Dwight Jones most recently served as Denver Public Schools Interim Superintendent and Senior Deputy Superintendent, Equity and Engagement. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Equity, Inclusion & Urban Markets at McGraw-Hill Education. In his role, he worked with leading national, regional, and local associations and organizations to find new ways to partner together to address the needs of administrators, teachers, and students in some of the largest and most academically diverse U.S. school districts.
Before joining McGraw-Hill Education, Dwight served as Superintendent in Residence and provided strategic guidance and advice. Prior to that, he served as the superintendent of Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, the nation’s fifth largest school district. During his tenure there, he initiated a school reform agenda designed to raise the academic bar and ensure all of the district’s 315,000 students were prepared for college, a career, or the military. Prior to his time in Nevada, Dwight served as the Colorado Commissioner of Education, overseeing the education of more than 830,000 students across more than 1,700 schools in 178 public school districts.
Dwight has been recognized by numerous organizations throughout his career. He has been awarded the AASA Distinguished Service Award (2019), the NAACP’s Heartbeat Award (2013), the Asian Chamber of Commerce Community Achievement Award (2013), Chairman’s Award of Excellence, Nevada Latin Chamber of Commerce (2012), Alumni Fellow for Kansas State University’s College of Education (2011), and Troops to Teachers Hall of Fame (2010). Dwight and his wife Jenifer are the parents to three children and reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Collaborative with an experienced perspective on how to increase academic achievement in schools that serve high-poverty/high-minority populations. In the nine years that Alex Magaña has guided the leadership at Grant Beacon Middle School, the school has been nationally recognized for its innovative practices, and boasts one of the highest growth rates of all middle schools in Denver Public Schools. Due to the successful approach he’s built with his team, he was given the opportunity to replicate the model and add an additional school. He is currently leading the expansion of The Network with a focus around the Four Pillars: Personalized Learning, Enrichment Programming, Character Development, and Critical Thinking.
Erika Twani is a learning enthusiast and an optimist of a better world built by humans with practical and useful skills, and life purpose. She is the co-founder and CEO of the Learning One to One Foundation, where, along with experts, she explores how to foster human achievement through relational learning based on applied neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, pedagogy, and technology. Her philosophy is to simplify complex concepts and make them useful for everyone, starting with children. Erika has advised government officials and education leaders around the world on the use of technology in education, has written various articles on the topic, and worked with public and private schools to guide practical use of relational learning.
First and foremost, Erika’s 20+ years of experience working with corporate technology companies enabled her to shape products and services for worldwide scalability. Innovation on learning usually happens in silos, and Erika wants to empower educators to scale it. The corporate experience also gave her a clear understanding of large organizations’ challenges to motivate employees, foster creativity, and to create long-lasting relationships with customers and partners, regardless of their location on earth. Corporations benefit from the same principles identified in her work, as they implement simple learning and skill development processes that contribute to individuals’ personal growth, intrinsic motivation, and life purpose. Consequently, individual achievement results in the organization’s success.
Erika is the author of the book “Becoming Einstein’s Teacher,” released in 2021. Erika is also an international speaker, adviser, avid reader, and an adventurer. Most of all, she is a learner, committed to investing 20% of her time in learning. Her organization serves schools and institutions around the world with professional development, consulting services, and education technology. She has a B.S. in Software Engineering and an MBA in Entrepreneurship. She sits on various boards. Erika lives in Fort Lauderdale, FLorida with her husband, Brian.
