Kate is a certified Social Studies teacher and lifelong educator who is passionate about democracy and civic engagement. She started her teaching career working with English Language Learners and as a high school social studies teacher at Middleton High School. There she led the adoption of the Legislative Semester. Subsequently, she worked at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin in the Teacher Education program where she taught a variety of education and economics courses, and supervised student teachers.

As the Co-founder and Co-Chair of the Wisconsin Civic Learning Coalition, Kate is working to bring together individuals and organizations who are interested in strengthening nonpartisan K12 civics education in Wisconsin schools. She has written high school social studies curriculum for multiple organizations, and currently serves as the lead curriculum writer for the UW-Madison Deliberation Dinners, and an Instructor for The Discussion Project.

Alongside her other work, Kate has been building momentum for the growth of the Legislative Semester through coaching, outreach, and professional development. She is thrilled to begin a new chapter as the Founder and Executive Director of the Legislative Semester nonprofit organization.

Kate holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford University, and a MS in Applied Economics from UW- Madison.

Mary Ellen Daneels is a National Board Certified teacher who taught at West Chicago Community High School for 27 years. She serves as the Director of the Illinois Civics Hub and Illinois Democracy School Network, leading efforts to support the implementation of the middle and high school civics course requirements and Illinois social science standards.

She has been recognized as the Law-related Educator of the Year from the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago, Teacher of the Year by the 19th District of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and American Civic Education Teacher from the Center for Civic Education and the Illinois Education Association Teacher of the Year. Mary Ellen has presented on the proven practices of civic learning throughout the nation. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and highlighted in numerous publications such as Education Week, Social Education, and Educational Leadership.

Mary Ellen has advocated for civic education before federal and state lawmakers. She served on the Board of Directors for the National Council of the Social Studies and worked on both the Steering Committee and Pedagogy Committee for the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap.

Shawn Healy, PhD, is the Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy, for iCivics. He leads state and federal policy and advocacy work through the CivXNow Coalition and oversees civic education campaigns in several key states. He plays an active role in recruiting supporters to fund policy, advocacy, and implementation efforts nationwide for this work.

Healy chaired the Illinois Task Force on Civic Education in 2014 and later led separate, successful legislative campaigns for a required civics course in Illinois in middle and high school, respectively. He also led the Illinois Social Science Standards Task Force. Its recommendations were adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2015.

Healy also serves as an adjunct professor in Public Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a Serve Illinois Commissioner.

Before joining iCivics, Healy worked for fifteen years at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation in various capacities, most recently serving as Democracy Program Director.

He began his career as a social studies teacher at West Chicago Community High School (IL) where he was part of the team of government teachers who used the Legislative Semester as their required government curriculum. It was this experience, and the encouragement of Legislative Semester founder Steve Arnold, that inspired Healy to pursue state policies to ensure that every Illinois student had access to similar high-quality civic learning opportunities throughout their K-12 careers.

Nicole Patel, a Legislative Semester alumna (2001-02), has led programs for nonprofit organizations, universities, and the federal government. She currently leads technology and operations teams that support the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, a U.S. State Department-managed program that resettles refugees from around the world in cities across America. While at the State Department, she has also advanced U.S. policy and programs related to international criminal justice sector reform, crisis response, multilateral affairs, and global diplomacy.

Prior to federal service, Nicole served as the Assistant Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, where she partnered with faculty to design international experiential learning programs. She managed the Global Engagement Summer Institute, which provides undergraduate students from colleges and universities across the country with knowledge, tools, and experiences to partner with communities to confront shared global challenges.

Overseas, Nicole worked in the Kachchh region of western India on a United Nations Development Program initiative to establish a community-run rural tourism project, which has served as a model for other regions. She also supported communications, fundraising, and grantmaking activities focused on women’s empowerment, health, and economic development for the American India Foundation in New Delhi.

Nicole earned a B.A. in political science at Northwestern University and an MSc in International Development Management with Distinction from the London School of Economics, and completed training in executive leadership at Harvard Business School. Her passion for both global and government affairs sparked from roles as a Presidential Management Fellow, New Leaders Council Fellow, and William J. Clinton Fellow for Service to India.

Rachel attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she double majored in Political Science and Sociology. Hailing from Mexico City, Rachel’s own immigration journey influenced her to pursue a career in immigration law, so upon graduating from college, she went on to attend DePaul University College of Law where she received her Juris Doctor degree and then opened the doors to her own immigration law office in 2011.

In the height of the pandemic, Rachel continued her call for public service and joined the Chicago Mayor’s Office intergovernmental affairs team under Lori Lightfoot’s administration in the fall of 2020. During her tenure at the City, Rachel led the City Council legislative and external affairs teams as Deputy Director and oversaw the implementation of mayoral policy initiatives, passage of mayoral legislation, and the negotiation and approval of three fiscal budgets. Rachel most recently took on a new challenge as Senior Director of Government and External Affairs at the Chicago Housing Authority, where she works closely with city, state, and federal legislators in the pursuit of increased access to quality, affordable housing within the City of Chicago.

On her down time, Rachel provides know your rights lectures at churches, schools and community organizations and volunteers at citizenship workshops in hopes of encouraging immigrants to seek lawful status.

Senator Olson is a retired Wisconsin legislator who served in the Assembly for 10 years, and the Senate for 16 years, serving continuously from 1994 to 2021. He chaired the Senate Education Committee, and served on the Wisconsin Civics Action Task Force. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the UW Lafollete School of Public Affairs, and as a liaison between the Cooperative Educational Services Agency (CESA) network and the WI Department of Public Instruction.

Samantha Quiñones is a Caseworker for a local State Representative where she connects both English and Spanish-speaking constituents to community resources and State Departments. She has held this position for two years. She is a West Chicago High School alumni and participated in a legislative simulation her senior year. She received her Bachelor's degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. While there she majored in Political Science and International Studies and minored in Arabic and Business Management. After college Samantha got her certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and joined the Peace Corps in Costa Rica. Samantha is proud of her Mexican heritage and as a native Spanish speaker, she is passionate about facilitating accessibility to civic education for all people.

Miles Turner, EdD, is the former Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA), a position he held for 24 years.

He began his career in education as a middle school social studies teacher in Illinois and Colorado, and then became a principal of schools in Colorado and Puerto Rico.

After receiving his EdD in Educational Administration from the University of Northern Colorado, he returned to Wisconsin as the Superintendent of the River Valley School District in Spring Green. In 1989 Turner became the Executive Director of WASDA. In this role he provided support and professional development for district administrators across Wisconsin until his retirement. He served on a number of other boards and committees during his tenure and was recognized with awards at the national and state level, including being named a Distinguished Friend of Education by the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators in 2012. He continues to engage in hiring and recruitment of school administrators.

As a former social studies teacher with a lifelong commitment to public education, democratic principles, and civility in public life, Turner believes that the Legislative Semester has the potential to transform schools and communities by engaging students and providing them with the tools to be effective citizens and community members.