Tara joined ERS in 2016 and is a leader on ERS’ Human Capital Practice Area. She has worked with district and state partners nationally, with a focus on how districts can design schools to make teaching more attractive and sustainable. She has supported school systems to organize staffing and schedules to dramatically increase time for teacher collaboration and enable rookie teachers to co-teach for 50% of their day with highly effective teacher leaders. She has also supported school systems to redesign High School schedules to better support students to stay on track for graduation and expand access to early post-secondary opportunities. Tara leads ERS’ work to annually track teacher turnover in our partner districts. Prior to joining ERS, Tara taught elementary school in Richmond, California. She holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a B.A. in Economics from Bryn Mawr College. She is an alumna of Teach for America and Education Pioneers.

Richard “Lennon” Audrain is a research assistant professor at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. He leads the strategy on the Next Education Workforce initiative's Teacher & School Leader grant, an $8.2 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded to ASU in partnership with Mesa Public Schools to redesign human capital management systems in education. Audrain also leads Educators Rising Arizona, an initiative to convene and mobilize high schoolers, who are enrolled in Education Professions and Early Childhood Education programs across the state, in role- and work-based learning experiences in the education workforce. In addition to his role as a research professor, Audrain is a high school teacher in Mesa Public Schools. He holds degrees from Arizona State University and Harvard University.

Mary Laski is a principal at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, where her research focuses on the educator workforce. Mary is the principal investigator on research projects pertaining to ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College’s Next Education Workforce Initiative, which focuses on redesigning education for learners and educators. Mary received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2024. While at Harvard, she also received the Partnering in Education Research Fellowship from the Center for Education Policy Research and the Linda G. Hammett Ory Fellowship from the EdRedesign Lab. She holds both an A.M. in Urban Education Policy and an A.B. in Economics and American Studies from Brown University.

Amy McGrath is Vice President of Education Outreach and Student Services for Arizona State University, and the Managing Director of ASU Prep Academy and ASU Prep Digital School. Amy believes that every student can be successful with the right support and access. She and her team at ASU are leveraging all ASU has to offer and are intently focused on transforming P-20 learning environments to increase academic achievement.