Meet Our Leaders

Bill has worked a variety of countries in all areas of education for over 30 years – from teacher, school leader, advisor and consultant. He currently provides the strategic direction for professional development and consultancy to support leadership growth, teacher effectiveness, school reform and student achievement in schools and districts.

Bill works closely with Michelle in providing oversight and direction on the core foundational principles of the company to ensure that the resources, tools and processes applied by the consultants are created, studied and modified to ensure academic success. Over the past 15 years he has been responsible for relationship building for the organization and has served as an advisor to existing school districts, specifically New York City, as well as developing new relationships in K-12 education across the United States.

Michelle is responsible for providing leadership in all aspects of the quality and nature of professional learning and teaching services and advises on the implementation of innovative solutions to new strategic initiatives.  She is involved with a wide range of initiatives including the Bronx Plan, A Comprehensive Approach to Equity and the Middle School Balanced Literacy Initiative.

Michelle joined Generation Ready in 2014 as a consultant with over 25 years of experience in educational settings. She brought with her a depth of expertise in instructional and transformational leadership, highly effective consulting in literacy and leadership, and vast experience in coaching and facilitating professional learning and teaching opportunities.

Michelle strives to promote educational equity and displays exceptional leadership in supporting consultants in their development, direction and monitoring professional learning with research-driven innovative and proven strategies. She is committed to facilitating collective efficacy from the local to state levels.

Maria joined Generation Ready in 2015 and currently serves as the New York General Manager where she is responsible for all aspects of implementation and quality for Generation Ready engagements in the New York Region.

Maria began her teaching career in Brooklyn as an elementary school teacher and later transferring to the Bronx. She went on to be a trained and certified Reading Recovery teacher working with at risk students. Maria became an Assistant Principal and eventually the Principal of PS 8 in the Bronx. She served as a mentor to new principals in her district and also for principal interns from the Project Lead Grant in District 10 in the Bronx.

Maria later served for 8 years as a Network Leader in the Empowerment Organization of the Department of Education in the City of New York initially leading a team of 4 in supporting 26 schools. Under her leadership the network quickly grew in school numbers and became one of the first in the city of New York to pilot a Children First Network. Selecting a team of 14 experts in operations and instruction, CFN 109 was formed which supported 36 schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn instructionally and operationally.

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 B.S. in Elementary Education, a M.Ed., and an Ed.S. in Education Administration from the University of Arkansa

Dr. Richard Elmore joined the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1990, having previously taught at the College of Education, Michigan State University, and the Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Washington. Richard is a member of the National Academy of Education, and a past president of the Association for Public Policy and Management, the national organization representing graduate programs in public policy and management. He has held positions in the federal government as a legislative liaison with the U.S. Congress on education policy issues. He is currently director of the Doctor in Educational Leadership (Ed.L.D.) program at HGSE. His current research and clinical work focuses on building capacity for instructional improvement in low-performing schools. Richard spends at least one day per week in schools, working with teachers and administrators on instructional improvement. He is coauthor of Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning (Harvard Education Press, 2009), and author of School Reform From the Inside Out: Policy, Practice, and Performance (Harvard Education Press, 2004).

Pedro Noguera is a Distinguished Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences at UCLA. His research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions, as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts.  He is the author of eleven books and over 200 articles and monographs. He serves on the boards of numerous national and local organizations and appears as a regular commentator on educational issues on CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and other national news outlets. Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA he served as a tenured professor and holder of endowed chairs at New York University (2003 – 2015) Harvard University (2000 – 2003) and the University of California, Berkeley (1990 – 2000). From 2009 – 2012 he served as a Trustee for the State University of New York (SUNY) as an appointee of the Governor. In 2014 he was elected to the National Academy of Education. Noguera recently received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences, from the National Association of Secondary Principals, and from the McSilver Institute at NYU for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty.

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).