Ivonne Chand O’Neal, Director of Research and Evaluation at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has established a comprehensive evaluation platform to design assessments, collect, analyze and report evidence of the impact of the arts on local, national and international scales. 

Doug Herbert has worked in arts education policy and grant making at the federal level since 1987. Presently he works on a variety of initiatives that support the arts as part of a well-rounded education, including intra-agency communications and on topics such as research and Title I support.

Prior to her current role at the Arts Endowment, Ayanna Hudson directed nationally recognized programs in Los Angeles County to ensure equitable access to arts education for 1.6 million students in the county’s 81 school districts. At the NEA, she oversees grants to high-need schools and students.

The California Alliance for Arts Education seeks to clarify use of arts education strategies to support Title I goals. These efforts have yielded substantial support from education officials at the local, state, and federal level.

Laura Smyth brings two decades of experience in arts education at the classroom, research, and policy levels, including three years as senior associate at the Arts Education Partnership, where she was involved in the early development of ArtsEdSearch, an online research database.