The VIVA Project is the combined power and creativity of busy classroom teachers from every corner of the United States. They share a passion for their profession, their students and the politics of public education.
The founders of The VIVA Project are experienced activists who know that the best ideas come from people who live with real challenges and real successes everyday. In education, that’s teachers. This is a once in a generation moment when we can leap frog past many issues that have been making your work harder than it should be. Don’t let that moment pass without making sure the best ideas from classroom teachers are heard.
With teachers’ big ideas and our passion for bringing new voices to old conversations, we build a bridge from the classroom to the most influential decision-makers in your state and our nation.
VIVA Minnesota Task Force Teacher Leaders
Donna Drescher (MN)
Brionna Harder (St. Paul, MN)
Kim Hill (Lonsdale, MN)
Beth Hillerns (Sandstone, MN)
Julie Miller-Hays (MN)
Glenn Morehouse Olson (St. Francis, MN)
Bruce Richards (Rogers, MN)
Mary Cathryn Ricker (St. Paul, MN)
Carrie Robatcek (Cold Spring, MN)
Miranda L. Schornack (Staples, MN)
Wade Sutton (International Falls, MN)
VIVA Chicago Task Force Teacher Leaders
Xian Barrett (Chicago, IL)
Allan Fluharty (Chicago, IL)
Brian Graves (Chicago, IL)
Sharon D. James (Chicago, IL)
Kori Milroy (Chicago, IL)
David Quanz (Chicago, IL)
Fran Staniec (Chicago, IL)
Karon Stewart (Chicago, IL)
Lindsey Terrill (Chicago, IL)
Gin Thomas-Hooks (Chicago, IL)
Jeanne S. Walker (Chicago, IL)
VIVA New York Task Force Teacher Leaders
Mark Anderson (New York, NY)
Peggy Crouch (White Plains, NY)
Barbara Gsovski (Brooklyn, NY)
Franco Walls (Tonawanda, NY)
VIVA National Task Force Teacher Leaders
Blake Unger Dvorchik (Bronx, NY)
Lesley Hagelgans (Marshall, MI)
Keith Harrison (Pittsburgh, PA)
Nicky Kenline Lewis (Pittsburgh, PA)
Freeda Pirillis (Chicago, IL)
Julie Schrag (Enumclaw, WA)
Our Leadership
Elizabeth Evans, founding CEO & board member. Elizabeth is a recognized national leader for building unconventional alliances and bringing innovative approaches to solving difficult public policy problems. Her work has focused on education reform for the last decade and she has spent her 25-year professional life promoting interests of children. She is the mother of two school age children and is awed by the creativity and professional skills classroom teachers posses. She founded New Voice Strategies to create citizen-driven initiatives like The VIVA Project.
Cindy Richards, Vice President of New Media. Cindy is a veteran journalist who spent more than 20 years writing about education policy for the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. Through it all, she understood that education policy would be more effective if policy makers spent more time listening to the people who know what’s needed to serve students better: teachers.
Tom Cosgrove, Strategic Advisor