Heidi Holder, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, is the Chair of Education at The Met. She is responsible for the department’s vision and oversees all educational programs and events for a diverse range of audiences locally and across the globe. She has over 20 years’ experience in museums and higher education, where she has developed and led STEM and college student success programs, innovative community engagement initiatives, and art and wellness programs. Her work in museum interpretation investigates the role of language, justice, and interactive maker-spaces in promoting equity in museum settings and explores ways for communities to connect to art in ways other than talking and looking. Most recently, she was the concept lead for the creation and implementation of the 81st Street Studio, The Met’s new interactive children’s space. She previously served as director of education at the Queens Museum and director of education at the Museum for African Art in New York, now The Africa Center. Holder holds a doctorate in Urban Education from the Graduate School and University Center, CUNY.

Seth Pinsky joined The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), New York’s global center for culture, connection and enrichment and the leading Jewish cultural and community center in the world, as Chief Executive Officer in January 2020.  At 92NY, Pinsky has overseen the growth of the institution’s online reach, an institutional rebrand, the roll-out and implementation of a $200 million master redevelopment plan and the renewal and reimagination of 92NY’s programming across its many departments. Previously, Pinsky was an EVP at RXR Realty, where he led RXR’s efforts to invest in “emerging opportunities” in the New York region.  Earlier, Pinsky oversaw the development of Mayor Bloomberg’s $20 billion plan to protect New York from climate change impacts and, from 2008 to 2013, was President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Pinsky started his career as an associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and analyst at James D. Wolfensohn Inc.  He graduated from Columbia College and Harvard Law. 

Emilie Jones is an 8th grade ELA teacher whose driving force is making sure students see themselves in the classroom. She also runs a student advisory group, amplifies student voice in the classroom through student driven podcasts and digital portfolios, and encourages students to become change-makers in their communities. Passionate about diversity and inclusion, Emilie is a tireless advocate for LGBTQ+ representation and acceptance. From writing LGBTQ+ curriculum for the DOE to spearheading initiatives like the LAMBDA Literary Program and the Pride Club, she creates safe and affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ youth. She also serves on the Instructional Leadership Team, the Principal's Planning Team, and the International Baccalaureate Committee, shaping the school's academic direction and fostering a globally minded educational environment. Additionally, Emilie is the director of the popular drama department, which counts a third of students in the school as participants.

Kate D. Levin oversees the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts program, supporting a range of organizations and activities in the United States and around the world. Current initiatives include management training, public art, and digital technology. She is also a principal at Bloomberg Associates in Cultural Assets Management.

From 2002-2013, Levin served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Managing the largest single arts funder in the U.S., she increased support for cultural organizations, and expanded creative sector participation in economic development, tourism, human service, and education initiatives. Levin oversaw the city’s permanent public art commissioning program, and helped develop and promote numerous temporary exhibitions and performances.

The inaugural Fellow at the National Center for Arts Research at Southern Methodist University and a former professor of English at City College/CUNY, Levin also served in the administration of New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

Dr. Betty A. Rosa is the Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York. Prior to serving as Commissioner and Interim Commissioner, she served as the Chancellor and Member of the Board of Regents. Dr. Rosa is a nationally recognized education leader and received an Ed. M. and Ed. D. in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University.

She also holds two other Master of Science in Education degrees, one in Administration and Supervision and the other in Bilingual Education from the City College of New York and Lehman College, respectively, and a B.A. in psychology from the City College of New York. She has more than 30 years of instructional and administrative experience with an expertise in inclusive education, cooperative teaching models, student achievement, and policy implementation.

Jessica Abrams is a middle school STEM teacher at Liberty Avenue Middle School in Brooklyn. She wrote and obtained grants providing $250,000 for technology in STEM equipment and $175,000 to start a hydroponics lab in the school. She has recently petitioned the NYC Parks Department to dedicate an outdoor space next to the school so she can expand the hydroponics lab and create a sustainable community garden for the families and the broader community.

Having been trained in Culturally Responsive Team techniques, Abrams piloted student-led restorative justice circles. She also facilitates a girl’s group called Girls Empowerment Movement (GEM). Some of the GEMs joined Jessica when she took 25 students to Europe in May to submerge themselves in different cultures and life experiences as part of a leadership program culminating in a service learning project based on what they learned as global citizens.

Michael Driskill spent ten years in the classroom, teaching each grade from 6-12 and courses ranging from Introductory Algebra to Linear Algebra. His teaching experience includes both public and independent schools, where he has held positions as a classroom teacher, teacher researcher, instructional specialist, and dean. He studied teacher selection and professional development in Tokyo and Nagaoka, as a recipient of the Japan Memorial Fulbright Grant.

Michael received his M.A. in Secondary Mathematics Education from The City University of New York, Brooklyn College, and a B.S. in Physics with a minor in Mathematics from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has pursued graduate-level studies in mathematics and school administration at NYU and Hunter College, respectively. He is interested in the ways that teachers continue to learn about their subject, the craft of teaching, and the students they teach.

Bob Hughes oversees the work to ensure that we prepare all students for success in college and career.

Before joining the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, Bob was president of New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City school network of 70 district schools serving approximately 45,000 students. Bob has also led or been involved in individual and class action litigation in special education and state school finance. He started his career providing legal representation to homeless parents and students in the New York City public school system and worked extensively with community organizers around education issues.

Bob serves as a board member of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Prior board affiliations include Advocates for Children of New York, Fund For Teachers, and Projects in Education, the nonprofit publisher of Education Week.

Nisa Mackie is passionate about arts learning and its potential to provide tools to navigate our increasingly complex world. She is particularly excited by designing experiences with and for young people. Mackie joined the Museum of Modern Art after holding several roles at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, first as Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs and, most recently, as Head of Public Engagement, Learning, and Impact. In her leadership roles at various institutions she has developed and managed innovative artist residencies, public programs, teen learning, children and family programs, and experiments in on-site and online engagement and interpretation, infusing community capacity-building and culturally responsive learning strategies to build deeper relationships with audiences locally, nationally, and internationally. She recently co-edited the book “How-to Kit” with Simona Zappas and Yolanda Majors, published by the Walker Art Center. It is a compendium designed to support museum educators to design teen programs at their institutions.

Dr. Betty A. Rosa is the Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York. Prior to serving as Commissioner and Interim Commissioner, she served as the Chancellor and Member of the Board of Regents. Dr. Rosa is a nationally recognized education leader and received an Ed. M. and Ed. D. in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University.

She also holds two other Master of Science in Education degrees, one in Administration and Supervision and the other in Bilingual Education from the City College of New York and Lehman College, respectively, and a B.A. in psychology from the City College of New York. She has more than 30 years of instructional and administrative experience with an expertise in inclusive education, cooperative teaching models, student achievement, and policy implementation.

Anastasia Difino holds great pride in teaching in the very same district she grew up in as an English Language Learner herself born to Greek immigrant parents. After graduating from Townsend Harris High School, she completed her Bachelor’s in Communications at Hofstra University, her Master’s in Elementary Education along with Advanced Certificate in TESOL at Queens College and has recently received her Certificate for School Building Leadership from Molloy University.

She teaches ELA and Social Studies through an interdisciplinary approach as she has carefully crafted thematic units to engage her 5th graders in meaningful learning. She has also piloted the DOE's Civics for All initiative in her school within her classroom and the Student Council. As a model teacher, Anastasia’s classroom serves as a lab classroom in her school and district Aside from her work inside the classroom, Anastasia is a member of her school’s Instructional Leadership and Equity Team.

Richard Haynes was raised in New York and Virginia and received his undergraduate degree from UVA and a Masters from the Johns Hopkins University. He has spent over 15 years working in education in various roles, first as a middle school teacher in Baltimore through Teach for America, then with different offices at NYC DOE from Analyst at Human Resources to work on the Expanded Success Initiative, a public-private partnership that supported improved educational outcomes for Black and Latino young men across 40 high schools in New York City schools.

As Director of School Support, Richard currently supports the programmatic efforts of NYC Men Teach, an initiative through the Office of the Mayor’s Young Men’s Initiative (YMI), in partnership with the NYC Department of Education and City University of New York (CUNY). Launched in 2015, NYC Men Teach has already met its initial goal to recruit an additional 1,000 male teachers of color to teach in New York City schools.

Bob Hughes oversees the work to ensure that we prepare all students for success in college and career.

Before joining the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, Bob was president of New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City school network of 70 district schools serving approximately 45,000 students. Bob has also led or been involved in individual and class action litigation in special education and state school finance. He started his career providing legal representation to homeless parents and students in the New York City public school system and worked extensively with community organizers around education issues.

Bob serves as a board member of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Prior board affiliations include Advocates for Children of New York, Fund For Teachers, and Projects in Education, the nonprofit publisher of Education Week.

Dr. Betty A. Rosa is the Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York. Prior to serving as Commissioner and Interim Commissioner, she served as the Chancellor and Member of the Board of Regents. Dr. Rosa is a nationally recognized education leader and received an Ed. M. and Ed. D. in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University.

She also holds two other Master of Science in Education degrees, one in Administration and Supervision and the other in Bilingual Education from the City College of New York and Lehman College, respectively, and a B.A. in psychology from the City College of New York. She has more than 30 years of instructional and administrative experience with an expertise in inclusive education, cooperative teaching models, student achievement, and policy implementation.

Eugenie Tsai joined the Brooklyn Museum in 2007 as John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art. Previously she was Director of Curatorial Affairs at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens, New York. Prior to Joining P.S. 1, in 2005, she was an independent curator with projects for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Berkeley Museum; and the Princeton University Art Museum.

She held several positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art prior to becoming Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs. Among the exhibitions and installations she has organized are the mid-career survey Threshold: Byron Kim, 1990–2004; Robert Smithson, which received the International Association of Art Critics’ first place award for the best monographic exhibition of 2005; and for Princeton University, Shuffling the Deck: The Collection Reconsidered. Tsai received a B.A. from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Thelma Golden is Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, where she began her career in 1987 before joining the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1988. During her decade at the Whitney Museum, she was a member of the curatorial team for the 1993 Biennial, organized numerous exhibitions, and served as Director of the Whitney Museum at Phillip Morris. She returned to the Studio Museum in 2000 as Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs, and was named Director and Chief Curator in 2005.

Thelma holds a B.A. in Art History and African American Studies from Smith College. She is a leading expert in the works of artists of African descent. She is active as a curator, lecturer and panelist, speaking about contemporary art and culture at national and international institutions, and has held visiting faculty positions at colleges and universities including Bard College, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Yale University

Pam is the Executive Director of the New York region of Facing History and Ourselves. She joined Facing History in 1998 and served as Facing History’s New York Director of Development and Associate Director of Advancement until 2018. As a key member of the senior leadership team, Pam provided strategy and vision for the growth of Facing History in the region.

Pam also represents Facing History at regional and national conferences and has led fundraising and programming efforts for organization-wide projects, contributing to the increase in the number of schools and communities served.

Before Pam joined Facing History, she earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and taught humanities and French as a middle school teacher. She was also the Director of Breakthrough Cambridge, MA, an academic enrichment program for talented, low-income, middle school students.

Dana Monteiro has twenty years of experience as a music educator in the New York City public school system. He holds a B.S. in music education from N.Y.U., a M.A. in music education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a doctoral degree in music education from Boston University. Originally a classical trumpet player, his interest in Brazilian music began on a trip to Rio de Janeiro, where he was brought by local musicians to the Vila Isabel Samba School.

Since that first visit, Monteiro has made 23 study related trips to Brazil to learn and perform samba percussion and to conduct research for his dissertation titled Samba: The Sense of Community in Participatory Music. Monteiro has studied at over twenty samba schools in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In addition, he has made visits to samba schools and community music ensembles throughout the United States as well the United Kingdom, Japan, Uruguay, Argentina, and the Cape Verde Islands to study local musical practices and more importantly, the various methods for how music is taught.

Dr. Betty A. Rosa is the Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York. Prior to serving as Commissioner and Interim Commissioner, she served as the Chancellor and Member of the Board of Regents. Dr. Rosa is a nationally recognized education leader and received an Ed. M. and Ed. D. in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University.

She also holds two other Master of Science in Education degrees, one in Administration and Supervision and the other in Bilingual Education from the City College of New York and Lehman College, respectively, and a B.A. in psychology from the City College of New York. She has more than 30 years of instructional and administrative experience with an expertise in inclusive education, cooperative teaching models, student achievement, and policy implementation.

Ashleigh Thompson is CUNY’s University Dean for Education. She oversees Teacher Education across CUNY, a portfolio encompassing more than 18,000 education students pursuing associate to doctoral degrees. Dr. Thompson convenes the Deans and Chairs from CUNY’s Schools and Departments of Education, creating and implementing University-wide strategy for teacher preparation both internally and with outside partners.

She directs many CUNY-wide education initiatives, including NYC Men Teach, an engagement and recruitment effort of the Mayor’s Office aimed to inspire more men of color to become teachers in NYC. She is also Principal Investigator on CUNY’s NYC Teaching Fellows partnership with the NYC DoE.

Dr. Thompson received her B.A. in English and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame, her M.S.A. in Nonprofit Administration from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, and a Ph.D. in Urban Education specializing in Policy Studies from The Graduate Center, CUNY.