2008 Education Summit

meet the speakers

Keynote speakers

Harold Hodgkinson, who grew up in Minnesota, is director of the Center for Demographic Policy in Alexandria, Va. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota and his doctorate at Harvard University. He has conducted research for the U.S. Office and Department of Education, city and state governments as well as many private organizations, and has
written 12 books and more than 200 articles.

Paul H. Anderson is an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Prior to being named to the court, he was Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Anderson came to the bench in 1992, after having been an associate and partner in LeVander, Gillen and Miller, and a Special Assistant Attorney General. He also served as attorney for Volunteers in Service to America and was a neighborhood attorney for New Haven (Conn.) Legal Assistance. Anderson has been a member and officer of the ISD 199 School Board and district committees.

Featured Speakers

Angela M. Eilers, Growth and Justice Research and Policy Director, has been engaged as an educational researcher/evaluator, professor and advocate of educational policy issues since 1989. Her area of expertise is in reform, implementation and evaluation of educational issues especially as they intersect with issues of urban and rural poverty. Many of Dr. Eilers’ publications address the social institutions and policies designed to promote educational advancement for socially disadvantaged students. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis.

Matt Entenza graduated with honors from Macalester College in Saint Paul with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. He then studied law at Oxford University, taught comparative politics, sociology and economics to high school students and received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. Entenza began his watchdog activities at the Minnesota Attorney General's office. He also was an assistant professor at Saint Mary's University, teaching law to graduate students. He next joined the Hennepin County Attorney's office as an assistant county attorney prosecuting white-collar crime. Elected to the Minnesota House in 1994, Entenza was a leader in education, fighting for better school nutrition programs and exposing fraudulent practices involving charter school administrators. He is also known for his efforts fighting for property tax relief. He completed six terms in the House, serving as minority leader during the last two. Upon leaving the House of Representatives at the end of 2006, Entenza resumed work as an attorney, concentrating on issues relevant to nonprofit organizations. He is the chair of Minnesota 2020, an emerging public think tank.

Alissa Frost is in her third year of teaching First Steps Preschool in the Aquila Primary Center of the St. Louis Park Public Schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Florida State University. Her varied work experiences include elementary classroom teaching, teaching and directing child care, special education and IB PYP. She loves tackling the challenges of creating a new program and straddling the two worlds of the school district and community education.

Representative Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville) is the Chair of the K-12 Education Finance Committee. She has a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College and an M.A. from the University of Minnesota, both in education, and has been an elementary teacher in St. Paul Public Schools. Mindy got her political start through the League of Women Voters, including serving as their state legislative coordinator. She served two terms on the Roseville Area School Board. She was a Girl Scout leader for nine years and then served two terms on her area Girl Scout Council board. She initiated the bipartisan legislative Mental Health Caucus and has served on both the state and national board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Laura LaCroix-Dalluhn, Executive Director, Youth Community Connections, has led organizations that represent both public and private agencies throughout the years. Much of her professional work has focused on advocacy and public policy efforts that support children, youth, and families by ensuring communities have the capacity to respond to and provide for their needs. She has a history of acting as a liaison and “bridge builder” between providers and governmental agencies as well as elected officials. Laura is passionate about creating opportunities for young people to learn, develop and become active contributing citizens. Her volunteer work reflects her commitment to young people and their communities.

William (Bill) Morris, president of Decision Resources, Ltd., graduated magna cum laude with a joint major in Mathematics and Political Science in 1970 from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He spent one year teaching mathematics to minorities and economically disadvantaged students, then entered the Carnegie-Mellon School of Urban and Public Affairs. In 1973, he accepted a joint instructorship in Oakland University’s Department of Political Science and School of Business and Management. One year later, he became an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, where he earned his Ph.D. in public policy analysis in 1975. While at the university, he published articles in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Quality and Quantity, Publius and the Yale Law and Policy Review. He also presented papers regularly at the American Association of Political Science, the Southern and Midwestern Political Science Associations, and the Public Choice Society. Morris left full-time college teaching to found Decision Resources in 1983. He is currently an adjunct professor with the Political Science Department at Augsburg College.

Mary O’Brien is a career educator. Following work as a secondary Reading Specialist, Mary "converted" to community education where she has been employed in various capacities working with children and families for over twenty-five years. Mary is currently Manager of Youth and Family Services Programs for the St. Louis Park Schools. She has the privilege of supporting the SLP Pre-K Programs, including First Steps Preschool, which is aligned with the St. Louis Park Schools incorporating the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB) curriculum the district's four primary and intermediate schools. She is currently the manager of the Youth and Family Services Programs St. Louis Park Community Education.

State Senator Gen Olson is serving her eighth term. She holds a bachelors degree and doctorate in education from the University of Minnesota. Senator Olson has 19 years experience as a teacher, administrator, and consultant in public education at junior and senior high school and adult levels. She is currently serving as the ranking minority member on the Senate E-12 Budget Division and serves on the Senate Education Committee.

Kent Pekel has worked as an educator at the school, district, state, federal and university levels. He is currently the founding executive director of the University of Minnesota’s College Readiness Consortium, which works to provide every Minnesota student with the knowledge, skills and habits for success in higher education and the global economy. From 2000 to 2005, Pekel served on Superintendent Patricia Harvey’s senior staff in the St. Paul Public Schools, where he led the offices of strategic planning and policy, research and assessment, educational technology, schoolwide continuous improvement, fund development, high school reform and government relations. From 1995 to 2000, he held several senior staff-level positions in the federal government, including White House Fellow assigned to the director of Central Intelligence, special advisor to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and special assistant to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education. Pekel has taught at the high school level in Minnesota and at the college level in China. He holds a B.S. in East Asian Studies from Yale University and a master’s in Education from Harvard.

Julie Sweitzer is Director of Leadership Initiatives for the College Readiness Consortium at the University of Minnesota. The consortium works to increase the number and diversity of students who graduate from high school with the knowledge, skills and habits for success in higher education. She is also an elected member of the St. Louis Park school board and currently chairs the West Metro Education Programs school board. Previously, she served as the university’s director of equal opportunity and affirmative action, and as an associate general counsel. She holds a master’s of Public Affairs and a law degree from the University of Minnesota.

Stephen West grew up with experience in poverty. Today, he is a speaker about his experiences and the research surrounding poverty in education. His undergraduate degrees in social studies and government led him to twelve years in the teaching field. Citing his desire to increase his effectiveness and power to create change in school systems, he completed the Administrator Licensure program from the University of Minnesota, St. Mary's. For the past six years, he has been working as an administrator for ISD 191, Burnsville Eagan Savage school district. His current leadership position is as Principal of Richfield Middle School in Richfield, Minnesota. He is presently researching his dissertation topic as the completion piece to his doctorate program.