Meet Our Leaders

Edwin joined Generation Ready in 2018 and currently serves as the South General Manager where he is responsible for all aspects of implementation and quality for Generation Ready engagements in the South Region.

Edwin has spent the past 23 years making a positive impact on student achievement across a variety of K-12 roles and organizations.  He has served schools and communities as a classroom teacher, instructional leader, assistant principal, principal and district leader. Edwin is an educator and motivational speaker with a career in education that spans the spectrum.

Prior to his time at Generation Ready, he worked as the Regional Director for the South Region at America’s Choice, Vice President of School Services at Framework Educational Consulting, and held multiple executive level positions at various for-profit education organizations. Edwin holds a BA in Elementary Education, a MA, an Ed.S. and Ed.D. in Education Administration from the University of Arkansas.

Erick joined Generation Ready in 2013 and currently serves as the Director of Equity Services. His background as a school leader, his doctorate in Educational Justice, and his own life experiences, make him uniquely poised to direct our West Coast partnerships and additionally bring cultural proficiency/equity work to our partner districts throughout the state of California and nationwide.

Erick is an educator, professor and motivational speaker with a career in education that spans the spectrum: classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, district leader, and adjunct professor in Southern California. He has held many local, state and national offices in the National Alliance of Black School Educators, serves on the California Staff Development Council and has received many awards for his work in education.

Erick received his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Elementary Education from Kansas Newman University, a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Wichita State University and a Doctoral Degree in Leadership for Educational Justice from the University of Redlands.

Sheena is responsible for providing educational leadership for Generation Ready. Sheena is one of the original literacy experts that brought Balanced Literacy to the United States in the 1990s and was responsible for spearheading the partnership between Generation Ready and New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) to roll out the Middle School Quality Initiative, now in place in over 100 middle schools.

Sheena had a national profile in New Zealand for her work in literacy. She worked with the New Zealand Ministry of Education in a consultancy role. She was a member of the National Advisory Group for the development of the NZ National English Curriculum Statement. She has also served as a teacher, administrator, reading advisor and the Director of Primary Programs at the Dunedin College of Education.

A noted author in the area of literacy, her publications include The Reader as Learner, Dancing with the Pen, Reading for Life, and Exploring Language.

Dr. William Schmidt is a University Distinguished Professor and co-director of the Education Policy Center. He holds faculty appointments in measurement and quantitative methods and the Department of Statistics. William’s current writing and research concerns issues of academic content in K- 12 schooling, teacher preparation and the effects of curriculum on academic achievement. He is also concerned with educational policy related to mathematics, science and testing in general. He is a member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Dr. Ivory A. Toldson is the president and CEO of the QEM Network, professor of counseling psychology at Howard University and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Negro Education.  Previously, Dr. Toldson was appointed by President Barack Obama to devise national strategies to sustain and expand federal support to HBCUs as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHIHBCUs). He also served as senior research analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and contributing education editor for The Root, where he debunked some of the most pervasive myths about African-Americans in his Show Me the Numbers column.

Dr. Toldson was promoted to full professor while on leave from Howard University to serve President Obama’s administration.  He spent 3.5 years at Southern University and A&M College (SU), in Baton Rouge, LA, and more than a decade at Howard University in Washington, DC. At SU, Dr. Toldson was named young researcher of the year after successfully competing for the prestigious W.E.B. DuBois Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Justice. Dr. Toldson continued a high level of research productivity at Howard University, evidence by publishing 4 books, and more than 65 scholarly publications including articles in peer-refereed journals, book chapters, and policy reports.   Dr. Toldson became the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Negro Education (established 1932) in 2008, where he led an effort to modernize The Journal, moving it to an online platform for peer reviews and subscriptions, while keeping it independently owned and run by Howard University. His efforts attracted many new international subscribers.

Dr. Toldson was dubbed a leader “who could conceivably navigate the path to the White House” by the Washington Post, one of “30 leaders in the fight for Black men,” by Newsweek Magazine, and the “Problem Solver” by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Dr. Toldson, according to former U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan, is “a prolific young scholar and myth buster.”  According to NPR, Dr. Toldson has “a desire to shed new light on old issues.”  A sought-after speaker, Dr. Toldson has been featured on MSNBC, C-SPAN2 Books, NPR News, POTUS on XM Satellite Radio, and numerous national and local radio stations. In print, his research has been featured in The Washington Post, CNN.com, The New York Times, The Root, The National Journal, Essence Magazine, BET.com, The Grio, and Ebony Magazine.

Dr. Toldson was named in the 2013 and 2014 The Root 100, an annual ranking of the most influential African-American leaders. His body of research was featured in The Foundation Center report, Building a Beloved Community, for his role in shaping sponsored programs for Black male achievement. Dr. Toldson was awarded the: Equity Champion Award from the New York City Department of Education; Outstanding Alumni Award from Penn State Black Alumni Association; Top 25 Forensic Psychology Professors, ForensicsColleges.com; and The Emerging Scholar designation from the Diverse Magazine.

Dr. Aída Walqui directs WestEd’s Teacher Professional Development Program as well as the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) project. As Director of QTEL, Walqui brings a career long focus on increasing the academic success of English language learners. She leads the development and implementation of the QTEL approach to professional development and the articulation of QTEL principles in the development of QTEL curricula. Walqui collaborates with school and district leaders across the country to tailor QTEL implementation that is responsive to local needs. She is often found observing and coaching in the classrooms of teachers learning the QTEL approach.

Aída has taught in high school and university settings, including the School of Education at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Stanford University, where she coordinated the cross-cultural, linguistic, and academic development emphasis in the STEP program. She has also taught in other universities in Peru, Mexico, England, and the United States. Aída has authored books for the study of Spanish for Spanish speakers in American schools; a book for teachers of Spanish as a second language in Andean countries; a book on the teaching of indigenous languages in intercultural, bilingual programs; an ethnographic study of immigrant students in secondary schools in the United States; and a number of articles in journals and edited volumes. She is a member of several national and international teacher professional development advisory boards.

Dr. Mike Ward serves as a consultant to state and local education leaders on matters related to leadership, school improvement, strategic planning, and assessment.  He is also a professor of practice in educational leadership at North Carolina State University.

From 1997 to 2004, Mike served two terms as State Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina.  During his tenure, the state earned a reputation for rapid progress in the performance of its public schools. He is past President of the Council of Chief State School Officers and a past member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the administration of National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Mike is a past recipient of North Carolina’s Superintendent of the Year award.  A three-time graduate of North Carolina State University, he received the University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.  While at the University of Southern Mississippi, he was cited as a Hero of Katrina and received the College of Education and Psychology’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Mike is an active volunteer. He is engaged in community development in South Sudan. He volunteers in rebuilding efforts related to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Matthew.  He is a member of the board of directors of the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children. He serves on the Advisory Board of the College of Education at N.C. State University and chairs the College’s capital campaign steering committee.

Dr. Jal Mehta is an Associate Professor in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His primary research interest is in understanding what it would take to create high quality schooling at scale, with a particular interest in the professionalization of teaching. He is the co-editor of the recently released The Futures of School Reform (Cambridge: Harvard Education Press, 2012), and the author of the forthcoming The Allure of Order: High Hopes, Dashed Expectations and the Troubled Quest to Remake American Schooling (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013). Jal is currently working on two projects: The Chastened Dream, a history of the effort to link social science with social policy to achieve social progress; and In Search of Deeper Learning, a contemporary study of schools, systems, and nations that are seeking to produce ambitious instruction. Jal received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University.