2024 Power Players in Education

United University Professions President Kowal has served as president since winning the election in 2013. Under Kowal’s leadership, UUP has become a strong, politically influential organization. Central to this work has been Kowal’s insistence that UUP takes on the role of offering innovative solutions to the challenges facing SUNY and communities across the state. Kowal serves on the AFT Executive Council, NYSUT Executive Committee and Board of Directors, and is chairman-elect for the National Wildlife Federation Board.  

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
First and foremost, policymakers can provide institutions of public higher education full funding. This will allow educators to provide accessible and higher-quality education for all of those who want it.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
When I received the signature from the last member of my dissertation committee – meaning my Ph.D. was complete! 

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
Focus on what is real and don’t be distracted by irrelevant issues that arise. 

Marvin Krislov has been the president of Pace since 2017, advancing its mission to provide access to transformative education. He led initiatives to enhance diversity, inclusion, mental health support, and student success through the experiential Pace Path model. Krislov was previously president of Oberlin College and served in key legal roles at the University of Michigan, the White House, and Department of Labor. He holds degrees from Yale and Oxford and was a Rhodes Scholar.

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
As someone deeply committed to education, I believe policymakers play a crucial role in helping people understand the value of education. Supporting K-12 students ensures they are well-prepared for college and beyond. This generation has faced significant challenges and uncertainties, making it essential to provide robust emotional and academic support. Adequate funding is critical to delivering the best possible experience, allowing institutions like Pace to support students fully as they navigate an increasingly complex world.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
One of my most memorable experiences was learning to conduct historical research at Tates Creek Junior High School in Kentucky. That experience opened my eyes to the power of discovery and critical thinking, setting me on a lifelong path of curiosity and learning. It was a transformative moment that showed me the importance of research in understanding and shaping the world around us.

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
The best advice I’ve ever received came from my parents, who taught me the value of failure. They instilled in me the understanding that if you don’t take risks and fail, you’ll never truly learn how to succeed. This perspective has guided me throughout my life, reminding me that growth often comes from the challenges we face and overcome.

Kimaada is the director of education and community engagement at the Queens Museum, leading programs centered on social justice and culturally sustaining pedagogy. She is the author of 19 children’s books and contributed to the Till movie Curriculum Guide. Kimaada holds a master’s in environmental law and policy and is pursuing a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) while being recognized as a 2024 Women InPower Fellow. She is passionate about empowering diverse communities through innovative programming.

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
Policymakers can support New York’s students and educators by implementing culturally sustaining and responsive pedagogies that reflect the diversity of the state’s communities. By prioritizing funding for arts and museum-based education programs, policymakers can foster experiential learning that empowers students to engage critically with their histories and the world around them. Also, ensuring equitable access to resources, especially in underfunded neighborhoods, alongside mental health support and social justice curricula, can create inclusive and transformative learning environments.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
One of my favorite moments was when I was a history teacher and I led a project connecting environmental justice to students’ communities. Watching their passion to impact real-world issues was transformative. This solidified my commitment to creating curricula that inspire change. Currently, as I pursue my Doctor of Education in educational leadership and organizational innovation, I embrace being both a lifelong educator and a forever student, knowing that continued learning and unlearning are powerful.

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
One of my incredible mentors once told me to always pursue work that aligns with my purpose and passion, rather than being tied to a specific organization. When you do that, your work creates a powerful drive to contribute to positive change, leaving lasting legacies. I want my work to always have a positive impact on the communities that I serve near and far.

Dr. James Lentini is the seventh president of Molloy University. Under his leadership, Molloy has moved from college to university status and achieved record-setting highs for enrollment, fundraising, and grants. He led the creation of Molloy’s new Strategic Plan 2028, deepened partnerships with regional health care systems, and is co-principal investigator on a $3.5M award from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Lentini is an award-winning composer and a voting member of the Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards.  

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
It is vital for policymakers to understand the value of higher education for all students and to help make college more affordable to students and families by increasing the amount available through Pell grants. Studies continue to show that the best way to secure the highest-paying jobs and to be productive citizens is through the attainment of a four-year degree.  

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
As a first-generation college student, a whole new world opened up to me as soon as I entered the university. There are too many pivotal moments to choose from, but one of my favorite memories is having my original musical compositions performed for the first time by professional orchestras. In particular, I’ll always remember fondly when one of my scores was performed in Carnegie Hall.  

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
In the music profession, there is a constant stream of auditioning that, more often than not, can lead to rejection. As a composer,  I would often be entering competitions, and if I had quit after not winning, I would not have experienced the successes that eventually materialized. The advice was this: when one door closes, another opens. This applies to education, music, and life.

As head of the Guggenheim’s Education and Public Engagement Department, Cyra Levenson leads the museum’s efforts to reach a broad audience through programming, content development, academic partnerships and community engagement. Levenson has a significant role in partnering across the foundation’s international network. Prior to joining the Guggenheim Museum in March 2020, Levenson was the deputy director and head of public and academic engagement at Cleveland Museum of Art, where she had worked since 2016.

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
Students are the future. They need supportive mentors and resources to share and develop their ideas and skills. It is important for policymakers to value this development and to invest in it guided by the experts who work in classrooms every day.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
I was lucky enough to have teachers who encouraged my creativity and individual perspective on the world throughout my education. But education doesn’t just happen in school. My Mom is the person who took me to museums, to plays, to nature centers and libraries and showed me how to wonder, how to ask questions, and how to express myself.

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
My college advisor was an incredible mentor. She encouraged me to find a career path that allowed me to teach creativity as a human right and not a privilege.

Shari Levine is the executive director of LINC, a leading literacy organization that equips children with foundational literacy skills essential for academic achievement by empowering families and mobilizing the community. Under Levine, LINC’s budget has grown from less than $1M to nearly $7M, with a staff of 50 and programs in all five NYC boroughs and on Long Island’s east end. Levine earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and previously worked for Columbia Pictures.

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
Policymakers should recognize that literacy starts at birth. The years between birth and five are crucial for building the literacy skills that we know play a significant role in academic success and lifelong well-being. They can build collaborative relationships with health care systems to engage expectant and new parents. They can invest in community literacy programs that make literacy visible and valued for all children and support educators’ goals once children are at the schoolhouse door.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
My elementary school library hosted guest readers from the community. I remember the pharmacist’s wife reading “Harry the Dirty Dog.” The pharmacist’s family was new in the neighborhood. Guest reader days always felt exciting. Later, when I went to the pharmacy, I would see the pharmacist and his wife at work. Remembering her reading to us made me happy. It made me feel like I truly belonged to a community. Community literacy can do that.

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
Early in my career, my boss told me to think of every task I agree to as a monkey on my back. I needed to ensure I never had so many monkeys that I couldn’t function effectively. That simple advice stuck with me as I matured and took on more responsibility. When work is mission-driven, there is always urgency. To be effective, you need to make considered decisions about where to put your resources.

Dr. Guillermo Linares, president of the NYS Higher Education Services Corporation since 2017, oversees the administration of $800 million in financial aid to 330,000 students. The first Dominican-born elected to the NYC Council (1991) he also chaired the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (1998). Dr. Linares also served as the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and as an NYS Assembly member, advocating for public education and immigrant communities. 

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
The key to supporting students and educators is building a welcoming and nurturing environment for parents and students to help them succeed in life. Educators need support from social workers, school counselors, mental health professionals, nonprofits and libraries. Addressing teacher shortages requires offering incentives for the profession and encouraging graduate studies. Promoting collaboration between K-12 and higher education strengthens the college pipeline for students and provides greater collaboration between lower and higher education partners. 

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
My college experience in the early 70s put in perspective for me the challenges I faced in high school as a newly-arrived student in the Bronx in 1966. The difficulties I faced as an immigrant student helped inform my decision to become an elementary bilingual teacher in Washington Heights to help ease the transition for students and their families as newcomers.  

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
My mother was my biggest cheerleader! As the oldest of nine children and the first to attend college, I always looked to my mother as my guiding light. She consistently inspired me to do my very best in anything I set out to do and she encouraged me to “always remain focused on the task at hand until it was done!”

Dr. Michael A. Lindsey is dean and Paulette Goddard professor of social work at NYU Silver School of Social Work, and an Aspen Health Innovators fellow. A noted scholar of youth mental health, he led the working group of experts supporting the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health. He is an NYC Board of Health Member and president of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
More resources and funding for school-based mental health services are needed. Research by Montefiore Medical Center shows that young people are 21 times more likely to seek mental health care if they have access to school-based services. Yet, too many schools lack even one mental health professional. That is why the NYU Silver School of Social Work has a School Social Worker Training Academy, to train students to address the growing youth mental health crisis.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
Attending Morehouse College, a historically black college that was the alma mater of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is among the early highlights of my education.

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
It is important to discern what you are passionate about, and then center that reason in the work you do in order to make a true impact. If you do that then everything else will fall in place.

John C. Liu is a New York State senator representing a broad area of northeast Queens.  He is chairperson of the Senate’s Committee on New York City Education and also serves on the committees of Education, Finance, Higher Education, Judiciary, Rules and Transportation. John was comptroller of the City of New York (2010-2013) and a New York City council member (2002-2009). Currently, John teaches municipal finance and public policy in master’s programs at Columbia University.

How can policymakers support New York’s students and educators?
For years, families and educators have been shorted their constitutional right to a sound, basic education because class sizes in NYC public schools have been excessively large. The state legislature is addressing this long-standing problem by passing legislation to cap class sizes in every grade, establishing a timeline for the city to come into compliance, and providing record Foundation Aid to help pay to build new capacity and hire new teachers.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
Education never stops with a cap and gown, and my proudest moment, aside from graduating from Binghamton University with a degree in Mathematical Physics, came much later in life when I earned my commercial pilot’s license and became a volunteer flight instructor with the United States Civil Air Patrol.

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
My dad moved our family to America from Taiwan in search of better opportunities and education for his sons. He taught me to never take anything for granted and while success is not always a guarantee, hard work pays off. Regardless of what obstacles lie ahead, if you put effort into everything you do, you will be rewarded in the end.

Amanda Lowe is a partner at Phillips Lytle LLP and the co-leader of its Higher Education Team. She serves as a chief legal advisor to educational institutions and affiliated entities on both overall strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations. With expertise in representing higher education institutions, she regularly counsels clients regarding board governance, compliance, labor and employment matters, internal investigations (including Title VII and Title IX), student affairs and conduct, housing policies and risk management. 

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
Serving as student trustee on the board of trustees at my college during undergrad.

What is the best advice you have received from a mentor?
Quoting Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”