Elizabeth A. Davis, the elected president of the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) holds a Master’s degree in Education Administration & Supervision and has taught in DCPS for 42 years as a highly effective, award-winning educator. Elizabeth who has been hailed by the Washington Post and WTU members as a “game changer”, has always been at the forefront of public education advocacy and reform. But more recently, she has transformed the WTU into a social justice, solution-driven organization that is dedicated to advancing and promoting quality education for all children, irrespective of their zip codes, improving teaching and learning conditions and aggressively amplifying the voice of teachers in the dialogue around issues of teaching and learning. Under her leadership, the WTU has reimaged itself as a powerful, solution-driven organization of professionals that is highly respected by its members and the DC community at large.

Chelsea Coffin joined the D.C. Policy Center in September 2017. She has over ten years’ experience in early, K-12, and higher education at government agencies, foundations, non-profits, multi-lateral institutions, and schools. Most recently, Chelsea supported planning for D.C.’s public charter sector with analyses of supply, demand, and other critical topics at the D.C. Public Charter School Board. She is the author of the new report Landscape of Diversity in D.C. Public Schools, which describes a diversifying Washington region, but diversity as hard to find across schools in the District. She has also produced education case studies, evaluations, research, and monitoring tools for the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and Educate! in Uganda. Chelsea began her career in education as a secondary school teacher with the Peace Corps in Mozambique. Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College and a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) in International Economics and Development.

Janel George is a Senior Policy Advisor who co-leads the Equitable Resources and Access team at the Learning Policy Institute (LPI). Her work focuses on community schools, racial equity, education as a civil right, school choice, and other issues that shape equity and access in K-12 public schools. She is the lead author of The Federal Role and School Integration: Brown’s Promise and Present Challenges with Linda Darling-Hammond. She also served as Legislative Counsel in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, during which time her legislative portfolio included child welfare and education issues. As a civil rights attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), she worked with several campaigns and coalitions to use legislative and policy advocacy to advance equal educational opportunity. She co-authored the report Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls: A Call to Action for Educational Equity, as well as law review articles on race and gender and the school-to-prison pipeline. She also helped to advance the federal policy work of the Dignity in Schools Campaign, including securing provisions promoting positive and inclusive school climates in the Every Student Succeeds Act. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and has served as an adjunct with Georgetown University Law Center and the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law.

Kimberly E. Springle is a Historian with a focus on community history. Her research interests include 20th Century African American History, the development of educational opportunities for African Americans in Washington, DC, and capturing the untold stories of lesser known histories and contributors to society. Kimberly presently serves as the Executive Director of the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, the official museum and repository for DC Public Education. In her capacity, she is the steward of the Historic Museum site and serves as the Historian and Archivist for the DC Public School System. Kimberly is also Founder and Principal of Nile Kongo Cultural Consulting, serving communities and individuals nationwide in preserving their cultural assets. Over her 17 year career in the museum field, Kimberly has worked with various cultural institutions including Smithsonian National Museum of American History and Lord Cultural Resources, a Canadian-based museum consulting firm. She currently serves on the Executive Boards of Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) and National Council on Public History (NCPH), and is a member of the Editorial Review Board and Diversity and Inclusion Committee for American Association of State and Local History (AASLH). Kimberly earned her Master of Arts Degree in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program and Bachelor of Arts Degree in History with a Minor in African American Studies from College of Charleston, Charleston, SC.

Michaele N. Turnage Young serves as Senior Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), where she litigates education and voting rights cases. Ms. Turnage Young co-authored amicus briefs of behalf of 25 Harvard student and alumni organizations in SFFA v. Harvard, arguing that the court should uphold settled law allowing universities to consider race, as one of many factors, in admissions so that universities can assemble diverse student bodies and students can enjoy the educational benefits of diversity. In addition, she represents Black parents and children in school desegregation cases in Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Prior to joining LDF in 2017, Ms. Turnage Young served as a Trial Attorney with the Educational Opportunities Section of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. There, she prosecuted 13 school desegregation cases in seven federal court jurisdictions across the country. Her efforts led school districts to desegregate their students and faculties, equalize access to course offerings, equalize their facilities, transform their discipline practices, and dramatically reduce the amount of instructional time students lost to exclusionary discipline. Ms. Turnage Young received her law degree from Harvard Law School and undergraduate degree from UCLA.

Dr. Dawn Williams has been a member of the Howard University faculty since 2003 in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies where she most recently served as Department Chair. Underlying all of her work are premises that include the indoctrination of social justice through teaching, research, service, and professional development. Her teaching experience spans approximately two decades. She has taught elementary students, high school students, undergraduate students, graduate students, and Ph.D. STEM faculty. Dr. Williams is author and co-author of approximately 25 articles, book reviews, and book chapters that highlight the impact of K-12 macro-educational policies targeted for urban school reform. Over the past decade, she has been a recipient of several grants totaling approximately $3.3 million funded by the National Science Foundation. Her research in the STEM and educational policy arena are focused on issues of access and diversity while promoting a conscious social justice agenda. Dr. Williams earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in Educational Policy Studies with dual residency in Educational Organization and Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Elementary Education from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.