Your Hosts
Power Trip is hosted by Big Deal Media, in collaboration with an advisory board representing a spectrum of stakeholders including respected superintendents from across the country.
Big Deal Media
For more than two decades, Big Deal Media has been synonymous with identifying top-quality, groundbreaking content to enrich leading, learning, and teaching. Education professionals have pointed to the trust they have in its rich collection of free content and funding solutions and conveyed their confidence in sharing them with colleagues. It continues to grow through outreach to an ever-greater number of users, partners, and sponsors; refinements to an ebullient social media presence; and targeted development of one-of-a-kind educator events.
Marilyn Schutz
Founder and President, Big Deal Media
maschutz@bigdealmedia.com
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- Decades-long track record as an editor, publisher, and entrepreneur
- Held executive positions with Instructor magazine
- Worked with hundreds of companies in the education sector, including technology companies, textbook publishers, supplemental materials publishers, equipment manufacturers, and service providers
- Cofounded New York-based educational marketing organization
- Created semiannual Big Deal Book of Technology and biweekly K-12 Technology newsletter for tech directors, coordinators, integrationists, media specialists, curriculum directors, and tech-savvy educators
- Created the award-winning GetEdFunding.com website, which includes more than 5,400 sources of grant and other funding opportunities and has more than 65,000 K–12 and higher education users
- Created and hosts the annual Well-Being and Leadership Power Trip® for Women Superintendents and District Leaders
- Top Women in Media 2020 Honoree
Kathy Hurley
Power Trip Lead Senior Advisor
Kathleenmaryhurley@gmail.com
- Award-winning education industry veteran of long-standing
- Former classroom teacher
- Sought-after national and international speaker on leadership, workplace diversity, and gender-equity issues
- Senior advisor to numerous superintendent groups
- Formerly held executive positions with Pearson and IBM
- Former Executive Vice President of Education Alliances for Pearson Foundation
- Fellow of the Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) at Harvard University
- Cofounder of the nonprofit Girls Thinking Global
- Coeditor of Real Women, Real Leaders: Surviving and Succeeding in the Business World
- Board member Center for Teaching Quality, the Concord Consortium, and Jason Learning
- Advisory Board member for the New York Academy of Sciences
- Board member of top educational technology organizations: The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Software Information Industry Association (SIIA), and the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET)
Dr. Jennifer Ferrari
CEO and President, Education Research and Development Institute (ERDI)
jferrari@erdius.org
- Served as vice president and Chief Schools Officer of Distinctive Schools (Chicago and Detroit)
- Led Distinctive Schools five-year strategic planning process, supported principal leadership development, and oversaw the comprehensive academic model
- Former middle school teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and interim superintendent of North Shore School District 112 (IL)
- Led and scaled comprehensive dual language and personalized learning initiatives
- Skilled in leadership coaching, curriculum and instruction, and strategic planning
- Facilitates local, state, and national workshops
- Founded the ERDI Women’s Fellowship Network
- Facilitates rich national dialog among top education leaders about current problems of practice in preK–12
Dr. Jill Gildea
Superintendent, Park City School District (UT)
jgildea@pcschools.us
- Former superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools (CT)
- Former superintendent of Fremont School District (IL)
- Held positions as superintendent, assistant superintendent, educational programs director, curriculum director, high school division administrator, elementary principal, and has taught in middle and high schools
- Recognized as an exemplary educational leader for work in communications and fiscal management
- Finalist for the National Association of School Superintendents (NASS) Superintendent of the Year award
- National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) 2013 Golden Achievement Award in Communications
- Illinois Association of School Business Officials’ (IASBO) Meritorious Budget Award in Financial Budgeting for six consecutive years
Dr. Ann Levett
Superintendent, Savannah-Chatham Public Schools (GA)
marie.levett@sccpss.com
- Former deputy superintendent and chief academic officer
- Former deputy superintendent in Dayton, Ohio
- Held higher education positions at Antioch University and the Yale School of Medicine
- Managed grants and projects valued at more than $15 million
- Coordinated school/university partnerships across the United States and its territories
- Led school reform efforts in several European cities
- Appointed to the Board of Education for New Haven Public Schools (2017)
- Served as a board member for two New Haven charter schools
- Served in several key positions at the state level and maintained positions in a range of national and international organizations
- A published author, nationally known speaker, and consultant on international projects
Jo-Ann McDevitt
McDevitt & Company
jomcdevitt@yahoo.com
- Veteran educational publishing executive: Publisher, Technology & Learning; Associate publisher, Peter Li Education Group
- Vice president and manager of strategic partnerships, Association of American Publishers, preK–12 Learning Group
- Consultant to K–12 Publishers, educational technology organizations, and nonprofit associations
- Former teacher, administrator, and higher education instructor for preservice teachers
- Launched first math computer center in Pasadena, California elementary school
- Served as a K–3 media center coordinator and teacher of environmental education for physically challenged junior high and high school students
Lisa Schmucki
Founder and CEO of edWeb.net
- K–12 education industry veteran with more than three decades of experience
- Founder of edWeb.net, a best-in-class online platform, which hosts more than 400 live presentations a year in professional learning communities
- Provides a collaborative forum for district leaders to understand and share the many challenges of leading schools and driving school improvement
- Held senior marketing positions with Films Media Group, Achieve3000, MKTG Services, Peterson’s Guides, Macmillan Book Clubs, and Time-Life Books
- Board member of the Education Research Development Institute (ERDI) and the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET)
- Three-time recipient of the SIIA CODiE Award for edWeb.net as Best Professional Learning Solution for Faculty and Staff
Dr. Kim Wallace
Associate Director, 21st Century California School Leadership Academy, University of California, Berkeley
sayswallace@gmail.com
- Oversees a statewide grant to develop California K–12 aspiring and practicing leader
- Author of Leading the Launch: A Ten-Stage Process for Successful District Initiatives (Release Date Aug. 2021 by Solution Tree Press)
- Decades of diverse public education experience as a high school teacher, instructional coach, university instructor, and site and district administrator
- Former superintendent of Fremont Unified School District (CA)
- Expertise in Educational Technology, Curriculum Design, Public Speaking, Professional Development, and Strategic Planning
- Named Administrator of the Year, Curriculum and Instruction (ACSA Region 6) and Excellence in Education Administrator of the Year award from the Yolo County School Boards Association
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