About the Presenters

Paula L. White, Executive Director of JerseyCAN, lives in the northern New Jersey town of Bloomfield, less than an hour outside of New York City. She was born in the United Kingdom and raised in Jamaica and Canada by her first-generation immigrant parents before moving to the United States as a young adult. While growing up, Paula was hardly a model student—she loved history and mathematics and was a voracious reader, but she stubbornly believed that she didn’t need schooling to validate her intelligence. A part of her still believes this, but after realizing that formal education expands knowledge, builds self-discipline, and is a gatekeeper for hopes and dreams, she committed to scholastic excellence and went on to earn degrees from Spelman College and Columbia University.

A career educator, Paula has taught elementary grades, founded and led a public charter school, and served as the New Jersey Department of Education’s Chief Turnaround Officer in charge of public school improvement statewide. She also led flagship chapters of two national education nonprofit organizations. Her strong, informed voice on education and social policy has resulted in her being featured across various media including News 12 New Jersey, Chalkbeat, NPR, CBS News, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. She led the first cross-sector team on chronic absenteeism in New Jersey, and her work elsewhere has resulted in broad policy changes including universal dyslexia screening for K-2 students and the expansion of restorative justice programs in public schools. She was recently named to PoliticsNY’s Education Power List and recognized by City & State New York as part of the 2021 Education Power 100. Paula loves being with her family, reconnecting with students she has taught over the years, and walking solo while listening to podcasts about education or health.

Rich Zigarovich has been the Principal at Lordstown Elementary School (K-6) in Warren, Ohio since 2017. He is deeply passionate about seeing the students and staff he serves grow as learners and people. After almost 29 years in education, he is glad to report that every year gets better and better!

Dr. Erin Hamilton is the State Solutions Manager of Lexia’s National Strategy Team. With a career spanning over two decades, Dr. Hamilton is a distinguished educator who is leaving a lasting mark in the field. Her journey began as a literacy consultant in Pennsylvania, where she honed her expertise. Over the past two years, Dr. Hamilton has played a pivotal role on Lexia’s National Strategy Team extending her influence across the United States supporting the legislative literacy movement. Dr. Hamilton earned her doctorate in educational leadership from Immaculata University, with her dissertation centered on the self-efficacy of elementary principals in foundational literacy leadership. While her influence extends across the United States, she resides in Saint Augustine, FL, with her beloved family.

About the Moderator

Cassandra Wheeler is a proud “Poet” of the 1990 graduating class at Sidney Lanier High School of Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) in Alabama. In 1994, following undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education, Cassandra returned home to MPS and began her career as an educator at Morningview Elementary School. After earning her master’s degree and administrative certification, Cassandra joined the Alabama Reading Initiative, where she authored Alabama’s Reading First Initiative grant and managed Alabama’s statewide DIBELS pilot. In 2004, after serving the children of Alabama for ten years, Cassandra expanded her outreach to impact the life trajectories of students everywhere by joining the (then) Voyager Expanded Learning organization. Now, at Lexia, Cassandra serves the organization as Director of LETRS State Success.