The 22nd Annual National Service-Learning Conference

Keynote Speakers

	Maurice “Mo” Green Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green was named Guilford County Schools’ third permanent superintendent when the Board of Education voted to approve his appointment on July 24, 2008. Guilford County Schools is the third largest district in North Carolina. Upon Green’s arrival in September 2008, he embarked on a “Listening and Learning Tour” of Guilford County to garner input from hundreds of GCS parents, students, teachers, principals and community members through town hall forums and other meetings. During this time, Green stressed excellence as the expectation for the district. He augmented this tour with the “Mo Wants to Know” campaign, which was launched to include many thoughts and opinions in the district’s strategic planning process. “Mo Wants to Know” charged all stakeholders to help the district dream big by providing input to the superintendent. Immediately, employees, students and the community began to work toward the goal of achieving education excellence. This is seen in the notable gains made in student achievement and increased numbers in volunteer hours and in-kind donations. Green holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics and a law degree, both from Duke University. Upon graduating from law school, his first job was a prestigious clerkship in the chambers of Federal District Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley, Jr. in Greensboro. The following year, he held another prominent clerkship in the Sixth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. After completing his clerkship, Green joined the law firm of Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore LLP. He worked his way up to partner after six years before joining CMS in 2001.
	Jim Kielsmeier, Founder, President and CEO, NYLC Kielsmeier has committed his life to transforming the roles of young people in society — building youth-adult partnerships that help young people grow from recipients of information and resources to valuable, contributing members of a democratic society.
	Greg Mortenson Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute, Pennies For Peace, and co-author of New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea. Mortenson’s new book is Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan. As of 2010, Mortenson has established over 141 schools, and another five dozen temporary refugee schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 64,000 children, including 52,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before. Both of Greg Mortenson’s parents and all his grandparents were educators or teachers.
	Kathy Payne Kathy Payne is the Senior Director of Education Leadership for State Farm® in charge of State Farm’s business-education partnerships. She works directly with State Farm Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr. in the area of business/education partnerships focused on improving student achievement. Kathy’s job involves staff support for his work with multiple national organizations as well as representing State Farm at the staff level on education commissions and task forces. She is also responsible for the direction of State Farm’s philanthropic support for education organizations. She serves on the education advisory board for the National Alliance of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO). She is a Director for Youth Service America, the National Youth Leadership Council, the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy and the Institute for Competitive Workforce at the U.S. Chamber. She is a Trustee for America’s Promise Alliance and also serves on the Business-Education Council for The Conference Board. A former school board member and president, Kathy received the 2002-2003 Illinois Board of Education “Those Who Excel” Award for outstanding contributions to education and was named the “2003 Woman of Distinction” for education for her home county in Illinois. Prior to joining State Farm, Kathy was a 12-year veteran teacher in the area of Special Education at the secondary level.
	Parth Shah Parth Shah serves as Kiva.org’s first active youth volunteer since the summer of 2006. Kiva.org is a website connects people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Parth’s initial project data collection and analysis; which allowed for Kiva’s executive management team determine its’ expansion strategy during Kiva’s early growth period. He has also been instrumental on Kiva’s fundraising team, and provided sound perspectives that were critical in securing to date the organization’s second largest donor, Halloran Philanthropies. In fall 2008, Parth created Kiva High School, an organization that encompasses the idea behind Kiva.org and further engages in the fight against global poverty at the high school level. Currently, there are 65 chapters worldwide. Parth sits on the Board of Directors for the National Youth Leadership Council and beginning fall 2010, he will be attending New York University (NYU) as a MLK Scholar to pursue his degree in finance.
	Naomi Tutu Naomi Tutu, daughter of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is associate director of the Office of International Programs at Tennessee State University, founder of the Tutu Foundation, and author of Words of Desmond Tutu and I Don’t Think of You as Black: Honest Conversations on Race. Born in South Africa during apartheid, she is an internationally recognized speaker and consultant on gender, race and international relations and a recipient of numerous awards. She has been a consultant in sub-Saharan Africa and in South Africa on educational and professional opportunities for black women and has taught courses on development, gender, and education in Africa, at the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina.

Thought Leaders

	Greg Forbes Siegman The Silhouette Man by Jillip Naysinthe Paxson tells the story of one person’s efforts to make a difference in the world outside his window, and the lessons learned along the way. Greg Forbes Siegman is the real-life person upon whom the books are based. A former educator, he now spends much of the year speaking at schools, events and conferences. He has served as Scholar-in-Residence for schools and programs in the US, Canada and Africa. Outside the classroom, his primary civic efforts have revolved around issues and causes like mentoring, education-based philanthropy, diversity, cancer and the elderly. For his efforts, he has received some special honors including the Jefferson Award for Public Service. In 2005, he was honored at Princeton University as one of America’s top social entrepreneurs under 40.
	Dr. James Toole, President/CEO, Compass Institute James Toole is President of Compass Institute and Teaching and Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota in the School of Social Work and College of Education and Human Development. His professional passions include leadership development, organizational change, spirituality and service, global health, and service-learning. James has worked nationally in 45 states with schools, non-profits, foundations, correctional facilities, and state departments of education and has taught at every level from pre-school and kindergarten through graduate school.
	Dr. Pamela Toole, Vice President, Compass Institute Pamela Toole has worked with students at every level, from upper elementary through graduate school. The former Director of NYLC's Professional Development Department, she is currently Vice President of Compass Institute and a lecturer at the University of Minnesota School of Social and Youth Studies. She has led service-learning workshops for educators in more than 40 states, and works with peer education programs. She's particularly involved with issues of diversity and equity within the service-learning field.