Speakers Bureau

Mr. Michael Ehrlich

Mr. Ehrlich is the Immediate Past President of the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA), which included serving as the state representative to the National Association of Music Educators' Music Educators National Conference (MENC). He is cuirrentyly a Music Teacher at W.T. Woodson High School, and is Band Director.

Dr. Lillian M. Lowery, Secretary, Delaware Department of Education

Dr. Lillian M. Lowery, keynote speaker for PDK's March 23 meeting, is Delaware’s Secretary of Education. She holds a Doctorate in Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a master's degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Bachelor of Arts degree from North Carolina Central University. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Lowery served as Superintendent of the Christina School District in Wilmington. Prior to arriving in Delaware, Dr. Lowery was the Assistant Superintendent of Cluster VII for Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virginia. She also served for two years as an Area Administrator for Fort Wayne Community Schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She has seven years experience as a school building administrator and has taught middle and high school English for seventeen years in school districts in Virginia and North Carolina.

Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, Senior Research Analyst, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation

Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, keynote speaker for PDK's December 8 meeting, is a senior research analyst at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and is an associate professor of counseling psychology at the Howard University School of Education, in addition to editor-in-chief of the Journal of Negro Education. In addition to numerous publications and research presentations, Dr. Toldson is the author of the Breaking Barriers Series, which analyzes academic success indicators from national surveys that together give voice to nearly 10,000 African American male pupils from schools across the country. Dr. Toldson has served as a correctional and forensic psychology resident at the U.S. Penitentiary and is a recipient of the prestigious DuBois Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as the clinical director of the Manhood Training Village in Baton Rouge. He has held visiting academic appointments at Emory University, Drexel University and Morehouse School of Medicine, and has accepted invitations to lecture at Columbia University, University of Tennessee Health Science Campus, SUNY-Stony Brook and Montgomery College.

Mr. Greg Darnieder, Special Assistant to the Secretary, US Department of Education

Greg Darnieder, guest speaker for PDK1144's October meeting, has a BA in Sociology, a K-8 teaching certificate from St. Louis University and a MA in Christian Education from Wheaton College. He has worked for organizations such as the I Have a Dream Foundation, LaSalle Street Community Youth Creative Learning Experience (CYCLE), and Chicago Cluster Initiative, among others, designing and implementing programs for each that assisted students in reaching new levels of education. Greg has served on the Board of the Albert Pick, Jr. Fund, the Steans Family Foundation, The Roberta Bachmann Lewis Scholarship Fund, Scholarship Chicago, The Illinois Education Foundation and the North Lawndale College Prep Charter High School. Greg established the Department of Postsecondary Education and Student Development, designing and implementing an assortment of postsecondary, academic, financial, and social support programs and building university, corporate and civic partnerships to enhance college access. As such, he was named the director of the Department of College and Career Preparation with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), a newly formed department that consists of the Department of Postsecondary Education and Student Development and the Department of Education To Careers. In 2009, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, named Greg the Special Assistant to the Secretary for College Access at the U.S. Department of Education, where he currently serves.

Dr. Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators

Dr. Daniel A. Domenech is currently the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. He has more than 36 years of experience in public education, twenty-seven of those years served as a school superintendent. Dr. Domenech served as senior vice president for National Urban Markets with McGraw-Hill Education, where he was responsible for building strong relationships with large school districts nationwide. Prior to his position at McGraw-Hill, Dr. Domenech served for seven years as superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, the 12th largest school system in the nation with 168,000 students. Dr. Domenech's teaching career began in New York City, where he taught sixth grade in a predominantly black and Hispanic community in South Jamaica, Queens. He served as program director for the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services, superintendent of schools for Long Island’s Deer Park Schools and superintendent of schools for South Huntington School District. From 1994 to 1997, he was district superintendent of the Second Supervisory District of Suffolk County and chief executive officer of the Western Suffolk BOCES. Dr. Domenech has served on the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment Governing Board, on the advisory board for the Department of Defense schools, and on the board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of International Education. He currently serves on the Board of Overseers for the Baldrige Award and on the boards of the Institute for Educational Leadership, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the Education Policy Institute, and is chair for Communities in Schools of Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College in New York City and a Ph.D. from Hofstra University in Uniondale, N.Y.

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