OSWEGO — SUNY Oswego School of Education Dean Laura Spenceley was recently named an Impact Academy fellow through the national nonprofit organization Deans for Impact (DFI).

Spenceley and 23 other leaders, selected for their commitment to improving educator preparation, are part of the fellowship’s eighth cohort. 

“For the eighth year in a row, we welcome a diverse group of outstanding leaders to Impact Academy who are steadfast in their commitment to ensuring all PK-12 students access well-prepared teachers,” DFI Executive Director Valerie Sakimura said. “As communities respond to shortages of skilled educators, there is no more crucial time to ensure that we’re building pathways into teaching that are accessible, practice-based, and focused on equitable instruction. Leaders in educator preparation play an essential role in charting the future of the teaching profession.”

Through its Impact Academy Fellowship, DFI aims to fill the need for leaders who can strengthen and diversify the educator workforce. To date, the program has provided more than 130 dean-level leaders with skills, knowledge, and strategies to prioritize instructional quality and build more equitable systems of teaching and learning.

“Throughout my career, it has been important to me to find a strong group of mentors,” Spenceley said in a press release. “This opportunity really was serendipitous as I learned about this fellowship at a conference when a DFI staff member was on a panel. What spoke to me about it is that, as a newer dean, I was looking for a cohort of both novice and more experienced deans who could provide knowledge and support, as well as a sense of community.”

Fellows will participate in monthly learning sessions through the summer of 2024, receive one-on-one coaching from seasoned leaders, and engage in peer consultancies to address field-facing challenges in real time. Through the fellowship, they will hone their abilities with stakeholders in a shared vision for change grounded in a scientific understanding about how students learn. Each fellow will work on an adaptive challenge their institution’s education program faces.

DFI is a nonprofit organization that says it is committed to ensuring every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher. It supports preparation programs to bring the science of learning into teaching practice, partners with policymakers, and equips leaders with tools to address today’s challenges.

SYRACUSE — This year’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) program at Syracuse University ended in late July with 25 graduates. 

The initiative leverages the skills, resources, and infrastructure of higher education to offer training in entrepreneurship and small-business management at no cost to all post-9/11 veterans, Syracuse said in an Aug. 1 news release about the program.

During the graduation ceremony at the National Veterans Resource Center, J. Michael Haynie, IVMF’s co-founder and executive director, shared his personal opinion on what makes the program a success in preparing veterans for the challenges of entrepreneurship.

The IVMF is a shortened way of referring to Syracuse’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families.

“The EBV program really embodies the convergence of two truths that I hold very closely. The first of those is the power of business ownership to change the trajectory of lives and families,” Haynie said. “The second truth is the resiliency, the grit, and the selflessness of those who have served, and how those attributes translate to the relentless pursuit of the next big challenge, however daunting that challenge may be.”

Haynie is also a U.S. Air Force veteran and Syracuse University’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation.

John Wildhack, Syracuse director of athletics, served as the guest speaker during the graduation ceremony. Wildhack shared some of his personal insight from his time during the startup of ESPN and provided some of his own advice to guide them on their path upon leaving campus and returning to their entrepreneurial journey.

“As you embark on your next chapter or continue to grow the business you’ve already established, identify what motivates you, what drives you, and what’s most important to you both in your work and as an individual,” Wildhack said in the Syracuse University release. “For me, it’s the three F’s: Family, Faith and Friends.”

Spreading the word

The EBV program also calls upon previous graduates who have seen significant success after attending one of the IVMF’s entrepreneurial-training programs. One such graduate is U.S. Marine Corps veteran Chris Dambach, owner of Industry Standard USA in the town of Clay. 

Dambach’s business provides construction and facility-support services for government projects and has been featured on the Inc. 5,000 list celebrating the fastest-growing businesses in the U.S.

Dambach also had a hand in recruiting one of this year’s graduates, Brandon Johnson, a Syracuse business owner and U.S. Air Force veteran. Johnson is the owner of Crossett Property Management, which manages several properties located primarily in the Strathmore area of the city.

“I met [Dambach] at a veteran-focused conference a few years ago, and we were talking about getting into the government contracting space eventually, and he told me I had to do the EBV program,” Johnson said in the Syracuse news release. “Just feeling the energy in the room and being exposed to the faculty that’s here, it’s just a great refresher to keep our tools sharpened to go out there and be successful in business.”