Advisory Board

Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, also known by her hip-hop name “Isis Tha Saviour,” is a Philadelphia artist who creates socially conscious music through an autobiographical lens. Ms. Baxter is an art and design graduate of the Community College of Philadelphia who recently received her second degree in behavioral health. She is a single mother, entrepreneur, and prison reform advocate.

Although it has been a decade since her release from a Pennsylvania prison, Mary’s time spent on the inside continues to shape the direction of her music and film work. Her entertaining but poignant works offer a critical perspective on the particular challenges women of color face when they become immersed in the criminal justice system.

In 2017, Mary’s lyrically raw and unflinching examination of giving birth while shackled in prison earned her a “Right of Return” fellowship for formerly incarcerated artists. She has since partnered with Van Jones’s Cut50 and Senator Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Dick Durbin to support the national “Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act,” seeking to end the shackling of pregnant women while incarcerated. Mary has also spoken at numerous universities across the country, most recently at Harvard University’s Center for Bioethics.

Read about Mary’s activism as a returning citizen and formerly homeless and parenting student.

Richard Binswanger is a Philadelphia entrepreneur, investor and connector in finding new ways to make an impact. He is a lifelong educator who is focused on helping people innovate on important problems. He is currently working on a number of projects that include helping organizations measure their social outcomes, bring more diversity onto the tech industry, and make Philly a world recognized hub for developing impactful organizations. He also serves on boards of Jounce, CB Community School, Russell Byers Charter, The Trust for Public Land, GreenLight Foundation, Triskeles Foundation, MilkCrate, XMOD, and ImpactPHL.

ImpactPHL is Richard’s latest passion project and promises to reshape Philadelphia.

A passionate advocate for public education and building stronger communities, Anette Carlisle uses her expertise to build systems change in Texas and beyond. She has a long history of involvement in education, leadership, and governance. A visionary leader with a scientific approach to developing solutions, she addresses root causes of systemic problems by using data analysis, integrating existing resources, and building diverse teams to drive change. As founder and director of Panhandle Twenty/20, her emphasis has been on increasing educational attainment and reducing poverty, and she is now an independent consultant. A long-time Amarillo ISD Trustee of 19 years, Anette currently serves on the Amarillo College Board of Regents, as well as the boards of Leadership Women, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, and the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.

Anette is an evolutionary biologist with degrees in molecular genetics and zoology from Texas Tech University. A native of Borger, Texas, she is the mother of three creative boys, and is married to infectious disease doctor Taylor Carlisle.

Amarillo College, where Anette is a trustee, was recently featured in The Atlantic for its work on poverty.

Click here to learn more.

Feminista Jones is a Philadelphia-based feminist writer, public speaker, retired social worker, and community activist. She is an award-winning blogger and the author of four books, including the critically-acclaimed “Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World From the Tweets to the Streets”. Her writing and activism centers Black American culture, feminism, critical race theory, intersectionality, mental health, poverty, and women’s health and well-being.

Visit Feminista’s website to learn more about her work.

Jim Larimore is Chief Officer for the Center for Equity in Learning at ACT, where he leads ACT’s strategy to engage students, families, educators and communities to promote equity in learning and success. Jim’s team develops programs, research and partnerships to improve college and career readiness and success for all students.

Jim’s career in higher education focused on college access and student success. He served as deputy director for student success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and as a student affairs leader at campuses including Stanford, Dartmouth, Swarthmore and NYU Abu Dhabi. Jim’s postsecondary career began as assistant dean and director for the American Indian Program at Stanford.

Jim served on the Advisory Council that created the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, and now serves on the Advisory Board for Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Campaign, the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions Advisory Council, the Advisory Board for the UNCF Career Planning Initiative, the Advisory Board for American University’s Center for Postsecondary Readiness and Success, The Board of Directors for the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University, and the International Student Affairs Advisory Board for the Universidad de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.

Jim pays it forward by sharing his educational and career path on Share Your Road.

Loree D. Jones has served in top leadership positions in nonprofits, higher education, and government, including as managing director, or chief operating officer, of the City of Philadelphia, and as executive director of the African Studies Association, an organization of scholars and professionals with an interest in Africa hosted by Rutgers University. She is chief of staff for the chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden.

A graduate of Spelman College and Princeton University, she has been recognized for her dedication to public service and commitment to diversity. She serves on the boards of Health Partners Plans, the Philadelphia Health Partnership, the Independence Foundation, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the World Affairs Council. She is a former board member of a wide range of civic organizations, including the Project HOME, Committee of Seventy, the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, the Philadelphia Planning Commission, and the African American Museum of Philadelphia.  She is an alumna – and serving for the second time as co-president – of Operation Understanding, a cross-cultural program founded in Philadelphia more than 30 years ago to build bridges of understanding between the African American and Jewish communities.

Jones holds a bachelor of arts degree in history from Spelman College, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a master of arts degree in history from Princeton University. She studied in Dakar, Senegal while in college and later conducted graduate research in Senegal at Cheikh Anta Diop Université in Dakar, where she worked in French and Wolof.

Nicole Lynn Lewis serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Generation Hope, an organization which she founded in March 2010. As CEO, Nicole oversees all aspects of Generation Hope’s operations. Generation Hope’s mission is to surround motivated teen parents and their children with the mentors, emotional support, and financial resources that they need to thrive in college and kindergarten, thereby driving a two-generation solution to poverty.

Tyrell Mann-Barnes is a first-generation senior and biology major with a minor in English at Temple University. He previously served as a Resident Assistant, Owl Ambassador, Secretary of Main Campus Programs, volunteer at Cooper University Hospital, scholar at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons- Summer Medical and Dental Education Program, Vice President of Student Activist against Sexual Assault, Director of Campus Life and Diversity, and President of Temple Student Government. Currently, he is a MARC-U*STAR Scholar and works as an undergraduate research assistant studying monocyte and macrophage infiltration as a catalyst for inflammation in patients living with HIV at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Upon graduation, he aspires to pursue an MD/PhD with the interest of merging cutting edge biomedical research, medicine, race, and social justice as a Clinical Scientist. Throughout his career, he hopes to write books that explore education, race, class, sexuality, gender, medicine, and accessibility.

Listen to a podcast with this student leader as he talks about identity, purpose, self-care, and read this interview.

Since 2015, Judy C. Miner has been chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, headquartered in Los Altos Hills, California. She has worked as a higher education administrator since 1977. From 2007-2015, she was president of Foothill College.

Her extensive board service currently includes: University of San Francisco; NOVA Workforce; Bay Area Council Economic Institute; Advisory Commission on Legislation for the Community College League of California; California Council on Science and Technology; American Council on Education; Year Up; and League for Innovation in the Community College.

In 2011, she served on the Working Group that produced Report to the President, Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The White House published the report in February, 2012.

She earned a B.A in history and French, an M.A. in history, and an Ed.D. in organization and leadership.

Check out Judy’s latest efforts to protect undocumented students pursuiting higher education.

Dr. Mark David Milliron is an award-winning leader, author, speaker, and consultant, who works with universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, foundations, corporations, associations, and government agencies across the country and around the world. He is Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer of Civitas Learning, a social-purpose corporation committed to using the best of data science and design thinking to help students learn well and finish strong on education pathways. He also serves as Executive Director of Civitas Learning’s Next-Generation Leadership Academy, a program designed to prepare rising leaders to guide innovation and transformation in education. Outside of Civitas Learning, Mark helps catalyze positive change in education through his service on the boards and advisory councils of leading education organizations, including the Trellis Foundation, the Global Online Academy, the Mastery Transcript Consortium, and ISKME/OER Commons.

In previous roles, Mark served as the Deputy Director for Postsecondary Success with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; founding Chancellor of WGU Texas; Endowed Fellow and Director of the National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development at The University of Texas at Austin; Vice President for Education and Medical Practice with SAS; and President and CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College. Past board service includes the American Council on Education (ACE), Western Governors University (WGU), and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

Watch as Mark and Sara Goldrick-Rab dissect the challenge of affordability innovation.

Abigail Seldin is the CEO of the Seldin / Haring-Smith Foundation, which she co-founded with her husband, Whitney Haring-Smith, in 2019. SHSF funds seed-stage public interest projects and collaborate with leading tech companies to build tools for the new college majority.

At SHSF, Seldin defined the strategy and led the development of SwiftStudent, a free digital tool for college students seeking financial aid appeals. Built-in partnership with 18 leading higher education organizations and powered by FormSwift, The Washington Post has highlighted SwiftStudent as “an equity leveler.”

A Rhodes Scholar and Forbes “30 Under 30,” Seldin previously co-founded College Abacus, an ed-tech company known as the “Kayak.com of college financial aid,” in 2012. Seldin served as the company’s CEO until she led the successful sale in 2014 to the ECMC Group. She joined the acquirer as VP of Innovation & Product Development, where she started and led their DC-based innovation Lab, an 80% female technology and design center. Seldin has been profiled in national media outlets including The New York Times, and her work on the Abacus products was highlighted in Secretary John King’s 2016 speech, “Opportunity Across America.”

Seldin now serves on the boards of Temple University’s Hope Center, Montgomery College Foundation, and the Association of American Rhodes Scholars.

Michael Sorrell is the longest-serving President in the 146-year history of Paul Quinn College. Under his leadership Paul Quinn has become nationally renowned for its innovative approach of using higher education to address the most persistent and pressing problems of society. Among the school’s numerous accomplishments during President Sorrell’s eleven-year tenure have been the following: winning the HBCU of the Year, the HBCU Student Government Association of the Year, and the HBCU Business Program of the Year awards; achieving recognition as a member of the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll; creating the New Urban College Model; demolishing 15 abandoned campus buildings; partnering with PepsiCo to transform the football field into the “WE over Me Farm”; achieving full-accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools; creating the College’s first faculty-led study abroad program; and rewriting all institutional fundraising records. President Sorrell was recently named to Fortune Magazine’s list of the World’s Greatest Leaders (as #34) and is the only two-time recipient of the HBCU Male President of the Year Award in history (2016 and 2012) and has been nominated a record six times. The Washington Monthly named President Sorrell one of America’s 10 Most Innovative College Presidents.

Watch Michael’s South by Southwest EDU talk— you’ll never forget it!