Celebrating excellent education leaders who are inspiring the future.
The 2026 Seminar Leadership Awards honor education leaders driving innovation, growing others, and transforming the learning experience.
About the Awards
The Seminar Leadership Awards shine a light on education leaders whose influence reaches beyond their own schools. These leaders strengthen communities, spark new ideas, and model excellence in ways that inspire others across the field.
Last year, we celebrated our first class of honorees. This year, we’re continuing that tradition and recognizing excellence in two areas that reflect Seminar’s mission and impact.
Award categories
Innovator
Honors an education leader who leverages innovation or emerging technologies to reimagine the learning experience, increase equity, or solve persistent challenges in education.
Collective Genius
Celebrates an education leader whose work has significantly and measurably impacted the development of other leaders, fostering growth, effectiveness, and a spirit of collective success.
Strengths we celebrate
Impact
We’re looking for concrete examples of the nominee’s impact, with measurable outcomes where possible.
Innovation
For the Innovator Award, share how the nominee has leveraged innovation or emerging technology to advance learning and promote equity.
Paying it forward
For the Collective Genius Award, describe how the nominee has supported the growth, development, or effectiveness of other leaders.
Meet the judges
We’re honored to collaborate with a panel of distinguished education innovation leaders. These leaders bring decades of experience driving change in schools and communities, and they’ll carefully evaluate each nomination for impact, innovation, and alignment with the purpose of each award.
Kriste Dragon serves as president of Pahara Institute at Lone Rock, leading a national effort to “strengthen and sustain high-integrity leaders reimagining public education.” Before joining Pahara Institute, she co-founded and led Citizens of the World Charter Schools—a network of tuition‑free schools celebrated for fostering diversity, equity, and social cohesion. Her career spans classroom teaching, university instruction (at UCLA), and systems-level work including charter school board leadership. A Pahara Fellow, Dragon is a passionate advocate for educational equity and connection.
Frances Messano is CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund, where she leads a national venture philanthropy investing in early-stage educators, innovative schools, and education technologies that expand opportunity for underserved students. A former President at NewSchools, she launched initiatives to diversify education leadership and champion learner-centered school models. Frances’s career spans impact strategy at Teach For America, consulting with education nonprofits at Monitor Institute, and early finance work at Morgan Stanley. A first-generation college graduate, she holds a B.A. from Harvard and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is a Pahara-Aspen Fellow committed to advancing equity, innovation, and excellence in K–12 education.
Babak is a Founding Partner at LearnerStudio, an organization dedicated to building a future ready learning ecosystem where every young person is inspired and prepared for life, career, and democracy in the age of AI. He was previously an Assistant Superintendent in Gwinnett County Public Schools (GA) where he spearheaded the first embedded PK-12 artificial intelligence readiness learning model and a county-wide early learning ecosystem. An award-winning educator, Babak began his career as a fifth-grade teacher in Shelby, MS (District Teacher of the Year, 2008). Babak holds a doctorate in Education Leadership and an MPP from Harvard, and a BA from Johns Hopkins.
Ms. Rhee has spent her career in the field of education and workforce development in a number of executive roles. She currently serves as Venture Partner at EO Ventures, a VC focused on investments in companies driving social mobility and impact. Prior to that, she served as Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of BuildWithin, a workforce learning platform that transforms the way employers hire and develop new talent. The organization raised $2.5M in pre-seed funding, saw over $1M in first-year operating revenues, and won an $8M grant from the U.S. Department of Labor through the Apprenticeships Building America grant program. Previously, she was the Chief Executive Officer of StudentsFirst, a nonprofit education advocacy organization that raised, introduced, and passed over 140 pieces of new education legislation across 18 states. In 2007, Rhee became the city's first schools Chancellor under Mayoral control of the 50,000 student Washington DC Public School district. In this role, she oversaw 144 public schools comprised of 7,000 employees and an annual budget of approximately $1B. In 1997, Ms. Rhee founded the revenue generating nonprofit organization, The New Teacher Project, to help public school districts and state departments of education recruit, select and train teachers to serve in hard to staff schools. Ms. Rhee holds a Master's in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a BS in Government from Cornell University.
Todd Dickson is the Founder and CEO of Valor Collegiate Academies, a small charter management organization in Nashville, TN. Since its inception, Valor has been the top-performing academic charter network in Tennessee. Valor has also developed a nationally recognized comprehensive human development approach, Compass, that is a key driver of their success - they are currently scaling Compass to over 150 schools around the country.
Before starting Valor, Todd spent 10 years at Summit Public Schools in the Bay Area of California, first as a physics teacher and then as a principal. Under his leadership, Summit Prep was named one of the top 10 Transformational Schools in the country by Newsweek.
Todd has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering (Denver University and Cornell University) and a master’s degree in education (Stanford University). He was also an All-American lacrosse player and team captain. When not thinking about how to transform public education, Mr. Dickson enjoys spending time with his wife and their three children, who are all attending Valor! He also enjoys yoga, guitar, poetry, and watching all things Colorado sports.
The 2025 honorees
Oliver Sicat is the CEO of Ednovate, a fast-growing high school charter management organization founded in partnership with the University of Southern California (USC) that is working to change our nation’s high school report card.
Previously Oliver was the Chief Portfolio Officer in the Chicago Public Schools, Founding Principal of UIC College Prep with the Noble Network of Charter Schools, and a math teacher in Roxbury, MA, recognized as the Boston Public Schools Teacher of the Year in 2006. In 2002, Oliver also founded his first college preparatory non-profit, Emagine, while in Boston.
Oliver is a graduate of USC and received his Masters degree from Harvard University. He is a husband, father, Pahara-Aspen Fellow, Broad Academy Fellow at Yale School of Management, YPO member, USC AAPA Alumni Board member, Co-Board President - Los Angeles Coalition of Excellent Public Schools, TEDx speaker, marathon runner, Pelontoner, average golfer and a retired nacho blogger.
Todd Dickson is founder and CEO of Valor Collegiate Academies, a small charter management organization in Nashville, TN. Since inception, Valor has been the top performing academic charter network in Tennessee. Valor has also developed a nationally recognized comprehensive human development approach, Compass, that is a key driver of their success - they are currently scaling Compass to over 150 schools around the country.
Before starting Valor, Todd spent 10 years at Summit Public Schools in the Bay Area of California, first as a physics teacher and then as a principal. Under his leadership, Summit Prep was named one of the top 10 Transformational Schools in the country by Newsweek.
Todd has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering (Denver University and Cornell University) and a master’s degree in education (Stanford University). He was also an All-American lacrosse player and team captain. When not thinking about how to transform public education, Mr. Dickson enjoys spending time with his wife and their three children, who are all attending Valor! He also enjoys yoga, guitar, poetry, and watching all things Colorado sports.
Dr. Crystal Lane is the Chief Education Officer at DREAM Charter Schools in New York City, leading strategic vision, growth, and innovation across its PK–12 network. A transformative, equity-driven leader, she oversaw DREAM’s expansion to seven schools in three years, built its first Curriculum and Instruction team, and implemented Illustrative Math and the Science of Reading across all grades. Her leadership has driven student proficiency to 69% in ELA and 76% in Math—fully closing the COVID learning gap—and strengthened organizational health through redesigned leadership systems that boost collaboration, accountability, and staff retention. These efforts have also led to record gains in DREAM’s Net Promoter Score, reflecting stronger culture, satisfaction, and trust across the community.
Dr. Lane earned her Ed.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where her dissertation, “Unearthing Blackness,” was awarded distinction. She also serves on the Board of Directors for South Bronx Early College Academy.
Adam Feiler serves as Managing Director of Curriculum and Instruction at DREAM Charter Schools, where he leads the design and implementation of a constructivist, culturally responsive, and critically conscious curriculum that advances academic rigor and educational justice. As DREAM’s AI Owner, he also drives the organization’s 2035 vision for alumni to not only use AI responsibly but to build transformative AI applications and businesses that promote societal good and intergenerational wealth.
A Teach For America alum, Adam previously taught and led in Newark, NJ, later serving as Director of K–4 Curriculum and Assessment at Uncommon Schools, where he helped reverse the opportunity gap across 20 elementary schools. He has trained educators in 10 states, worked as a pollster and campaign organizer, and taught as an adjunct professor at Relay Graduate School of Education. Adam holds a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an M.Ed. in Education Policy from Johns Hopkins University.
2026 nominations
Use #SeminarLeadershipAwards to share your nomination stories and follow along as we celebrate this year’s honorees.
Frequently asked questions
Who is eligible to be nominated?
For the 2026 awards, nominees must be current education leaders working in a school, network, district, or education-support organization.
Can I nominate myself?
Yes! Self-nominations and peer nominations are both encouraged. If you are doing work you’re proud of, we want to hear about it.
What should I include in a nomination?
Strong nominations share specific examples of impact. For the Collective Genius Award, describe how the nominee has supported the growth and effectiveness of other leaders. For the Innovator Award, highlight how the nominee is using AI or emerging technology to improve learning and equity. Where possible, include measurable outcomes.
Can I nominate more than one person?
Yes. Multiple nominations from the same organization are welcome. You may also nominate multiple colleagues in different categories.
Who can I contact if I have more questions?
Email us anytime at hello@seminar.community.
How are winners selected?
A panel of experienced education innovation experts will review all nominations against a clear set of criteria, including impact, innovation, and alignment with each award’s purpose.