PRECEPT: EDUCATION IN AMERICA - October 1, 2015

The Princeton Club of Chicago and AlumniCorp invite you to hear perspectives from a panel of distinguished and dedicated alumni: Deborah Quazzo '82, Paige Ponder '96, Brian Johnson '99, Drew Geant '05, and moderator Stacy McAuliffe '98.

Education in America is a perpetual topic of debate and concern for policymakers, politicians, and parents.  While arguments can be made about the biggest problems and how to fix them, most agree that a one-size-fits-all model of public education will not generate the results we would hope for all students, families, and communities.  

Here in Chicago, a range of Princeton alumni are playing leadership roles in efforts to disrupt the status quo in education.  In this panel discussion, we will hear from four people with experience in diverse quarters of the education sector.  Each will reflect on the opportunities – and limitations – of their efforts to achieve meaningful impact in the experience of students and society. 

 
Thursday, October 1, 2015
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Northern Trust
Global Conference Center 
50 S LaSalle Street 
Chicago, IL 60603
Please use Monroe Street entrance 
  

 

This event is is FREE!

Many thanks to our generous hosts Jason Tyler '93 and Emile Karafiol '55. 

Click HERE to reserve by Tuesday, September 29th at 5 pm please!

If you have any difficulties registering on-line, please call the Princeton Club at 847-256-5800.

Questions?  Contact Stacy McAuliffe '98  @ sbmcauliffe@gmail.com


 

Stacy is Chief Operating Officer of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS).  In this role, Stacy leads the organization’s strategy development and execution, operations, and team development, and oversees several program areas.  Prior to INCS, Stacy was a Principal at the Chicago office of The Boston Consulting Group.  At BCG, Stacy worked in the Financial Services and Public Education practice areas, leading client projects for Fortune 500 corporations, major urban school districts and charter management organizations, and national foundations.  Earlier in her career, Stacy worked at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a Boston nonprofit focused on urban economic development, where she got her start as a Princeton Project ’55 Fellow.

Stacy holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and earned a BA with high honors from Princeton University, where she majored in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs with a minor in African Studies.  Stacy lives in Chicago with her husband and twin daughters.


 

Andrew is the Co-Founder and CEO of WyzAnt.  WyzAnt brings the proven impact of personalized learning to students of all ages via the largest tutoring marketplace and community in the US. K-12, college, and adult learners get convenient, private learning across a full range of academic subjects and professional skills.  Over 75,000 qualified tutors, teachers, & coaches offer their services in-person and online, and WyzAnt has a tutor within 10 miles of 95% of the population.

Drew co-founded WyzAnt in 2005 with his Princeton classmate, Mike Weishuhn. Today, WyzAnt has over 100 employees in offices in Chicago and San Francisco.  Over 2 million tutors and students have used the platform.  The company was bootstrapped with just $10,000 and has been cash flow positive since inception.  In the fall of 2013, WyzAnt raised its first round of funding from Accel Partners to help scale the company both within the US and internationally.  

Drew grew up in Maine and in his spare time enjoys golfing, skiing, fishing and trying new restaurants in town. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Katie, and labradoodle, Bogey.


As vice president of regional impact for Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), Brian, works to grow the organization’s field presence in communities across the nation. He began his career as a first grade teacher in Baton Rouge, La., and later went on to serve as executive director of Teach For America Los Angeles, a role in which he oversaw the placement of nearly 800 teachers in schools throughout the city. Brian also served as executive director of the Larchmont Schools, a small public charter school network whose two schools were among the highest performing in Los Angeles during his tenure. Brian was also a 2012 candidate for the California State Assembly representing California’s 46th District. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a juris doctor and MBA from Stanford University.  


 

Paige is CEO of One Million Degrees, an organization dedicated to helping low-income, highly motivated community college students succeed in school, in work, and in life. She joined One Million Degrees in 2012 after leading Project Exploration, a dynamic youth STEM organization. Prior to Project Exploration, Paige was Officer of Student Support and Engagement at Chicago Public Schools.

While at CPS, Paige designed and led initiatives to systematically drive up the number of freshmen who were on track to graduate by developing early warning indicators and disseminating promising practices for high schools to better support freshmen during this “make or break” year. Paige has experience in for-profit education having worked for The Grow Network and McGraw-Hill in product development, professional development, and client services capacities. She began her career as a Princeton Project 55 Fellow at Holy Cross School in the South Bronx, NY.

Paige graduated from Princeton in 1996 with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She earned an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2002. She lives in Chicago with her husband and their three little boys.


  

Deborah is the Founder and Managing Partner of GSV Advisors, a broker dealer providing advisory services to the education and human capital sectors. In addition, she is an active angel investor having made over 40 investments in the education and employment technology sectors. She also co-hosts, with Arizona State University, the annual ASU GSV Education Innovation Summit in Scottsdale, AZ. This event, now in its 7th year, with over 2,500 in attendance, celebrates innovations and innovators across the global education and human capital landscape.

Deborah currently serves on the board of Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW). She is a member of the boards of The Chicago Public Education Fund, The Common Ground Foundation, Degreed, KIPP: Chicago, Marwen, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and The Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition. She has also previously served on the board of a number of education organizations including the Chicago Board of Education, America’s Promise Alliance, Teach for America Chicago, and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Chicago. Deborah graduated cum laude with a BA in history from Princeton University in 1982 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1987.