Ignite! Reading is a tutoring service provider offering virtual early literacy instruction with tutors trained in the Science of Reading. The organization works with school districts to embed 15 minutes of daily tutoring into the school day, providing each student with 1:1 virtual tutoring in foundational reading skills with a trained reading tutor. In school year 2023-24, Ignite! Reading will serve 10,000 students in grades K-8. Ignite! will also participate in a rigorous evaluation with Accelerate’s support.

IMMERSE is an interactive 3D language learning platform where students can practice real-world conversations in safe, engaging virtual environments. With AI-powered tutors and immersive scenarios, students build confidence and fluency while having fun.

Intervene K-12 will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of high-impact virtual tutoring for K-12 students in ELA and math at multiple campuses across 2-3 districts throughout the 2024-25 academic year. The organization will provide virtual or hybrid tutoring services either individually or in small groups, with students engaging in synchronous, live, and interactive tutorial video sessions aligned with State Standards. Intervene K-12's model includes targeted support based on assessments and spiraling of objectives to reinforce students' foundational knowledge and skills while accelerating their ability to achieve grade-level mastery.

Dr. Jackie Peng is the Senior Executive Director for Teaching and Learning at the Maryland State Department of Education. She coordinates the implementation and reporting of philanthropic grants to support strategic initiatives. Before joining MSDE, she worked at WestEd and at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She began her career in education teaching social studies in Montgomery County Public Schools.

Jazmin Sanders serves as the Senior Director of Innovative Learning, where she leads efforts to ensure students across Indianapolis have access to high-quality educational opportunities. In this role, she designs and directs impactful out-of-school programs and oversees the Indy Summer Learning Labs (ISLL), which serves more than 5,000 students annually and has driven double-digit gains in math and literacy.

Previously, Jazmin served as Manager of School Support and Incubation at The Mind Trust. She began her career in education as an Indianapolis Teaching Fellow and elementary educator before becoming a Teacher Development Coach for TNTP.

Jazmin holds a B.S. in Kinesiology from Indiana University, an M.A. in Teaching from Marian University, and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Butler University. Her passion for educational equity continues to expand opportunities for students and schools across Indianapolis.

Jeff has designed and implemented programs that make a difference. He has a proven track record of what it takes to engage a variety of learners no matter what the educational setting. From urban to rural, traditional, or alternative ed settings, he has been a leader in developing educational programs. Jeff has been an advocate for student at the state and national level. He is currently an Education Consultant at the Michigan Dept. of Education

Jeff Norris, 2024 Alabama Teacher of the Year, has a teaching background that includes elementary, gifted education, and middle school (ELA and math). He is a National Board Certified Teacher and also holds degrees in Educational Leadership and Teacher Leadership. Jeff was an assistant principal and principal for almost eight years at the K-2 level prior to returning to the middle school classroom at Oak Mountain Middle School in Shelby County, Alabama. He is currently an Education Specialist in the newly created Office of Extended Learning at the Alabama State Department of Education. Jeff firmly believes all members of the education community, from office personnel to classroom teachers to district administrators, and especially to students themselves, have the ability to positively influence and lead others.

Jennifer Wise, Ed.S. is the Assistant Director of the Florida Tutoring Advantage at the University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning. A dedicated instructional leader with 27 years of school and district leadership experience, Wise is committed to improving learning outcomes for all students. In her role, she oversees the design, implementation, and evaluation of the statewide tutoring initiative, manages relationships with district partners and tutoring vendors, and ensures program success through strategic planning and performance goals.

Jess Sobin is the High-Impact Tutoring Program Manager at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), which is the DC state education agency. In this role, she leads OSSE’s three-year initiative to expand access to HIT for at least 10% of DC students, with a focus on those who are furthest from opportunity. Before joining DC government, Jess worked for global education organizations, and began her career as a middle school teacher in New York City.

Jess Sobin is the High-Impact Tutoring Program Manager at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), which is the DC state education agency. In this role, she leads OSSE’s three-year initiative to expand access to HIT for at least 10% of DC students, with a focus on those who are furthest from opportunity. Before joining DC government, Jess worked for global education organizations, and began her career as a middle school teacher in New York City.

Joyful Readers is a non-profit organization committed to helping students gain the literacy skills needed to become successful, confident, and joyful readers! They recruit, train, manage, and coach a racially and generationally diverse cohort of AmeriCorps members who provide daily in-person reading tutoring to students in grades K-3. Joyful Readers AmeriCorps tutors receive a school placement where they serve full-time – 5 days per week and 8 hours per day for a school year. They provide 30 minute reading tutoring to 10-11 pairs of students per day utilizing the Wilson Fundations curriculum, a multi-sensory, structured language program that provides research-based materials and strategies essential to a comprehensive reading, spelling, and handwriting program. This model was piloted in the 2022-23 school year. They will serve  approximately 1,120 students in grades K-3 for the 2023-24 school year.

JUMP Math is a nonprofit curriculum provider that is developing tutoring content aligned with its core curriculum. Through this grant, JUMP Math will conduct a one year pilot with diverse schools in Michigan and rural Louisiana. JUMP Math's resources will be paired with Pearl's tutoring platform and data collection tools to equip tutors with JUMP Math's evidence-based methodology and resources, including a micro-tutor certification that tutors will complete prior to supporting students. They will serve 300 students in grades 1-9, seeking to develop students' confidence and enthusiasm for math through an improved understanding of the subject. Their aim is to inform the field's understanding of how alignment between core instructional materials and tutoring materials can drive student outcomes.

Katherine Bassett is the founding CEO of the New Jersey Tutoring Corps, Inc. Throughout her career in education, Katherine has advocated for students to receive the highest-quality of education regardless of their zip code or family circumstances. She was named New Jersey’s 2000 State Teacher of the Year, and served as President and CEO of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year.

Katherine spent 26 years in the classroom as a middle school librarian. Moving to ETS, she led the development of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certificates for Library Media and Literacy, performance-based assessments in four states, worked with six states to develop a common continuum of practice, and led the development of the Teacher Leader Model Standards. She served as Director of Policy and Partnerships for the Center for Educator Effectiveness at Pearson. She has co-authored more than 15 research studies.

Katina Knox is a transformative educator with nearly 20 years of experience. During her tenure as an educator, she has served in both the charter and traditional public school sectors in Indianapolis. Katina was a system-level turnaround school leader with a proven track record of taking failing schools to A-rated status. Before school leadership, Katina held roles of teacher, academic dean, special education coordinator, assistant principal, principal, and director of instruction for a national charter school network. Katina has received numerous accolades for her work as an educator including “Teacher of the Year” and was nominated as “Educator of the Year” by the Indiana Black Expo.

Currently, Katina serves as the Senior Director of School Partnerships & Impact for The Mind Trust. In her role, she oversees school support partnerships and investments to broaden school leader capacity, strengthening charter school board governance efforts, and increasing academic outcomes for all K-12 students in the charter and innovation school sector in Indianapolis. She remains abreast of the needs of the education landscape and aligns resources and support in pushing the work of the Mind Trust forward through consistent engagement with the school leaders, education partners, and charter authorizers.

Katina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary and Special Education from Marian University and a Master of Education and Organizational Leadership from the University of Dayton.

KIPP Indy Public Schools is a public charter school system with regional enrollment exceeding 1,500 students. In school year 2023-24, they will grow their existing partnership with College Tutors of Indiana to provide in-person tutoring in English language arts and mathematics to KIPP Indy students in grades 6-8. They will also expand the scope and vision for their partnership by working alongside The Mind Trust and neighboring school entities/systems to leverage resources, learning, staffing, and other elements of scalability.

Lindsay Dolce is the Chief Policy and Growth Officer for ServeMinnesota and Ampact. She has an extensive background in national and state-level advocacy and outreach, and provides executive leadership to securing federal, state, and philanthropic resources for continuous program improvement and scaling proven strategic initiatives. She also provides critical direction to all Executive Directors for development, growth and replication efforts nationally.

She previously served as the Executive Director of Serve Colorado, the state’s service commission, and also worked with Colorado Reads, Colorado’s Early Literacy Initiative. In these roles, she provided statewide leadership in AmeriCorps programs, working on strategic planning, program development, community outreach, organizational and financial operations, and administration.

Before her time at Serve Colorado, Dolce worked as the Senior Program Manager for the David and Laura Merage Foundation, where she supported the implementation of a shared services approach for early care and education providers. Her career started in law, where she worked as a domestic relations attorney, a judicial law clerk, and a domestic violence prosecutor. Prior to law school, she served as a staff member for United States Senator J. Robert Kerrey and President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C.

Dolce holds a B.A. in English, Political Science, and International Relations from William Jewell College. She also studied at St. Peter’s College at Oxford University and earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Her educational background, coupled with her comprehensive expertise, positions her well in her current role at Ampact, where she is instrumental in sourcing growth capital, forming site partnerships, and launching the replication of various AmeriCorps programs in emerging states.