Dr. Scott Bauer (Ph.D. Cornell University) serves as Associate Dean of Advanced Education & Doctoral Programs in the School of Education & Human Development, University of Colorado Denver. His research interests involve the application of organizational theory to the improvement of schools and the efficacy of various strategies used to develop school leaders at all levels. Prior to joining the faculty at UC Denver, Dr. Bauer was on the faculty at George Mason University, the University of New Orleans, and served as Research Director of SLC. In addition to serving on the SLC Board, he is also a member of the board of directors of the Apple Federal Credit Union Education Foundation and serves on the Supervisory Committee of Apple Federal Credit Union.

Dr. Brian Beabout  is a former teacher at Marion Abramson Senior High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. His research focuses on educational change, charter schools, school integration, and urban school leadership. His work has been published in numerous outlets including Multicultural Education, The Journal of Thought, Education and Urban Society, The Journal of School Choice, and The Journal of Educational Change. He is the co-editor (with Mirón & Boselovic) of Only in New Orleans: School Choice and Equity Post-Hurricane Katrina (Sense, 2015). He was named an Emerging Scholar by the Educational Change Special Interest Group of AERA. He co-founded the Coalition of Diverse Charter Schools and has served on the boards of the Morris Jeff Community School and the School Leadership Center of Great New Orleans.

Robert Mora is managing partner of Pedelahore & Co. LLP. A graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University, Mr. Mora is a member of the Louisiana Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the New Orleans Estate Planning Council. Mr. Mora is actively involved in development and support for various locally and nationally recognized non-profit organizations. His current positions as either officer or director include the Epilepsy Foundation, Cabrini High School, New Orleans Rotary Club, New Orleans Rotary Foundation, Southern Eye Bank, and Richard Murphy Hospice.

Dr. Cindy Reed (Ed.D. University of Pittsburgh) is a recently retired educator and currently serves as CEO of a leadership and life coaching business. Dr. Reed has extensive experience in both preK-12 and higher education settings, having served as an elementary teacher, specialist in gifted education, middle school administrator (assistant principal and principal), and founding coordinator for an Access to College Education Initiative (14 school districts & 4 higher education institutions) in upstate NY. She later was employed as a member of the educational leadership faculty at Auburn University for 17 years, during which time she served as the Emily R. and Gerald S. Leischuck Endowed Professor of Educational Leadership and as Director of the Truman Pierce Institute (TPI), a research and outreach center in the College of Education (12 years). Dr. Reed also served and Dean of the College of Education and Human Services and faculty at Northern Kentucky University, and later as Dean of the Bagwell College of Education and faculty at Kennesaw State University.

Patty Riddlebarger  is Entergy’s Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. Her department is founded on the idea that companies are a part of the communities they serve, and so have the duty to help those communities thrive – beyond charitable donations and philanthropy. Ms. Riddlebarger’s area of responsibility encompasses eight states. She is also responsible for low-income customer service initiatives, a series of programs designed to address the needs of Entergy’s low-income customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Ms. Riddlebarger received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and her MBA from Tulane University.

Dr. Tom Becker is the current principal of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic School. Dr. Becker has served many roles in the Archdiocese of New Orleans as teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent over the last two decades. He has served as an executive board member for the Louisiana Middle School Association, past-president of the Archbishop Rummel High School Alumni Association, and past board member of the Archbishop Rummel High School and St. Augustine High School Advisory Boards. Dr. Becker earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Loyola University of the South, with a major in Secondary Education. He later went on to graduate from Louisiana State University with a Master of Arts in English. He also received a doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of New Orleans.