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Board of Directors

Officers

President
Neal Goff

President-Elect
Lee Wilson

Vice President
Greg Worrell

Treasurer
Randy Wilhelm

Past President
Daniel Caton


Directors

Julio Abreu

David Beacom

Randi Brill

Corinne Burton

Robert Coughlan

Grant Davies

David Glover

Kathy Hurley

Michael Johnson

Victoria Porras

Roger Rosen

Maria Szalay

Bret Thomas

Scott Traylor

Ira Wolfman

Charlene F. Gaynor

 

Officers


Neal Goff

President
Neal Goff

  • President, Egremont Associates

Neal Goff, President of the Board of the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP), is also President of Egremont Associates, LLC, a consultancy that advises publishers on strategic marketing and product development issues and helps educational technology companies develop content strategies and build content partnerships. Neal also and operates K12TeacherStore.com, a digital-only bookstore that servies the K-12 education market.

Prior to forming Egremont Associates, he was President of the Weekly Reader Publishing Group. In this role, he oversaw Weekly Reader’s 12 classroom magazines, its Curriculum and Custom Publishing businesses, the FactsforLearning database business and Weekly Reader’s other digital activities.

Neal has been in publishing for most of the last three decades, much of that time working in children’s and educational publishing. From 1982 to 1993, he worked at Time Inc., where he held senior positions at Time-Life Books and Book-of-the-Month Club. While there, he led the start-up of Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club, which he managed through its initial launch to profitability. He later became President of Prentice Hall Direct, then the direct marketing division of Simon & Schuster, and President of Scholastic Library (formerly Grolier) Publishing.

Neal graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and has an MBA from the Columbia Graduate School of Business. He is a former board member of the Association of American Publishers, the Book Industry Study Group, and AuthorHouse, the leading self-publishing company. He currently serves on the Board of the Urban Education Exchange and was elected President of the AEP Board in June 2011.

Neal and his wife live in New York City. They have two children.

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President-Elect
Lee Wilson

  • President & CEO, PCI Education

PCI Education offers real-life approaches to teaching basic academic skills and life skills to struggling students, from Special Education to the regular classroom to ESL to Adult Education. Lee has completed two terms on the AEP Board of Directors. He has more than 20 years of experience in the K-12 field with expertise in strategy, products, marketing, and sales issues for technology and print publishers.

Prior to joining PCI Education, he operated Headway Strategies, a Texas-based management consulting firm focused on the education industry. He has also served as Vice President, Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer at Harcourt Achieve; Regional Vice President of Pearson Learning Group; and General Manager of K12Planet.com at Chancery Software. In his seven years at Apple Computer Lee held a variety of positions, including Business Development Manager and K-12 Enterprise Solutions Marketing Specialist. He has an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Princeton University.

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Vice President
Greg Worrell

  • President, Scholastic Classroom and Community Group, Scholastic Inc.

As President of Scholastic Classroom and Community Group, Greg Worrell is responsible for the development and management of Scholastic's business strategy for "supplementary programs" within the Education market. As part of this, he oversees the publishing, marketing and selling activities of Scholastic's vast print and reference resources used in schools, libraries, extended day and after school programs as well as homes nationwide to reinforce family and community engagement. Specifically, the Scholastic Classroom and Community Group includes the Classroom Books, Literacy Initiatives and Teaching Resources divisions. As a Group, this entity provides educational materials that reach more than 25 million students and 65% of U.S. schools.

Worrell has focused on the important role libraries play in supporting student achievement through the publication of research reports like School Libraries Work! This resulted in Scholastic’s recognition by AASL with the Crystal Apple Award. Worrell has also been personally recognized for his commitment to learning through libraries by the California School Library Association and by the Links of Westchester County, NY for community work in support of children.

Worrell joined Scholastic in 1992, responsible for business development and marketing of Classroom Magazines. He also served as General Manager for Quality Education Data (QED), a former division of Scholastic, after Scholastic acquired this educational research and database company in 1999.

In addition to serving as Board Vice President for the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP), Greg serves on the Board of Directors for the New York Chapter of One Hundred Black Men of America and as a co-chair for the organization’s education committee.

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Treasurer
Randy Wilhelm

  • CEO, Knovation

Randy Wilhelm co-founded Knovation in 1999 to enhance the education of youth through innovative technology. Since then, Wilhelm has effectively navigated his company through the ups and downs of the dot.com craze and bust to create a highly successful organization.

Wilhelm has built partnerships throughout the education and technology industries, including those with major hardware manufacturers, educational publishers, and software developers. He has spoken at numerous events such as EdNET, Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), and The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) conferences.

Wilhelm spent over a dozen years principally consulting Fortune 500 businesses on how to better analyze and control costs in their employee benefit packages. An Executive Vice President at USI Midwest (NASDAQ:USIH), he was the key leader that managed the delivery of rapid and sustainable growth at one of the world's leading insurance brokers.

In 2009, Wilhelm was honored as the Larry Albice Award recipient, given by the Hamilton County Development Company for entrepreneurship and community involvement.Wilhelm serves on several education and youth related not-for-profit and for-profit boards and committees.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from DePauw University and lives in Mason, Ohio, with his wife and five children.

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Past President
Daniel Caton

  • President, McGraw-Hill School Education

Dan Caton is President of McGraw-Hill School Education, where he leads the program development and product marketing activities for all PreK-12 educational programs and services. Dan previously served as President of McGraw-Hill Learning Group, the McGraw-Hill publisher of special needs and supplemental print and technology instructional materials.

Dan began his career as a middle school teacher in southern California. He moved to educational publishing, where he oversaw the creation of educational programs in nearly all areas of elementary and secondary publishing. Dan also served in marketing capacities, most notably in product management and as a supervisor of market research.

Beginning in 1986, Dan also supervised the development of electronic education, beginning with stand-alone disc-based software and moving on to early CD-ROM development. He later oversaw development of some of the first educational web pages in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, and elementary and secondary mathematics. Dan then served as Vice President, Product Development for Computer Curriculum Corporation in Sunnyvale, California.

Prior to joining McGraw-Hill in April of 2007, Dan served as President of Pearson Learning Group, the Pearson unit responsible for alternative basal, supplemental materials, and formative assessment.

Dan serves as the Past President of the Board of the Association of Educational Publishers. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Columbus Symphony and on the Business Advisory Council of the Columbus College of Art and Design. Dan holds a BA in Literature from Claremont McKenna College and an MA in Education from Claremont Graduate School, both located in Claremont, California.

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Directors


Julio Abreu

  • President, A+ Media

Julio Abreu, president and publisher of A+ Media, has 32 years’ experience in educational publishing. Julio has developed and executed numerous award-winning programs for educators, students, consumers, and parents nationwide in many different areas, including: career education, science education, health education, college communications, and Spanish-language book publishing.

Julio’s portfolio of clients includes a wide range of national and regional organizations such as DuPont, National Crime Prevention Council, WYCC-TV20, City Colleges of Chicago, and the Center for Energy Workforce Development. Book publishing clients have included Gareth Stevens Publishing and the Weekly Reader Corporation.

Selected to Who’s Who in Education, Mr. Abreu holds an M.A. in Spanish language and linguistics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he taught college-level Spanish courses and pursued doctoral studies. Julio has lived and studied in Puerto Rico and Spain, and traveled throughout Mexico and Latin America.

Over the years Julio has been involved in a variety of volunteer organizations. Presently, he on the Board of Directors for College Bound Opportunities, a non-profit organization that mentors talented, economically disadvantaged college students and helps them prepare for the world of work by providing networking and internship opportunities.

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David Beacom

  • Publisher and Associate Executive Director, National Science Teachers Association

David Beacom is currently Associate Executive Director and Publisher for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), where he heads the product development effort—which includes books, professional journals, a newspaper, websites, and e-newsletters. David joined NSTA after two decades with the National Geographic Society, where he developed hundreds of school programs—ranging from traditional print and audiovisual media to advanced technologies. During his tenure at the Society, he was the lead creative and editorial voice in education and developed Geographic’s pioneering electronic media titles. He has written on travel and design for National Geographic Traveler, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and other publications, and on publishing for ASAE’s Association Now. David lives in Washington, DC.

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Randi Brill

  • President and Founder, Quarasan

Randi Brill founded Quarasan in 1982 in the basement of her home and has built it into a leading educational product developer. The 65-person company provides full-service content development with editorial, design, production, and management services for all major disciplines in Pre-K through 12. Randi's belief that innovation is a powerful fuel for our industry is evident in Quarasan's results.

In addition to setting Quarasan's long-term vision and strategies, Randi leads and manages Q's executive team to ensure that client expectations are met and that the company consistently produces the highest quality products. Randi personally works closely with publishing executives as a conceptual partner on new product initiatives and Pre-K-12 educational publishing strategies. Her ability to extract essential program priorities and spin those visions into products that win market share is a key reason many clients select Quarasan. Beyond creating great product, Randi is personally committed to helping the educational publishing industry transform and evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of today's teachers and tomorrow's students.

Randi graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a BFA in Graphic Design and worked at Scott Foresman and McDougal Littell prior to starting the company. She has taught many courses on book design, publishing practices, and typography. Randi served on the Board of Directors for Literacy Chicago and is an engaged contributor to Juvenile Protection Agency, a Chicago-based children's advocacy group. She also actively participates in and is committed to the infusion of 21st Century Skills in today's classrooms-a must for all students.

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Corinne Burton

  • President, Shell Education
  • President, Teacher Created Materials

Corinne Burton is the President of Shell Education and of Teacher Created Materials. Corinne joined Teacher Created Materials full time in 2000 and started, in partnership with Deanne Mendoza, Shell Education in 2005. As Shell Education continues to grow into a strong supplemental publishing and professional development company, Corinne continues at both Shell Education and Teacher Created Materials. Having worked in each department at Teacher Created Materials, Corinne has an in depth understanding of operations, finance, sales/marketing, and editorial. Her comprehensive insight and leadership has grown Teacher Created Materials and Shell Education into companies that operate throughout the United States and over 90 countries around the world.

Prior to joining Teacher Created Materials full time, Corinne was an elementary school teacher in the Capistrano Unified School District. Teaching made Corinne a strong advocate for education. Corinne works with schools and districts to understand the needs of educators, celebrate the achievement of students, and support districts, parents and teachers along the way. She has helped build Teacher Created Materials and Shell Education by respecting teachers, listening to them, and appreciating their contributions.

Corinne attended the University of California, San Diego where she earned a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science. She continued her education with a California Teaching Credential from University of California, Irvine and her Masters in Educational Technology from Teacher’s College at Columbia University. As a local of Huntington Beach, California, Corinne lives in the city where she grew up and currently lives with her husband and three daughters.

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Robert Coughlan

  • Co-Owner/Principal, Capstone

Mr. Coughlan and his wife, Michelle, have three children and reside in MN. He enjoys being involved in CEO peer to peer roundtables, reading and traveling with his family. Currently, Bob is a Board member for the Mankato United Way, Greater Mankato Early Learning Initiative and Association of Educational Publishers. Bob graduated from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington with a bachelor of arts degree in History.

Capstone is the leading publisher of children’s books and digital products and services, offering everything from nonfiction, fiction, and picture books to interactive books, audio books, and literacy programs. Imprints and divisions include Capstone Press, Compass Point Books, Picture Window Books, Stone Arch Books, Red Brick Learning, Capstone Digital, and Heinemann-Raintree.

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Grant Davies

  • CEO, Teaching Strategies Inc.

Grant Davies is Chief Executive Officer of Teaching Strategies Inc., an early childhood publishing and education services company. Prior to joining Teaching Strategies, he was CEO of Davies Consulting Inc. He has more than thirty years experience collaborating with clients in the education, healthcare, and publishing industries as a management consultant. He has provided consulting services to these industries on strategic and business planning, financial systems, operations improvement, and change management. Mr. Davies currently sits on the boards of The American Hospice Foundation and Bethesda MD Fire Department. Mr. Davies received his MBA from McGill University and is both a Chartered Public Accountant (Canada) and a Certified Management Consultant.

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David Glover

  • CEO, Learning Media

David Glover is the CEO of Learning Media, the largest educational publisher in New Zealand. The company is government-owned and provides contract publishing and professional development services, as well as marketing its own publications worldwide.

David is a seasoned leader with over 15 years' experience at CEO level and 25 years at Board level. He began his career working in London as an award-winning copywriter for Time-Life Books, then went on to become Creative Director and CEO of McCann-Erickson Worldwide advertising agencies in the U.K., Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand.

In 2002 David settled permanently in New Zealand and acquired and managed the country's most respected business training company. In 2008 he sold the business, joined Learning Media and returned to the world of publishing.

David holds an MA(Hons) from Jesus College, Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Management, an accredited member of the NZ Institute of Directors and a director of the NZ Council for Educational Research.

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Kathy Hurley

Kathy Hurley

  • SVP, Strategic Partnerships, Pearson Education and Pearson Foundation

Kathy Hurley, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, for Pearson Education and the Pearson Foundation, is a 35+ year veteran of the education industry.

Throughout her career in the education industry Hurley has also served in top executive positions in both publishing and technology companies. She utilizes her skills and experience in sales, marketing and business development in particular her expertise in developing key strategic partnerships to support the initiatives for the companies she has been affiliated with over the years.

She currently serves on several key industry and education advisory boards and has been at the forefront in leading the charge for 21st century skills including Past Chairman of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21). She most recently was invited to join the Advisory Board for the SREB/iNACOL National Online Teacher of the Year award program and the inaugural Building a Grad Nation Summit Steering Committee. She is a member of the Digital Learning Council. Hurley is the former Chairman of the National School Boards Foundation (NSBF) board. She also sits on the boards of three top education associations dedicated to the use of technology in education, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN); the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) and National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET). She is also past president of the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) and is actively involved in the AEP Government Relations Committee.

Her work with the philanthropic arm of Pearson, the Foundation, has taken Hurley around the world and into various countries where Pearson has a strong presence renewing her commitment to the need for new and innovative ways to help children learn. She has represented Pearson in India, Australia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, France, Finland, etc. by speaking or participating as a thought leader. The global commitment of the Foundation brings a wealth of knowledge to Pearson to help them develop new approaches to education.

In addition, Hurley has received various awards for her service in the industry. In 2010, she received a citation from State of Massachusetts Rep. Cory Atkins for her extraordinary contributions mentoring leaders in education. In 2001, Hurley was named to receive CoSN’s first ever Outstanding Private Sector Achievement Award and in 2003, she was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame for her achievements and service to the education publishing industry. In 2010, she received an award for her 25 years of contributions to SIIA and the education industry at the CODiE Awards.

Hurley began her career in education working with learning disabled students, after receiving her Masters degree at Jersey City State College. To this day, she continues to support her undergraduate institution, the University of Dayton, by serving on their Advisory Board for the School of Education. Kathy is married to Charles Blaschke, President of EducationTURNKEY, an education information-focused group that provides market research, market projections, information on funding, and market strategy development. They reside in Arlington, Virginia.

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Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson

  • President, Full Potential Associates

Since 1985 Michael has been designing, developing, and delivering technology solutions for government entities, publishing companies, universities, public and school libraries, and classrooms of all types. In 2008, Michael founded Full Potential Associates, which is a consultancy focused on the strategic and technical issues facing the publishing and education world.

His career spans small technology companies such as The Library Corporation all the way up to large multinational distribution companies such as Follett Corporation.

In 2000, while at Follett, Michael started his involvement in strategy at the broader Group and Corporate levels. This strategy work was well beyond products and existing markets involving things such as corporate strategy and M&A.

In 2005, Michael founded the Follett Digital Resources business unit within Follett Corporation. In addition to running that business unit, Michael was a member of Follett's Senior Leadership Group and Follett's IT Leadership Council. Michael's operation was the group charged with driving Follett Corporation's digital strategy.

Michael was involved in a series of M&A activities during his time at Follett with two of the projects (ICI and Fourteen40) ending up be directly acquired by Follett Digital Resources.

Michael has been involved in a wide variety of industry committees, sub-committees, work groups and the like. He is a frequent panelist, moderator, or speaker on strategic and technical topics across the country and abroad.

In 2008, Michael was named to the Board of Directors for the Association of Educational Publishers.

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Victoria Porras

  • Founder, President, and Owner, Victory Productions

Victoria Porras is the founder, president, and owner of Victory Productions, a full-service educational developer of K-12 print and online instructional materials for English- and Spanish-speaking students. Founded in 1995, Victory is a multinational company with headquarters in Worcester, Massachusetts, a composition facility in Medellín, Colombia, and a translation office in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Victoria brings to Victory six years of experience as a teacher, five years as a fine artist with a concentration in sculpture and engraving, and twelve years as the owner of a graphic arts and corporate communications firm. While teaching, Victoria developed a compelling interest in how teachers teach and students learn a second language. Her mission for Victory is to develop dynamic educational tools that exceed all expectation in inspiring students and enhancing the lives of others.

Victoria earned a BA with a major in fine arts and a minor in education and an MFA from the Universidad Nacional in Bogotá, Colombia, in sculpture and printmaking. She studied printmaking at Saint Martin's School of Art in London, England. She pursued independent studies of sculpture at the technologically innovative Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT, and graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design.

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Roger Rosen

  • President, Rosen Publishing

Roger Rosen is the president of Rosen Publishing, an independent publisher that has been providing supplemental educational books and materials to libraries and K-12 schools since 1950.

Roger was named president of Rosen Publishing in 1980, and has grown the publishing program to over 1,000 titles per year, across all curriculum areas. Imprints include PowerKids Press, Rosen Central, Rosen Young Adult, Windmill Books, and Editorial Buenas Letras.

Rosen Publishing was the first educational publisher to bring content-driven graphic nonfiction to the school and library market. Rosen continues to be a market leader as this genre continues its fast-paced journey from marginal to mainstream, even, mainstay in today's educational publishing landscape.

Under Roger's leadership, in 2007 the company launched a new digital division, Rosen Online. Its first database, Teen Health and Wellness: Real Life, Real Answers, has been named a Library Journal’s Best Reference Source, as well as been called a "Must Have" Product and Top 10 Digital Resource by School Library Journal. The company recently launched the PowerKids Life Science database, covering elementary and middle school life science. School Library Journal calls it a "quality tool in the ongoing quest for substantial online resources...".

In 2009, Roger formed a partnership to purchase Gareth Stevens Publishing, practically doubling the release of non-fiction and fiction titles per season.

Roger also spearheaded the launch of epointbooks, an eBook hosting platform offering over 3,000 nonfiction eBooks for pre-K-12. In addition, Rosen Publishing has developed a program of innovative, multimedia interactive eBooks.

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Maria Szalay

  • Senior Vice President of Product Development, K12

Maria joined K12 in August 2000 and performed a range of turnkey functions in her role as VP of Corporate Development. Over the last four years she has led Product Development for the company. She has over 20 years of strategy and development capability. Prior to joining K12, Ms. Szalay served as practice director at Operon Partners, an e-business consulting firm. At Operon Partners, Ms. Szalay led consulting teams assisting clients with turnkey eBusiness strategy, product management and business transformation consulting services. She worked directly in client organizations developing and implementing online initiatives and worked to integrate these solutions with their brick & mortar business. Prior to joining Operon Partners, she worked at Telecom New Zealand rolling out the company’s Online Solutions Business, where she was instrumental in developing the online strategy and implementation plan for Telecom Broadband. Prior to that, Ms. Szalay worked for eight years as a management consultant at KPMG assisting clients with systems implementations, process improvements and product placement initiatives, including new product and service launches. Ms. Szalay started her career at Shearson Lehman. She holds a B.S./B.A. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and an M.B.A. from American University.

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Bret Thomas

  • President & CEO, Bayard, Inc.

Bret D. Thomas is President and CEO of Bayard, Inc., part of a worldwide, dynamic, and creative multimedia group committed to publishing Christian materials for schools, parishes, and homes. Its three divisions in the United States include Twenty-Third Publications, the Bayard Magazine Group, and Creative Communications for the Parish.

Bret has earned graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Dayton. He came to Bayard, Inc., after most recently serving as President and CEO of Peter Li Education Group and as National Sales Manager of Technology Publishing Company. Bret currently serves as president of the National Catholic Educational Exhibitors association and sits on the Catholic Book Publishers Association board of directors, the board of trustees for the Bergamo Center of Lifelong Learning, and the advisory council for the University of Dayton’s School of Education and Allied Professions.

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Scott Traylor

  • CEO & Chief KID, 360KID

360KID is a youth-focused technology company specializing in product ideation, market testing, and product development of kids’ interactive media for the consumer marketplace as well as the classroom. Formerly, Scott was a computer science instructor for 12 years at Harvard University's Extension School. He is also actively involved in research, writing, and speaking about child engagement through new technologies, social media, and various consumer-based delivery systems.

Scott serves on the Board of the Exploration School, a summer enrichment program for 3rd through 12th graders on the campuses of Yale University, Wellesley College, and St. Marks School in Southborough, MA. He also advises a small number of venture backed online learning startups in the K12 space.

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Ira Wolfman

  • Senior Vice President, Editorial, Weekly Reader Publishing

Ira has overall editorial responsibility for all content--including 11 in-school magazines, digital publications, and the Weekly Reader web site. He oversees the flagship Weekly Reader magazines, which are produced in six editions from Pre-K through sixth grade, and five other publications that cover career education, current events, health, literature, and science.

Prior to joining Weekly Reader, Wolfman spent 25 years directing educational publishing programs. He was editorial director, and later Vice President and Group Publisher, of magazines for parents, children, and teachers at Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop). Wolfman has also worked at the New York Times Magazine Group and New York Daily News Magazine. He has frequently served as a judge for the American Society of Magazine Editors' National Magazine Awards and the AEP Distinguished Achievement Awards and for many years served on the faculty of the NYU Summit Publishing Institute.

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Charlene Gaynor

CEO
Charlene F. Gaynor

  • The Association of Educational Publishers

Charlene F. Gaynor is CEO of the Association of Educational Publishers. AEP safeguards the professional and business interests of the country's leading print and digital supplemental publishers. Supported by over 500 members of all media and sizes, AEP provides the information, training, and outreach necessary to the development of quality K-12 publications, software and instructional materials. It facilitates communication between key interest groups such as educators, policy makers, foundations, associations, business and the media. AEP also seeks to increase public awareness of the importance of a wide range of learning resources to successful teaching and learning.

Charlene is a graduate of Marquette University. She came to AEP from Learning, a national magazine for elementary teachers, where she was publisher. Charlene has over 20 years experience in startups and turnarounds. She is an alumna of the Stanford Professional Publishing Course and the Center for Creative Leadership. She has served on the advisory boards of the Bicentennial Commission of the United States, the Learning Center of Philadelphia, and the Rowan University School of Communications.

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