Ivy Bardaglio, Boston Children’s Museum

Ivy works on the STEAM Programs Team at the Boston Children's Museum, where she develops innovative, hands-on public program for children and families. She has worked in public education in other capacities, including national parks, summer camps, and small non-profits. She graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN with a B.A. in Environmental Studies.

Ian Concannon, i2 Learning

Ian joined the i2 Learning team on the heels of Massachusetts STEM Week 2018, eager to help the organization grow from its roots in Boston across the commonwealth. Not one to shy away from a challenge, in 2020-2021 he has written curriculum and coordinated logistics for the i2 Full Year project. In doing so, he brings an abiding interest in shaping the roles of science and technology in our schools, our work and our world. When he is not playing with his i2 friends, Ian helps run meditation groups at the Center for Mindfulness & Compassion in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jane Drake, Center for Systems Awareness

Jane Drake is a leader in curriculum innovation for a global education group which develops international, values-based programmes of education for students around the world. Her work has included the design of systemic frameworks for programme implementation and development, development of principles for inclusion and the effective nurturing of collaborations with key organizations and researchers to develop and evidence transformational competencies such as international-mindedness.

Prior to this, Jane has gained over 24 years of experience in teaching and senior leadership roles dedicated to providing a high quality holistic and inclusive education for pupils from 3-18 years.

Jane is proud to have been part of the inception and incubation of the Compassionate Systems work. She passionately believes that it is education that builds our future. Jane recognizes that compassionate, systemic and regenerative solutions are vital to the future well-being of ourselves and our planet. To achieve these, it is essential to empower young people as agents of positive change. Jane is committing to this work as the next step to developing her own capacity so that she can apply her energies more effectively to ensuring that future unfolds.

Scott Geter, i2 Learning

After earning his B.A. in Biology from Rutgers University, Scott taught Science to middle schoolers in the Newark, NJ school district for ten years. Over the years, Scott has taught Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, and coached his school’s First Lego League Robotics team. He has also taken part in piloting programs that strive to integrate disciplines and was a recipient of the Voya Financial “Unsung Hero Award” with his colleagues.

Debby Greenstein, i2 Learning

After graduating from Penn with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Materials Science, Debby launched fully into the world of education — starting with a brief stint at i2. Two years of teaching elementary school in Chicago with Teach for America gave Debby a love for teaching and inspired her to pursue widespread change in education, so she came back to i2 ready to reach students around the country and the world.

Melissa Higgins, Boston Children’s Museum

Melissa Higgins is the Senior Director of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) at Boston Children’s Museum. Melissa has spent much of her career in Museums, starting at the Museum of Science in Boston, and also spent time at the education department at WGBH, Boston's public television station. While engineering education is Melissa's first love, she enjoys creating lots of different types of hands-on, minds-on activities that inspire children and educators to engage in and enjoy STEAM learning. Melissa holds a B.A. in Architectural Studies from Connecticut College and an M.A. in Museum Studies from the Harvard University Extension School.

Elissa Jordan, Boston Children’s Museum

Elissa Jordan is the Senior Manager of STEAM Curriculum at Boston Children’s Museum. Elissa started her career in education at the East Boston Early Education Center, part of Boston Public Schools. Over her 8 years at this school, Elissa served as a Surround Care Paraprofessional, K-3 Science Specialist, and a Kindergarten teacher in an inclusion classroom. Elissa made the leap to informal education in 2013 when she joined the EiE team (Engineering is Elementary) at the Museum of Science, Boston. Here, Elissa designed and facilitated professional development experiences for educators across the country and contributed to the creation of new engineering curriculum materials and supporting resources for teachers and for families. Elissa holds a B.A. in Theater Arts and a M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education, both from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Nate Lewallen, i2 Learning

After receiving his Master’s in Education from Boston College in the Donovan Urban Teaching Scholars Program in 2010, Nate taught science, vocational technology, and art within the Boston Public Schools for 10 years. He was selected as a TeachPlus Policy Fellow in 2016 where he advised state policy-makers on school accountability redesign and collaboratively developed teacher-led professional development programs across Massachusetts’ public, charter, and parochial school sectors. He values learning experiences that empower students and teachers by fostering collaboration and creativity.

Angela Marzilli, STEM and PBL Curriculum Consultant

Angela is currently the PreK-12 STEM and PBL Coordinator in the South Portland, Maine public school department. Her teaching career began with a focus on math, specifically K-8 gifted math education. After five years working in a pull-out program for gifted math students, Angela returned to the classroom where she facilitated project based learning in third, fourth, and fifth grades. She has led professional development workshops in inquiry based learning, math, science, and STEM integration as well as written STEM focused curriculum for grades 4-8 as a consultant for i2 Learning. Although Angela’s primary role now is as a facilitator of adult learning and curriculum developer, she keeps her hands in teaching though facilitating high school level project based forensic science and math classes and teaching elementary language arts classes. When not working, Angela enjoys reading mysteries, cooking, and having fun in Maine with her family including her two young daughters.

Alicia Peletz, PBL Coach

Alicia's work centers around progressive education, helping districts and schools to reimagine ways that will help them to serve students and families more equitably. Her work has helped to establish and maintain learner-centered school environments that emphasize constructivist pedagogy to shift education towards the needs of all learners. Alicia's areas of expertise include adult and online learning, instructional coaching, Restorative Practices, Project Based Learning, culturally relevant curriculum design, and facilitation.

Soraya Ramos, Center for Collaborative Education

Soraya works with the QPA team at CCE helping build capacity in schools and districts to design and implement equity based quality performance assessments. She served as an elementary school teacher in Chicago Public Schools and an Academic Coordinator for a college access organization before joining the CCE team. Soraya holds a B.A. in Political Science and Chicana/o Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and a M.Ed. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Peter M Senge, MIT

Peter M. Senge is the founding chair of SoL (Society of Organizational Learning), a global network of organizations, researchers, and consultants dedicated to the “interdependent development of people and their institutions”, Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management MIT, and cofounder of the Academy for Systemic Change, which seeks to accelerate the growth of the field of systemic change worldwide. His work centers on promoting shared understanding of complex issues and shared leadership for healthier human systems. This involves major cross-sector projects focused on global food systems, climate change, regenerative economies, and the future of education.

Peter is the author of The Fifth Discipline and coauthor of the three related fieldbooks: Presence, and The Necessary Revolution. The Fifth Discipline (over two million copies sold), was recognized by Harvard Business Review as “one of the seminal management books of the last 75 years,” and by the Financial Times as one of five “most important” management books. The Journal of Business Strategy named him one of the 24 people who had the greatest influence on business strategy in the 20th century. Recently, he was named to the “1000 Talents” Program (Renzai) in China to help China become a leader in systemic change, to benefit itself and the world.

Matt Taylor, Technology Consultant

Matt Taylor is an engineer, facilitator, and activist from Somerville, Mass. As an engineer, he worked at the MIT Media Lab building tools for young people to learn how to code, and also doing research in the ethics and governance of artificial intelligence (AI). As a facilitator, he has created and implemented learning experiences for young people to learn how to express themselves creatively through code, and also facilitated dialogue around anti-racism and inclusion. As an activist, he has fought for housing justice in the Greater Boston Area, and helped to organize a music and activism festival in Somerville called HONK!

Currently, Matt works at the intersection of technology, learning, and social justice. He designs and facilitates learning experiences for people of all ages in the Greater Boston Area, focusing on learning to code and demystifying AI for non-coders.