Top Row (left to right): Brian Bontempo, George Viebranz, Deborah Zawislan, Deborah Morin (Co-Coordinator), Linda Williams (Co-Coordinator), Abigail Kelton, Robert McKinnie
Bottom Row (left to right): Steve Ramos, Octavia Reid, Lisa Bruening, Angela Barnes

The Ohio site of the Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP) was re-established in the fall of 2008. It is being co-sponsored by the Center for Educational Leadership at Cleveland State University and the Lake County Education Service Center. The program is hosted at the Center for Educational Leadership. In the fall of 2008, Ohio EPFP welcomed 10 individuals into the program who have recognized leadership abilities and an interest in education and public policy. The inaugural class of Fellows was comprised of a cross-section of individuals who work in education, business, non-profit, and government agencies. Ohio EPFP intends to provide mid-level leaders with a transformational professional development experience that will not only take them to the next level in their knowledge and practice, but also impact their work organizations in ways that are substantial. Ohio EPFP is an interactive leadership development and policy making program that incorporates high quality learning opportunities such as seminars, lectures, literature reviews, and relevant travel. Individuals participating in Ohio EPFP may elect to earn graduate credit through the College of Education and Human Services at Cleveland State University. Ohio’s EPFP graduates create a strong and sustainable network of leaders engaged in their professions and communities.

OHIO COORDINATORS

Linda J. Williams, Ph.D.

Superintendent
Lake County Educational Service Center
30 South Park Place, Suite 320
Painesville, Ohio 44077
(440) 350-2563
FAX (440) 350-2566
lc_williams@lgca.org

Dr. Williams joined the Lake County Educational Service Center (formerly the county board of education) as County Superintendent in 2005 bringing with her a wealth of leadership and communication skills, training and expertise in the areas of special education, strategic planning, and continuous improvement planning.  Previously, she was superintendent of schools in Richmond Heights City School district and an Assistant Superintendent in Mentor School District.  In addition, she has been a teacher and served as chair of the Department of Education and Head of Teacher Education at Hiram College.

Dr. Williams is a graduate of the American Association of School Administrators Strategic Planning training program and has facilitated over 70 strategic plans for school districts and agencies.

Dr. Williams is a graduate of Kent State University and holds a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education, a M.Ed. in Teaching Exceptional Children from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Administration and Special Education from Kent State University.  She is a graduate of the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management Professional Fellows Leadership Program

Dr. Williams was recently appointed to the Lakeland Community College Board of Trustees by the Governor of Ohio.

Deborah E. Morin, Ph.D. (EPFP 82-83)

Executive Director
The Center for Educational Leadership
Cleveland State University
2121 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 687.9209
FAX (216) 875.9966
d.e.morin@csuohio.edu

Dr. Deborah Morin is the Executive Director of the Center for Educational Leadership at Cleveland State University. The Center was established in February 2008 to develop and sustain culturally sensitive, empathetic, and competent leaders for 21st century schools. Presently the Center hosts an interdisciplinary Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership, an alternative pathway to principal licensure, and the Challenge Accepted Series, a community based forum to generate new knowledge about contemporary challenges existing for school leaders. The Center will also host the Northeast Ohio EPFP program in collaboration with the Lake County Education Service Center in 2008.

Previously, Dr. Morin was the founding Executive Director of the First Ring Leadership Academy, a nationally recognized leadership development and principal licensure program.

Dr. Morin was Assistant Professor and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Programs for Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a Senior Lecturer, she developed and instructed graduate education programs for educators across the country.

Before her university work, Dr. Morin held positions as an Elementary School Principal in Beachwood, Ohio and Westwood, Massachusetts. She also was a Gifted Education Supervisor for the Cuyahoga County Board of Education, where she developed gifted education programs for inner-ring and suburban school districts in the Cleveland metropolitan area.

Dr. Morin began her career teaching fourth grade in Harwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod and later moved to Bexley, Ohio where she taught second grade and developed Bexley's flagship gifted program, one of the first funded by the Ohio Department of Education.

Dr. Morin earned her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education and her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Organizational Communication at Kent State University. She was one of the first to earn a Masters degree in Exceptional Children with a specialization in Gifted Children from The Ohio State University. In 1982, Dr. Morin was selected to be a Fellow in the Education Policy Fellowship Program at the Institute for Educational Leadership.

Dr. Morin is serving her second term as an appointed member on the Ohio Credential Review Board which has been established by the State Board of Education to assess individuals pursuing alternative routes to educator licensure. Dr. Morin also serves as a Director and Officer on the Cleveland Council on World Affairs. She serves as a Vice-Chair on CCWA’s Education Committee which has emerged as a central force in the development of global awareness and international education not only in the Cleveland metropolitan area, but throughout the state of Ohio.

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