Explore the Biographies of Our
2023 Keynote & Roundtable Speakers!
Robyn Anzulis
Robyn grew up in Woodbine, MD and graduated from South Carroll High School in 2018. While in high school, she served in numerous community organizations and participated in multiple civic education programs, including the Hugh O'Brien Youth (HOBY) Leadership Summit, American Legion National High School Oratorical Contest, American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) MD Girls State and Girls Nation, Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy Contest, and the MD Senate Page Program. She graduated from the University of Georgia in May 2022 summa cum laude with highest honors, earning Bachelor's degrees in Applied Math and Economics as well as a Master's in Economics. Robyn currently works as a data analyst at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. She loves serving on the staff of ALA MD Girls State, playing flute with the Columbia Band Initiative, and spending time with new friends at Grace Community Church!
Lia Atanat
As Outreach and Professional Development Coordinator at Maryland Humanities, Lia Atanat connects with students, teachers, and local school system administrators across Maryland to provide resources and training on Maryland History Day, the TPS Inquiry Kits, and other primary source teaching and learning strategies. She maintains partnerships with museums, universities, archives, public media organizations, nonprofits, and more, to collaborate on resource development and training opportunities.
Prior to joining Maryland Humanities, Lia received a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and created and implemented project-based learning activities for the ESOL classroom while teaching English for Academic Purposes in Turkey. She has worked in the field of museum education at King’s Chapel in Boston, creating tours for K-12 and adult visitors. Lia has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Temple University and a master’s degree in History from Boston College.
The Honorable Alice J. Cain
The Honorable Alice Johnson Cain is Executive Director of The Moriah Fund as well as a donor advisor with a focus on democracy, electoral politics, and criminal justice reform. Devastated by the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, Alice ran for the state legislature and, in 2018, she was elected to the House of Delegates. During her two sessions serving in the Maryland General Assembly, she helped enact a sweeping new education law and was part of the first-ever all-female delegation in the state of Maryland. Alice’s legislative service built on her 30+ years working on Capitol Hill and in nonprofit organizations to improve educational opportunities for underserved students. These efforts culminated in her role as chief education advisor to Chairman George Miller (D-CA) during his service on Speaker Pelosi’s leadership team in the U.S. House of Representatives. There, Alice authored numerous laws and amendments, including an unprecedented $4.4 billion investment in public education through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Alice was a founding member and co-director the national committee of education experts that advised Senator Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and played a similar role for Secretary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. She also worked in policy and advocacy roles for Senator Paul Simon (D-IL), Children's Defense Fund, Hope Street Group, National Institute for Literacy, and Teach Plus — all influenced by her years of volunteering with immigrants, refugees and low-income and homeless youth in Washington, DC. In 2020, Alice co-founded a pooled philanthropic fund that focuses on racial justice, the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund (BVBJ). She currently serves on the boards of BVBJ and Civics Unplugged.
Christopher C.
Christopher is a first grader at Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle School. He enjoys soccer, basketball, camping and cooking.
Maureen Eccleston
As the Director, Community Partnerships with Service Year Alliance, Maureen Eccleston supports a network of communities as they work toward Universal National Service and take service years to scale. Maureen is an AmeriCorps alum with experience across AmeriCorps State and National, VISTA, NCCC, and Learn & Serve. Prior to joining Service Year Alliance, Maureen served as the Executive Director of PennSERVE and was the Board Chair for America’s Service Commissions. Always on the move, Maureen took up running in 2020 and biking in 2022. She has lived in New York, Louisiana, Florida, and Maryland; and currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
Erin Few
Maryland Civic Educator of the Year
Erin has been teaching high school social studies for 18 years in Anne Arundel County, first at Old Mill High School and more recently at the newly-opened Crofton High School. Her passion for civic engagement began as coordinator for "Creativity, Activity and Service" over the International Baccalaureate Program at Old Mill, finding that students passions were engaged when they were encouraged to design their own projects in service, civic activism, and creative expression. In her role as department chair, Mrs. Few leads her team in engaging students in authentic historic inquiry and real-world problem-solving to foster student growth. Mrs. Few is also proud to sponsor Crofton High School's Service Club, and to serve as service liaison for her school. Through partnerships with community organizations arranged by AACPS' Manager of Service Learning and Mentorships, Lori Fowler, students at Crofton High and across Anne Arundel County learn to ignite their passion for serving others.
Flematu Fofana
Flematu Fofana is a junior at Liberty High School in Carroll County Maryland. Growing up in a predominantly white county, Flematu has strived to make a difference in her community by raising awareness about racial and religious inequalities. She is the founder and president of the Carroll County NAACP Youth Council and has worked to build up the chapter. She hosted an online webinar with an Ivorian-American model who shared her experiences in the modeling industry as a black woman. She has also advocated as a student to the adult branch on issues black students face in the CCPS system. Additionally, she works for CAIR (the Council on American and Islamic Relations) and through her various projects strives to educate youth about issues affecting the Muslim community. She has visited Annapolis twice to testify on bills, one being on religious accommodations in all Maryland public colleges and universities which ended up passing, protecting students' 1st amendment rights. She is also the Vice President of the Carroll County Student Government Association and has worked on several projects to help rebuild her county’s SGA after COVID. Through this work, she hopes to be able to inspire and make a difference in her community.
Lori Fowler
Lori Fowler is Anne Arundel County Public School's Manager of Service Learning and Mentorships. She has been an educator for over 25 years in grades 5 - 12, bringing with her a passion for learning and community. Through her current role she has developed a deepened love for service learning and how it positively impact student engagement. She has attended National Service Learning Conferences, Environmental Justice Courses with Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and led professional development workshops for administrators and teachers throughout Anne Arundel County. Lori is honored to be joining this year's Civic Engagement Summit.
Scott Ganske
Scott Ganske is the Vice President of Partnerships at YSA (Youth Service America). Scott leads YSA’s collaboration with local and national partners in the K-12 education, out-of-school time, youth development, national and community service, and community-based organizations. Scott brings 20+ years of experience as a classroom educator (K-12 and college), education consultant, and non-profit administrator who has worked with over 1,000 global organizations. He holds an M.A. in Public Administration and a B.A. in Education.
Kaden Goodrich a.k.a. Alex Seventeen
Kaden (Alex Seventeen) Goodrich is an Artist / Rapper from Annapolis, Maryland. He attends Glen Burnie High School in Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Music has always been an important part of his life ever since he was young. Kaden loves to share his talent.
The Honorable Shelly Hettleman
Maryland Senator, District 11
Senator Shelly Hettleman was appointed to the Senate and sworn in as the 11th District Senator on February 3, 2020 after having been elected in 2014 to the House of Delegates where she served on the House Appropriations Committee. In the Senate, Sen. Hettleman is a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee, having previously served on the Judicial Proceedings Committee. She is Vice Chair of the Rules Committee and also serves on the Joint Audit Committee, as well as the Joint Committee on Children, Youth & Families and the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake, Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.
Shelly was the lead sponsor of a number of bills that have become law on a variety of important issues: expanding privacy protections for reproductive health consumers and providers, ensuring access to counsel for renters facing eviction, helping college students seek transparency in their student loan debt, expanding tax credit availability for loan debt to graduate students, protecting older adults and children from abuse, requiring for-profit educational institutions to be more transparent and accountable, broadening the access and availability of contraceptives, and creating a statewide standard for the preservation and testing of rape kits are a few of her bills. Prior to serving in the House of Delegates, Shelly was the Campaign Manager of the 2012 Ben Cardin for Senate campaign that resulted in Sen. Cardin’s resounding re-election. In former positions, Shelly was the founding director of a domestic violence program, worked in financial resource development for a local non-profit organization, served as a Legislative Assistant in the office of then-Congressman Cardin and on the staff of Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s first campaign for U.S. Senate. Shelly is married to Jeff and Mom to two adult children and a daughter-in-law, a dog and a cat.
Missy Holzer, PhD
Missy Holzer, PhD. Missy taught high school Earth and space, environmental science, and physical geography for more than 30 years, and currently adjuncts at different universities, and is a science standards specialist with Great Minds, PBC™. She is the secretary of National Earth Science Teachers Association (President 2012-2014), has served on many state and national committees, and presents at local, regional, and national conferences. She has been an active participant in New Jersey state science standards projects since 2008, which includes the recently completed New Jersey science standards review. She supports formal and non-formal educators in their transition to NGSS through numerous workshop offerings and is currently assisting teachers with the integration of the new climate standards into their units. She serves as Master Teacher for the NSF-funded Model-Evidence-Link Project, based out of the University of Maryland and Temple University. She has a BS in Environmental Planning and Design, MAT in science education, MS in geography, and PhD in science education.
The Honorable Glenn Ivey
U.S. Congressman , Maryland’s 4th Congressional District
Congressman Glenn Ivey is an attorney who served on Capitol Hill as chief counsel to the Senate Majority Leader, as counsel to Senator Paul Sarbanes during the Whitewater investigations, Chief Majority Counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, and on the staff of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). He also worked for U.S. Attorney Eric Holder as an assistant U. S. Attorney, and as chair of Maryland’s Public Service Commission. He was twice elected as State's Attorney for Prince George's County where he worked with the Obama Administration to cut crime.
Congressman Ivey established Ivey & Levetown in 2020, and recently represented a Lafayette Square protestor, arguing that the facial recognition software used to identify him compounds discrimination against dark-skinned people. The Department of Justice threw out the case. As chair of the County Executive Angela Alsobrooks’ Police Reform Taskforce in 2020 Ivey led the committee that examined the police department’s internal policies.
Ivey grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where the schools of his hometown were still segregated when he started attending. But he watched his mother, a librarian, desegregate four different white schools, as well as his father, who worked for a federal War on Poverty agency that helped unemployed workers in eastern North Carolina get job training and find jobs.
It was then Ivey saw the power of public service and the impact that advocates can have on social justice. And ever since, he has been a tireless fighter for our community. As Prince George's County State's Attorney, he created a first-of-its-kind Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit and pushed for stronger witness intimidation penalties. When the real estate market went south, he established an award-winning mortgage fraud unit that stood up for homeowners.
Ivey resides in Prince George’s County with his wife, Jolene, a County Councilmember. His son, Julian, serves as a Delegate for District 47A in the Maryland House of Delegates. Ivey is a graduate of Princeton University (A.B. 1983) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1986).
Ali MacDonald
Ali MacDonald is a first year AmeriCorps Service member serving with Volunteer Maryland as part of their 35th Class. She is a Volunteer Coordinator at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center, Anne Arundel County Public Schools Office of Environmental Literacy and Outdoor Education. She has been pursuing her Bachelor of Environmental Science at Towson University and her culminative education is coming to a close during her service year.
Ali grew up in Anne Arundel County, participating in the Maryland Green School certification of West Annapolis Elementary School and graduated from Annapolis High School in 2014. She feels extremely grateful for the opportunity to help sustain and strengthen Arlington Echo's mission during her service year. She has always believed that environmental literacy was key to fostering environmental stewardship in our community and in future generations. This service year has given her a deeper insight to the intersections of education, civic engagement, and environmentalism in her community.
Jessica Mahoney
Jessica teaches ancient world history to 6th and 7th graders at Benjamin Banneker Middle School in Montgomery County Maryland. In this role she uses project and discussion-based learning to infuse her passion for civics into her student’s learning of ancient civilizations.
She also serves as the teacher representative to the MDCEC Steering Committee and as the sponsor for her school’s Speech and Debate team. She also works as a partner teacher through the Center for Civic Education’s Project Citizen program.
Jessica grew up in Montgomery County and is a graduate of MCPS. She holds a B.A in History and an M.Ed in curriculum and instruction from University of Maryland.
Leslie Martin
Leslie has taught English in Allegany County for 38 years.
Genie Massey
Genie Massey is a mom, a teacher, and a passionate voting rights advocate with the League of Women Voters of Maryland. She has enjoyed twelve years teaching Social Studies in public and private schools and was recognized as the Archdiocese of Baltimore Teacher of the Year in 2017-2018. She holds a B.A. from Randolph-Macon Women’s College, a M.A.T. from Johns Hopkins University, and is developing her dissertation study in the Frostburg State University Ed.D. program focusing on civic identities and novice social studies teachers. In 2015, she was recognized as an Eileen Ludwig Greenland Scholar at the Bearing Witness Summer Institute at the Center for Jewish Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Additionally, she has participated in the Harvard Case Method Project for Teaching Democracy, serves on the National Constitution Center’s Teacher Advisory Council, and is a longtime member of the Hagerstown Sunrise Rotary Club.
Scott McComb
Scott McComb has been a Maryland educator for 34 years and is currently the Supervisor of Social Studies for Calvert County Public Schools. Mr. McComb’s past leadership in social studies education includes his appointment by Maryland Superintendent of Schools, Nancy Grasmick, to chair the Maryland Social Studies Advisory Council. Mr. McComb also served as a member of the Maryland Commission on Civic Literacy and was twice president of the Maryland Council for Social Studies. An ardent supporter of civic education in Maryland and the United States, Mr. McComb served as an editor for The Maryland Civic Health Index Report, produced by the National Conference on Citizenship and was instrumental in the 2012 passage of Maryland Senate Bill 293, which reinstated the Maryland High School Assessment for Government after it had been terminated by the Maryland State Department of Education.
Sarah McGrew
Sarah McGrew is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She studies educational responses to the spread of online mis- and disinformation. Her research focuses on young people’s civic online reasoning—how they search for and evaluate online information on contentious social and political topics—and how schools can better support students to learn effective evaluation strategies.
Dr. McGrew earned a B.A. in Political Science and Education from Swarthmore College and an M.A. and teacher certification in the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She taught high school history in Washington, D.C. for five years before returning to Stanford to complete her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Teacher Education.
Jessica McInerney
Jess McInerney has been a historian and educator for years. She went to Denison University in Granville, Ohio to obtain her bachelors degree and UPenn for her Master's in Education. Ms. McInerney obtained her History Master's degree from Salisbury University and had her thesis on 17th century Chesapeake women and gender roles published online. She currently is enrolled at Salisbury University to earn her Ed.D. in Literacy Studies. Jess has worked in both Delaware and Maryland high schools for ten years; She currently serves as the Coordinator for Social Studies, JROTC, and Service Learning in Worcester County. She enjoys swimming, yoga, and any exercise that lets her spend time outside. Ms. McInerney is an avid traveler and wants to travel to Turkey on her next international trip.
Lauren McKinley
Lauren McKinley provides technical assistance and guidance to each of the 24 local education agencies and four statewide schools in Maryland in accordance with the state’s service-learning graduation requirement. She collaborates with district service-learning coordinators to enhance high-quality service-learning experiences for students throughout the state. Through her role as service-learning specialist, Lauren is the designee on the Maryland Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism for the State Superintendent of Schools. Serving as a Commissioner, Lauren promotes volunteer recognition in Maryland and supports the State Service Plan initiatives.
Lauren completed a year of service prior to beginning her career in education. While teaching for sixteen years in a variety of grade levels in Baltimore City and County schools, Lauren enjoyed participating in service experiences alongside her students. She has written curriculum and provided education consultant services to students and families. Lauren earned her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Loyola University of Maryland and her master’s degree in Education from Towson University.
Lauren’s favorite role is being a mom to her son, with whom she resides in Baltimore City.
Ebony McKiver
Ebony McKiver is currently the Senior Engagement Manager with the OER Project. The OER Project seeks to empower teachers, especially in world history, to better serve their students through innovative curricula and variety of teaching tools. The scope of Ebony’s work includes, analyzing both current and existing trends with regard to social studies curriculum and instructional materials to create optimal learning environments for both educators and student, developing and leading professional development, identifying and communicating instructional shifts, providing content and technical expertise in social studies to education professionals throughout the country, and guiding school districts through the instructional materials implementation process. Ebony brings to her current role a strong commitment to uplifting underrepresented and marginalized populations, social justice, and advocacy. She is intentional in her work to select, curate, and promote high-quality instructional materials in social studies that emphasizes inquiry and diversity. With over twenty years of experience in the field of education, Ebony has served previously as a Social Studies State Specialist for the state of Nebraska and Secondary Social Studies Educator in Cleveland, Ohio, Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska. Each day that Ebony comes to work, her primary focus is ensuring that all students in receive a world-class social studies education and all educators have the applicable tools necessary.
The Honorable Paul Montiero
Governor Wes Moore announced the appointment of Paul Monteiro as the first secretary of the newly created Department of Service and Civic Innovation on April 3, 2023. Secretary Monteiro was confirmed by the Maryland Senate late Friday evening on April 7, 2023..
Most recently, Secretary Monteiro served as Director of the Community Relations Service at the U.S. Department of Justice. Created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and expanded by the 2009 Shepard/Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the CRS deploys skilled mediators to mitigate community tensions based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, and disability.
On December 17, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Paul Monteiro as the Director of the United States Department of Justice Community Relations Service (CRS), and the Senate confirmed his appointment on April 28, 2022. Director Monteiro returned to CRS from his most recent position as chief of staff to the president and assistant vice president of external affairs at Howard University.
Secretary Monteiro previously served as the CRS Acting Director from December 2015 to January 2017. During his tenure, he oversaw CRS’s work supporting communities as they worked to reduce tensions and to prevent and respond to bias incidents and hate crimes.
In 2014, before first joining CRS, President Barack Obama appointed Secretary Monteiro as national director of AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), the federal anti-poverty program established in 1965 as the domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps.
Previously, after serving on Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, as the deputy director for religious affairs, Secretary Monteiro joined the White House staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Engagement. In that role, he worked on President Obama’s Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Initiative, the My Brother’s Keeper mentorship program for young men, and as a liaison to religious and secular belief communities as well as ethnic groups, including Arab American and Afghan American groups.
Secretary Monteiro also served as an at-large member of the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Public Schools Board of Education. He holds a B.A. in history from the University of Maryland and a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law.
Gregory T. Moore
Gregory T. Moore is considered one of the nation’s leading voting rights advocates. He is currently President and CEO of the Promise of Democracy Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization where he continues his commitment to the expansion of democracy, voting rights and civic education. For the past 30 years, Moore has held several key roles in Washington, DC and the state of Ohio including serving as the Executive Director of the NAACP-National Voter Fund, Legislative Director and Chief of Staff for the late Rep. John Conyers, Jr., and Director of the Voting Rights Institute at the Democratic National Committee. While at the DNC Moore led the effort that established the Democratic party’s first 50-state election protection program throughout the U.S.
Moore helped lead an over 5-year advocacy effort for the reform of our nation’s archaic voter registration laws, and was instrumental in helping to steer the passage of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (The “Motor Voter” Act). He has worked for years for expanded ballot access and increased civic participation among underserved communities. Moore is currently serving as the Chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s National Board of Advisors and is the author of the recently released book, Beyond the Voting Rights Act: The Untold Story of the Struggle to Reform America’s Voter Registration Laws.
Safora Noor
Safora is a motivated student and advocate. She loves student government and is an avid member of her school, regional, and state SGA. She is also a part of the non-profit Dear Asian Youth (DAY) where she works with other like-minded individuals on advocacy and inspiring other young people to get involved with intersectional activism. She has helped coordinate a lobbying event which took place in DC and other locations in the US. She is currently working on many other exciting projects with DAY such as initiating a conference that will include guest speakers and workshops. Other than SGA and DAY, she is involved in Model United Nations as well as her school's speech and debate club in which she has competed at States! Safora also loves the environment and is a member of her school's environmental club as well as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. She can't wait to work with everybody in the Maryland Civic Education Coalition!
Sam Novey
Sam Novey is a Baltimore-based civic entrepreneur building diverse and long-lasting coalitions focused on expanding civic engagement at both the local and national level. He is co-founder of the Students Learn Student Vote Coalition, the national hub and largest non-partisan network in the country dedicated to increasing student voter participation. He is also a co-founder of the Baltimore Votes Coalition, which convenes community based organizations in Baltimore City to promote full participation in elections. Other notable growing civic projects Novey has been involved in founding and designing include the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, Party at the Mailbox, Maryland Civics Education Coalition, Ask Every Student, and the National League of Cities “Cities Vote” initiative. He lives in Abell with his spouse Becky, is a member of Beth Am Synagogue, and serves on the boards of the Baltimore City Chapter of the League of Women Voters and Maryland Rise.
Dr. Samélia Okpodu-Pyuzza
Dr. Samélia Okpodu-Pyuzza is an experienced civic leader, administrator, and women's economic empowerment advocate. Driven by a desire to build strong communities, she takes pride in using her passion for research and program development to build organizational systems that support harmony and efficiency. In addition to her primary functions, Samélia has been recognized for her extraordinary commitment to service and volunteerism and is an AmeriCorps Alumnus (Volunteer Maryland, '17) and currently serves as the Director of the Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism Maryland's State Service Commission.
William Onofre
William was born in Silver Spring and raised in Rockville, MD. He graduated from Wheaton High School in Montgomery County and is about to graduate from Mount St Mary's University with a bachelor's in Political Science with three minors in Business, Legal Studies, and History. Throughout his years in college, he found his passion for public service. He had the privilege to intern for the Governor's Office of Crime and Prevention Youth and Victim Services to assist claimants who fell victim to heinous crimes. And last April, he became Governor of the Maryland Student Legislature, a non-profit organization, elected by students across the State of Maryland. The Maryland Student Legislature is a mock legislature where students from different Maryland Colleges and Universities come together and debate their legislation for it to be signed and sent to Maryland Delegates and Senators for their consideration. He is proud to assist students to find their voice in Maryland politics. His job as Governor is to assist students in bill writing and legislative procedure, organize legislative and training events, and help students gain more knowledge/insight into how our Maryland Legislature functions.
Dr. Sandy Pope
Born in Austin, Sandy peaked as the number 53 ranked tennis player in the state of Texas. Now he prefers watching his son play soccer and his daughter act on stage. A former high school social studies teacher, he's spent enough time traveling that birds on four different continents have pooped on him. Today he’s an associate professor of social studies education at Salisbury University, where he is also director of the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement. His first book, Becoming a Holocaust Educator: Purposeful Pedagogy through Inquiry, is available from TC Press.
Leah Renzi
In her role as Coordinator of Social Studies at MSDE, Leah Renzi draws on her 22 years of classroom instruction for her leadership of social studies teaching and assessment. She works collaboratively with the twenty four school systems in Maryland to provide opportunities for students to become empowered, informed, and socially responsible participants in our nations democracy.
Felicity Ross
Felicity Ross is a teacher of gifted children at a public elementary/middle school in Baltimore City. She has an academic background in mathematics, psychology and gifted and talented education. She teaches in the graduate School of Education at Johns Hopkins University and also works with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth working on school choice work in Baltimore. She began her career through Teach for America. Felicity’s interests include reading, hiking, traveling and baking.
Lena Morreale Scott
Lena Morreale Scott has spent more than 35 years in civic education as a classroom teacher, author and curriculum designer, professional development leader, and advocate for social justice and equitable, meaningful civic education and engagement opportunities for young people. As director of the Civic Education & Engagement Initiative, and together with colleagues from University of Maryland’s College of Education, School of Public Policy, College of Behavior and Social Sciences and College of Journalism, Lena leads the Initiative for Democracy Research, Education, and Civic Action. She also supports collaborations such as college’s annual commemoration of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and the #EdTerpsVote campaign that provides students, faculty, and staff with resources to register to vote, become informed about the candidates and issues, and cast their ballots in upcoming elections. Lena is a member of the Vote 16 Research Network and the co-chair of the Cross-Campus Civic Engagement Working Group dedicated to elevating service and civic engagement on campus and in the region. Lena is a co-founder and co-chair of the Maryland Civic Education Coalition and represents Maryland on the State Policy Task Force of the CivXNow Coalition. Prior to joining the College of Education, Lena taught History and Government in Montgomery County Public Schools and served as the Senior Director for Teacher Professional Development Programs & Curriculum at Street Law, Inc. Lena has trained hundreds of teachers, lawyers, social workers, and other youth-serving professionals in the United States and several other countries. She is the author and editor of numerous textbooks and curricula about practical law, social justice, and civic engagement. She has served on multiple national civic education coalitions. Lena graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A in American Culture and holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Andrea Schulte
Andrea Schulte is in her 22nd year of teaching in QACPS. Her studio philosophy revolves around promoting students' authentic artistic voice in and beyond the classroom while scaffolding the technical skill to do so; resulting in an award-winning program. She's currently the Visual Arts Department Chair, advisor for NAHS and Art/Photo Club, and co-advises NHS. Mrs. Schulte is a member of NAEA, a presenter for MAEA, an AMES ambassador, and AP Educator. She's provided several professional development workshops in her county, most recently focusing on SEL. When she's not in teacher-mode Andrea loves to travel, wander museums and spend time with family and friends.
Katherine Volpe
Kate Volpe is a veteran teacher of Social Studies from Howard County Public Schools. She has spent over a decade at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia teaching social studies and supporting 9th graders as the 9th grade Instructional Team leader (for the last 8 years). She achieved her National Board Certification in 2019 and was the Maryland Council of Social Studies Teacher of the Year. She works tirelessly to help school break down barriers by providing training and instruction to teachers for the most vulnerable students in their building, including students living in poverty, students suffering from trauma and social emotional needs. Her most recent accomplishment has been planning and executing an addition of a Food Bank for the Wilde Lake community. She continues to dedicate her time to providing opportunities for student voice and student participation in civic engagment.
Anthony L. Wagner V
Anthony serves as associate director of Transform Mid-Atlantic, a network of 38+ colleges and universities in Maryland, DC, and Delaware dedicated to supporting the public purposes of higher education through civic and community engagement. At TMA, he oversees the Transform Mid-Atlantic Civic Fellowship student program and leads various programmatic and federal advocacy efforts in support of civic and community engagement education in the region. A strong proponent of public education and social studies education, his first transformational civics-related experiences occurred in high school through volunteering for political campaigns and wroting letters to the editor in his hometown newspaper. Anthony has studied various global systems of education by traveling and conducting research in contexts including Brazil, China, and South Africa. He is a full time doctoral student in international education at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development where he studies the differences between Brazil's public and private higher education sectors. Anthony received an MScEd degree in education, culture, and society from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in anthropology and political science at Gettysburg College.
Hailey Wildesen
Hailey is a current junior in Garrett County and a member of the coalition's Youth Advisory Council as a Liason to the Steering Committee. She is a student leader and advocate with a passion for civic education and increasing youth participation. As the Alternate Student Member of the Garrett County Board of Education and Board Member for the Garrett County Association of Student Councils, she works to advocate for her fellow peers and Civic Seals and how we can work to incentivize service and get Maryland youth engaged.
Deborah Wood
A museum and library, the Maryland Center for History and Culture collects, preserves, and interprets the history, art, and culture of Maryland. By exploring multiple perspectives and sharing national stories through the lens of Maryland, MCHC inspires critical thinking, creativity, and community. As Museum Learning Manager, Deborah Wood engages K-12 and lifelong learners in object- and primary source-based social studies education. Her goal is to galvanize young people to shape the world they want to see. In addition to being an out-of-school educator, Deborah is also an adjunct lecturer, although she started her career as a middle school EFL teacher. She has a Masters in History from the University of California, Berkeley, and a youth worker certification.