Building Belonging: Online Conversation Space for School Leaders

Jason Major is in his 8th school year as principal of Dever Elementary School in Chicago. He leads with the guiding principle that strong relationships are key to building a positive school culture, as well as providing students experiences that are not traditionally found in public schools. He encourages risk-taking in his staff through inquiry, experiential "learning by living," and action projects. Dever was the elementary school winner of the inaugural Obama Foundation Award for Civic Action in 2019. He previously has been an assistant principal, math instructional coach, data strategist, and middle school mathematics teacher, and served on the board of the Math Circles of Chicago and the Illinois Association for Gifted Children. He also helped to start more than 20 math clubs in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois between 2010 and 2012 using high school students as lead teachers, some of which still operate today. Jason holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from National Louis University and is an alum of the Chicago Principal Fellowship through Northwestern University and the Cahn Principal Fellows program. He also serves as a Lead Mentor for new principals in Chicago Public Schools, leads an administrative academy course called "Finding Balance as a School Leader”, and frequently presents sessions for ASCD Illinois.

Frank Stebbins is a Senior Program Associate, School and District Lead at Facing History. Frank facilitates professional development, and is a member of teams focusing on school-wide program development, Holocaust and Genocide scholarship, and Teaching for Equity and Justice. Before joining the Facing History team, he was a New Jersey educator for 17 years.