Judging panel

At the Maryland State Department of Education, Akilah S. Alleyne, Ph.D., is at the forefront of crafting education policies that champion equity and access. As Executive Director, Alleyne steers legislative strategy and nurtures pivotal relationships with policymakers at all levels of government. Her tenure with the Center for American Progress honed her leadership in K-12 educational policy, where she collaborated on transformative initiatives. Alleyne’s interdisciplinary research in sociology, education, and criminology focuses on the impact of state-level education policies on students’ home-to-school commuting experience, school choice, plans to attend college, and other education-related outcomes. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Delaware.

Noah Bookman serves as the Chief Solutions Officer at Education Analytics, where he leads product development, business development, and partner development.  Prior to joining EA, Bookman launched and led California’s CORE Data Collaborative, which at its pre-pandemic height included approximately 200 LEAs, representing one-third of California’s K-12 students. Bookman previously taught English in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Sunanna Chand is in service of Teach For America’s R&D engine, the Reinvention Lab. The Reinvention Lab builds new offerings on the cutting edge of the future of learning and shares what it learns to shape the organization and the field. Previously, Sunanna was Executive Director of Remake Learning in Pittsburgh, a diverse network of 600+ schools, museums, libraries, government, philanthropies, and more, working together to create engaging, relevant, and equitable learning experiences for each and every young person across the region. Sunanna holds a master’s in International Education Policy and Management from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.

James Doyle is a Program Officer at The Grable Foundation, supporting grantmaking activities for youth-serving organizations across the Greater Pittsburgh region. Previously, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Environmental Charter School and as the Executive Director of Higher Achievement Pittsburgh. Doyle is a member of the Remake Learning Council and a Board Member and Governance Committee Chair for the Jefferson Regional Foundation. Doyle earned a doctorate in Education with a concentration in Out-of-School Learning from the University of Pittsburgh in 2020.

Mary Filardo is a leading national authority and advocate for improving the equity, efficiency, and quality of public school facilities. She founded the 21st Century School Fund in 1994 to improve the policies and practice for planning, design, construction, management, and financing for the District of Columbia public schools. Then, in 2001, she started Building Educational Success Together (BEST) to work nationally on these issues. She has written extensively on public school facility issues. She received a bachelor’s in Philosophy and Mathematics from St. John’s College and a master’s in Public Policy from the University of Maryland.

Julia Freeland Fisher is the Director of Education Research at the Clayton Christensen Institute. The Institute’s research educates policymakers and community leaders on the power of disruptive innovation in the K-12 and higher education spheres. Fisher is the author of “Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students’ Networks.” Her work focuses on innovations that deepen and diversify students’ stock of social capital by enhancing their access to and ability to navigate peer, mentor, and professional networks. Julia started her career at NewSchools Venture Fund. She holds a bachelor’s from Princeton University and a law degree from Yale University.

Deborah L. McKoy, Ph.D., is the Executive Director and Founder of the UC Berkeley Center for Cities + Schools at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development. She also holds an appointment as a Research Professor of City and Regional Planning. Her focus is on the intersection of educational reform, urban planning, community development, and public policy. Previously, McCoy was Consultant to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Chief of Economic Development at the NYC Housing Authority, and Consultant to the United Nations Education For All initiative. Deborah recently co-authored a book, “Planning Cities With Young People and Schools: Forging Justice and Generating Joy.”

Erin Mote is the CEO and Founder of InnovateEDU, where she leads the organization and its significant projects across policy, practice, and technology. Mote leads the organization’s work on creating uncommon alliances to create systems change — in special education, talent development, and data modernization. She is also the co-founder, along with her husband, Dr. Eric Tucker, of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School. Mote has spent much of her career focused on expanding access to technology in the U.S. and abroad, through groundbreaking initiatives that include scaling wireless communications to the developing world, developing global and national strategic technology plans, and working with the country’s leading technology companies.

Sierra Noakes serves as Digital Promise’s Director of Edtech Evaluation, where she partners with education leaders, researchers, and edtech developers to center learner and practitioner voice and learning sciences research in the evaluation and procurement of edtech and emerging technologies. Noakes leads partnerships and research that spotlight innovative strategies for districts to evaluate technology. She aims to ensure learners access technology designed for powerful learning and positive experiences. Prior to Digital Promise, Sierra was a teacher in Brooklyn, New York. Sierra earned a master’s in Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s in Government from Claremont McKenna College.

Jessica Sticklor-Lipson is a licensed architect and Design Principal at Fielding International, focusing on the design of learning environments since 2016. She is dedicated to enhancing education through the intersection of holistic well-being and the physical environment, and collaborates with educators and fellow designers to create the conditions for all learners to thrive. She has previously worked with the District of Columbia Public Schools, leading the six-year Capital Improvement Plan and researching best practices in school design, fostering collaboration and engagement at the district level. Sticklor-Lipson holds a master’s in Architecture from The Catholic University of America and a bachelor’s in Media Arts and Design from James Madison University.