Samantha Alcalá is an educator who is currently the Associate Director of Partnerships, Community Engagement & Advocacy at The Opportunity Network (OppNet). In this role, she supports a portfolio of Career Fluency® Partners to help strengthen their college and career programming, and she leads advocacy efforts via coalition and community engagement. Prior to this, she primarily worked in education nonprofits including CARA (College Access: Research and Action), iMentor, and Citizen Schools. She is a Posse alumna who earned her bachelor’s degree at Trinity College and her master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Kim Nauer directs the Higher Education Affordability Project at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School and is the founder of Understandingfafsa.org, a website focused on helping first-generation students and their counselors navigate the FAFSA and financial aid system. Kim and her student team use design and applied research to develop friendly guides and curriculum materials that strive to explain financial aid in a simple way. Prior to her work on the website, Kim founded the Center's New York City public education research initiative and published groundbreaking work on chronic absenteeism, school poverty impacts, district management, and college access initiatives. 

Samuel L. Radford III is a Buffalo-based community advocate and organizer who serves as Co-Convenor of the WNY Education Equity Task Force, a regional collective advancing policies and practices that expand educational opportunity for historically underserved students and families. With more than 25 years of experience in community development and grassroots organizing, Radford has built a reputation for turning community voice into coordinated action.

His advocacy spans the local, state, and national levels, where he works to ensure that parents and communities most affected by educational inequities have a meaningful role in shaping policy and practice. Radford currently serves as Chairperson of the National Parents Union, helping elevate parent leadership in national conversations about education justice, student opportunity, and public accountability.

Committed to translating advocacy into action, Radford also hosts the weekly radio program “We the Parents,” a platform that connects families, educators, and policymakers in dialogue about advancing equitable education systems and strengthening pathways to student success.

A lifelong resident of Buffalo’s East Side, Radford brings a deep commitment to equity, collective leadership, and community-driven solutions that move advocacy from conversation to lasting change.

LaKisha N. Williams is the Director of #DegreesNYC, data-informed collective impact movement co-led by young people and education professionals to move to equitable education pathways and opportunities in New York City. She represents Goddard Riverside in numerous professional organizations and coalitions working to strengthen school counseling and improve access to higher education and pathways to success. She sits on the Policy Council for the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) and is the Government Relations Co-Chair for the New York State Association for College Admission Counseling (NYSACAC). She was honored with the United Neighborhood Houses (UNH) Award for Achievement in Civic Advocacy in recognition of her social justice work. She was honored for her commitment to Higher Education by NYSACAC. She also received a citation from the William Smith College Alumnae Association in recognition of her exceptional service to communities. Most recently, she was honored with the Linda Carter Cooper Community Hero Award. She serves as the Youth and Young Adult Minister at the Antioch Baptist Church in Harlem. Williams holds a BA from William Smith College and a Masters of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary of New York.