George D. Caruolo, Chairman
George, an attorney, spent 18 years as a Rhode Island State Representative, serving as a lawmaker and House Majority Leader. An early proponent of charter schools and uniform state-wide reporting of standardized test scores, he was appointed as Chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education in 2011 and serves as the Regents' representative to the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard College and a J.D. from Suffolk University School of Law.

 

 

 

PATRICK A. GUIDA, Esq., Vice-Chairman

Patrick A. Guida is an active partner with the Providence law firm of Duffy & Sweeney, Ltd., practicing primarily in the areas of banking and commercial and real estate lending and development. He and his wife live in Barrington, Rhode Island, where each of their children attended the public schools. He received his B.A. from Union College, in Schenectady, New York, and his Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve University, where he served as editor of the Law Review.

At the local and state level, Regent Guida was elected to the Barrington School Committee in 1996 and has served as its Chairman since 1998.  In 1999 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees (RIASC) and continues to serve in that capacity. He was first elected as an officer of RIASC in 2000, was elected President in 2002, and re-elected the following year. Mr. Guida was appointed to the Board of Regents in 2001, and elected its Vice-Chair in 2005. He has been a member and/or chair of numerous committees and sub-committees relating to Curriculum, Educator Quality, Secondary School Reform, State Funding Formula and Accountability Measures.

At the national level, Regent Guida has represented the State of Rhode Island at the National School Board Association (NSBA) National Delegate Assembly since 2000 and has served as the Northeast Region Representative on both the National Nominating Committee and Policies and Resolutions Committee of NSBA.  He has also been an active member of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), serving three years as the chair of the 20-member Government Affairs Committee, which is responsible for developing recommendations on federal policy and for communicating with Congress and federal officials about education reform.  He was recently chosen as President-elect of NASBE for the calendar year, 2012, and will serve as President of the Association commencing in January, 2013.

 

COLLEEN CALLAHAN, Ed. D, Secretary
A former sixth-grade and special education teacher in Lincoln, Rhode Island, with 21 years of classroom experience, Colleen Callahan currently serves as the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFTHP) Professional Issues Director. As Director of Professional Issues, Dr. Callahan coordinates the organizations professional development networks, including its statewide Education Research & Dissemination and Redesigning Schools Networks and its partnerships with institutions of higher education. She is responsible for direct service to members through coursework and on-site presentations and assists local union leaders in negotiating for and supporting professional issues and school-improvement initiatives.  Dr. Callahan works regularly with the Rhode Island Department of Education and other state agencies on education policy and represents the RIFTHP on numerous state and national boards and commissions including the RI College Crusade and the Northeast Regional Education Labs Boards of Directors.  Currently, Dr. Callahan is serving as the program director for the RIFTHP/AFTs Innovation Fund initiative on teacher evaluation, working with labor-management teams from six RI urban districts, national experts, and RIDE to create a model teacher evaluation and support system. Dr. Callahan serves as Secretary of the RI Board of Regents and has chaired the Boards Committees on Academic and Student Programs and Secondary Regulations. She holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from Rhode Island College and recently earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Johnson and Wales University.

LORNE A. ADRAIN
Lorne is Managing Director of Ballantine Partners, LLC.  He is the founder of several community initiatives; authored a book series to support charitable causes; has served on the Boards of Big Picture Learning, Rhode Island Foundation, URI Foundation Executive Committee and as Vice President of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board; and has been honored with several national and Rhode Island awards for community service and leadership. Lorne earned a B.S. from URI and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was appointed as Chairman of R.I. Board of Governors for Higher Education chair in 2011.

CAROLINA B. BERNAL
Carolina Baque Bernal was born in Ecuador. She has been residing in the United States since 1987. She became a U.S. citizen in 2002. She currently lives in East Providence with her husband, Augusto, and their two children, Caroline and Chris. She received her B.S. in Human Services, magna cum laude, from Springfield College, Boston, MA in 2010. She is also a graduate of the Rhode Island Foundation 2001 Fellowship program and Leadership Rhode Island Class of 2001. Ms. Bernal currently works at the Institute for Labor Studies and Research as Program Director. She oversees the Health and Safety on the Job program for high school students, teachers and adults; the Workers’ Compensation Public Education Campaign; the Leadership for a Future training program for community, labor and religious leaders; and the Immigrant Workers’ Rights Project. Prior to her present position, she worked at Progresso Latino/ the United Workers Committee, the International Institute of Rhode Island and Travelers Aid. Ms. Bernal has also collaborated with other non-profit organizations in the areas of immigration, advocacy and health. She currently serves on the United Way Community Advisory Board, Delta Dental Corporate Members, the Boys and Girls Club of East Providence and the Labor History Society.

Dr. ROBERT CAROTHERS
Dr. Robert Carothers served for eighteen years as the President of the University of Rhode Island. Prior to coming to Rhode Island, Dr. Carothers served as the President of Southwest Minnesota State University and as Chancellor of the Minnesota State University System. He has worked extensively in the areas of alcohol and drug abuse, civil rights, and non-violence. He received lifetime achievement awards from the American Council on Education, the New England Board of Higher Education, The Urban League, and many more. He is the recipient of the Robert F. Goodrich Distinguished Public Service Award, The President’s Leadership Award from the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Jeanne Clery Campus Security Award and the Rhode Island Historical Society’s History Maker Award. Dr. Carothers holds a BA in English from Edinboro University, a Ph.D. from Kent State University and a J.D. from the University of Akron. He is currently President Emeritus and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Rhode Island, where he teaches courses in leadership.

KARIN FORBES
Karin L. Forbes is the former Vice-Chair of the North Kingstown School Committee. As part of her duties, she was the Chair of the Policy Subcommittee. Mrs. Forbes taught school in East Greenwich from 1968-78. While she was raising her two children, she became involved in her communitys educational efforts. She was involved in North Kingstowns Technology and Curriculum Committees, and she worked with the North Kingstown High School community to put forward the Annenberg Institute on Secondary School Reform Breaking Ranks. At present, she is involved in the Wickford Middle School Advisory Committee and the North Kingstown Rotary Club, where she is a past president. She was appointed to the Board of Regents in 2005. She is currently the Chair of the Board of Regents Education Quality Committee.

 

 

MAT SANTOS
Bio Coming Soon

BETSY SHIMBERG
Betsy Shimberg has worked with social service, education and civil rights non-profit organizations in Boston, New York City, Trenton and Providence.  In 2001, Ms. Shimberg moved with her family to Rhode Island and became an active volunteer in the East Greenwich schools, where she was Co-President of the Frenchtown Elementary School Parent-Teacher Group.  She serves as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Youth in Action, a Providence youth leadership development organization, and on the Advisory Board of Generation Citizen, which provides civics education in the schools.  She formerly served on the Board of the Paul Cuffee Public Charter School.  She was appointed to the Rhode Island Board of Regents in 2008.  

Ms Shimberg received her Bachelor of Arts in history, magna cum laude, from Wellesley College in 1990.  She is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration in 1997.  Ms Shimberg and her husband live with their two children in East Greenwich.