Principal, The Renaissance Charter School
Principal, VOICE Charter School
Franklin J. Headley is the founder and Principal of VOICE Charter School. He holds an A.B. from Harvard, and M.A. and M.Phil degrees from Columbia University and the University of London. With over 20 years in education, Mr. Headley served as a teacher in the Bronx—earning two Fulbright Memorial Fund Master Teacher Awards—and an Assistant Principal in Queens. He has mentored educators for the NYC Teaching Fellows and the NYC Charter Center. In 2016, he was named the Robert F. Kennedy Urban Educator of the Year. He serves on the boards of C3S and the Jacob Riis Settlement House.
CEO/Principal, John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy
Ronald Tabano has over 55 years of experience in education. He began his career in the South Bronx and later became an Assistant Principal before founding Wildcat Academy in 1992 and the first Second Opportunity School (SOS) in 1997. Mr. Tabano guided Wildcat through the charter conversion process in 2000 and was named a Principal of the Year during the Giuliani administration. He also co-founded New Dawn Charter School and New Dawn II. Today, he manages a $9.5 million budget and a staff of 61, dedicated to serving students who need a second chance at success.
Steve serves as Chairperson of the Coalition of Community Charter Schools. With over 20 years of experience as a General Counsel and Executive Director, he combines legal expertise with a deep commitment to educational equity. He focuses on sustainable governance and compliance for New York’s charter community. Prior to his work in education, Steve provided corporate legal counsel to numerous nonprofit organizations and affordable housing developments.
Board Treasurer, Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens
Steven is a retired charter school founder and leader with an extensive background in educational publishing, technology, and entrepreneurship. For the past decade, he has served as the Board Treasurer of the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens, which provides innovative programming to over 10,000 young people. He previously served on the founding boards of two charter schools in Western Queens.
Headmaster, The New American Academy Charter School
Lisa Parquette Silva has been the Headmaster of TNAACS since 2013. A 30-year veteran of the NYC public school system, she previously served as a Master Teacher at PS 770. She has held roles as a Literacy Specialist, Staff Developer, and English Department Chairperson. Ms. Silva was instrumental in creating teacher self-reflection tools based on the Danielson Framework and has designed school-wide assessments to improve literacy instruction across multiple stakeholders.
Publisher, Queens Ledger / Brooklyn Star Group
Walter has been the editor and publisher of the Queens Ledger / Brooklyn Star Community Newspaper Group since 1986. A graduate of Fordham University, he is a founding member of the Journalism steering committee at St. Joseph’s College and President of the Variety Boys & Girls Club in Astoria. Walter also coaches varsity and collegiate tennis at Msgr. McClancy High School and St. Joseph’s College.