Equity in Education Series: Money Matters

Join national and Delaware education experts to discuss how money makes a difference in public education, and learn:

• What the research says about the impact of increases in school funding
• How funds can be allocated for long-term equity and student success

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Speakers

Speaker Bios

Bettina Tweardy Riveros, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Chief Health Equity Officer, ChristianaCare

Bettina Tweardy Riveros, Esq., is responsible for leading health policy and engaging community stakeholders in partnerships to advance ChristianaCare’s strategy, mission and commitment to achieve health equity and advance population health. Riveros leads work to improve the health of every person in every community ChristianaCare serves by advancing an integrated social care framework, ensuring culturally and linguistically appropriate care, addressing disparities and advocating for policies to achieve health equity. As senior vice president for government affairs and community engagement, Riveros is responsible for identifying and addressing legal, regulatory, policy and relationship issues to advance ChristianaCare’s strategic objectives, with particular focus on legislative policy development, innovative population health and information technology solutions, health care reform and business development efforts. Riveros joined ChristianaCare in January 2016. She serves as co-chair on the ChristianaCare Community Engagement and Advisory Council, on the Board of REACH Riverside, and as co-chair of the REACH Health, Wellness and Safety Committee. Additionally, Riveros serves as vice chair on the Board of Directors for Serviam Girls Academy; on the Delaware Business Roundtable Education Committee Steering Committee; and on the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors and Annual Dinner Committee. Prior to joining ChristianaCare, Riveros served as senior adviser for health policy in the office of Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and as chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission. Among her many accomplishments, she was responsible for developing the strategy to implement the Affordable Care Act in Delaware, including the Health Insurance Exchange partnership model and Medicaid expansion that expanded access to health care for thousands of Delawareans; and for leading the development of the State Innovation Model to support Delaware’s transition to new health care delivery and payment models and an increased focus on population health. Riveros was a founding member of the Delaware Center for Health Innovation and served on the DHIN Board and Delaware Health Resource Board. Riveros received her law degree from Villanova University in 1988 and her undergraduate degree from Juniata College in 1985.

Julien Lafortune, Research Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)

Julien Lafortune is a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he specializes in K–12 education. His primary areas of focus include education finance, school capital funding policy, and educational tracking and stratification. He has published research on the impacts of school finance reforms on student achievement in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Shelley S. Rouser, Chairperson and Associate Professor for the Education Department at Delaware State University, and Vision Coalition Leadership Member

Dr. Shelley S. Rouser is Chairperson and Associate Professor for the Education Department at Delaware State University. She oversees the Council for Professional Education at DSU which is comprised of eight undergraduate education programs and three graduate programs. Prior to joining Delaware State University, Dr. Rouser has 25 years of experience in K-12 education, as a teacher and instructional coach the first half of her career, and as an administrator at the district and state levels the second half. As the Director of K-12 Initiatives and Educator Engagement at the Delaware Department of Education she led the Equity Council for the State Department as well as directed the work of the Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development workgroup overseeing nine content areas and leading the State’s college and career ready standards implementation efforts through statewide initiatives such as Common Ground for the Common Core, the NextGen Teacher Leader Project, and Reimagining Professional Learning Grants, to name a few. Prior to working with the Department of Education she led the Instruction Services division in New Castle County Vocational Technical School district. As a former middle and high school teacher, teacher leader, content area specialist, and central office administrator, Dr. Rouser is experienced with the challenges of managing a major change effort as well as the systems work it takes to build capacity to navigate such adaptive changes. Her current work at Delaware State University is grounded in establishing more equitable systems and diverse educators in K-12 schools through initiatives aimed to increase the number of male educators, establishing innovative undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare culturally responsive teachers and administrators, ensuring early childhood education programs for under-resourced communities meet the highest quality standards, and providing professional development supports to local school districts around equity, access, and culturally responsive pedagogy. Under her leadership, Delaware State University received a $31.6 million dollar grant for an Early Childhood Innovation Center. In following her educational equity-focused efforts, Dr. Rouser led the state’s P20 Council’s Educator Supports for Early Literacy through Institutions of Higher Education Committee and currently serves on the Redding Consortium focused on educational equity in Delaware’s urban and rural communities and the Wilmington Center for Educational Equity Steering Committee (WCEEP).