Michael Rothman has been working with public schools since 1998, holding various roles in the Massachusetts Department of Education, the New York City Department of Education, and various nonprofit organizations. Over the years, his key areas of interest have been in pushing education reform by empowering educators and working with educators who serve the hardest to reach adolescents in urban public high schools. From 2000 to 2006, Michael served as the Executive Director of the Project for School Innovation, a nonprofit organization he helped found in Boston, Massachusetts, whose mission was to serve as a grassroots network for public school educators to share their success and drive school change. As the director of PSI, he presented at various national conferences including those of the National Staff Development Council, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the US Department of Education Charter Schools Office. After leaving PSI to join the Empowerment Schools effort in New York, Michael went on to found Eskolta School Research and Design, Inc., where he currently serves as Executive Director. Michael has edited 15 books on effective practices in public education and produced 8 videos on effective schools. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Brown University, a M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School, and served as a Jane Addams Fellow at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy. Michael currently serves as the chair of the Rutgers Early College Humanities Program (REaCH) advisory committee.
Jessica Furer has worked in the field of education for the past 11 years. She began her career as a high school social studies teacher at private schools in Philadelphia and New York City. Since then, she has held positions at the New York Community Trust and the New York City Department of Education. Most recently, Jessica worked as a Senior Program Officer for Transfer Schools at New Visions for Public Schools. While at New Visions, she provided guidance and support to teams of educators to create and launch six transfer schools and co-led the implementation of a data management system at 12 transfer schools. Jessica holds a B.A. in History from Yale University and a M.P.A. from New York University's Wagner School of Public Service.
Alicia Wolcott has worked in the field of education for over 5 years. Her background is in literacy and English Language Learning: she taught English in Hungary and in Rwanda, where she also facilitated teacher-trainings and co-directed a small non-profit providing creative-writing workshops for Rwandan youth. In addition, Alicia has worked with New York City transfer schools in the former Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation at the Department of Education. Last year, she developed and published a case study for UNICEF in India, and performed a qualitative assessment for the United Nations Country Team in Ghana. Alicia earned her B.A. from Brown University in Theatre Arts and Architectural Studies. She also holds an M.P.A. from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service in International Policy and Management.
Jessica has worked with children and youth in various educational settings for over five years. Before joining Eskolta, she worked at several out-of-school-time programs in New York and her hometown of San Jose, CA, teaching students from elementary to high school. Jessica is a long-serving board member of MASA, a non-profit organization that provides educational services and does advocacy work with underserved families in Mott Haven; she supervises their various programming initiatives. Jessica graduated from NYU’s College of Arts in Science with a BA in Metropolitan Studies and Spanish and Latin American Literature in 2008. She earned an MA in Sociology of Education, with a concentration in Education Policy, from NYU’s Steinhardt School in 2012.
Damian has extensive experience in the web development field. His goals are to make complex data very simple and easy to use, and to create intuitive tools that offer more efficient and simpler ways of doing things. He has interests in education and interactive data visualization. Originally from Cordoba, Argentina; Damian earned his Bachelor's Degree in Web Design from Tennessee Technological University in 2008. He has worked as an interactive developer for various education-related organizations.
Mike provides administrative support to the Eskolta Staff. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Management and also a graduate of University of Kentucky College of Law. While in Kentucky he worked in the UK Legal Clinic providing legal services to needy families.
Emily Hamilton is in her fourth and final year as an undergraduate at Columbia University, where she studies Neuroscience and Music. She is particularly interested in education psychology, and is considering it as an area for potential future study. In the past, Emily has interned in the concert promoting industry and in newspaper journalism.
Savanna has experience teaching in rural and urban communities in Honduras. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras she worked in protected areas management and environmental education. Her interests are in education and program evaluation, both in the U.S. and Latin America. She is currently a Master of Public Administration in Development Practice candidate at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Savanna earned her B.A. in International Studies and Spanish at the University of Oregon and has spent five years studying and working in Central America.
Ellen is an MPA Candidate in NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, studying Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy with an International concentration. Ellen is interested in working with program evaluation and performance measurement abroad, especially in Latin America. Ellen has worked with various nonprofits in an educator capacity, with topics ranging from Internet Safety to Spoken Word Poetry. She recently graduated from The George Washington University with a B.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.