Horizon Chat 4: Reconnecting the School Community

Pamela Cantor, M.D. is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, author and thought leader on human potential, the science of learning and development, and educational equity. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, she founded Turnaround for Children, which translates scientific insights into tools and services that help educators establish the conditions for all students to thrive. In two books published in 2021, Whole Child Development, Learning and Thriving: A Dynamic Systems Approach and The Science of Learning and Development, Dr. Cantor crystallizes key scientific concepts about how human potential and learning unfold so that anyone seeking to open pathways for learning and opportunity for young people can do so. Dr. Cantor is a governing partner of the Science of Learning and Development Alliance, focused on elevating the science of learning and development as an actionable drive of equity in education. She received an M.D. from Cornell University, a bachelor’s from Sarah Lawrence, and was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Leader. Visionary. Entrepreneur. Disruptor. Change-maker. Angela Maiers embodies each of these descriptors with passion, commitment and fierce determination. She has been creating and leading change in education and enterprise for 31 years, teaching at every level, from grade school to graduate school, and consulting with companies around the world. Maiers founded Choose2Matter to bring the world hope by helping every individual embrace their value and potential contribution. Initially launched to challenge and inspire students to work collaboratively to develop innovative solutions to social problems, Choose2Matter has evolved into a movement that supports parents, educators and employees around the world. Her work in 60,000 classrooms across 100 countries has rallied more than a million children who have banded together to launch 170 social enterprises and pass 17 laws. Maiers holds a bachelor’s degree in education and master’s degrees in literacy and education leadership. She’s the author of eight books, including Liberating Genius,The Habitudes and The Passion Driven Classroom. Maiers is recognized as an influential voice on social media, and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.

As an education researcher and evaluator, Sarojani Mohammed, Ph.D., fights the injustice of knowledge-hoarding by making deep, meaningful connections between research and practice to foster the best learning experiences for each learner. She has 15 years' experience in research/external evaluations of public, private, and non-profit education programs. Saro is the founder and principal of Ed Research Works; a founding board member and the executive director of Capacity Catalyst; and the co-founder of the Teaching and Learning Research Community.

Erin Mote is the executive director of InnovateEDU and co-founder of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools (LAB). She leads InnovateEDU and its major projects, including the development of Cortex, Project Unicorn, an urban education fellowship to diversify the teacher pipeline and supports for LAB's growth.