FORGE

Nicole Furlonge

Dr. Nicole Brittingham Furlonge is professor of practice and executive director of the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College Columbia University. She is also an instructor in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and is co-founder of LEARNS Collaborative, a catalyst for human-centered, equitable change in organizations. A first generation college student, Nicole earned her Ph.D. and B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania, and her M.A. from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Teachers College, Nicole served as Director of Teaching and Learning at the Holderness School. She has taught English and served as English Department Chair and Director of Diversity at several independent schools, including St. Andrew's School (Delaware), The Lawrenceville School, and Princeton Day School. Nicole is the author of Race Sounds: The Art of Listening in African American Literature, published by the University of Iowa Press. Nicole has previously served on the boards of People and Stories/Gente y Cuentos and Village Charter School in Trenton, NJ. Currently, she serves on the board of the Tang Institute at Phillips Academy (Andover), The School at Columbia University, and International School Services (ISS). Nicole's research examines the intersections between listening, systems thinking, cognitive science, social justice, and school leadership.

Kenny Graves

Kenny Graves, Ph.D. has served in public and Independent schools for over a decade as an award-winning English teacher, professional developer, educational technologist, and school leader. Dr. Graves currently serves as the Upper School (9-12) Assistant Principal for Academic Life and Director of Studies at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, NY, where he manages the academic program, teaches courses in the Ethics Department, and serves as a Form Advisor. Prior to this role, Dr. Graves served as the Upper School (9-12) Ethics & Technology Coordinator at Fieldston for six years. Along with his role at Fieldston, Dr. Graves is also an emerging researcher in the field of education leadership. His research broadly focuses on technology leadership for social justice. Dr. Graves uses cutting-edge quantitative methodologies to investigate the intersection of technology, school leadership, and digital equity with large-scale data. He has won several awards for his research, including the Teacher College Walter Sindlinger Award and a 2016-2017 AERA Dissertation Grant Award. Dr. Graves was also named as a University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA) Clark Seminar Scholar in 2018 and won the Outstanding Dissertation Award from AERA’s Advanced Studies of National Databases SIG in 2020. Dr. Graves is also an adjunct professor and research associate at The Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University and an adjunct professor at Boston College, where his courses focus on applied research methods and evidence-based decision making for aspiring school leaders. Dr. Graves earned his Ph.D. In Education Leadership from Columbia University in the City of New York. He also holds a M.Phil. in Education Leadership from Columbia University, a M.A. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Richmond with a B.A. in English, Secondary Education, and Latin American/Iberian Studies.

Andy Housiaux

Andy Housiaux is the Currie Family Director of the Tang Institute at Phillips Academy (Andover, MA), where he also teaches Philosophy and Religious Studies. His work supports faculty learning and curricular innovation, both at Andover and across networks of educators in public, private, and charter schools. He has two degrees in Religion and is a 2010 KSI alum. In addition to his work with FORGE, he is on the Board of Directors of Challenge Success, a Stanford-based non-profit. His writing and research explore ways to help adolescents lead more reflective and moral lives.

Cyndy Jean

Cyndy Jean serves as the Associate Head of School at Hackley School. Throughout her career, she has taught at every level of a K-12 classroom, first as a second-grade teacher, then teaching English in fifth, seventh, and eleventh grades. She has served as a senior leader for over ten years, beginning her leadership career as a Middle School Division Director. Cyndy has recently earned her doctorate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Graduate School of Education. Her research centers on the leadership pipeline of Black women working in historically and predominantly White institutions. Her dissertation titled, “Soulwork: The Critical Role of Black Women Leaders in Developing Social Cohesion within Predominantly White Independent Schools” is a focus on organizational structure, intersectional theory, and ethnographic evidence. Cyndy is also a graduate of Amherst College, Fordham University, and Teachers College, Columbia University. She has completed several Fellowships including the National Association of Independent Schools Aspiring Heads Program and serves on the Board of Tree of Life Orphanage and FAFHA, two non-profit organizations serving and educating children in Source Matelas and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She is also on the Executive Board of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Westchester Chapter, and has recently begun to design a non-profit focused on supporting educational leaders.

Caroline Lee

Caroline Lee is the Academic Dean and Co-Director of Princeton Day School's - University of Pennsylvania's Day School Teaching Residency Program (DSTR). She is also a member of the English department. Before moving over to the day school world, Caroline taught at The Hill School and The Lawrenceville School. She has also worked with the Character Lab to design a playbook on Purposeful Practice and ever since then has become passionate about the research on practice and habits, especially as it relates to Systems, Teaching, and Learning.

Liz Perry

Liz Perry is Assistant Head of School for Academics at St. Luke's School, a secular co-ed day school in New Canaan, CT. She holds a B.A. in English Literature with a Concentration in Women's Studies from Swarthmore College and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Liz previously taught English and was the Director of Educational Design and Innovation at The Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, NY. Prior to that, Liz was a full-time English teacher, working at Escola Graduada de São Paulo (the American School of São Paulo, Brazil), The Brimmer and May School in Boston, and Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Liz served as a lead teacher at the Klingenstein Summer Institute for sixteen years and was a participant there in 1999.

Josh Pretzer

Josh Pretzer is the Dean of Faculty at Culver Academies, a Midwest boarding school community of 830 students and hundreds of faculty and staff all focused upon practicing scholarship, leadership, and responsible citizenship. Since joining the Culver faculty in 1999, Josh has pursued professional development opportunities that ask him to process research and best practices and then put what is learned into context and action both in national-level projects and (more frequently) local efforts in the Culver community. Some of the most powerful experiences have come through Klingenstein, including the Masters programs at Teachers College and both participating in and teaching in the Klingenstein Summer Institute. He is currently focused on both developing a shared vision for the outcomes of Culver's academic program and supporting and promoting faculty development in Culver's professional learning community. Josh enjoys sharing practices around teacher growth and development in presentations nationally and through contributions to the Folio Collaborative.