(NOW AN ONLINE EVENT) Erie's Diversity is the Path to Prosperity: Tackling the Teacher-To-Student Mismatch

Court Gould, M.P.A., lives in downtown Erie and served 20 years as founding executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh. He established the organization as a leader in accelerating the policy and practice of sustainable development borrowing from cities around the world regarding local strategies for Smart Growth, Regional Equitable Development, DEI, Transportation for Livable Communities, Energy Visioning and Strategy, Outdoor Recreation, Sustainable Community Development, Blight and Abandonment, Sustainable Business Strategies, and more. After three years with the Erie Community Foundation as vice president of Community Impact, Gould is a sustainable solutions consultant and certified professional coach. His education includes an M.P.A. from the University of Southern California, and a BA in Political Science from Tufts University. He attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders and earned Professional Coach Certification from Duquesne University.

Tanya Garcia, Ph.D., is Deputy Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education. Garcia is a seasoned postsecondary policy executive with more than 20 years of experience across institutions, state government, national nonprofits, and philanthropy. She is an equity-minded, strategic leader with excellent written and verbal communication skills; accomplished project manager skilled at forming strategic partnerships, building sustainable coalitions, and achieving intended outcomes. Dr. Garcia is a nonpartisan, collaborative leader committed to systemic changes in policy and practice.

Sharif El-Mekki is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development.  The Center exists to ensure there will be equity in the recruiting, training, hiring, and retention of quality educators that reflect the cultural backgrounds and share common socio-political interests of the students they serve. Among initiatives, El-Mekki is a leader with the Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium, a grassroots organization of leaders striving to increase the number of teachers of color as well as culturally-responsive and sustaining educators in Pennsylvania. El-Mekki is a former principal and teacher and the founder of The Fellowship: Black Male Educators for Social Justice. He is a founding Member, Mayor’s Commission on African American Males; former U.S. Department of Education Principal Ambassador Fellow; U.S. delegate to the International Summit on Teaching and Learning; and the Conference on Integrating Refugees and Immigrants into Schools. El-Mekki is a popular blogger of Seventh Ward and a podcaster on 8 Black Hands.

Brian J. Polito, B.S., serves as the Superintendent of Erie’s Public Schools. He is a certified public accountant with more than 16 years of administrative experience in public education. He has also served as Assistant Superintendent and Business Manager for the North East School District and Business Manager for General McLane School District. He started his career in public accounting working for Schneider Downs and Buseck, Barger, Bleil & Company. Brian earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Penn State Behrend and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Mercyhurst University.

Ken Nickson, Jr., M.Ed. was born and raised in Erie and is a 1996 graduate of Central High School. He graduated from Clarion University of PA, in May 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Education, specializing in Elementary/Special Education.  He earned his Master’s in Educational Leadership in 2006 from Gannon University and currently holds a Principal Certificate and a Superintendent Letter of Eligibility. His professional career began in Pittsburgh, during the final semester of student teaching for Clarion, when he was hired as an Emotional Support teacher and given his own classroom in Pittsburgh’s Public Schools.  It was there that Ken began to fuse his formal education with his life experiences to impart knowledge and impact the lives of the 10 middle school aged boys under his tutelage.  Since then, Ken has worked his 20-year career with Erie’s Public Schools in various roles including his current role as Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion always holding the education and empowerment of the student as an integral priority.