Dr. Charis McGaughy has worked within the educational arena for over two decades. She recently began serving as the chief of staff for the Eugene School District 4J. Prior to that, she was a director at the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) for almost 8 years. During her tenure, she worked all over the country on national, state, and district-level initiatives related to improving college and career readiness, and increasing secondary and postsecondary alignment. She has also worked at the state level for the Texas Education Agency and the Tennessee Department of Children Services. She began her career as a teacher, and has taught in Houston Independent School District and Boston Public Schools. Dr. McGaughy has considerable experience directing large-scale, multi-faceted educational policy initiatives, is an experienced public speaker, and is the author of several reports, chapters, and articles on education. Her background as an educator, an educational policy worker, and her extensive research experience enables her to serve as a bridge among various educational stakeholder groups. Dr. McGaughy holds a PhD in Educational Leadership, Policy and Organizations from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA in Government from Pomona College.

Andrea Venezia is Executive Director of EdInsights and Associate Professor in the Public Policy and Administration Department at California State University, Sacramento. EdInsights' mission is to help improve students' readiness for, and success in, some form of postsecondary education. Before she joined Sacramento State, Venezia worked at WestEd and oversaw a line of work focused on such issues as high school reform, state and federal policy with regard to college and career readiness, and community college readiness and success. Prior to joining WestEd, Venezia was Senior Policy Analyst at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Before that, she directed Stanford University's Bridge Project, the first large-scale national study that documented state policy barriers inhibiting student progression from high school to college. Prior to those positions, Venezia worked in a variety of state, federal, and nonprofit organizations, including the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Education Goals Panel, and the American Institutes for Research. She has authored, co-authored, and co-edited numerous reports, chapters, articles, and books, including Supporting the Dream (forthcoming) by Corwin Press, Minding the Gap: Why Integrating High School with College Makes Sense and How to Do It (2007) published by Harvard Education Press, and From High School to College (2004) published by Jossey-Bass. She received a BA in English from Pomona College, an MA in administration and policy analysis in higher education from Stanford University, and a PhD in public policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.