about teaching Latin as a living language so students can experience Latin as a language as opposed to a puzzle. I enjoy long walks on the beach and reading Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by candle light.

Jeannette DeCelles-Zwerneman is Director of Instruction and one of our Master Teachers, specializing in teaching writing and leading seminars on imaginative literature and philosophy. For 44 years she has taught and consulted in schools with an emphasis on classic humanities. In 1981 she co-founded Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend, Indiana, where she taught until 1997. From 1999 to 2016 she taught at Trinity School's campus in Virginia. She served as Dean of Humanities for the national group of Trinity Schools and as a master teacher for all three campuses of the organization. As part of The Academy Project LLC, she co-authored the original curricula and helped train faculties for Thomas MacLaren School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon. Twice she received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, one for the study of Plato, Kant, and Hegel, another for the study of Dante's Divina Commedia. Education: B.A., M.A., University of Notre Dame.

Guillermo Dillon is the Senior Consultant for Polis Method Implementation in North America and one of the main instructors at the annual Teaching Through Immersion Conference. He has taught Latin through the communicative method for over seven years. Guillermo holds a B.A. in Classics from Trinity College Dublin and an M.A. in Classics from the University of Kentucky (where he studied spoken Latin at the Institutum Studiis Latinis Provehendis). He is the co-author of the Teacher's Guide for the latest Latin book published by the Polis Institute Press, Unus, Duo, Tres. Latine Loquamur Per Scaenas et Imagines. Guillermo is currently pursuing an M.B.A. at Texas A&M University.

Bernard J. (B.J.) Dobski is a Professor of Political Science at Assumption University in Worcester, MA where, for the past two decades, he has taught courses on politics and literature, political philosophy, and international relations. He has published numerous articles, essays, chapters, book reviews, and edited volumes on the political wisdom of Thucydides, Xenophon, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and American foreign policy. Last year he published Mark Twain's Joan of Arc: Political Wisdom, Divine Justice, and the Origins of Modernity (Palgrave Macmillan) and is currently a Visiting Professor at ASU/SCETL for the 25-26 academic year.

Tom Doebler has worked with and for students with exceptionalities for over two decades, driven by a conviction that public education can be transformed to recognize the humanity of every child. 17 of those years has been with Great Hearts Academies, where he has shared in the work of building a large and robust program of Exceptional Student Services that aligns with the heart of classical education and our mission to provide access to this ennobling experience to any family that wants it for their child.

A native of Oregon, Tom lives in Phoenix with his wife Angelika and his two children, Vera (6) and Rowan (4).

Joshua Dunn serves as Executive Director of the Institute of American Civics at the Howard H. Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs. His research and teaching focus on constitutional law and history, education policy, federalism, and freedom of speech and religion. His books include Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins (University of North Carolina Press), From Schoolhouse to Courthouse: The Judiciary’s Role in American Education (Brookings Institution Press), and Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University (Oxford University Press). He writes a quarterly article on law and education for the journal Education Next and his research and commentary have been featured in outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Los Angeles Times. 

Previously he was the executive director of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Dunn was also a professor and chair of their department of political science. He was also a fellow in contemporary history, public policy, and American politics at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and a visiting professor in the Department of Government at the College of William & Mary where he began his teaching career.

For over twenty-five years, Carrie Eben has championed classical education in both the private school classroom and homeschool arenas. She currently serves as founding board member at Sager Classical Academy in Siloam Springs, AR and is a Head Mentor for the CiRCE Institute Master Teacher Apprenticeship for the Ozark Mountain region. As a consultant, she develops and delivers customized workshops and mentorship for administrators, teachers, and parents in both classical school and homeschool settings (www.classicaleben.com). Carrie holds a BSE in Intermediate Education, a MSEd in Curriculum and Instruction from Oklahoma State University and is currently a PhD (abd) candidate in the Great Books Humanities program at Faulkner University. She is co-author of The Good Teacher: Ten Pedagogical Principles That Will Transform Your Teaching with Dr. Christopher Perrin. She loves to sing, read, ride, and provide a hospitable place for transformative conversations in her home.

Robert C. Enlow is the President and CEO of EdChoice. Before the formation of EdChoice in 2016, Robert was an integral part of the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice from its launch in 1996. He served as fundraiser, projects coordinator, vice president and executive director prior to being named president and CEO of the Foundation in 2009. Under his leadership, EdChoice has become one of the nation’s most respected and successful advocates for educational choice, working in dozens of states to advance parental freedom in education by disseminating research, undertaking training, sponsoring seminars, conducting advertising campaigns and investing in and organizing community leaders. Robert has authored numerous articles, book chapters and op-eds that have appeared in journals, books and papers across the country. He is also the co-editor of Liberty and Learning: Milton Friedman’s Voucher Idea at Fifty.

I have had the pleasure of working for Great Hearts for the past 14 years and have enjoyed instructing and supporting our amazing scholars and staff. I started out teaching and serving the ESS, 504, and EL population at Archway Chandler and then moved into an ESS Specialist role for the Phoenix Home Office supporting the east valley schools. Now, I support all of our Arizona EL Teachers and Coordinators in building and maintaining their EL departments. My passion for English Language Learners started as a child when I moved abroad and couldn't communicate with my peers or members of the community. My teachers helped me to learn the language, and it was because of their hard work and commitment, that I not only learned the language but was able to thrive in school. Now, my focus is to pass that same commitment into our great work so that the EL students we have today can engage and contribute in their school and community and thrive on their own path to success.

Anthony Fredette is a teacher of Latin and Greek as living languages, as well as a scholar of classical reception. Both activities center on premodern methods of teaching the works of great authors in the language in which they were originally composed.

Raphael Gang is committed to transforming education by investing in the infrastructure that empowers families, educators, and entrepreneurs to create impactful learning experiences. In his role as Program Officer at the Stand Together Trust (STT), he supports the development of a dynamic education ecosystem through initiatives such as loan funds, alternative accreditation pathways, and policy reforms that reduce barriers for new models to emerge and succeed.

Prior to joining STT, Raphael worked at 4.0 Schools, a national incubator for early-stage education ventures, where he led the development of alumni programming for fellowship graduates, built partnerships to support founders piloting new school, program, and service models, and recruited cohorts of fellows to explore bold ideas in education.

Earlier in his career, he helped launch and implement Louisiana’s statewide school voucher program, oversaw charter school authorization and accountability, and shaped policy to expand educational choice at the Louisiana Department of Education. A former elementary school teacher, he has also held leadership roles in two school networks.

Raphael is currently focused on creating the financial, regulatory, and relational conditions that make it possible for education innovators to design and launch transformative learning opportunities for all children. As a father of two young children, Raphael believes strongly that if we want a future of learning that is for all children, we need to build it.

Zachary German is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of American Civics, part of the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses primarily on American political and constitutional thought, along with early modern thought, regarding questions of statesmanship, political culture and civic character, civic education, politics and religion, and constitutional design. His research projects, published or in progress, include work on Montesquieu, Adam Smith, James Madison, the American Founding more generally, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, C.S. Lewis, the Hamilton musical, constitutional humility, and localism. 

German teaches courses on political thought, constitutionalism, and leadership, with an emphasis on American civic life. He has also contributed to and participated in a number of K-12 civic education efforts, including teacher workshops and high-school summer learning experiences. 

Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, German was an Assistant Professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Lee University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame.

Neil Gillingham is a classical education leader with over two decades of experience in K-12 instruction, school leadership, and organizational strategy. He currently serves as the Senior Director of Academics for Great Hearts Arizona, where he oversees curriculum implementation, instructional coaching, and student achievement across 24 academies. Previously, Neil served as Senior Director of Online and Special Projects, leading the successful transition of Great Hearts Online from a state-chartered K-12 school to a national private academy. As the founding Headmaster of Archway Classical Academy | Arete, he spent a decade building a thriving classical liberal arts community in Gilbert, Arizona. Neil holds a bachelor's degree in visual art, a master's degree in elementary education, and is a NAATE School Leaders Fellow.

John J. Goyette is vice president for advancement and dean emeritus at Thomas Aquinas College, which offers a four-year liberal arts program focusing on the study of the great books of western civilization in small Socratic seminars at its campuses in California and New England. Goyette, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, has taught for 23 years at the California campus of the College and has also served in various administrative capacities including Dean of the College. He edited St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition (CUA Press, 2004) and has published articles on natural law and the political common good in the work of St. Thomas Aquinas. He has also written and lectured on the natural philosophy of Aristotle and Aquinas, the Trinitarian theology of Aquinas, and on John Henry Newman's Idea of a University. As dean he helped develop the College's plagiarism policy prohibiting the use of AI for writing term papers. He recently published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on artificial intelligence and education.

Until his retirement in 2015 Vigen Guroian held an endowed position as Professor of Religious Studies in Orthodox Christianity at the University of Virginia. He was the recipient of the University of Virginia Student Council Distinguished Teaching Award for 2010-2011.  Presently, Dr. Guroian offers online courses  as a faculty member of Memoria College. He is the author of eleven books. Among these are "Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination," "Rallying the Really Human Things: The Cultural Importance of the Moral Imagination in Literature, Politics, and Everyday Life," and "The Orthodox Reality: Culture, Theology, and Ethics in the Modern World." He has served over the years on many consultations concerned with the intersection of religion and culture And he has contributed over 200 articles to journals, magazines, books, encyclopedias, and newspapers on a wide range of subjects including  theology, culture, literature, ethics, liturgy, marriage and family, and the spirituality of gardening.

Dr. Guroian’s "Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken A Child’s Moral Imagination," in its 2nd edition, has become a reading staple in the worlds of homeschooling and classical education.  Dr. Guroian has lectured and held workshops throughout the country on children's literature and the moral imagination. In recognition of his contribution to the teaching of character and virtue through literature, Dr. Guroian was awarded the CiRCE Institute’s Russell Kirk Paideia Prize for 2019.

Dr. Guroian is Senior Fellow of the Center on Law and Religion of Emory University, Permanent Senior Fellow of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal,. Distinguished Fellow of the John Jay Institute and Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum. 

Dr. Eric Ashley Hairston is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University.  His research and scholarship focuses on Classica Africana, the classical tradition in African American intellectual life, as well as Classical Literature, American Literature, and intersections of Law and the Humanities. He is also the author of The Ebony Column: Classics, Civilization, and the African American Reclamation of the West.

Katherine Haley has more than 20 years of experience in public policy and philanthropy. Over the course of her career, she has established extensive networks across the country and expanded education opportunity, built coalitions to advance policies that improve school choice and workforce readiness, mobilized resources to strengthen civil society.

Before founding Oak Rose Group, Katherine served as the vice president of programs and senior director of K-12 programs at the Philanthropy Roundtable. She also spent 13 years working for members of Congress to advance policies that lead to human flourishing, including seven years advising former Speaker John Boehner on education, workforce, antipoverty, and global health issues.

In March 2022, Governor Doug Ducey appointed Katherine serve on the Arizona State Board of Education where she was elected as president in 2025. She also serves on the boards of 50CAN, Love Your School and The Trinity Forum, is a member of American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network and Conservative Education Reform Network, a member of the Pahara Institute’s 44th leadership cohort, and is an active supporter of Opportunity International and International Justice Mission.  

A native of Arizona, Katherine received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duke University and her master’s degree in government from The Johns Hopkins University. Katherine lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and enjoys traveling, playing tennis, skiing, running, learning new things, and spending time with family and friends.

Larry Hampton is the founder and CEO of Satori Learning Designs, Inc. and the developer of the Satori Alternatives to Managing Aggression (SAMA) risk management of aggressive behavior training system.

He developed the Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behavior (PMAB) program for the state of Texas.

While with the state he was granted clinical privilege to practice individual and group counseling with Rational Emotive Therapy, Reality Therapy, Gestalt Therapy and Behavior Therapy.  He also has black belts in Judo and Aikido.

He has served as an expert witness in Federal and State court cases related to aggressive behavior interventions.

Helen was the founding headmaster of Chandler Preparatory Academy, a Great Hearts school that was consistently ranked among the top ten schools in the state of Arizona during her tenure. Later, as Vice President of Academies, she supervised headmasters and was responsible for the hiring process, headmaster evaluation, handling elevated issues of student discipline and parent concerns, and providing direct support to school leaders. During that time, she also oversaw the Great Hearts special education, college counseling, and co-curricular programs for the network of schools as well as data collection, analysis, and reporting. 

As Vice President of Leadership Development, Helen led leadership recruiting, selection, and professional development for over a decade at Great Hearts. In that capacity, she developed three programs for leadership cultivation: Headmaster College, Supervisor 101, and the Virtue Leadership Program (later rebranded as APEX).

In addition to her work with charter schools, Helen has also worked with private schools in Arizona, including the Christos schools (Great Hearts private schools) and St. Dominic Savio Academy (a school for individuals with autism). Helen has two children: a history teacher and a special needs young adult.

Helen is currently the Program Director for the Distinguished Innovation Fellows program at Arizona State University, a program that supports individuals over 60 who are interested in designing and launching innovative programs to serve their communities.

Jacob Howland served as Provost and Dean of the Intellectual Foundations Program at the University of Austin from 2022 to 2025. Before that, he was McFarlin Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa, where he taught for 32 years. Howland is the author of Glaucon's Fate: History, Myth, and Character in Plato's Republic (2018); Plato and the Talmud (2011); Kierkegaard and Socrates: A Study in Philosophy and Faith (2006); The Paradox of Political Philosophy: Socrates Philosophic Trial (1998); and The Republic: The Odyssey of Philosophy (1993). His articles on literature, politics, and the academy have appeared in the Atlantic, The Free Press, The New Criterion, Commentary, Newsweek, the Claremont Review of Books, the Jewish Review of Books, City Journal, Mosaic, Tablet, the New York Post, UnHerd, Quillette, Forbes, and The Nation, among other venues.

J. Benjamin Hurlbut, PhD is Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. He is trained in science and technology studies (STS) and his research lies at the intersection of intersection of STS, bioethics and democratic theory. His work explores the relationships between science, politics and law in the governance of biomedical research and innovation, with particular attention to developments in biotechnology that raise fundamental questions of human integrity and dignity. He is Co-director of the Global Observatory on Genome Editing, an effort to develop new approaches to technology governance grounded in inclusive and far-reaching deliberation that draws upon a wide range of human knowledge, experience and moral imagination. He is the author of Experiments in Democracy: Human Embryo Research and the Politics of Bioethics (Columbia University Press, 2017) as well as numerous articles and book chapters. He is often called upon by the media to comment on issues relating to reproductive technology, genome editing, synthetic embryo research, and related areas. He holds an A.B. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Harvard University. He held a postdoctoral fellowship in the program on Science, Technology and Society at the Harvard  Kennedy School.

Nick is a theatre director, actor and lecturer. He has directed at Shakespeare's Globe, the Sam Wanamaker Theatre, Wilton's Music Hall, St James Theatre, Cheltenham Everyman, the Alde burgh Jubilee Hall, Folger Theatre in DC, Tmu-na Theatre in Tel Aviv, the McCoy Theater in Memphis and the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia. He is an Associate Drama Tutor at RADA, LAMDA and Shakespeare's Globe,

and has directed lectured and taught for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Dublin Lir Academy, BADA, Mount view, Rhodes College, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Case Western Reserve University and the NYU.

As an actor he worked with the RSC, the National Theatre, the Globe Theatre, the BBC and ITV, and appeared in Miss Potter, 102 Dalmatians, and About A Boy. He lectures worldwide on Shakespeare, had a paper published in Shakespeare Bulletin in 2014, and contributed to How and Why We Teach Shakespeare (Routledge) and Why The Theatre? (Routledge).

Ms. Jacobson is the National Senior Director of Professional Development at Great Hearts. She served as Headmaster at North Phoenix Prep from 2019 to 2024. Prior to that, Ms. Jacobson served as Head of Middle School, Assistant Headmaster, and Dean of Students in the Great Hearts network for eight years. She earned her Master's degree in Biology and a Bachelor's degree in Developmental and Cellular Biology. Additionally, Ms. Jacobson completed her Certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard Business School Online in March of 2022. Ms. Jacobson has two boys, a third grader, and a sixth grader, and enjoys spending time outdoors, gardening, and cooking with her family.

Junius Johnson is a writer, teacher, speaker, independent scholar, and musician. His work focuses on beauty, imagination, and wonder, and how these are at play in the Christian and Classical intellectual traditions. He is the executive director of Junius Johnson Academics, through which he offers innovative classes for both children and adults that aim to ignite student hearts with wonder and intellectual rigor. An avid devotee of story, he is especially drawn to fantasy, science fiction, and young adult fiction. He performs professionally on the french horn and electric bass. He holds a BA from Oral Roberts University (English Lit), an MAR from Yale Divinity School (Historical Theology), and an MA, two MPhils, and a PhD (Philosophical Theology) from Yale University. He is the author of 5 books, including The Father of Lights: A Theology of Beauty and On Teaching Fairy Stories, and has authored volumes and been a contributing writer for the Humanitas series of history textbooks with Classical Academic Press. An engaging speaker and teacher, he is a frequent guest contributor to blogs and podcasts on faith and culture. He is co-host of The Classical Mind podcast and the Director of Education for The Cultivating Project.

Alex Julian has spent the last fifteen years in education after receiving his bachelor's in Medieval History from Arizona State University. He has taught middle and high school students, leading Socratic seminar courses on great works in literature, philosophy, theology, and politics, spanning classical to modern periods. His leadership roles include dean of students, assistant headmaster, and headmaster at multiple classical schools, where he specialized in school turnaround. Alex has delivered professional development on classical education philosophy, pedagogy, and the Socratic method for K-12 schools and advised on curriculum development in history, literature, and philosophy.

Currently, he serves as a managing consultant at Arcadia Education, supporting Catholic, Christian, and charter schools in executive search and operations to foster lifelong learners and virtuous citizens. Alex resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife, Katie, and their four children."

Jessica Kaminski, M.Ed. is an experienced educator, author, and international math consultant with over 16 years in education. She has supported thousands of teachers as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and national trainer, specializing in Singapore's approach to mathematics. Early in her career, she discovered a passion for helping students build deep conceptual understanding and a love for problem-solving.

Jessica is the author of the Math in Focus 2020 Third Grade Teacher's Edition and co-author of the Primary Mathematics 2022 Grades 2-5 Teacher's Editions. Her work reflects a strong commitment to turning research-based strategies into meaningful classroom practice.

As founder of Math with Purpose, Jessica now delivers custom professional development to schools worldwide with a mission to raise confident teachers who create lasting learning. Through her extensive knowledge of working with neurodiverse students, Jessica equips educators to make math meaningful, engaging, and effective for every learner."

Joshua T. Katz is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on higher education, language and culture, the classical tradition, and the humanities broadly defined.  Previously, he was Cotsen Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Classics, a member (and sometime director) of the Program in Linguistics, and a faculty associate of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, where he taught from 1998 to 2022.

A founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance, Katz was named a 2020 Hero of Intellectual Freedom by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, where he is now Scholar-in-Residence and a member of the Council of Scholars.  He won the Paul du Quenoy Prize in 2021, the Jeane Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom in 2023, and was one of the recipients of the Columbia Academic Freedom Prize in 2025.

Katz has a BA from Yale, an MPhil. from Oxford, and a PhD from Harvard.

Dr. Stephen Knott is the Thomas & Mabel Guy Professor of American History & Government at Ashland University, and an Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War College. Prior to accepting his position at the Naval War College, Knott was Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He also served for seven years as an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at the United States Air Force Academy. He is the author or co-author of ten books dealing with the American presidency, the early republic, and American foreign policy. His most recent book, "Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy," was published in October, 2022.

David M. Lubin is the Charlotte C. Weber Professor Emeritus of Art at Wake Forest University. Lubin is the author or co-editor of eight books on American art, film, and popular culture. As an undergraduate he studied filmmaking at the USC School of Cinema while reviewing music for Rolling Stone magazine. He has lectured throughout the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, China, and Australia. He has been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship and been named an NEH public scholar. Professor Lubin's latest book is Ready for My Close-Up: The Making of Sunset Boulevard's and the Dark Side of the Hollywood Dream.

With a B.A. in Russian Studies from Washington and Lee University and a M.A. in German from Florida State University, Alexis Mausolf gained experience teaching in various formats over the past 25 years (from kindergarten to college students, from a private Catholic school to homeschool, online and in person, at home and abroad). She has taught a variety of subjects, including German, literature, debate and public speaking, European history, and all that belongs to  a contained classroom (2nd grade). She was a writer and editor for a PreK-8th grade theology curriculum from 2016-2019. Her current position with the St. Ambrose Center at the University of Dallas allows her to explore classical pedagogy while supporting classroom teachers with professional development and training in the art of teaching.

McClay Biographical Sketch
Wilfred M. McClay is Professor of History at Hillsdale College, where he holds the Victor Davis Hanson Chair of Classical History and Western Civilization. His book The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America received the 1995 Merle Curti Award of the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American intellectual history. Among his other books are the award-winning bestseller, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story; and Jewish Roots of American Liberty: The Impact of Hebraic Ideas on the American Story. 

He has taught at the University of Oklahoma, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tulane University, Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, and the University of Dallas, and has served as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Rome. He has been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and serves on the boards of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Jack Miller Center, and the National Association of Scholars. He served for eleven years on the National Council on the Humanities, the advisory board for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is currently a member of the U.S. Commission on the Semiquincentennial, which has been charged with planning the celebration of the nations 250th birthday in 2026. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Academy of Education, and received the Bradley Prize in 2022. He is a graduate of St. Johns College (Annapolis) and received his Ph.D. in History from the Johns Hopkins University.

Peter McNamara is a member of the faculty of the School of Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University.  His interests include the Scottish Enlightenment and the American Founding.  He has also taught at Boston College, Clemson University, and Utah State University.

Susan McWilliams Barndt is Professor of Politics at Pomona College and the William F. Podlich Distnguished Fellow in Government at Claremont McKenna College. She serves as the elected president of the American Political Thought section of the American Political Science Association.

McWilliams is the author of The American Road Trip and American Political Thought (2018) and Traveling Back: Toward a Global Political Theory (2014). She is also the editor of A Political Companion to James Baldwin (2017) and a co-editor of several books, including The Best Kind of College: An Insiders Guide to America's Small Liberal Arts Colleges (2015) and The Princeton History of American Political Thought (forthcoming).

McWilliams is the co-editor of the American Political Thought book series at the University Press of Kansas and a past editor of the peer-reviewed journal American Political Thought. Her writing has appeared in both scholarly and popular journals, and she is a regular media commentator on American politics for outlets such as The Atlantic, Business Insider, KPCC's AirTalk, LiveNOW From FOX, The Los Angeles Times, Ms. Magazine, The Nation, The New York Times, Newsweek, Pacifica Radio, Politico, the Tavis Smiley Show, and Today in LA on KNBC.

For her work, McWilliams has received accolades including the Graves Award in the Humanities, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and the Jack Miller Center's Teaching Excellence Award in Higher Education. 

McWilliams holds a B.A. in political science and Russian from Amherst College, an M.A. and Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University, and a Certificate in Advanced Education from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education"

Kathleen O'Toole, Ph.D.Associate Vice President for K-12 Education

B.A., Politics, University of DallasM.A. Political Science, Claremont Graduate UniversityPh.D., Political Philosophy and American Government, Claremont Graduate UniversityDr. Kathleen O’Toole is the assistant provost for K-12 Education at Hillsdale College, where she leads Hillsdale’s work in K-12 education, including the K-12 Education Office and Hillsdale Academy. Prior to joining Hillsdale, she was the founding headmaster of Founders Classical Academy of Leander. She has taught at the college and high school levels at Claremont McKenna College, Morehead State University, and Founders Classical Academy of Leander. Dr. O’Toole was an editor for the Claremont Review of Books, a Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute, and serves on the board of the Classic Learning Test. Dr. O’Toole’s doctoral dissertation was on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics, and examines the place of moral virtue in the happy life, focusing on magnanimity, justice, and prudence. She lives in Hillsdale, Michigan with her husband Daniel and their children Charlotte and William.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America's political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populisms impact in other democracies in the developed world.

From 2019-2023, Mr. Olsen was an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, where he wrote daily pieces focusing on politics, populism, foreign affairs and American conservative thought. He is also the author of The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism and The Four Faces of the Republican Party, co-authored with Dante Scala.

Mr. Olsen taught as the Thomas W. Smith Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Arizona State University for the Winter/Spring 2023 semester. He has taught at Villanova University, the Catholic University of America, and the Hillsdale College D.C. Graduate Studies Program.

Mr. Olsen was previously an editor at UnHerd.com and a regular contributor to American Greatness, City Journal, and World Magazine. Mr. Olsen's work has been featured in many prominent publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, POLITICO, The Telegraph (London), National Review, and The Guardian.

Jerilyn Olson is the Chief People Officer of Great Hearts, overseeing recruitment, human resources, and professional development across regions.  She has worked for Great Hearts since 2005, first as a teacher and coach and then in teacher recruitment and professional development.  She has a bachelor's degree in Government and Literature from Claremont McKenna College and a master's degree in humanities (with an emphasis on classical education) from the University of Dallas. She and her husband have three children and reside in the Phoenix area.

Cammie Passey has been in public education for 20 years, beginning her career with the Sunnyside School District in Tucson, Arizona and continuing the adventure with Great Hearts Academies in Phoenix. Throughout her time, she's served in a variety of roles at the elementary level including (but not limited to) classroom lead in both 4th and 5th grade, campus math instructional coach, assistant headmaster, and currently as the National Director of Lower School Curriculum for Great Hearts. In keeping with her childhood dream of becoming a teacher, Cammie earned a BS in Elementary Education from Utah State University in 2002 and an MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Arizona in 2012. After joining Great Hearts in 2012, her eyes were opened to the wonders of the classical liberal arts, and she strives every day to deepen her experience in and knowledge of the great tradition.

Prior to joining the University of Dallas, William Perales worked in Catholic education for over twenty years as a teacher and principal at both the elementary and high school levels. A graduate of the St. Ignatius Institute's Catholic Great Books Program at the University of San Francisco where he majored in English and Philosophy, William has led and assisted schools transitioning to a classical vision, designed curriculum for grades K-12, and led teacher formation programs that immerse participants in the liberal arts tradition of cultivating the imagination, faith, virtue, and wisdom. He currently directs the Saint Ambrose Center, an initiative of UD to support K12 classical and Catholic schools and families around the country with professional development, curriculum resources, school leader coaching, parent enrichment, and related consulting services.

Christopher Perrin, MDiv, PhD, is the CEO with Classical Academic Press, and a national leader, author, and speaker for the renewal of classical education. Chris studied history and classics at the University of South Carolina, then studied for his M.Div at Westminster Seminary in California, and then his PhD in apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He was also a special student in literature at St. Johns College in Annapolis, MD.

After serving for three years as a high-school and college pastor, Christopher became the founding headmaster of a classical Christian School in Harrisburg, PA where he served from 1997-2007 before becoming the CEO with Classical Academic Press. 

Christopher is the author of An Introduction to Classical Education: A Guide for Parents, Greek for Children Primer A, The Scholé Way: Bringing Restful Learning Back to School and Homeschool, The Good Teacher: Ten Key Pedagogical Principles that Will Transform Your Teaching, and co-author of the Latin for Children series. He is the host of a podcast on renewal of classical education, The Christopher Perrin Show, and writes regularly on his Substack newsletter, Renewing Classical Education.

In his work as Classical Academic Press, Christopher has collaborated with numerous leaders in the classical education renewal, publishing some leading books by these leaders including The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education (by Kevin Clark and Ravi Jain), Myth Made Fact (by Louis Markos), Common Arts Education: Renewing the Classical Tradition of Training the Hands, Head, and Heart (by Christopher Hall); The Lost Seeds of Learning: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric as Life-Giving Arts (by Phil Donnelly), and many more.

After serving for three years as a high-school and college pastor, Christopher became the founding headmaster of a classical Christian School in Harrisburg, PA where he served from 1997-2007 before becoming the CEO with Classical

Alex is the host of Cost of Glory, a podcast dedicated to reviving the biographies of the greatest Greek and Roman leaders and applying the best practical wisdom of antiquity. He is Co-Founder of The Classical Society, a business network for successful leaders dedicated to reviving the classical spirit across industries.  A former tenure-track professor, he holds a PhD in Classics from Princeton university and has taught at Princeton, UC San Diego, and CSU Fresno.

https://www.aei.org/profile/robert-pondiscio/

Jennifer Ramirez (M. Ed., Curriculum and Instruction) has spent the last seven years working for Great Hearts after ten years of working in school districts around the US and abroad in Germany. She is the Director of Career Pathways on the Great Hearts America Professional Development Team. Prior to this role, she served as a teacher in various grades K-8, mentor teacher and instructional coach, and as a Headmaster. She is passionate about the impact of instructional coaching on both teacher development and student outcomes, which has led her to this current role. Jennifer and her husband Rogelio are the proud parents of five kids, three of which are still school-age and attend Great Hearts Forest Heights as 9th, 8th, and 5th graders. Outside of education, Jennifer enjoys hitting the trails with her dog and volunteering in various children's ministry programs.

Shannon Richards is a two-time Emmy Award–winning producer and the Senior Creative Director at Great Hearts Academies. With more than two decades in broadcast and digital media, she blends storytelling artistry with strategic marketing to help schools and organizations share their mission with clarity and impact.

Her career began in television, where her creative work earned multiple Emmy Awards for excellence in production. Today, she channels that same passion into education, leading creative strategy and video content for one of the nation’s largest classical school networks.

Recognized for translating complex ideas into engaging narratives, Shannon is seen by colleagues as both an innovative thinker and a disciplined craftsman. Her work bridges timeless tradition with modern digital innovation—whether through video, social media, or large-scale campaigns—always with the aim of connecting communities more deeply to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.

Jeffrey Rosen is the President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts We the People, a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. He is also a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for the New Yorker. 

Rosen's new book, Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle over Power in America, is out in October 2025. His other books include New York Times bestsellers The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America and Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law, as well as biographies of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft. 

Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In 2024, the French government recognized him as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres"

Ian Rowe is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on education, upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. He co-founded Vertex Partnership Academies, a virtues-based, International Baccalaureate high school in the Bronx, and the National Summer School Initiative, serves as chairman of the board at Spence-Chapin, and is a senior visiting fellow at the Woodson Center. 

Following the publication of his book Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power (Templeton Press, 2022), Mr. Rowe leads AEI's FREE Initiative. The FREE Initiative cultivates a deeper understanding of how family, religion, education, and entrepreneurship weave together a moral fabric that shapes and develops agency in children.

Diana Schaub is professor emerita of Political Science at Loyola University Maryland and a non-resident Senior Scholar in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department at the American Enterprise Institute. She was the Garwood Teaching Fellow at Princeton University in 2011-12 and Visiting Professor of Political Theory in the Government Department at Harvard University in 2018, 2020, and 2022. From 2004 to 2009 she was a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. She was the recipient of the Richard M. Weaver Prize for Scholarly Letters in 2001 and is the author of Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu's and Persian Letters along with numerous book chapters and scholarly articles in the fields of political philosophy and American political thought. She is a coeditor (with Amy and Leon Kass) of What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song. A member of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, she also sits on the publication committee of National Affairs. Her book on Lincoln's rhetoric and statesmanship, His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation, appeared in 2021 from St. Martins Press.

Soren Schwab is a passionate educator with over a decade of experience in classical education. Born and raised in Germany, Soren moved to the United States in the late 2000s to pursue his literature and theology studies. He earned a B.A. in English from Hillsdale College and an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from Colorado Christian University. For several years, Soren led the Humanities Department at The Vanguard School Colorado Springs. Soren joined the Classic Learning Test in 2018 due to his desire to see classical education flourish across the country. Soren currently serves as the Vice President of Partnerships, overseeing all of CLT's sales and marketing efforts, including the Anchored Podcast, which he co-hosts. He and his wife Paula live in Annapolis, MD.

Dr. Daniel Scoggin is the co-founder of Great Hearts Academies. Over twenty years ago, he started as the headmaster of a classical, liberal arts academy in Tempe, AZ. In 2004, Dan authored the original Great Hearts business plan. As the founding CEO, he secured the initial strategic funding partnerships with local and national philanthropy to launch the Arizona network of academies. From 2004 to 2015, he directed the network's growth and academic model, including Great Hearts expansion into Texas. Great Hearts now serves 30,000 students at 48 schools in Phoenix, San Antonio, North Texas, and Baton Rouge.  Great Hearts also serves students with online classical academies, and Dan recently led the founding of a growing network of Christian classical academies in Phoenix, serving a diverse group of families via ESA funding opportunities.  In addition to serving on the Great Hearts America, Arizona, and Foundation boards, Dan is the organization's Academies Officer, overseeing school improvement and further brick-and-mortar expansion nationally.  Dr. Scoggin holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the Claremont Graduate University, a B.A. from Santa Clara University, attended the Stanford University Executive Education program, was a Piper Fellow, Pahara-Aspen Fellow, and recently completed an M.A. in character education from the Jubilee Centre at the University of Birmingham (U.K.).   He is the father of four daughters (two Great Hearts graduates and two current scholars) and lives with his wife Tiffany in Mesa, AZ.

Colleen A. Sheehan is the David and Patricia Caldwell Visiting Scholar on the American Founding at The Heritage Foundation and Professor of Politics in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. She has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and on the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. She is the recipient of the Earhart Fellowship, Bradley Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Mary and Kennedy Smith Fellowship of the James Madison Program of Princeton University, the Garwood Fellowship of the James Madison Program of Princeton University, the Claremont Institute Henry Salvatori Prize, and the Martin Manley Teacher of the Year Award at Villanova University, where she taught for over thirty years before joining the faculty at ASU.  Sheehan is author of James Madison and the Spirit of Republican Self-Government, (Cambridge University Press, 2009), The Mind of James Madison: The Legacy of Classical Republicanism (Cambridge University Press, 2015), co-editor (with Gary L. McDowell) of Friends of The Constitution: Writings of the “Other” Federalists of 1787-88 (Liberty Fund Classics, 1998), (with Jack Rakove)The Cambridge Companion to The Federalist (Cambridge University Press, 2020), and editor of American Founders: Leaders at the Creation of the Republic (The Heritage Foundation, 2025). Her publications include articles in The American Political Science Review, William and Mary Quarterly, Review of Politics, Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal, and the Wall Street Journal.  Sheehan’s current projects include “The Madisonian Moment” and The Heartfield Footnote: An Interpretation of Jane Austen’s Emma. 

Colleen A. Sheehan is the David and Patricia Caldwell Visiting Scholar on the American Founding at The Heritage Foundation and Professor of Politics in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. She has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and on the Pennsylvania

Andy Smarick is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where his work focuses on education, civil society, and the principles of American conservatism. He is a member of the University of Maryland System’s Board of Regents, a contributing writer for The Dispatch, and author of the Substack “Governing Right.” Previously, he served as the chair of the Maryland Higher Education Commission and president of the Maryland State Board of Education. His other government experience includes serving as an aide in the White House Domestic Policy Counsel of President George W. Bush, legislative assistant at the U.S. House of Representatives, deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, New Jersey deputy commissioner of education, and legislative aide at the Maryland state legislature. He helped found a college-prep charter school for disadvantaged students and the National Alliance for Public Charter schools, and he was a founding board member of 50CAN. Smarick has authored or edited four books, and his work has been published in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, Education Week, among others. Smarick received a B.A. in government and politics, summa cum laude and with honors, from the University of Maryland and a Master of Public Management from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy.

James R. Stoner, Jr. is the Hermann Moyse, Jr., Professor and Director of the Eric Voegelin Institute in the Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University, where he has taught since 1988.  He is the author of Common-Law Liberty (Kansas, 2003) and Common Law and Liberal Theory (Kansas, 1992), and co-editor of five books, most recently The Political Thought of the Civil War (Kansas, 2018) with Alan Levine and Thomas Merrill, and Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity in Higher Education (Lexington Books, 2023) with Paul O. Carrese and Carol McNamara.  He was twice a visiting fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University (2002-03, 2013-14), the second time as Garwood Professor.  He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and his A.B. from Middlebury College.

James Tanton (PhD, Princeton 1994, mathematics) is an author, a consultant, and an ambassador for the Mathematical Association of America, currently serving as their Mathematician-at-Large. He has taught mathematics both at university and high-school institutions. James is absolutely committed to promoting effective and joyful mathematics thinking, learning, and doing at all levels of the education spectrum.

James writes books, advises on curriculum, consults with teachers, and gives demonstration classes and professional development sessions across the globe, and is founder of The Global Math Project, an initiative set to transform the entire world's perception of what mathematics can and should be.

Jake Tawney serves as the Chief Academic Officer for Great Hearts Academies, a network of classical charter schools across multiple states. Jake has an undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He continued his studies at The Ohio State University where he earned a masters degree in mathematics. After teaching all levels of high school mathematics and computer science for nearly a decade, Jake took on the role of Director of Student Services for a district in central Ohio. During his time in Ohio, Jake also taught at the Pontifical College Josephinum, including courses in Euclid and the Philosophy of Mathematics. In 2014 Jake relocated his family to Phoenix, AZ to join Great Hearts Academies. Jake is the proud husband of Christina and the proud father of eight children, all of whom have something unique in their souls that can only be satisfied by wondering about mathematics.  In 2025, Jake published his first book "Another Sort of Mathematics: Selected Proofs Necessary to Finally Acquire an Education in Mathematics", now available on Amazon.

From 2008 to 2022, Erik played a pivotal role in developing Great Hearts into the largest network of classical schools in the United States. He has taught middle and high school, served as a founding headmaster, overseen headmasters, strategic network growth, and lead external affairs.  He served as President of Great Hearts Arizona from 2017 to 2022, where he led significant advancements in operational, enrollment, and facility growth.

Erik’s academic background includes degrees from Trinity University, where he studied political science, and Oxford University, where he studied theology and philosophy. He has written on a variety of topics across education and culture for the Washington Examiner, First Things, Real Clear Education, and The Free Press.

Erin Davis Valdez is the Education Policy Director at the Cicero Institute and Executive Director of the Center for Education at Public Service Incubator at the University of Austin. She has been passionate about the transformational power of education all her life, having been given the gift of being homeschooled. She taught for over a decade in Austin-area schools and served as an assistant principal at a charter school in the DFW area. These experiences have given her the opportunity to see first-hand how students can thrive when they have excellent options.

Valdez's subsequent work in educational philanthropy and policy focused on expanding choices in higher education and K12, with a special emphasis on postsecondary and workforce programs in Texas.  

Valdez earned an M.A. in classics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a B.A. in classical studies from Hillsdale College. She studied in Athens, Greece her junior year and worked as an excavator at the Agora archaeological site for three seasons. 

Valdez has lived in the Austin area (on and off) since 1990.  She enjoys yoga, reading, volunteering, and spending time with her husband Jeremy, her family, friends, and cocker spaniel, Scoops."

Heather Washburn Vice President of Academic Achievement and Accessibility Heather Washburn brings over a decade of leadership in classical education to her role as Vice President of Academic Achievement and Accessibility. She served seven years as a Great Hearts headmaster, including four years as founding headmaster of Archway Trivium East, where she established the academy's academic foundation, and three years as headmaster of Veritas Prep.

Her experience spans turnaround strategies, classical pedagogy, and curriculum development, informed by her unique perspective as a homeschooling mother and former Great Hearts teacher. Washburn is dedicated to ensuring that the transformative power of classical education is rigorous, accessible, and supportive for every student, regardless of their background, starting point, or individual capacity.

Steven F. Wilson is a senior fellow at Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research. An education entrepreneur, policymaker, and writer, Wilson founded and built Ascend Learning, a network of tuition-free, liberal arts charter schools in Central Brooklyn. The Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University identified Ascend as a gap busting network for its success in closing and reversing achievement gaps of race and income. His most recent venture, the National Summer School Initiative, provides accelerated instruction in the wake of the pandemic to 150,000 urban students. Wilson drafted the Massachusetts charter school law and helped shape the state's landmark 1993 education reforms. His first book, Reinventing the Schools: A Radical Plan for Boston, drove the development and passage of the Massachusetts charter school law. Learning on the Job: When Business Takes on Public Schools won the Virginia and Warren Stone prize for an outstanding book on education and society. His new book, The Lost Decade: Returning to the Fight for Better Schools in America, was published this year.

Professor of political science emeritus, U of Notre Dame, Clinical prof. of SCETL ASU. Author of The Natural Rights Republic and A Nation So Conceived: Lincoln and the paradox of Democratic Sovereignty.

Andrew J. Zwerneman is co-founder and president of Cana Academy. He blogs weekly at www.canaacademy.org and is the author of History Forgotten and Remembered (2020), The Life We Have Together: A Case for Humane Studies, A Vision for Renewal (2022). and the forthcoming REMEMBER: Freedom and Responsibility Under History (2026). Andrew is writer and narrator for the film series, HISTORY250. Andrew holds degrees in history, politics, and theology. Since 1983, he has been a teacher. Since 2016, he has helped train over 5,000 teachers.