Dr. Victor Wakefield, Nevada’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, is responsible for leading the state’s pre-K–12 public education system and ensuring every student in Nevada has access to an excellent education that prepares them for college, career, and life success. 

Superintendent Wakefield began his career as a middle school English teacher in Gary, Indiana, where he witnessed both the barriers that limit opportunity and what’s possible when students are given the expectations and support they deserve. Inspired by teaching, he went on to recruit hundreds of high-potential leaders nationwide to join Teach For America (TFA). In 2011, he moved to Nevada to lead TFA’s training and support for 250 early-career educators in Clark County—reaching more than 15,000 students. 

Over 16 years with TFA, Superintendent Wakefield held several key leadership roles, including Executive Director of TFA–Las Vegas (2011–2015) and National Vice President for Regions (2016–2020), overseeing 16 regions. In 2020, he led TFA’s pandemic response, onboarding nearly 3,000 new teachers, and then served as Vice President for Special Projects, directing national strategy until 2025. 

Superintendent Wakefield has shaped education policy in Nevada, including serving on Nevada’s State Board of Education (2015–2017) and as Senior Fellow at the Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities (2017–2020). He earned his Doctor of Education from Johns Hopkins University in 2020, conducting his dissertation research in Nevada. He has also taught graduate courses at Johns Hopkins and is an alumnus of Leadership Las Vegas and the Leadership Institute of Nevada. 

Molly Ness is a former classroom teacher, a reading researcher, and a teacher educator. She earned a doctorate in reading education at the University of Virginia, and spent 16 years as an associate professor at Fordham University in New York City. The author of six books, Molly serves on the board of the World Literacy Foundation. Dr. Ness has extensive experience in reading clinics, consulting with school districts, leading professional development, and advising school systems on research-based reading instruction. She provided literacy leadership for nationally recognized literacy non-profits, as well as major educational publishers. In 2025, she co-authored the Scholastic book Making Words Stick, which helps teachers understand orthographic mapping. As a tireless literacy advocate, Molly created the End Book Deserts podcast, which brings awareness to the 32 million American children who lack access to books. 

A frequent speaker and presenter, her happy place is translating the science of reading to schools and teachers. When she is not reading and writing about reading and writing, Dr. Ness is driving her ice-hockey obsessed teenage daughter to the rink, learning how to fly fish, or hiking with her poorly behaved goldendoodle.

Dr. Dianna Townsend's research centers on the language development of adolescent students, with specific attention to vocabulary. She examines both the unique language demands of the disciplines and effective instructional strategies to help students understand and use the language of the disciplines. Dr. Townsend’s research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. Her work has been published in Reading Research Quarterly, The Elementary School Journal, The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, and Topics in Language Disorders, as well as in other journals and multiple books. Her most recent book is Words Worth Using: Supporting Adolescents’ Power with Academic Vocabulary, published by Teachers College Press in 2022. Dr. Townsend is a Tibbetts Distinguished Teacher Award Winner. She created the innovative Virtual Reading Clinic in the online M.Ed. Program in Reading Curriculum & Instruction to support remote and rural teachers in a graduate-level practicum experience. Nationally, Dr. Townsend serves the technical advisor for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Reading test. In Nevada, Dr. Townsend is the co-founder and President of the Nevada Adolescent Literacy Network (NALN) and a lead author of the Nevada State Literacy Plan. Within the College of Education and Human Development at UNR, Dr. Townsend is the Program Coordinator of the Literacy Studies Program.

Dr. Chase Young is a literacy scholar, author, journal editor, and educator whose work bridges research and classroom practice to help children learn to read. A leading voice in literacy education, Dr. Young has authored several influential books, including the award-winning Artfully Teaching the Science of Reading and Build Reading Fluency. His research on reading fluency, literacy interventions, and the artful teaching of the science of reading has added to classroom instruction across the country. Dr. Young has earned top honors from the International Literacy Association and the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers, among other national recognition. He currently serves as Professor of Literacy at Sam Houston State University, where he continues to inspire educators and empower readers through research, writing, and a bit of humor.