Linda Darling-Hammond is the Chief Knowledge Officer at the Learning Policy Institute (LPI). She is also the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University, where she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as the faculty sponsor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, which she helped to redesign. Darling-Hammond is Past President of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, Public Service, and Research-to-Policy. She is also a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education. From 1994 to 2001, she was Executive Director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, whose 1996 report What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future was named one of the most influential reports affecting U.S. education in that decade. Among her more than 600 publications are several award-winning books on teacher education, including Teaching as the Learning Profession, Powerful Teacher Education, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World, and Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning. In 2022, Darling-Hammond received the Yidan Prize for Education Research in recognition of her work that has shaped education policy and practice around the most equitable and effective ways to teach and learn. 

Maria E. Hyler serves as the Director of LPI’s Washington, DC office. She directs the EdPrepLab in partnership with Bank Street Graduate School of Education. EdPrepLab is a center on teacher and leader preparation for deeper learning and equity, working to transform educator preparation through the alignment of research, practice, and policy. Before taking her position at LPI, Hyler was an Assistant Professor of Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. She began her career teaching 10th- and 11th-graders in Belmont, CA, where she achieved National Board Certification in Adolescent Young Adult English Language Arts in 2000. That same year, she left her classroom to pursue her doctoral studies. Hyler received a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Stanford University, an MEd with a teaching credential from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a dual degree in English and Africana Studies from Wellesley College.

Steve Wojcikiewicz is a Senior Researcher and Policy Advisor at LPI. He is a member of LPI’s Educator Quality team. Wojcikiewicz is a coauthor of the book Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning and of several case studies of educator preparation programs that are part of that project. His focus is on initiatives related to educator preparation research, practice, and policy, including the EdPrepLab, an initiative of LPI and the Bank Street Graduate School of Education focused on teacher and leader preparation for deeper learning and equity. Wojcikiewicz has 2 decades of experience in varied roles across the field of education. He started his career teaching high school social studies and band in Tulsa, OK, and has also worked as an experiential educator aboard sailing vessels around the country. After earning his doctoral degree, he served as an Assistant and Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Western Oregon University, followed by positions as Assistant Director of Educational Issues at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, DC, and as Vice President of Policy for Deans for Impact in Austin, TX. Prior to joining LPI, he was the Director of the Pacific Alliance for Catholic Education and a faculty member in the School of Education at the University of Portland in Oregon. Wojcikiewicz has a PhD in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology from Michigan State University, an MA in Teaching from the University of Portland, and a BA in History and Economics from the University of Notre Dame.

Joy Rushing is the EdPrepLab Manager of Initiatives and Impact at LPI, where she also contributes to the Educator Quality team. In her role, she supports a variety of research and policy initiatives, concentrating on advancing EdPrepLab’s objectives and impact. Prior to joining LPI, Rushing worked as an education research and policy consultant, specializing in school leadership research and project management. She also holds deep experience as a practitioner. Rushing began her career in the classroom, where she taught middle school English language arts and gifted education for more than a decade. Rushing holds a PhD in Educational Leadership: Administration and Supervision of Curriculum from Auburn University, an MAT in Middle School Education from Clemson University, and a BA in English Literature from the University of South Florida.