Grace Klepacz is a 7th and 8th Grade Teacher at the St. Andrew’s School in Savannah Georgia. She has served as a Course Instructor for Students Shoulder to Shoulder, a non-profit dedicated to teaching middle and highschoolers about ethical leadership through field studies which take students to serve alongside grassroots community organizations around the world.

Come hear about why teaching ethical leadership is more important now more than ever from a teacher on the frontlines of the classroom.

The Ethical Leadership Forum hosted by Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder happens on October 17th to 18th for educators and on October 18th for EVERYONE. Vail, CO never felt so warm. See what Ethical Leadership looks like in action.

Timothy McNutt is the Director of the Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. McNutt began his law career as an Assistant District Attorney at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office where he conducted long-term narcotics investigations. Later, as an Assistant District Attorney at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, McNutt also prosecuted violent and white collar crime. He uses his extensive background in criminal law and policy to assist people with criminal records in reducing barriers to reentry and improving employment outcomes.

Come learn about why employment is a central element to lowering rates of recidivism, how to work with employers to accept justice impacted people into their workforce, and how to make a business case for increased hiring for formerly incarcerated people.

Jerry Hartman is the President and Board Chairman of the Barbara McDowell Gerald S. Hartman Foundation. The McDowell Foundation aims to improve the economic well-being, social conditions, and civil liberties of disadvantaged persons and groups in the United States. The Foundation accomplishes this goal by providing over $1.7 million dollars to organizations performing impact litigation that seeks to protect the rights of underserved communities. Through victories in securing the rights of prisoners, children, racial minorities and more, the Foundation has shown that contributing to the right people seeking to do the right thing makes the world a better place to be in.

Jerry has had a long career as a litigator, including four years in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. He received the Department’s prestigious Special Commendation Award from the Attorney General of the United States. Jerry was a tenured law professor at Wake Forest Law School and has been a partner in several national law firms representing major American corporations in class action employment discrimination cases.

Chelsey Roebuck is the President and Co-Founder of Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering or ELITE. ELiTE is an academic preparation program that increases equity, opportunity, and readiness for STEM-related postsecondary pathways for students attending public schools that serve majority low-income Black and Latino populations. ELiTE is at the forefront of minting the world's future leading Black and Latino engineers. Everything from securing internships during high school at the largest technology companies in America to 1-on-1 mentorship is included in ELiTE’s rigorous programming.

Chelsey graduated from Columbia in 2010 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. From Forbes 30 Under 30 to being an Echoing Green Fellow, Chelsey is a force for good in educating New York City’s underserved students.

Captain Neekenson Fils Aime is a Captain in the Salvation Army, the renowned, international Christian organization known for its impressive track record of uplifting the most underserved communities around the world. Captain Neek leads the Harlem Temple Corps of the Salvation Army which oversees the Salvation Army’s work throughout Harlem, NYC. Come learn about the most pressing challenges facing the Harlem community and the solutions being employed by Captain Neek alongside his wife Captain Jeanne Elie.

Dr. Sarah Bennison is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Mattering Movement. The Mattering Movement is a New York incorporated non-profit that teaches students, teachers, and parents what it means to matter by providing tools to identify needs in local communities and the skills to make a positive impact on the world. The Matter Movement seeks to combat the pandemic of loneliness and despair that are harming America’s youth. The Mattering Movement provides practical toolkits of curriculum in order to support teachers and parents in creating environments that make students feel like they matter.

Dr. Bennison is an educational leader, activist and founder of Trinity School (NYC) Office of Public Service, where she led service learning initiatives engaging students, faculty, families and alumni in ongoing, meaningful community engagement work with social impact curriculum. She started her career in New York City public schools in the South Bronx and has more than twenty-five years of teaching and leadership experience.

Ramón Javier is the Head of School at George Jackson Academy. George Jackson Academy (GJA) is a selective, need-blind, all-boys middle school located in the East Village of Manhattan. GJA educates high-achieving boys, regardless of their families’ economic means, with some of the best independent school education around. The school’s tuition is $25,000 per year, but 100% of the families receive financial aid, some families pay as little as $50 a month. The school truly believes that if you have the ability to thrive academically, then the education that will push you should be available regardless of your economic status. Ramon has two decades of leadership experience at some of the most pre-eminent independent schools and educational access programs in New York City such as Prep for Prep, The Trinity School, TEAK, and Packer Collegiate. He graduated from Williams College and then earned a Masters of Education (Ed.M.) and M.A. in Psychological Counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Roslyn Rivas is the Public Programs Manager at NYC Audubon, a grassroots non-profit that has been working for the protection of wild birds and habitat in New York City for over 40 years. If you want to know how urban conservationists have saved millions of birds, changed major construction like the Javits Center to be more environmentally friendly, and have brought together the NYC community around an appreciation of birds, this episode is for you. Roslyn is a Bronx, New York native and grew up right next to the iconic Bronx Zoo. Her early love of environment and animals propelled her to Yale where she graduated undergrad with a degree in ecology & evolutionary biology and then earned a wildlife management certificate from Oregon State University. Roslyn has worked for the New York Botanical Garden and the National Audubon Foundation before bringing her talents to NYC Audubon. Get ready to learn about practical ways urban living folks can be just a little bit more environmentally conscious.