SPEAKER BIOS
DR. KOFFI C. AKAKPO
President, Kentucky State University
Dr. Koffi Akakpo is an enthusiastic leader who advocates for student success on all levels. His “students first” philosophy is the cornerstone of his work in higher education. He has been the President of Kentucky State University (KSU) since July 1, 2023. Prior to coming to KSU, Dr. Akakpo served as President of Bluegrass Community and Technical College where he implemented his “students first” initiatives throughout the institution. These initiatives included developing and expanding core values and student-centered goals, restructuring, and enhancing the enrollment and advising processes through the implementation of strategic enrollment and retention initiatives to improve student success and increase enrollment and working with local high schools to increase dual enrollment and scholarship opportunities.
As a vice president for business, administrative and student services at North Central State College (NCSC) in Ohio, his leadership included the implementation of numerous initiatives that helped move the college from an operating budget deficit to a positive financial standing. Prior to NCSC, he served in leadership capacity at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and at Central State University.
Strong connections to family and community are important to Dr. Akakpo. His passion in life and career is helping others achieve their dreams and he is guided by what best serves students. Dr. Akakpo holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Toledo and a Master of Business Administration from Ashland University in Ohio.
KEVIN DAILEY
2024 KY Teacher of the Year
Kevin Dailey, an 8th-grade teacher at Ballyshannon Middle School (Boone County), serves as the 2024 Kentucky Teacher of the Year and Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year. Dailey began his career in 2012 teaching social studies at Gallatin County High School and has taught in Boone County since 2019. The desire to shape the world around him led to a career in architectural design, but despite fulfilling his childhood dream, Dailey said something was missing. He realized his dreams to make a positive impact on his community would come not from his efforts alone but through his ability to help others discover their passion to be part of their community. As it turns out, Dailey was born to be a teacher.
BRIGITTE BLOM
President & CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence
Brigitte Blom is the President & CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. She’s been an education leader for over 20 years, spending time in both public service and professional public policy, maintaining a steadfast commitment to improving the quality of life for Kentuckians through increased education outcomes and opportunities.
Before joining the Prichard Committee, Brigitte was director of public policy for United Way of Greater Cincinnati with a specific focus on early childhood policy. Ms. Blom spent a decade as an elected member of the Board of Education in rural Pendleton County and is the former vice-chair of the Kentucky Board of Education where she served from 2008-2014. Ms. Blom has worked in policy, research, and advocacy on issues related to education, poverty, and state taxes and budgets – including work for universities in Ohio and Kentucky and for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. She holds undergraduate degrees in economics and international studies and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Kentucky Martin School.
In 2022, Brigitte received an honorary doctorate from the University of Pikeville and the Karem Award for Excellence in Education Policy from the Kentucky Board of Education. In 2019, Brigitte was recognized as one of 50 Notable Women in Kentucky Politics and Government, by the Kentucky Gazette, and in 2018, under Brigitte’s leadership, the Prichard Committee received the 24th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. award from the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
ROBIN FIELDS KINNEY
Interim Commissioner of Education
The Kentucky Board of Education named Robin Fields Kinney as interim state commissioner of education during a special meeting on Sept. 14.
Kinney has served as an associate commissioner in the Office of Finance and Operations for the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). She assumed her role as interim commissioner on Sept. 30, 2023.
Kinney first joined KDE from 2003 to 2008, and then rejoined in 2015. She previously served as interim commissioner for a short period in December of 2019 following the departure of former Commissioner Wayne Lewis.
Kinney’s prior work experience also includes legal practice in Kentucky and Florida, and public service as general counsel of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and deputy secretary of the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet.
Kinney received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kentucky (UK) and a juris doctorate from UK’s College of Law. She is a licensed attorney in Kentucky and Florida.
Kinney and her husband, Scott, reside in Frankfort. Her daughter, Megan, is a teacher in Shelby County Public Schools.
PEGGY BROOKINS
President and CEO of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Former NBPTS Board member Peggy Brookins, NBCT, joined the National Board as Executive Vice President in December 2014 and was named President & CEO in November 2015. Her long career as an educator includes many national leadership positions and accolades. In July 2014, President Barack Obama named Brookins as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. She came to the National Board from the Engineering and Manufacturing Institute of Technology at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida, which she co-founded in 1994 and where she served as director and as a mathematics instructor.
She served on the NBPTS Board from 2007 to 2011. In addition, she has served on the board of, The Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences Ad Hoc Committee on Teachers as Professionals, the Content Technical Working Group for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a commissioner on the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), P21 Executive Board, and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Teacher Prep Commission. She has been a national trainer for AFT (Thinking Mathematics K-2, 3-6, 6-8 Common Core, collaborator and national trainer for Thinking Mathematics 6-8). She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Digital Promise, National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) Executive Board, Fund for Teachers Executive Board, Out Teach Executive Board, Bowie State University and the STAR Program Advisory Board, National Geographic Education Audit Advisory Board, Eddie and Jules Trump Foundation of Israel Advisory Board, the Class Strategic Advisory Board, the Learning Variability Project Advisory Board, Global Teacher Leadership Advisory Board, Teach Plus, and the Learning Policy Institute’s Spencer/Yidan Advisory Committee.
Brookins achieved her certification in Adult and Young Adolescent Mathematics in 2003 and renewed in 2013. She was inducted into the University of Florida Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009, Received the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “Woodie Flowers” Award in 2016, is a Florida Education Association “Everyday Hero,” and received the association’s Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2013, Brookins was named an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar.
JACQUELINE COLEMAN
Lieutenant Governor
Jacqueline Coleman is the fifty-eighth lieutenant governor of Kentucky. She is a life-long Kentuckian, educator, basketball coach, writer and founder of a nonprofit. She is wife to Chris, mom to Evelynne, adopted mom to Emma and a bonus mom to Will and Nate.
She was raised on a farm in Burgin, where her family owned a small business for five generations. Her upbringing taught her to help those in need and, as a result, Jacqueline has devoted her personal and professional life to service.
As the state’s highest elected teacher, Jacqueline is a vocal and passionate advocate for public education. She believes education is the key to providing Kentuckians opportunities for transformational change that can create new cycles of success.
During her first term, through the Team Kentucky Student Mental Health Initiative, she worked to secure more than $40 million in federal funding to increase student mental health resources in schools. She led the charge to waive the testing fee for adults earning their GED. Since then, more than 8,900 Kentuckians have earned a GED and changed the trajectory of their families’ futures. She revived the Kentucky Commission on Women after its office was shuttered and funding was removed during the previous administration.
As a rural Kentuckian, Jacqueline aims to ensure Kentucky’s booming economy reaches people in every zip code. Since the beginning of the Beshear-Coleman administration, they have announced the creation of over 51,000 full-time jobs across 900 private-sector projects totaling more than $28 billion in investments.
EDDIE CAMPBELL
KEA President
Eddie Campbell serves as President of the 44,000-member Kentucky Education Association, representing educators across the commonwealth. He is a former music teacher and choir director from Knox County Central High School and Knox County Middle School and serves. He was first elected as president in 2019 and reelected in 2022.
During his 26 years of active service in the association he served as KEA vice president for two terms, as well as secretary, vice-president, president and member of the board of directors of his local, the Knox County Education Association.
Campbell was a classroom teacher for 20 years. He was choir director at Knox Central High School in Barbourville, Kentucky, from 2006 to 2016. He grew up in the small town of Hyden in Leslie County, Kentucky, graduated from Leslie County High School and earned his bachelor’s (1996) and master’s (2001) degrees from Union College. In 2015 he earned the teaching profession’s highest credential, certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. He was a finalist for the 2016 Ashland Oil Kentucky Teacher of the Year Award.
Campbell knew even before he entered the classroom for the first time that he wanted to be to be active in KEA. “When I got my first teaching job, I went looking for the KEA representative at my school so I could fill out my form,” he said. “I remembered what my mentor and resource teacher Jim Sproul told me, that I needed to be a member because KEA is the only group that advocates for students and educators.”