2025 Alumni Awards Luncheon

The Educational Policy Leadership Center (EPLC) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Educational Policy Leadership Program Alumni Award, presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in education policy following their participation in an EPLC leadership program. This year’s distinguished honorees include: Dr. Lara Luetkehans, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs …

Read more

Congratulations to our newest Advanced Program graduates!

Eight Education Policy Fellowship Program alumni completed the “by invitation only” Advanced Education Policy Leadership Program and were recognized on Wednesday, March 28, 2025, at the Harrisburg Hilton. Lysandra Alexander (PDE), Storm Camara (PDE), Jason Conway (Westmoreland IU), Juliet Curci (Temple U.), Tim Mulligan (Communities in Schools), Heidi Ondek (Western PA School for Blind Children), …

Read more

Class of 2025 EPFP Fellows Graduate!

Thirty-nine (39) new graduates joined the ranks of Education Policy Fellowship Program alumni on May 28, 2025. After their day in the capital where they met with PA Department of Education leaders, pitched their policy proposals to legislators and their staffers, and took a private tour of the Capitol building, our largest class ever convened …

Read more

EPFP Fellows Enjoy Multi-State Regional Leadership Forum

Our Class of 2024 Education Policy Fellowship Program participants joined about 90 other Fellows from Michigan, Ohio and New York earlier this month when they toured the Gettysburg Battlefields on Thursday, October 5, learning from experienced guides about the lessons of leadership that still resonate 160 years later. After a terrific reception at the Cumberland …

Read more

Ron Cowell Receives Prestigious EPLC Award

Ron Cowell, EPLC Founder and Senior Fellow, was feted on September 28 surrounded by colleagues and friends. EPLC’s prestigious Donley Award was renamed this year to the Edward Donley-Ronald Cowell Education Policy Leadership Award and given to Ron for his many years of public service and education policy leadership as both a state legislator and …

Read more

Advanced Fellows Meet in DC to Kick Off Program Year

The 2023-2024 Advanced Education Policy Leadership Fellowship Program kicked off their program year on September 21-22 in Washington, D.C.  The AEPLP is a multi-state cohort with Fellows from Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Their convening in DC included multiple speakers from national organizations, a trip to the US Department of Education, …

Read more

EPFP Graduates’ Mental Health Policy Proposal Featured in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Megan Van Fossan and her team of Fellows (Luis Beltran, Joseph Eye, Stacey Sidle, Sarah Pesi) from the 2022-23 Education Policy Fellowship Program developed a legislative proposal to require mental health screenings for secondary students to identify and address their needs. The team continues to work on getting the legislation passed and implemented, and was …

Read more

Three Distinguished EPFP Alumni Recognized at Annual Luncheon

Edward J. Fuller, Penn State University; Charles D. Allen, U.S. Army War College; and Monica Taylor, Temple University, received EPLC’s 2023 Alumni Awards for their outstanding achievements and service to education at EPLC’s Annual Recognition Luncheon on June 7, 2023 at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill. Ed Fuller is a graduate of the …

Read more

31 Members of the Class of 2023 Graduate from the Education Policy Fellowship Program

Thirty-one (31) participants in the 2022-2023 EPFP completed their year-long engagement and graduated from the program on June 7, 2023 during the annual recognition luncheon at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill. The Fellows appreciated the thoughtful remarks made by their peers during the ceremony; Luis Beltran (PA Migrant Education Program), Sarah Pesi (Jewish …

Read more