Three 3-YEAR terms: January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2029
One unexpired 2-year term: January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2028
Vote for (4) general board positions. The three candidates with the most votes will be elected to 3-year terms, with the candidate with the next most votes elected to the 2-year term.
Nicoleta Tsapaliaris
5th Grade GE/ ESL Teacher Cicero School District 99
Previous IAGC Involvement
Policy & Advocacy Committee Member, 2023–Present: Analyze policies impacting gifted education and provide research-based recommendations to support equitable programming.
Conference Committee Member, 2023–Present: Plan and coordinate statewide gifted education conference logistics, speaker arrangements, and workshops.
Career Highlights, Education, Activities, and Awards
Masters in Education
Advisory Council Member – Gifted & Twice-Exceptional Students, Illinois State Board of Education, 2022–Present: Advise on statewide policies and resources for gifted and twice-exceptional learners. Collaborate with educators and policymakers to develop inclusive programming and professional development.
Presenter – Breakout EDU Leadership Series: Instructional Leadership That Moves the Needle (Sept 2025)
Goals for IAGC
Advocating for children with gifts, talents, and advanced learning needs. Increasing understanding regarding topics that impact children with unique gifts.
Tracy Brown
Dean of Advanced and Gifted Programs 6-12
Previous IAGC Involvement
N/A
Career Highlights, Education, and Activities,
B.A in Psychology, M.A in Special Education, M.A In TESOL Education, Ed.D in Special Education (ABD)
I bring a unique combination of gifted education leadership, special education teaching experience, and system-level instructional expertise to the IAGC Board. As Noble Network’s Founding Director of Advanced/GATES Programs and Dean of Instruction for grades 6–12, I designed and led a comprehensive gifted program serving approximately 350 students, developed multi-year program and course progression strategies, strengthened advanced/honors/AP pathways, and used student data to identify and address barriers to participation and achievement. My classroom experience in Special Education, ESL/TESOL, Reading, and Social Studies has also shaped my commitment to recognizing the diverse ways giftedness presents—particularly among students with high performing learners. disabilities, multilingual learners, and historically underserved populations. I would bring to IAGC a practitioner’s perspective grounded in equitable identification, differentiated instruction, educator development, and the development of sustainable systems that ensure gifted students are both appropriately challenged and supported. In addition, I am a Children's Book Author centering my storytelling around the affirmation and celebration of gifted children in Children's Literature.
Goals for IAGC
My goal as an IAGC Board Member would be to help advance equitable, rigorous, and sustainable gifted education opportunities for students throughout Illinois. My professional experience as a classroom educator, special education teacher, instructional leader, and Founding Director of Noble Network’s Advanced/GATES Program has reinforced my belief that gifted education must be both academically rigorous and intentionally inclusive.
I would work to strengthen IAGC’s advocacy for more equitable identification and access to gifted programming, particularly for students who have historically been underrepresented in advanced learning, including students from diverse backgrounds, students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and twice-exceptional students. I want to help ensure that giftedness is recognized across a broad range of learners and that identification systems do not unintentionally exclude students whose strengths may present differently.
A second goal would be to elevate educator capacity. Teachers need practical tools, professional learning, and instructional strategies to differentiate effectively for advanced learners while also meeting the needs of students with varied learning profiles. I would bring my experience in curriculum development, instructional coaching, assessment, and professional development to help IAGC connect research and policy to what educators can implement in classrooms.
Finally, I hope to contribute to IAGC’s role as a statewide advocate and thought leader for gifted education. I would seek opportunities to strengthen partnerships among educators, families, researchers, school leaders, and policymakers and to elevate the voices of students and communities. My goal would be to help IAGC promote a vision of gifted education in Illinois that is equitable, accessible, evidence-based, and centered on the academic and social-emotional development of the whole learner.
Ultimately, I want my service to help ensure that students with exceptional abilities are not simply identified, but are provided with the challenge, support, opportunity, and advocacy necessary to reach their full potential.
Ally Nelson-Damulira
MS STEAM, Math and Science Teacher, The Avery Coonley School
Previous IAGC Involvement
I have not previously held a formal position with IAGC but have been a speaker at the IAGC Conference. I am excited about the opportunity to become more actively involved with the organization and to contribute my experience as a gifted educator, curriculum leader, and professional learning facilitator to its work.
Career Highlights, Education, Activities, and Awards
Digital Age Learning and Educational Technology - Johns Hopkins University Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education - Illinois State University
I have spent my career working with gifted and advanced learners and finding ways to make learning appropriately challenging, creative, and engaging. I currently teach advanced math and science at The Avery Coonley School. In addition to teaching, I work on STEAM programming, curriculum alignment across grade levels, and finding meaningful ways to incorporate technology, design thinking, and hands-on problem solving into what students are learning.
I have also been part of Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development since 2011. Over the years, I have worked with CTD in several different roles, including teaching, reviewing curriculum and lesson plans, and supporting other educators. That experience has given me the chance to work with gifted students in different settings and, just as importantly, to work with the teachers who support them.
Earlier in my career, I taught in the elementary classroom and served as a math curriculum leader, where I was involved in district-wide curriculum, assessment, and instructional work. Those different experiences have shaped the way I think about gifted education. I care about giving gifted students real academic challenge, but I also think we have to pay attention to the whole child. I want students to be curious, take risks, think creatively, and feel comfortable being challenged rather than simply being given more work because they are capable of doing it.
Other activities and awards include:
Professional learning presenter on topics including gifted education, executive functioning, neurodiversity-affirming practices, STEAM education, and design thinking
More than 13 years of involvement with Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development
Curriculum and instructional leadership in mathematics, science, STEAM, educational technology, and project-based learning
Founding member of an instructional leadership team and participant in district-level mathematics curriculum work
Apple Technology Learning Coach
Teacher Leadership credential
Program Director and Head Coach, Iconic Allstars; coach of back-to-back Allstar Cheerleading World Championship teams (2024 and 2025)
Goals for IAGC
My goal as a member of the IAGC Board would be to help make sure the work we do is useful to the educators and students we serve. As a teacher, I know how valuable it is to have access to resources and professional learning that you can actually bring back to your classroom. I would love to help IAGC continue creating those opportunities for educators across Illinois, while also advocating for the needs of gifted students.
I am especially interested in curriculum and instruction and in finding ways to give gifted students the depth, challenge, and creativity they need. Some of the areas I am most passionate about are STEAM, design thinking, executive functioning, neurodiversity-affirming practices, and interdisciplinary learning. These are areas I work with regularly, and I would be excited to share what I have learned while also learning from other educators across the state.
I would also like to help build stronger connections among gifted educators. So much great work is happening in individual classrooms and schools, but we do not always have enough opportunities to learn from one another. I would bring the perspective of someone who is still in the classroom every day, along with my experience in curriculum development, professional learning, and program leadership. I hope I can use that experience to help IAGC support teachers, advocate for gifted learners, and continue building a community where educators feel like they have people and resources to turn to.
Jamar Scott
Chief Achievement and Improvement Officer/ Springfield Public Schools - District 186
Previous IAGC Involvement
Member
Career Highlights, Education, Activities, and Awards
Ed.D. Educational Leadership - Saint Louis University
Ed.S. Educational Leadership - Saint Louis University
M.A. Educational Leadership - Saint Louis University
B.S. Education - Harris-Stowe State College
2019 Horace Mann Administrator of the Year award
2026 Icon Award from Harris-Stowe State University for Outstanding Alumni.
28 years in public education, including 14 years as a building administrator and five years in cabinet-level district leadership, currently serving as Chief Achievement and Improvement Officer for Springfield Public Schools District 186, supporting instructional improvement, principal development, curriculum alignment, and student achievement across a district serving approximately 13,000 students.
Districtwide instructional leadership across the full continuum of student performance, including experience supporting both high-performing schools and schools requiring intensive improvement, with an emphasis on ensuring that students receive appropriately rigorous, standards-aligned learning opportunities.
District-level leadership supporting gifted education, including executive supervision of the principal of Iles School, Springfield Public Schools' gifted magnet school, providing perspective on the leadership, instructional, and organizational conditions necessary to support advanced learners.
Principal supervisor and leadership developer, currently supervising/evaluating six principals and coaching approximately 20 principals while helping build the instructional leadership capacity of school leaders throughout the district.
Demonstrated record of improving student outcomes, including helping schools exit state improvement designations and leading districtwide efforts around curriculum alignment, proficiency, student growth, and instructional improvement.
Long-standing commitment to recognizing and developing student potential, including creation of the R.E.A.L. program, through which 40 participating students ultimately achieved a 100% college graduation rate. I would emphasize the underlying principle: ability and potential are not always revealed by a student's current circumstances or performance.
State-level educational leadership with the Illinois State Board of Education, including service on the Vertical Articulation Team, Standard Setting work, Mathematics Performance Level Descriptor development, and the State Assessment Focus Group. This demonstrates that you can contribute beyond your own district to statewide conversations about expectations, rigor, assessment, and student achievement.
Scholar-practitioner in educational leadership and human capacity development, holding an Ed.D. and Ed.S. in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University, with doctoral research examining how district systems, structures, leadership, coaching, and feedback influence administrators' capacity and self-efficacy.
Extensive experience designing and facilitating professional learning for principals and educators, including monthly principal professional development and districtwide work connecting standards, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and student proficiency.
Governance experience from multiple perspectives, combining cabinet-level district leadership with current service as a public charter school board member, providing experience with both organizational leadership and board governance.
Goals for IAGC
My primary goal as a member of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children Board would be to help continue expanding equitable access to gifted education for historically underrepresented students across Illinois, with particular attention to the persistent opportunity and achievement gaps experienced by Black students.
Illinois continues to face significant disparities in student achievement, access to educational opportunities, and supports across student groups. ISBE's equity framework specifically recognizes the need for districts to examine gaps in student learning, learning conditions, and access to opportunities. For Black students, these disparities are particularly important to address because gaps appear across multiple measures of academic achievement and educational opportunity. As a leader who has spent much of my career serving diverse and historically underserved student populations, I believe gifted education must be part of the solution rather than separate from the broader conversation about educational equity.
I believe that giftedness exists in every community, but opportunity does not. A student's race, socioeconomic circumstances, school assignment, language, disability, or access to resources should not determine whether advanced potential is recognized or whether that student receives opportunities to develop it.
If selected to serve on the IAGC Board, I would work to advance practices that broaden how schools identify giftedness and reduce barriers within referral, screening, assessment, and identification processes. I would be particularly interested in strategies that increase identification and access for Black students and other populations historically underrepresented in gifted programs, while maintaining high expectations and rigorous standards for all students.
I would also seek to strengthen the capacity of educators and school leaders to recognize and cultivate advanced potential. Equitable access cannot end with identification. Students need challenging curriculum, differentiated instruction, appropriately accelerated learning opportunities, and educators who understand how talent can present differently across students and communities.
My experience in district leadership, school improvement, curriculum and instruction, assessment, principal development, and educator capacity building would allow me to contribute a systems-level perspective to this work. I have spent my career examining how policies, practices, leadership, and instructional systems can either expand or constrain opportunities for students.
Ultimately, my goal would be to help IAGC advance a statewide approach to gifted education in which excellence and equity are not competing priorities. We should be able to identify and develop exceptional talent wherever it exists—including among students whose potential has historically been overlooked—and ensure that more Illinois students have access to the opportunities necessary to discover, develop, and demonstrate what they are capable of achieving.
Anu Sarangan
AIM Specialist (Advancing Inquiry & Meaning) District 68- Skokie
Previous IAGC Involvement
I have been particularly interested in IAGC's policy work around equitable identification, local norms, and expanding access to advanced learning opportunities. I have not previously held a formal IAGC leadership position and am excited about the opportunity to become more actively involved in the organization.
Career Highlights, Education, Activities, and Awards
EdD in Education Leadership, Neuroeducation Concentration, Johns Hopkins University — In Progress
MEd in Instructional Leadership: Literacy, Language & Culture, University of Illinois Chicago
BA in Elementary Education, Loyola University Chicago
I have more than 20 years of experience in elementary education, including 19 years as a classroom teacher and my current role as an AIM (Advancing Inquiry & Meaning) Specialist in Skokie School District 68. Rather than a traditional gifted program, AIM uses an inclusive talent-development approach within an MTSS framework. I provide K-5 students with whole-class enrichment and increasingly targeted Tier 2 and Tier 3 opportunities based on students’ strengths and needs. These experiences emphasize inquiry, critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, productive struggle, and meaningful academic challenge.
I also serve on my district’s Instructional Support Team, collaborating with educators to strengthen differentiated instruction and responsive supports for a wide range of learners. I am currently pursuing an EdD in Education Leadership at Johns Hopkins University, where my research interests include equitable talent development and more holistic approaches to recognizing and assessing student potential.
Goals for IAGC
I hope to contribute to IAGC’s work by supporting professional learning, sharing practical resources for educators, and strengthening connections between current research and classroom practice. I am especially interested in equitable talent development and in helping schools create systems that recognize potential across diverse student populations.
Kenny Bae
Director of Innovation and Sustainability
Previous IAGC Involvement
N/A
Career Highlights, Education, Activities, and Awards
Eastern Illinois University- Physics, Radiation Physics, Applied Physics and Math Minor
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign-Master of Science Atmospheric Science
My career has been defined by a commitment to reimagining education for students who learn differently and creating opportunities for students to engage with the most innovative areas of STEAM/STEM. As the founder of Wolcott College Prep’s program serving gifted and neurodivergent learners, I helped build an educational environment designed around students’ strengths, interests, and potential. In 2018, my leadership in sustainability education helped Wolcott earn recognition as a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School.
I later expanded my work into robotics and STEAM education, developing a robotics program that creates opportunities for students beginning as early as Prek/kindergarten and continuing through high school. My work has grown into a nationally recognized program, with students invited to present their innovations at the FIRST World Championship in Houston on topics including quantum computing, sustainability, robotics, and the future of STEM/STEAM education. My educational leadership and innovation have also received recognition from organizations and publications including Forbes and Star Wars.
Over the past three years, my work at the Avery Coonley School has been recognized with seven national awards, including the 2025 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon. I have also had the opportunity to host our annual ACS TEDx event that broke a Guinness World Record as one of the World's youngest speakers.
Across these experiences, my focus has remained consistent: creating transformative learning opportunities, empowering students to solve authentic problems, and helping schools become incubators for innovation. Whether through neurodivergent education, sustainability, robotics, or emerging technologies such as quantum computing, I have sought to demonstrate what is possible when students are given the tools, mentorship, and freedom to pursue ambitious ideas.
Awards & Honors
2007 — Eastern Illinois University Minority Leader Recognition
2008 — Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Bronze Medal People’s Choice Poster Award
2008 — ARM Chief Scientist Poster Award
2018 — U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Recognition — leadership in sustainability at Wolcott College Prep
2021 — Portraits of Awesome Award — What School Could Be
2021 — TEDWomen Scholar — Skoll Foundation — one of 10 TEDx organizers selected nationally
2022 — Project Green Schools Lifetime Achievement Award — recognizing a career dedicated to green education and environmental/STEAM education LinkedIn
2022 — NEED Illinois Senior School of the Year Leadership Recognition
2022 — Honored by Jay Leno at the Wolcott Tonight Gala
2023 — FIRST Motivate Award — 1st Place, Chicago League — robotics team leadership
2024 — FIRST World Championship Presenter — Avery Coonley student innovation
2024 — Project Green Schools National Green Difference Award — ACS Hydro Bloom Society / AI-powered hydroponics
2025 — National Life Changer Award — The Avery Coonley School
2025 — NEED Youth Awards Finalist — Forest Air Watch student-led air-quality research
2025 — U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School Leadership Recognition — Avery Coonley School
2026 — Project Green Schools National Green Difference Award — quantum computing, climate science, and Maple Grove Forest Preserve research
2026 — NEED National Youth Award Recognition — Harnessing Quantum Computing for Energy & Sustainability
2026 — Seventh National Student-Led Award in Three Years — ACS students' cumulative national recognition in sustainability, innovation, robotics, environmental science, and emerging technology.
Major National/Professional Recognition
FIRST World Championship Conference Speaker — 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
TEDx Organizer — TEDxWolcottCollegePrep
TEDx Organizer — The Avery Coonley School
American Physical Society STEP-UP Chicago Ambassador
UBTECH Teacher Ambassador
Glowforge Teacher Ambassador
Pitsco Education Teacher Ambassador
National-Level Awards & Recognition Under Kenny Bae's Leadership
2024 — Project Green Schools National Green Difference Award — Hydro Bloom Society / AI-powered hydroponics
2024 — FIRST World Championship Presenter — Avery Coonley student innovation and gifted education
2025 — National NEED Recognition — Avery Coonley sustainability and environmental research
2025 — National Project Green Schools Recognition — ACS environmental/STEAM initiatives
2026 — Project Green Schools National Green Difference Award — Quantum computing, climate science, and forest research
2026 — NEED National Youth Award Recognition — Harnessing Quantum Computing for Energy & Sustainability
2026 — Seventh National Student Award in Three Years — cumulative national recognition for ACS student-led sustainability, energy, environmental, and emerging-technology projects
Professional Leadership & Recognition
Founder — Wolcott FIRST Robotics Program
FIRST Robotics World Championship Presenter — multiple years
2019 — FIRST World Championship Conference Speaker — Students with Learning Differences Can Succeed in FIRST
2022 — FIRST World Championship Conference Speaker — Improving the World Through the Power of Neurodiversity
2024 and 2025 — FIRST World Championship Conference Presenter — Avery Coonley
TEDx Organizer — TEDxWolcottCollegePrep
TEDx Organizer — Avery Coonley School
CISTEME365 Participant — University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering
Director of Innovation & Sustainability — The Avery Coonley School
Forbes — National Recognition for student innovation and recycled-robotics ventilator
Chicago Sun-Times — Recognition
WGN — Recognition/Interview
CBS — Recognition
Lucasfilm / Star Wars — Recognition through Galactic Builders
Amazon Future Engineers — Recognition and Program Support
FIRST Inspire Blog — International Recognition
Major Innovation & Impact
COVID Recycled Robotics Ventilator — developed in approximately three hours
UBTECH Solar-Powered Space Capsule Project — innovative student engineering collaboration
AI-Powered Hydroponic Vertical Gardens — national sustainability recognition
Forest Air Watch — student-led forest air-quality research
Quantum Computing for Energy & Sustainability — student-led emerging-technology research
Grants Secured / Program Development
FIRST Tech Grant
Amazon Future Engineers Support
UBTECH Grant/Support
FIRST COVID Grant
AndyMark FTC Robotics Grant
Goals for IAGC
My goal is to advance gifted education by creating innovative, inclusive learning environments where gifted and neurodivergent students are challenged to reach their full potential, develop their unique strengths, and use those strengths to solve authentic problems. I hope to expand access to STEAM, robotics, emerging technologies, and interdisciplinary learning while helping educators recognize and support the diverse ways gifted students learn and think. Through IAGC, I want to collaborate with educators and leaders across Illinois to advocate for stronger gifted programming, share innovative practices, and help build educational systems that identify and nurture exceptional learners from an early age.
Member voting takes place October 22 - November 12, 2026
