Our Guest, Marlene Megos, is the founder and CEO of Equate Education, a data-driven platform supporting educator preparation programs with a focus on residency and apprenticeships. With over 30 years of experience from classroom to state level educational leadership, she developed and led one of Connecticut’s first residency and registered teacher apprenticeship programs, raising over $4.2 million dollars and serving over 120 new educators.

Marlene’s work focuses on solving the educator shortage by streamlining candidate tracking, mentorship, and certification processes through innovative data tools. She also provides fractional leadership and strategic support to schools and nonprofits through FractionalED Partners.

Marlene is passionate about creating sustainable pathways for aspiring educators, rethinking staffing models, and building communities of practice that foster long-term retention and success. She is blessed by a large family and twin high school aged daughters, Morgan and Avery, and fills any remaining time with a love for the outdoors and movement!

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: The 2.0 Conferences. Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choice of the 2.0 Conferences include: CXO 2.0, Education 2.0,  Health 2.0, Founders 2.0, and the Fueld Conference.

Sponsor: Patriox oxygenated water. Drinking Patriox helps oxygenate the body, promoting overall health, energy, and vitality. Receive a 10% discount on your next purchase with the code EDUPXE.

Resources:

EDUPThe Experience

Greeting: Jamal Watson

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY

Our Guest, Anna Young,  founder of Sunnyside Literacy Lab, started her career with Teach for America and has worked in education as a humanities teacher, special educator, and academic interventionist. She currently supervises graduate students at CUNY Hunter College.

She earned a B.A. in Political Science from McGill University and an M.S. in Adolescent Special Education from CUNY Hunter College. She is certified in the Orton-Gillingham method, a structured literacy approach to reading instruction.

In 2024, she founded Sunnyside Literacy Lab. The mission of Sunnyside Literacy Lab is to provide accessible, high-quality educational services directly to families and empower families to support their children outside of school.

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: The 2.0 Conferences. Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choice of the 2.0 Conferences include: CXO 2.0, Education 2.0,  Health 2.0, Founders 2.0, and the Fueld Conference.

Sponsor: Patriox oxygenated water. Drinking Patriox helps oxygenate the body, promoting overall health, energy, and vitality. Receive a 10% discount on your next purchase with the code EDUPXE.

Resources:

EDUP The Experience

Greeting: Jamal Watson

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY

Our Guest, Dr. Christopher Bonn, is President and CEO of BonFire Leadership Solutions. He is a celebrated educator, leadership coach, author, college professor, and musician. With over 35 years of experience, he has led institutional turnarounds, inspired educators worldwide, and createdculturally resonant music that spans languages and borders.

As a Tribal Adjudication Certified Professional, Dr. Bonn is a trusted advisor to Navajo Nation, White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Pascua Yaqui, Lipan Apache, and Tohono O’odham school systems. He guides these and other rural districts—such as those in Rio Rancho, New Mexico—through Continuous School Improvement Plans, One Plan implementation, Cognia Accreditation, and exiting academic and financial sanctions. His deep preference is to serve tribal and rural school districts, where his leadership strengthens academics, human resources, and organizationalefficiency.

Dr. Bonn’s global footprint includes extensive work in Mexico, Latin America, Canada, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Poland, and Israel, where his culturally informedleadership and training have shaped educational strategies across diverse contexts.

Building on this foundation, Dr. Bonn has been recently invited to speak in China, Thailand, Ireland, and Dubai in the upcoming months, further expanding his international reach and influence as a keynote speaker and advisor.

As a bilingual innovator in AI EdTech, Dr. Bonn has contributed to the development of tools for Special Education and English Language Acquisition, integrating AI, machine learning, and automation to expand access and effectiveness. Concurrently, he serves as a college professor, mentoring future educators and amplifying his impact through teaching and training.

Through BonFire Leadership Solutions, Dr. Bonn continues to empower tribal nations, rural school districts, and international institutions, weaving cultural awareness with transformativeleadership. Whether in Arizona, Alaska, or across the globe, his work embodies the principle that every community deserves academic equity, inspired leadership, and a lasting legacy of success.

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: The 2.0 Conferences.

Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choice of the 2.0 Conferences include: CXO 2.0, Education 2.0,  Health 2.0, Founders 2.0, and the Fueld Conference.

Resources:

EDUP The Experience

Xcelerated Excellence Consulting

Greeting: Joel Nomdarkham

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY

Thanks, Santa, for helping us at EDUP Xcelerated Excellence, spread cheer and joy.

Our Guest, Michelle Maslowski, MBA, CFRE, is Managing Director, Carter. With over 15 years of experience as a senior development leader in the nonprofit sector, Michelle, has a proven track record of developing and executing high-impactfundraising strategies that result in transformational gifts and long-term donor engagement.

As Managing Director at Carter, Michelle specializes in building and enhancing fundraising programs that drive sustainable growth and long-term success for nonprofits. She brings deep expertise in major gifts, planned and annual giving, and in building successful grateful patient and alumni programs—helping organizations cultivate, solicit, and steward high-impact donors to maximize philanthropic support. Her experience in strategic planning ensures that organizations have clear, actionable roadmaps to achieve their fundraising and mission-driven goals. Michelle also provides campaign planning guidance, assisting nonprofits in launching and executing capital, comprehensive, and special fundraising initiatives. Additionally, she supports board engagement, helping nonprofit boards strengthen their partnership in philanthropy and overall impact on the organization’s success.

Most recently, Michelle served as the Associate Vice President, Individual Philanthropy for Moffitt Cancer Center, providing oversight and direction for the principal gifts, major gifts, and planned and annual giving programs, as well as advancing theFoundation’s 10-year strategic plan. In addition, Michelle has held key leadership roles in two highly successful comprehensive campaigns, including Drexel University’s $455 million "Dream It. Do It. Drexel. A Campaign for the Future."and Jefferson Health’s $1 billion "Reimagine: The Campaign for Jefferson." Her experience in managing large-scale fundraising initiatives, donor engagement strategies, and campaign execution positions her as a trusted advisor for organizations seeking to strengthen their philanthropic efforts.

Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in business administration from Drexel University. While at Drexel, Michelle was a standout basketball player. When she graduated, she was Drexel’s all-time leading scorer, with over 1,900 points scored, and still ranks as Drexel’s second all-time leading scorer. She then played basketball professionally throughout Europe for 10 years.

Michelle and her husband, Joe, live in Bradenton, Florida. She enjoys traveling, Pilates, yoga, biking, and anything outdoors.

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: The 2.0 Conferences.Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choice of the 2.0 Conferences include: CXO 2.0, Education 2.0,  Health 2.0, Founders 2.0, and the Fueld Conference.

Resources:

EDUP The Experience

Greeting: Joel Nomdarkham

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY

Our Guest, Kalebe Easley, is a youth sports performance coach, entrepreneur, and founder of Prime Evolution Fitness & Sports Performance, one of the fastest-rising athletic development programs in Southern California. Based in Orange County, Kalebe specializes in speed, agility, strength, and sport-specific performance for athletes across football, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, and more.

A former collegiate athlete with over 24 years of combined athletic and coaching experience, Kalebe holds advanced certifications in personal training, corrective exercise, flexibility, and balance training through NASM. His coaching philosophy centers on the belief that athleticism is a skill, and with the right combination of time, information, and consistency, any athlete can transform their game.

Kalebe has helped athletes at every level—from youth standouts and travel-ball players to high-level competitors including MLS Next, LA Galaxy Academy, NTIS USA Baseball, and top-tier high school programs. His athletes are known for becoming faster, more adaptable, more confident, and more prepared for the demands of their sport.

Beyond coaching, Kalebe is an innovator building a brand rooted in excellence, discipline, and opportunity. His company is expanding into media, training systems, and future facility growth, with a mission to create elite performance environments for the next generation of athletes.

Driven, intentional, and deeply passionate about athlete development, Kalebe is dedicated to helping young athletes evolve not just in sports, but in life.

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: The 2.0 Conferences.

Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choices of the 2.0 Conferences include: CXO2.0, Education 2.0,  Health 2.0, Founders 2.0, and the Fueld Conference.

Resources:

EDUP The Experience

Xcelerated Excellence Consulting

Greeting: Joel Nomdarkham

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY

Our Guest, Eric R. Almonte, serves as Assistant Vice President for Capital Giving at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. In this role, he supervises an extremely dedicated and professional staff, including three frontline fundraising teams and the support staff for Leadership Gifts, International Development, and the Office of Gift Planning. The Capital Giving team focuses on fundraising to increase access and affordability opportunities, endowed professorships, and research funding to support innovation.

Prior to this role, he was the Associate Vice President of Major Gifts at Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, where he managed a talented group of advancement professionals that supported the Haub School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, Hawk Athletics, and the Kinney Center for AutismEducation and Support.

As Assistant Vice President, Major Gifts at Drexel University,Philadelphia, PA, Eric led fundraising initiatives at the LeBow College of Business, the Close School of Entrepreneurship, Goodwin College, and Sports Management. Prior to working at Drexel, he served as Manager for Voyager Select at The Vanguard Group, Malvern, PA, working with high-net-worth clients. 

Before Vanguard, Eric served as the Executive Associate to the President at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Cheyney, PA, where he was the chief of staff and provided leadership to the university President on a spectrum of university-related matters.

Before joining Cheyney University, Eric served as Director of Equity and Diversity Initiatives at Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA, where he managed the College's diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.

Eric has also worked at The Ohio Board of Regents, as Assistant Director, Access Initiatives, to increase college access programs throughout the state of Ohio. Additionally, he worked at Denison University as Assistant Dean, Office of Academic Support, where he supported student success initiatives and mentored students in the Posse Scholars program.  He was also an assistant football coach, working with the wide receivers, defensive backs, and outside linebackers.

Eric earned his Juris Doctorate at the University at Buffalo, LawSchool, Buffalo, NY, where he also earned his undergraduate degrees in Sociology and African American Studies and was a member of the University football team. Eric is a first-generation Dominican American who was born in Brooklyn, NY.

Eric lives in Ardmore, PA, with his wife Michele, daughter Sofia, and son Eric.

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: The 2.0 Conferences. Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choice of the 2.0 Conferences include: CXO 2.0, Education 2.0,  Health 2.0, Founders 2.0, and the Fueld Conference.

Xcelerated Excellence Consulting⁠. Xcelerated Excellence, LLC is dedicated to offering support to educational leaders and their organizations to meet their full potential for excellence. We do so by upholding the value of design thinking for solutions, integrity of practice, continuous quality improvement, and innovation to unlock potential.

Resources:

EDUP The Experience

Princeton University Giving

Greeting: Devin Rankin

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY

Our Guest, Dr. Paul Campbell, is Assistant Professor of Educational Administration and Leadership at The University of Hong Kong, where he also serves as an elected member of the university Senate, a Management Committee member of the Education Policy Unit, and Advisory Board Member for the In-Service Teacher Education Programme (INSTEP). His research investigates the evolving nature of educational leadership and policy in contexts of change and uncertainty, with a particular focus on how diverse approaches to knowledge production and evidence use shape educational reform. Adopting a systems perspective, his work explores the complex interplay between leadership development, policy enactment, and contextually grounded educational change.

A former Vice Principal and school leader, Paul is a Scholar-Practitioner Fellow of the Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change and an Honorary International Affiliate of the Centre for International Research into Leadership in Education (CIRLE). He serves on the board of the InternationalCongress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI), co-coordinates its Educational Leadership Network, and chairs its Communication and Knowledge Sharing Committee.

He is also co-founder of the Knowledge Production inEducational Leadership Research Network with Prof. Sefika Mertkan, and sits on multiple editorial boards, including School Leadership and Management, Management in Education, and the International Journal of Educational Management. His work has been published in leading journals and presented at major international conferences, and he is actively involved in doctoral supervision and leadership development internationally.

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: Western Governors University. WGU is an online, accredited university that specializes in personalized learning and making higher education accessible for as many people as possible.

Resources:

• EDUP The Experience⁠ Conceptualising Collaboration for Educational Change: The Role of Leadership and Governance(Article)
• Reframing Teacher Wellbeing: Policy, Leadership, and Localized Insight Through Asia as Method (Article)
•  EDUP Experience

Greeting: Devin Rankin

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY

Our Guest, Dr. Gracie Branch, serves as the Associate Executive Director for Professional Learning at the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and formerly served as the Executive Director for Elementary Principals at the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA). 

In her current position, Dr. Branch sustains and grows leadership opportunities by providing quality professional learning for administrators that encompasses national educational standards and initiatives.  In 2011, she earned her PhDfrom the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Educational Administration, Curriculum and Supervision where she was named a David L. Clark Scholar by the American Educational Research Association and the University Council for EducationalAdministration (UCEA).  She also holds a M.S. in Elementary Education and a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Oklahoma. 

In 2000, Dr. Branch received National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist.  In 2016, the UCEA recognized Dr. Branch for excellence in educational leadership.  Dr. Branch feels that her 46 years in education serve as a solid foundation to carry out her responsibilities at NAESP and to achieve high professional standards in our nation's schools.

Your Host: ⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠

Sponsor: The 2.0 Conferences.

Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choice of the 2.0 Conferences include: CXO 2.0, Education 2.0, Health 2.0, Founders 2.0, and the Fueld Conference.

 Xcelerated Excellence Consulting. Xcelerated Excellence, LLC is dedicated to offering support to educational leaders and their organizations to meet their full potential for excellence. We do so by upholding the value of design thinking for solutions, integrity of practice, continuous quality improvement, and innovation to unlock potential.⁠

Resources:

• EDUP The Experience
• The Wallace Foundation
• Learning Policy Institute
• NAESP

⁠

Greeting: Devin Rankin

Research Assistant: Emma Worthington

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY #NAESP

Our Guest, Dr. ⁠Sundeep R. Muppidi⁠, is a transformative higher education leader and Professor of Digital Media and Journalism at the ⁠University of Hartford⁠.

He has substantive experience driving institutional excellence through strategic innovation, adaptable program review systems, multi-year assessment models and student-centeredinitiatives. A distinguished scholar with a doctorate from ⁠Bowling Green State University⁠, Dr. Muppidi brings nearly three decades of global expertise. His research focuses on international communication, complexity, and communication for social change and empowerment.

His scholarly contributions include four co-authored/edited books, over 50 book chapters and refereed journal articles, numerous media productions, and more than a hundred refereed conference presentations and invited talks worldwide. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Asia-Pacific Media Educator, Media Asia and as the Associate Editor of the Asian Journal of Communication. He continues to serve on several disciplinary editorial boards, including for the International Journal of Politics and Media, International Communication Research Journal, and the Global Media Journal India.

A committed educator, Dr. Muppidi is recognized for his innovative teaching methods and leadership in classroomtechnology integration. He serves as a trained Peer Reviewer for the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation (CTEI).

In 2021, he received the prestigious Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Award for Distinguished Service to the University of Hartford.

Your Host: ⁠⁠⁠Jacob Easley II, PhD, PMP⁠⁠⁠

Sponsor: ⁠The 2.0 Conferences⁠. Register for the 2026 2.0 Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada and receive a discount courtesy of EDUP Xcelerated Excellence with the code EDUPXE15OFF. 

Your choice of the 2.0 Conferences include: ⁠CXO 2.0⁠, ⁠Education 2.0⁠, ⁠Health 2.0⁠, ⁠Founders 2.0⁠, and the ⁠Fueld Conference⁠.

 ⁠Xcelerated Excellence Consulting. ⁠Xcelerated Excellence Consulting, LLC is dedicated to offering support to education leaders and their organizations to meet their full potential for excellence⁠.

Resources:

• Dr.Sundeep R. Muppidi—21st Century Media Instruction, CriticalThinking, Polarization, and Social Responsibility (Part 1 of 2) Podcast

⁠

• EDUPThe Experience⁠

Greeting: ⁠Jake Small⁠

#EDUPXE #EDUCATIONALEXCELLENCE #EDUCATIONALEQUITY