A conversation hosted by Dr. Gabe Soumakian
Sponsored by Global Center for College and Career Readiness

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A conversation hosted by Dr. Gabe Soumakian, Retired Superintendent from Oxnard Union High School District and a new member of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools. Dr. Soumakian has signed the Future Ready Pledge to support Personalized Learning and 21st Century Learning and has worked with NAF to implement Linked Learning Academies. His panel of leaders in education will included:

• Bob Wise, President of the Alliance for Excellent Education who has led the Future Ready initiative.
• JD Hoye, President of NAF (National Academy Foundation) with the work on High School Academies promoting Work Based Learning.
• Karen Cator, President and CEO of Digital Promise and a leading voice for transforming American education through technology, innovation and research.
• Helen Soule, P21 Executive Director the national leader advocating for 21st Century Learning readiness.

In this webinar on High School Redesign, a subject receiving a great deal of attention at the national and local level, take a harder look at how to best prepare our students for college, career, and lifelong success. Dr. Soumakian posed important questions for the panel to respond with their ideas, initiatives, and calls to action.

Dr. Gabe Soumakian: Preparing high school students for a rapidly-changing, technologically-sophisticated world and providing them with educational options to succeed is the mission of Dr. Gabe Soumakian, Retired Superintendent from Oxnard Union High School District. As the Founder of the Sup Du Jour Group, he is leading the conversations with Superintendents to support the High School Redesign transition. He has been actively involved and presented at numerous leadership organizations, including ACSA, AASA, CSBA, CALSA, Partnership for the 21st Century, TICAL on topics of Personnel, 21st Century Learning, eLearning Summit, Personalized Learning Summit, and Linked Learning Convening. Most recently, Dr. Soumakian serves on the CoSN Superintendent’s Advisory Council, Future Ready Leaders Panel of Visionary Educators, and the NAF Leadership Fellow. Dr. Soumakian was recognized as one of ten Superintendent who was accepted as a Lexington Education Leadership Award (LELA) Fellow in conjunction with EdElements. Dr. Soumakian has over 35 years of education experience, including 18 years of high school teaching.

Dr. Helen Soulé is the Executive Director of P21. She has led the organization’s state recruitment and support effort, the 21st Century Learning Exemplar Program, and other initiatives.  Soulé is a lifelong educator with P-16 leadership experience at the local, state and national level. Soulé served as chief of staff to the assistant secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education, and as Executive Director of Cable in the Classroom. She is a founding SETDA member and the recipient of several awards, including Converge magazine’s 30 “Shapers of the Future” award, E-School News “Impact 30 Award for Excellence”, and the Mississippi Educational Computing Association’s Technology Educator of the Year award.

Karen Cator is President and CEO of Digital Promise and a leading voice for transforming American education through technology, innovation and research. From 2009-2013, Karen was Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, where she led the development of the 2010 National Education Technology Plan and focused the Office’s efforts on teacher and leader support. Prior to joining the department, Cator directed Apple’s leadership and advocacy efforts in education. In this role, she focused on the intersection of education policy and research, emerging technologies, and the reality faced by teachers, students and administrators. She began her education career in Alaska as a teacher, ultimately leading technology planning and implementation. She also served as Special Assistant for Telecommunications for the Governor of Alaska. Cator holds a master’s in school administration from the University of Oregon and recently received the 2014 College of Education Distinguished Alumni award. The American Association of Publishers has awarded Cator with the 2014 Visionary Award. She received her bachelor’s in early childhood education from Springfield College, and she is a member of the Aspen Pahara Fellows. She is a past chair for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and has served on boards including the Software & Information Industry Association-Education.

Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance), a nonprofit organization that has become a national leader for reforming the nation’s high schools so that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and a career. Led by Gov. Wise since 2005, the Alliance has become a respected advocate for the Common Core State Standards, deeper learning, Linked Learning, digital learning, adolescent literacy, and other key education policy issues. After serving a combined twenty-four years as governor, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and state legislator, Gov. Wise has become a sought-after speaker and advisor on education issues as well as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Education, White House, and key state and federal policymakers. As governor of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005, Gov. Wise fought for and signed legislation to fund the PROMISE Scholarship program, which has helped thousands of West Virginia high school graduates continue their education in the Mountain State. During his administration, West Virginia saw a significant increase in the number of students completing high school and entering college.

JD Hoye, President of NAF (National Academy Foundation): With a deep commitment to preparing students for college and meaningful careers, JD has worked at both the grassroots and the highest levels of government to reform how young people are engaged in learning and how they are positioned to pursue their academic interests and career goals. Through this work, she has become a nationally recognized leader in forging partnerships between educators and employers. In leading NAF, JD oversees a network of over 700 college preparatory, career-themed academies in 36 states, including DC and the US Virgin Islands. Prior to her appointment at NAF, JD served as President of Keep the Change, Inc., a nationally recognized consulting business focused on helping communities reform education and develop a skilled workforce. During her years in the public sector, JD developed and implemented policy at the highest level of federal government. In 1994, she was selected by US Secretary of Education Richard Riley and US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich to head the new Office of School-to-Work in Washington, DC. She served in that role for four years, overseeing a $1.1 billion budget and spurring nationwide progress in education reform and workforce development. JD has also been a leader for education reform at the state and local levels. She was Associate Superintendent of the Office of Professional/Technical Education for the Oregon Department of Education and Office of Community Colleges and served as the leader of a 27-county organization that managed federal job training funding for rural counties in Oregon.

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The nonprofit Global Center for College & Career Readiness focuses on creating sustainable capacity in schools for job-ready learning outcomes for all students.