Presenter: Kevin Dehmer

Kevin Dehmer (DAY-mer), Acting Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Education, has brought to the position a long working history in New Jersey public education.

Prior to becoming Acting Commissioner, Mr. Dehmer served as Executive Director and Senior Researcher at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. The Heldrich Center is a nationally renowned research organization that uses cutting-edge approaches and analysis that focuses on improving all aspects of the nation’s education, training, and workforce programs and policies. A key component of this research is determining strategies to improve the preschool-12 public education system and learning more about how educators and policymakers can advance career opportunities, equity, and long-term success of students.

Acting Commissioner Dehmer also spent more than 15 years in public service with the New Jersey Department of Education, directing numerous offices and twice serving as Interim Commissioner. Most recently, Acting Commissioner Dehmer was the Assistant Commissioner of Finance and Chief Financial Officer at the Department where he oversaw all aspects of public-school funding in New Jersey, including allocating more than $11 billion in state aid annually and over $1 billion in federal grants.

Over this period, Acting Commissioner Dehmer also played a key role in navigating major events that impacted New Jersey’s public schools such as the Great Recession, Superstorm Sandy, and served as Interim Commissioner for the re-opening of schools in the fall of 2020 during the recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Additionally, Acting Commissioner Dehmer has served on numerous councils and advisory groups in New Jersey and nationally, such as the State Employment and Training Commission, the Council on the Green Economy, the Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology, Governor Phil Murphy’s Coronavirus Task Force, and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Acting Commissioner Dehmer received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, a Master’s of Public Policy from Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and was also a Graduate Fellow of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

Presenter: Gilbert Gonzalez

As the Director of the Office of Innovation at the New Jersey Department of Education, Gilbert E. Gonzalez is responsible for leading the implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in STEM, computer science, and educational technology, as well as spearheading the agency’s work related to New Jersey’s artificial intelligence “moonshot” initiative.

Previously, Mr. Gonzalez served as the Acting Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Teaching and Learning Services, and the Director of the Office of Assessments at the New Jersey Department of Education. Prior to his state-level work, he served as Chief Information Officer for the Woodstown-Pilesgrove Regional School District, where he managed the district’s educational technology and data initiatives.

Mr. Gonzalez also teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the Rowan University Center for Cybersecurity Education and Research (CCER) and is pursuing a doctoral degree at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education, where he is studying how artificial intelligence is most effectively integrated into learning environment design.