James Accomando

Jim brings more than 25 years of experience within the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. Jim has been President of his local high school PTA, his District PTA Council, President of the state of Connecticut, and President of the National PTA Association (2017-2019) with 22,000 PTA units and more than 4 million members. An Eagle Scout, Jim is the current President of the Connecticut Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Jennifer Shemtob

Jenn started her career as a teacher in the Lower Lower Merion School District and the Philadelphia School District, where she worked for over a decade.  She is also the Founder and CEO of Teacher Time to Go, a “travel to you” and virtual tutoring company providing Individualized learning curriculum to hundreds of families. Jennifer holds a Master’s in K-12 Education and is triple-certified in Elementary Education, Special Education, and Early Childhood Education.

Larry Anderson

As MIT’s Varsity Men’s Basketball coach for the last 28 years, Larry has won over 400 games, 6 NEWMAC tournament championships, 9 NCAA tournament bids, and 1 NCAA Final Four (2011-12). Larry thrives on interacting with students, teaching them novel skills, and seeing them improve and achieve proficiency so they can participate in an activity for a lifetime. Larry was inducted into The New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. Larry is also a physical education teacher in MIT’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation.

Kat Clark

Kat was a senior manager on Apple’s education team before leaving to elevate teachers’ voices. She is currently leading a project called Teachers in Their Power, focused on shifting the narrative about the teaching profession. Over the past ten years, Kat worked in four schools (including Khan Academy’s) before moving into tech to help educators buy homes in expensive cities. She consults for early-stage edtech companies and holds an MBA from Berkeley-Haas.

Lauren Wesnak Smith

Lauren is a seasoned educator who has worked in public and private schools for the last 15 years. She was the founding middle school humanities teacher at Khan Lab School, where she developed a curriculum that emphasized project-based and concept-based learning. She has worked as a personalized learning teacher at the Ellis School, and her expertise in personalized learning has made her a sought-after educational consultant. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Vermont.

Bonnie Elmquist

Bonnie has over 35 years of experience in the field of speech and language pathology throughout the state of Minnesota, in school, clinical, and hospital settings. She holds a master’s degree in communication disorders, as well as certificates in instructional technology and assistive technology.