North America’s leading K-12 professional learning organization building an exceptional team to lead innovation for Catholic education
MONTVALE, NJ (September 2, 2020) – Eduscape, North America’s leading K-12 Professional Educational business, today announced the group of senior, forward thinking and progressive professionals who will lead The Procedo Project, launched July 6 and tasked with the revitalization of Catholic schools across The United States. The group includes professionals with over 200 collective years of success in education, fundraising, digital engagement, marketing, and faith-based leadership.
“Bringing best practices and disruptive innovation to our schools requires a team of experienced and successful educators and other professionals who are deeply committed to the mission of Catholic education. We are laser focused on our mission and so is our team.” stated Alex Urrea, Founder of the The Procedo Project, which will be based at the Eduscape home office in the New York area. “Disruption in Catholic schools has been taking place for too long; closures, mergers and reorganizations happen much too often. It’s time to be proactive by bringing disruptive innovation to our schools by rethinking leadership, strategies and partnerships long thought to be useful but that have not reaped sustainable benefits. Everything must be reimagined NOW because so long as there is a commitment to academic excellence, innovation, leadership development and support; we will advance schools and help them rise with our efforts grounded in Catholic formation and principles.”
In addition to Urrea, the team includes:
Andrea Chavez-Kopp has joined as Chief Learning Officer. Andrea brings 20 years of experience to The Procedo Project as a nationally recognized expert and thought leader in the field of Catholic education, particularly in the area of digital transformation. In her five years at NCEA, Andrea gained national recognition as a leader, innovator, writer and speaker. She has served on multiple national committees contributing to the work not only of NCEA but of NCCL, NFCYM, the USCCB and many others. Andrea will lead digital strategy, educational partnerships and program development for Procedo.
“We are at the precipice of a major shift in the way teaching and learning happens. Catholic schools are more agile and operate differently than large public school districts. This is our moment to set the pace for the future of education. It is our time to shine if we dare to,” said Chavez-Kopp. “The truth is, all schools need to rethink learning and Catholic schools are more agile and able to adapt if they are willing to rise to the challenge.”
Sr. Elaine Poitras, PhD has taken the role of Executive Director for Leadership Formation. She has served in the Dioceses of Norwich, Fall River, Manchester, Rochester, Wheeling-Charleston and the Archdiocese of Boston as Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent. She will also continue her role as Executive Director of the Innovative Catholic School Network, where she has worked on several initiatives with DePaul University. Currently, Sr. Elaine is facilitating retreats for new Catholic school leaders in the Archdiocese of Chicago to prepare, encourage, and support them in their roles as the Faith and Spiritual Leaders of their school communities.
Matt Russell, the former Chief Advancement and Business Development Officer for the NCEA has joined The Procedo Project as a key member of the Advisory Board who will guide the vision for success-based models for school operations. Matt brings leadership experience at both the national and local school level.
Ken Willers, one of the most highly decorated Catholic school leaders in the U.S. has taken the role of Chairman of the Advisory Board. Ken was recently appointed the President of Notre Dame Academy in Duluth, GA, a Marist and IB World School. He most recently served as the Associate Superintendent of Leadership for Innovation and Growth for the Diocese of Oakland, after a 20-year career as a Principal.
Amy Kawaguchi has taken the role of Director, Business Development. Amy has dedicated her career in education as a classroom teacher, administrator, curriculum development specialist, and business development executive. Her insights have been conducive to helping school leaders make decisions that improve instruction, curriculum, assessment, and educational practices, and maximize federal programs. She has advised Catholic schools and (Arch)Dioceses on federal program funding policies and procurement strategies that have raised over $100 million throughout her career.
Dennis Little has taken the role of Director, Business Relations. Dennis brings over 30 years of professional experience in serving public and private schools with federal programs and educational initiatives. He has provided leadership in instructional services, finance, consultation, operations, sales and marketing for Catholic and non-public schools. Dennis is an expert in developing and implementing comprehensive plans that leverage federal funds.
Marcie Hebert has been appointed Director of STREAM Education while maintaining her role at Eduscape as Director of STEM Education. Marcie has built a reputation as one of the most dynamic, nationally recognized educators to have taught in Catholic schools. She was one of the original 50 Google Innovative Educators in the world and has delivered professional development to thousands of teachers in the U.S., China and Singapore. Marcie is passionate about helping teachers develop their capacity to integrate technology and STREAM into their classrooms.
Joe Favorito has taken the role of Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Joe Favorito is a product of 17 years of Catholic education and has over 34 years of strategic communications/marketing, business development and public relations expertise in sports, entertainment, brand building, media training, television, athletic administration and business. He has managed the day-to-day activities in strategic communications for: two of the world’s hallmark sports and entertainment brands (the New York Knickerbockers and Philadelphia 76ers); the world’s largest professional sport for women (the WTA Tour); the U.S. Tennis Association; and the US Open. Joe will be consulting with schools and Catholic organizations on brand development, marketing and messaging their mission.
The Procedo Project (procedo: to advance or move forward) has been formed to work in partnership with schools and Arch(Diocese) to face new challenges, provide needed resources and build networks to help capture opportunities for advancement. It brings educators, leaders, organizations, companies and thought leaders together to enact change, rethink teaching and learning, curate content on cutting edge practices and connect like-minded school communities.
The initiative aims to support the rich tradition of Catholic education by making schools models of innovative academic and operational practice; provide immediate, relevant and timely expertise to keep schools open; elevate past programmatic approaches of STREAM education to embed innovative mindset and practice within the fabric of school culture and through the lens of Catholic education; help schools move beyond surviving distance learning to planning, embedding and leading the field in quality blended learning approaches; and deliver world-class, professional development in remote teaching, leadership formation, social-emotional learning and many other areas.
The project formally launched on July 6, 2020 and is expanding rapidly. A schedule of upcoming events will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information about The Procedo Project, please visit: https://eduscape.com/procedoproject/.
About Eduscape
Eduscape is a leading K-12 professional learning organization. Its team of educators has developed and delivered professional development to over hundreds of thousands of educators and school leaders. The organization’s expertise includes development of blended learning programs for classroom productivity applications, SEL, CTE and STEM Education. Eduscape is a Google for Education National Training Partner, a leading Microsoft Global Training Partner and the only privately held authorized provider of the ISTE Educator Certification. It has been selected by over 20 award-winning STEM product companies to develop their training academies.