Anthony Carnevale currently serves as director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Between 1996 and 2006, Dr. Carnevale served as vice president for public leadership at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). While at ETS, he was appointed by President George Bush to serve on the White House Commission on Technology and Adult Education.

Christopher T. Cross is chairman of Cross & Joftus, LLC, an education policy consulting firm. Mr. Cross also serves as a consultant to the Broad Foundation and the C.S. Mott Foundation. He has served as a senior fellow with the Center for Education Policy and as a distinguished senior fellow with the Education Commission of the States.

David P. Driscoll is former commissioner of education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has worked in public education and educational leadership for most of his adult life. A former secondary school mathematics teacher, Dr. Driscoll was named assistant superintendent of Melrose, Massachusetts's schools in 1972 and then superintendent in 1984. He served in that role until 1993 when he was appointed Massachusetts's deputy commissioner of education. Dr. Driscoll became interim commissioner of education on July 1, 1998, and was named commissioner on March 10, 1999.

John Jackson became the president and chief executive officer of the Schott Foundation for Public Education in July 2007 after seven years in leadership positions at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), during which he served as its chief policy officer and, prior to that, the national director of education. In his role at the Schott Foundation, Dr. Jackson leads its efforts to ensure a high-quality public education for all students regardless of race or gender.

Arthur E. Levine is the sixth president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Before his appointment at Woodrow Wilson, he was president and professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Levine served previously as chair of the higher education program, chair of the Institute for Educational Management, and senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Thomas W. Payzant is currently a professor of practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to that, he served as superintendent of the Boston Public Schools from October of 1995 until his retirement in June of 2006. Before coming to Boston, Dr. Payzant was appointed by President Clinton to serve as assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education.

Terry K. Peterson is director of the Afterschool and Community Learning Network. He also serves as chairperson of the board of directors for the After School Alliance and is senior fellow for policy and partnerships at the College of Charleston. Dr. Peterson serves on the executive committee of the National Center for Summer Learning at John Hopkins University, the Council for Corporate and School Partnerships, and the Mayor of Charleston's School Reform Committee. He is involved in international education efforts, most recently in Argentina, Mongolia, Brazil, Northern Ireland, South Korea, and Denmark.

Raymond C. Pierce became dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law in July 2005. Since that time, Mr. Pierce has managed the law school’s growth which, has included the largest student enrollment in the school’s history, an expanded faculty, a significantly increased state budget allocation and the completion of the final stages of a building renovation and new construction addition to the law school facility.

Hugh B. Price is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the nation’s oldest think tank. His activities include writing and editing books, preparing policy briefs, and convening roundtables on topics of longstanding interest, such as education, civil rights, equal opportunity, and criminal justice.

Richard W. Riley is currently a senior partner in the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, a distinguished professor and advisory board chair of the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government Politics and Public Leadership at Furman University, a distinguished professor at the University of South Carolina, and distinguished senior fellow at NAFSA Association of International Educators. He is also former U.S. Secretary of Education and former governor of South Carolina.

Susan Sclafani joined the Pearson Foundation in January 2011 as vice president of programs. Just prior to that, she served as director of state services at the National Center on Education and the Economy. Before that, she was with Chartwell Education Group, an international consulting group. She also served as assistant secretary of education for vocational and adult education from 2003 to 2005 in the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

Rosa A. Smith is the regional education director for New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS). In this role, she supports the mission to ensure high academic achievement for every student by attracting and preparing outstanding leaders and supporting the performance of the urban public schools they lead.

Valerie Woodruff has served as secretary of education for the state of Delaware since July 1999, when she was appointed in the acting capacity by former Governor Tom Carper. She was subsequently confirmed by the state Senate and then reappointed by Governor Ruth Ann Minner. Prior to being appointed secretary of education, Ms. Woodruff served as the associate secretary for curriculum and instructional improvement for the Delaware Department of Education. She has been a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, and principal in high schools in both Maryland and Delaware.