Marc Brackett, PhD
Marc Brackett is a research scientist in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. He also is deputy director of Yale’s Health, Emotion, and Behavior Laboratory and head of the Emotional Intelligence Unit in the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy.

Brackett is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 70 scholarly publications, including seven social and emotional learning programs for school leaders, teachers, students, and families.

Sister Mary Angela Shaughnessy, SCN, JD, PhD
Sister Mary Angela Shaughnessy is a Sister of Charity of Nazareth who has taught at all levels of education, from elementary through graduate school. She served eight years as principal of a Catholic high school. She holds a bachelor's and master's in English, a Master's in educational administration, a JD in law, and a PhD in educational administration and supervision. Her research centers on the law as it affects Catholic education and church ministry. She is the author of over thirty texts.

A consultant and national speaker, Shaughnessy has served as adjunct professor in various college and university programs. She has held various administrative posts in higher education. A practicing attorney, she founded and is executive director of the Education Law Institute. Currently sponsored by St. Catherine College in Springfield, Ky. She also serves as general legal counsel and dean of the newly created graduate school. She is the recipient of numerous awards. In 1997, she was named one of the 25 most influential persons in Catholic education.

Pamela Scott Weaver
Pam Scott Weaver is a graduate from Cornell University with a degree in human development & family studies and is currently the coordinator of community education for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children/New York Branch (NCMEC/NY). In this capacity, she has presented safety education programs to teachers, school professionals, agency leaders, parents and children throughout New York State. Weaver has presented safety programs for 10 years, utilizing NCMEC’s KIDS AND COMPANY: Together for Safety Abduction Prevention Curriculum. Weaver is responsible for the supervision, training, scheduling and activities of all education staff at NCMEC/NY. She is the lead trainer for all safety education programs, including Internet safety, for youth and adults within school, organization and corporate settings.         

Her experience in public speaking, both in the private and public sectors, as well as her social work and business background, provide a strong platform for her community education expertise.

Brother Raymond Vercruysse, CFC, EdD
Brother Raymond Vercruysse of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America is presently a member of the Council. He was formerly the director of the Catholic Education Program at the University of San Francisco, principal and president at Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester.

Dena Swanson, PhD
Dena Phillips Swanson, assistant professor in the human development program, joined the faculty of the Warner School of Educaion at the University of Rochester in 2005. An experienced counselor, researcher, and teacher, Swanson's experiences, teaching, and research reflect a commitment to adolescents and the environments that shape them, with a special interest in schools, as well as the development of minority adolescents and their families.

Swanson's research focuses on adolescent identity processes, school experiences, and the impact of adult relations on youth's adaptive behaviors. This work, supported by several funded projects while teaching at Pennsylvania State University, is relevant in identifying appropriate strategies and opportunities for adolescents' successful transition into adulthood. Swanson has co-authored articles in such journals as Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, Journal of Negro Education, Development and Psychopathology, and Journal of Comparative Family Studies.

Ed Brockenbrough, PhD
Edward Brockenbrough, assistant professor, directs the Urban Teaching and Leadership Program at the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education, an initiative in partnership with the Rochester City School District that prepares urban teachers with a commitment to social justice. He also teaches courses on diversity and social justice in American education.

Brockenbrough’s research focuses on negotiations of identity, pedagogy, and power in urban educational spaces, with particular attention to black, masculinity, and queer issues in education. His current research projects include a study of masculinity politics in the lives of male teachers in urban K-12 schools and an examination of the educational experiences of LGBT youth of color. His dissertation, supported by a fellowship from the American Educational Research Association and the Institute of Educational Sciences, employed life history methodologies, black masculinity studies, and critical educational theory to examine the challenges and opportunities encountered by black male teachers in secondary, predominantly minority urban schools.

BJ Douglass, LMSW
BJ Douglass is a social worker, doctoral student and adjunct faculty member at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester. She has done Safe Space trainings for the Rochester City School District, and has provided workshops on bullying to college classes, school counselor conferences, and the Warner faculty and staff. Much of her work centers on helping to provide safe spaces for all students to learn in K-12 and college environments, with a special emphasis on interrupting homophobic and gender non-conforming bullying. Her workshops help train students, staff, faculty and parents to identify and interrupt bullying, and help empower all those involved. BJ believes that, "These actions highlight the importance of linking theory to practice regarding social justice issues, and show how the power of people working together can improve our schools and our communities."