NC Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest

Our state’s Lieutenant Governor will be our honored guest and deliver remarks at the Monday General Session Lunch.

Dave Machado

Executive Director of the NC Office of Charter Schools

Our state’s top charter schools official will also make remarks at Monday’s General Session.   Formerly the Chief Administrator of Lincoln Charter School, Machado now oversees the education of approximately 100,000 NC charter school students.

Marcus Brandon

Executive Director of CarolinaCAN

Brandon is the Executive Director of CarolinaCAN: The North Carolina Campaign for Achievement Now, a statewide movement working to give every North Carolina child access to a great public school.   Brandon demonstrated his long-held passion for service to his community by serving two terms as state representative in the North Carolina House of Representatives.   After serving in the General Assembly, he joined CarolinaCAN in 2014 to continue the work he started in the House Education Committee and put North Carolina schools back on top.

Shane Goodridge

Assistant Dean in Trinity College at Duke University.

Dr. Goodridge holds a Masters degree in history and a PhD in Education. Goodridge is an educational historian interested in how broad shifts in the American narrative have influenced the creation and implementation of education policy at both the state and federal level.   Currently, he is focused on exploring the place of school choice in general and charter schools in particular in American policy and history.   Prior to moving into research and post-secondary education, Goodridge taught in public and private schools in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Deborah Brown

2017 NC Charter Schools Teacher of the Year

Brown teaches high school English, Debate and Yearbook at Research Triangle High School in Durham where she also serves as Director of Professional Development and the English Department Chair.   She started her teaching career nearly thirty years ago and has taught in New York City, Boston, and Wake County Public Schools before transitioning into the charter sector.
 
Learn more about Brown through this video, a recently published Herald Sun news article, and follow her on Twitter at DeborahBrownNC.

Bryan Setser

Entrepreneur in Residence at rpk GROUP

At rpk GROUP, Setser partners with his team to develop the overall firm strategy and lends his expertise to both higher education and emerging K-12 clients.   Setser’s work in higher education has included leading the higher education practice at 2Revolutions, a leading national design firm where his portfolio included the American Council on Education, EDUCAUSE, and multiple foundations, universities, HBCUs, and community colleges.   In his K-12 work, he has served as a Chief Quality Officer, a Chief Design Officer, and CEO of the nation’s 2nd largest virtual school. 
 
Setser will follow-up on his 2014 Future of Learning TED Talk to provoke thought on how we define and engage in the work of preparing our young people for the future that awaits them.
 
View Bryan’s slides from our conference here.

Derrell Bradford

Executive Vice President of 50CAN & Executive Director of NYCAN

Bradford is the Executive Vice President of 50CAN and the Executive Director of NYCAN.   In his national role, Bradford recruits and trains local leaders across the 50CAN network for roles as CAN Executive Directors, fellows and YouCAN advocates.   He continues his work as the Executive Director of NYCAN and on network-wide innovations like the Corps Knowledge project. 
 
Bradford is also hosting a Q&A session at this year’s National Charter Schools Conference!   Learn more through his video.