L.I.V.E. WORLD FORUM - FORUM ON EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

FORUM ON EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Keynote Speakers:

Fred Mednick - CEO, TEACHERS WITHOUT BORDERS

Deborah Bial - CEO & Founder, POSSE FOUNDATION

William Goodloe - CEO & President, SPONSORS FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

Lindsay Kruse - Senior Director of Human Capital, UNCOMMON SCHOOLS

Gerald Topitzer - Executive Director, JPMORGAN; Co-Founder & COO, ADVANCING RURAL KIDS (ARK)

Keynote Speaker Bios: http://educationforum2009.eventbrite.com/

Date:      Friday, September 18, 2009

Time:     6:00 - 8:00 PM 

Venue:   Sara Meltzer Gallery, 26th Street, New York City

The L.I.V.E. WORLD Forum on Education for Social Change will feature CEOs and leaders of organizations that are driving innovation in the future of education, and changing the landscape of opportunities for educating youth in America and around the world.

www.liveworldsummit.com

BIOS OF SPEAKERS

FRED MEDNICK

Founder & CEO, TEACHERS WITHOUT BORDERS

After more than 20 years as a teacher and principal, Dr. Fred Mednick founded Teachers Without Borders (TWB) in 2000, a nonprofit organization that provides professional training for teachers worldwide and helps them to play a more vital role in their communities.

Believing that a commitment to global education is a universal responsibility, Dr. Mednick has traveled extensively throughout the world and lent his time, skills, and training to onsite development forums, most recently in Dujiangyan, China-the region of the May 2008 earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people. Convinced that education and international development go hand in hand, the key and ultimate vision behind the creation of TWB is to care for the caretakers.

Dr. Mednick received his undergraduate degree at the University of California, his master’s degree at the Claremont Colleges, and his doctorate degree¬¬ at Seattle University. He wrote his dissertation on: “The Qualities of an Educated Teen for the 21st Century,” which extends a U.N.E.S.C.O. report into the realm of implementation. Up to the founding of TWB, he served as the head of two prominent schools in the United States, both with extensive programs recognizing individual learning strengths, strengthening faculty professional development, community service, and global education. He is the author of Rebel Without A Car: A Principal’s Guide to Adolescence , which has been published throughout the United States and Europe, and was excerpted in a compilation called: “Parent School: The Best Parenting Books of our Time.” The book provided him the unique opportunity to work with the late Dr. Benjamin Spock.

Fred's work with Teachers Without Borders has led his invitation to the prestigious Global Creative Leadership Summit (100 of the world's promising leaders) and was Cisco Systems' guest at the Nobel Prize summit in 2006.

WILLIAM GOODLOE

CEO, SPONSORS FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

William Goodloe is President & CEO of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), a nonprofit organization based in New York City, with offices in London, England. William has gained national recognition for creating and expanding comprehensive programs that prepare young people of color for leadership roles in society.

Founded in 1963, SEO programs serve over 1,000 young people each year. The SEO Scholars Program prepares high potential NYC public high school students to earn entry and excel at the nation's most selective colleges and universities. The SEO Career Program recruits and trains college students for summer internships that lead to full-time jobs with participating investment banks, law firms and other top companies.

Since William joined SEO in 2001, the number of students served annually has tripled, the endowment has quadrupled, and annual revenues have increased more than 75%. William also directed the launch of a capital campaign, which allowed SEO to fully fund the purchase of a permanent headquarters, consolidating three NYC offices into one location.

From 1996 through 2001 William was Executive Director of Inner-City Scholarship Fund, which raises funds to assist Catholic schools serving children from low-income families. During his tenure, annual revenues increased by 70% and an endowment campaign raised an additional $68 million, leading to significant increases in student scholarships and capital repairs to schools.

William also served as Vice President of the Center for Youth Development after beginning his career in advertising and sales management, including positions with Procter & Gamble and Corning Inc.

In 2006, William was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to serve on the NYC Commission for Economic Opportunity. He is currently a trustee of the Altman Foundation and a board member of the National Center for Black Philanthropy. Other volunteer activities include serving on the advisory boards of the Foundation Center and the Columbia University M.S. Program in Fundraising Management. William is also former board President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Greater New York Chapter.

William received his MBA from Columbia Business School and his undergraduate degree from American University. 

DEBORAH BIAL

PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, POSSE FOUNDATION

Deborah Bial is an education strategist who addresses the challenges of college access for underrepresented populations by identifying and fostering latent talent and opening opportunities for them to pursue higher education.  Traditional admissions metrics such as grade point average, class rank, and entrance exam scores have long been recognized as inadequate predictors of success for some undergraduates.  Through her Posse Foundation, Bial offers an alternative model for identifying promising young people from less advantaged, urban environments.  Working with public high schools and other community organizations, Bial evaluates potential candidates using a rigorous assessment process based on qualities such as leadership, teamwork, communication skills, and motivation – qualities that are as critical to successful navigation of undergraduate education as academic track records.  The most promising students are invited to join a “posse,” a small group that participates in an eight-month, pre-collegiate training program that builds individual and team skills and serves as an essential social support system once students arrive at college.  In parallel, she develops partnerships with admissions officials from dozens of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities, offering a powerful means to augment the cultural and economic diversity of their institutions.  Bial is now refining her model to provide a focused program for students specifically interested in science and medicine.  Today, 90 percent of “posse” students graduate, a rate significantly higher than the national average.  By demonstrating the importance of less-recognized skills in educational achievement, Bial continues to open doors for thousands of students and to reframe college admissions into a more successful and inclusive process.

Deborah Bial received a B.A. (1987) from Brandeis University and an M.A. (1996) and Ed.D. (2004) from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.  She has served as the founder and president of the Posse Foundation since 1989.  Bial is also a founding partner of the consulting company Firefly Education LLC.

GERALD TOPITZER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JP MORGAN CHASE

Jerry is an Executive Director in JPMorgan's Capital Structure Advisory & Solutions Group within the Investment Bank and leads a team called Working Capital Solutions. He is responsible for developing innovative hedging and structured finance solutions for clients primarily around working capital issues using structured credit and credit derivative products.

Prior to joining JPMorgan's CSAS group Jerry led JPMorgan's Structured Trade Finance Group focusing on cross-border structured finance transactions.  At various points in his career, Jerry has had responsibility for coverage of the transportation, telecommunications, retail and diversified industrial sectors.  Throughout his career, he has been involved in new product development initiatives to help create liquid distribution mechanisms for typically illiquid assets, such as receivables, leases, derivative counterparty risks, LCs, project finance, and distressed assets.

Jerry holds two provisional patents on financial services products.

Jerry joined the heritage Chase organization in February of 1996. He received an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from Haverford College.