Paul Grogan is the president and chief executive officer of the Boston Foundation. Previously, Paul served as vice president for Government, Community and Public Affairs at Harvard University, where he oversaw all government relations for Harvard, relations with Harvard's host communities of Cambridge and Boston, and the Harvard news office. He was also a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Business School. While at Harvard, Paul also created a new national organization, CEOs for Cities, comprised of large city mayors, business leaders, university presidents and foundation executives. Paul has also served as President and CEO of the nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation's largest community development intermediary. During his term as president, LISC raised and invested more than $3 billion of private capital in inner-city revitalization efforts across America, channeled through local nonprofit community development corporations. He is a trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, founder and a director of the for-profit company, the Community Development Trust, and a director of New Profit, Inc.

As Secretary of Education of Massachusetts, Paul Reville directs the Executive Office of Education. The Secretary oversees the three education agencies of the Commonwealth Department of Early Education and Care, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Higher Education. Prior to becoming Secretary, Governor Patrick appointed Paul as the chairman of the Massachusetts State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. He also served on Governor Patrick's Transition Team and was chair of the Governor's Pre-K-12 Task Force on Governance. Until his appointment as Secretary of Education, Paul was the president of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. Paul was also the Director of the Education Policy and Management Program and a lecturer on educational policy and politics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Paul is the former executive director of the Pew Forum on Standards-Based Reform, and was the founding executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE). From 1991-96, he served on the Massachusetts State Board of Education. From 1996 - 2002, he chaired the Massachusetts Commission on Time and Learning as well as the Massachusetts Education Reform Review Commission, the state body that provided research and oversight for the state's implementation of education reform in the Commonwealth. In 1985, Paul was the founding executive director of the Alliance for Education, a multi-service educational improvement organization serving Worcester and Central Massachusetts. Prior to his work at the Alliance, Paul was the principal/education director and a teacher in two alternative secondary schools. He is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a Master's degree from Stanford University.

James Peyser is a partner with NewSchools Venture Fund and serves as chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education, a position he has held since 1999. He is also chairman of the Educational Management Audit Council. Prior to joining NewSchools, Peyser served as education advisor to Governors Mitt Romney and Jane Swift. He also worked for eight years as Executive Director of Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research. During his tenure at Pioneer, Peyser took a four month leave of absence to serve as Under Secretary of Education and Special Assistant to Governor William Weld for Charter Schools. Peyser is a member of the board of overseers of WGBH and is a former member of the board of directors of Boston Partners in Education. He also serves on the policy board of the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Dr. James Caradonio has been the Superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools since May of 1999. In that capacity he oversees, coordinates, and evaluates all phases of school district operations in an urban school district of 24,300 students, 2,775 employees, and 56 buildings. From 1993 to 1999, Dr. Caradonio served as Worcester's Deputy Superintendent, and he has previously held positions as the Assistant Superintendent of East Greenwich (RI) Public Schools, and as a consultant to the Cambridge (MA) Public Schools. He has also worked in the Boston Public Schools and as a ninth grade teacher in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Dr. Caradonio holds B.A. from Merrimack College, a M.Ed. (Secondary Education) from Northeastern University, and an Ed.D. (Administration Planning and Social Policy) from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.