On August 23, 2025, ERA-New Orleans will host an in-per­son pan­el dis­cus­sion at the War­ren Eas­t­on Arthur Hardy Audi­to­ri­um. The event will fea­ture three pan­els focused on the past, present, and future of pub­lic edu­ca­tion in New Orleans. Edu­ca­tion lead­ers, researchers, and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers will reflect on how the sys­tem has evolved since 2005, exam­ine cur­rent out­comes and chal­lenges, and con­sid­er what lies ahead for the next gen­er­a­tion of stu­dents. Pan­elists include Leslie Jacobs, edu­ca­tion reform advo­cate, Alex­i­na Med­ley, for­mer principal/​CEO Emeri­ta at War­ren Eas­t­on Char­ter High School, Renee Akbar, edu­ca­tion pro­fes­sor at Xavier Uni­ver­si­ty, Kate Mehok, CEO of Cres­cent City Schools, Tiffany Del­cour, COO of New Schools for New Orleans, Dr. Lau­ren Las­trapes, Ben Franklin teacher and UTNO rep­re­sen­ta­tive, Adrin­da Kel­ly, exec­u­tive direc­tor of Black Edu­ca­tion for New Orleans, Vin­cent Ross­meier, Pol­i­cy Direc­tor at the Cowen Insti­tute, and Dr. Fatea­ma Ful­more, super­in­ten­dent of New Orleans Pub­lic Schools. 

THIS EVENT WILL BE LIVE STREAMED: Click here to watch the livestream. 

Have a ques­tion for our pan­elists? Please sub­mit your ques­tions to panelists  here .

Agen­da

12:30 – 12:50
Open­ing Remarks
Pre­sen­ta­tion on ERA’s Key Conclusions

12:50 – 2:00
Pan­el 1: THE PAST
Pan­elists: Leslie Jacobs, Alex­i­na Med­ley, & Renee Akbar

2:00 – 2:10
Break for refreshments

2:10 – 3:20
Pan­el 2: THE PRESENT
Pan­elists: Kate Mehok, Tiffany Del­cour, & Lau­ren Lastrapes

3:20 – 3:30
Break

3:30 – 4:40
Pan­el 3: THE FUTURE
Pan­elists: Fatea­ma Ful­more, Adrin­da Kel­ly, & Vin­cent Rossmeier