The North Carolina Education Innovation Lab

The North Carolina Education Innovation Lab 2025 | The Educator Innovation Plan

The 2025 North Carolina Education Innovation Lab represented a landmark moment in the future of our state’s education landscape. For a decade, the Lab has fostered an environment where stakeholders, policymakers, and business leaders have collaborated to create a shared vision of Educator Innovation. From these conversations, a network of research, policies, and programs has emerged, leading to real, meaningful, and lasting change for North Carolina’s educators, and more importantly, our students.

Education transformation takes a focused, strategic, and persistent effort in order to achieve world-class results. That’s why the goal of the 2025 North Carolina Education Innovation Lab was to reflect on a decade of Educator Innovation progress, then identify, promote, and support the next steps toward making our state First in Education over the next ten years – as always, with your help!

VIEW THE AGENDA
MEET THE PLANNING TEAM

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Jessica Charles

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Jessica Charles

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Proin efficitur ornare nunc, et suscipit risus malesuada faucibus. Sed quis justo quis sapien vehicula pretium.

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Meet the planning Team

The North Carolina Education Innovation Lab represents the collected time, effort, and perspectives of professionals from across North Carolina’s education, workforce, legislative, and business communities.

AGENDA

9:00 am     Welcome & Opening Remarks

Walter McDowell   |   Board Chair, BEST NC

 

9:05 am     A Decade of Innovation, A Lifetime of Impact: The Educator Innovation Plan

Brenda Berg   |   President & CEO, BEST NC

 

9:25 am     EdTalks: The Educator Innovation Plan

 

Advanced Teaching Roles

Dr. Tom Tomberlin   |   Senior Director of the Office of Educator Preparation and Licensure, NC DPI

The New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program

Dr. Lauren Lampron   |   Director, The North Carolina Principal Fellows Program

TeachNC

Gabrielle Barnes   |   Director of Regional Initiatives and Programs, Teach.org

 

10:30 am     Networking Break

 

10:45 am     Armchair Chats

 

Principal Pay: A Professional Approach

Dr. Kelly Anne Mudd   |   Principal, Martin Millennium Academy, Tarboro, NC, Edgecombe County Public Schools

Teacher Pay: A Smart Investment in Student Achievement

Leah Carper   |   Director of Stakeholder Engagement, Guilford County Schools; 2022 North Carolina State Teacher of the Year

Moderator:

Maureen Stover   |   Vice President of Research & Engagement, BEST NC

 

11:25 pm     Next Steps: The Future of Educator Innovation

 

Apprenticeship: An Innovative Approach to Teacher Training and Employment

David Donaldson   |   Founder and Managing Partner, National Center for Grow Your Own

The Next Innovation: Teacher Apprenticeship in North Carolina

Brenda Berg   |   BEST NC

Dr. Felicia Brown  |   Director of Human Resources, Wayne County Public Schools

David Donaldson  |   National Center for Grow Your Own

John Loyack  |   Vice President of Economic Development, North Carolina Community College System

 

12:15 pm     Networking Lunch

 

1:00 pm     Breakouts: The Innovation Roadmap (Attendees Will Choose One Topic)

 

EBC 7: Filling Vacancies Through Apprenticeship

Jennifer Schiess    |     Senior Partner and Policy and Evaluation Practice Leader, Bellwether Education Partners

EBC 8: Accelerating Teacher Pay Through Teacher Effectiveness

Leah Carper     |     Guilford County Schools

Eugenia Floyd     |    Teacher, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

EBC 9: Pipeline to the Principalship

Dr. Lauren Lampron     |     President, SparkNC

Dr. Kelly Anne Mudd     |     NC DPI

Leah Sutton     |    Director of Advanced Teaching Roles, NC DPI

 

2:15 pm     Policymaker Perspective

Representative David Willis   |   N.C. House 68; Chair, Education Appropriations & K-12 Committees

 

2:55 pm     Closing Remarks

Brenda Berg   |   BEST NC

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  • Etiam rutrum velit eu odio dapibus tristique.
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  • In aliquam nisl lacinia scelerisque elementum.
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  • Phasellus egestas risus sit amet scelerisque imperdiet.
  • Nunc vitae velit eleifend nulla pharetra feugiat feugiat non ligula.
  • Donec posuere odio ut augue elementum, nec iaculis metus egestas.
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OVERVIEW

A Decade of Innovation, A Lifetime of Impact

Meet Tim and Ava. Both grew up in North Carolina, and both went to the same high school just ten years apart. But while Tim graduated in 2015, Ava is flipping her tassel in 2025. And while their school building may look exactly the same on the outside, the inside has been completely transformed by the Educator Innovation Plan.

 

How are the ways that schools and classrooms organized presenting barriers to students like Tim? And what have we done about it for students like Ava? Watch this video, and the framing videos at the beginning of each section, to find out.

The Educator Innovation Plan

BEST NC’s President & CEO Brenda Berg delivers opening remarks at the 2025 North Carolina Education Innovation Lab, discussing the past, present, and future of the core components of the Educator Innovation Plan, BEST NC’s comprehensive set of policy and program initiatives designed to make North Carolina “First in Education.”

Educator Innovation

Educator Innovation Plan

BEST NC has engaged alongside key education stakeholders to design and implement new and innovative policies, programs, and initiatives that will address the systemic barriers facing North Carolina’s education system, specifically the educator pipeline. BEST NC’s strategic and actionable effort to support systemic transformation is called The Educator Innovation Plan.
Visit the Landing Page
Learn More

 

 

Advanced Teaching Roles

Dr. Tom Tomberlin, Senior Director of Educator Preparation and Licensure for the North Carolina Department of Instruction discusses the first piece of the Educator Innovation Plan, Advanced Teaching Roles, and how this initiative is already transforming school staffing structures and compensation models across the state.

The New NCPFP

Dr. Lauren Lampron, Director of the NCPFP discusses the next piece of the Educator Innovation Plan, the New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program, its history, evolution, the current landscape in North Carolina. and how the New NCPFP is reinventing how school leaders are chosen and prepared in our state.

TeachNC

Gab Barnes of TEACH.org presents on TeachNC, North Carolina’s top-to-bottom teacher recruitment initiative, and the next piece of the Educator Innovation Plan. Launced in 2019, TeachNC is an media campaign and online portal with everything an aspiring teacher needs to get started with their career in the classroom.

Educator Pay

Over the last decade, North Carolina has made significant progress when it comes to educator pay. Between 2014 and 2018, North Carolina invested over $1 billion in raising teacher pay; and the state saw the largest investment in principal pay between 2017 and 2019, reimaging the school leadership equation to account for their performance.

Principal Pay

BEST NC’s Vice President of Policy and Engagement Maureen Stover speaks with Dr. Kelly Anne Mudd, principal of Martin Millennium Academy in Tarboro about the importance of North Carolina’s unique school leadership compensation model, its history, and the effects this nation-leading approach has had on staffing in North Carolina’s most underserved schools.

Teacher Pay

BEST NC’s Vice President of Policy and Engagement Maureen Stover speaks with Leah Carper, 2022 NC Teacher of the Year and Director of Stakeholder Engagement for Guilford County Schools, about the importance of a sustained focus on teacher pay in North Carolina, recommendations from BEST NC’s updated Teacher Pay policy brief, and anecdotal evidence for the necessity of Advanced Teaching Roles.

 

 

An Innovative Approach to Teacher Prep and Recruitment

David Donaldson, Founder and Managing Partner at the National Center for Grow Your Own, talks about the unique benefits teacher apprenticeship programs present for the states that implement them with fidelity, his own role in Tennessee’s nation-leading apprenticeship effort, and North Carolina’s potential position as a apprenticeship innovator.

Panel: Teacher Apprenticeship, The Next Innovation

BEST NC’s President & CEO Brenda Berg sits with Dr. Felicia Brown, Director of Human Resources for Wayne County Public Schools, David Donaldson with the National Center for Grow Your Own, and John Loyack, Vice President of Economic Development for the North Carolina Community College System to discuss the benefits of and barriers to teacher apprenticeship in North Carolina.

Policymaker Perspective: Teacher Apprenticeship

Representative David Willis of the 68th NC House District, Chair for the Education Appropriations and Education K-12 Committees, sits with Brenda Berg to discuss the legislative landscape as it pertains to implementing teacher apprenticeship and related innovations in North Carolina over the next decade.

Educator Innovation

TeachReadyNC: Teacher Apprenticeship in North Carolina

BEST NC's research indicates that a state-supported, paid teacher apprenticeship program like TeachReadyNC will help North Carolina’s largest and fastest-growing teacher candidate pool find the support and resources they need to ensure student success.
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Summary

TeachReadyNC: A Bold New Teacher Apprenticeship Initiative (2026)

TeachReadyNC is designed to disrupt the costly cycle of teacher turnover, giving students access to more experienced, more effective teachers, while creating an apprenticeship pathway for college-educated professionals who are eager to enter the teaching profession but do not have adequate formal training or experience, as an alternative to Permit-to-Teach or Emergency Licenses.
Download Program Overview
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Policy Brief

Teacher Apprenticeship in North Carolina: Exploring In-Classroom Preparation for the Next Generation of Teachers (2025)

This policy brief examines the past, present, and possible future of teacher apprenticeship, the benefits and barriers this initiative presents for North Carolina’s current teacher recruitment strategy, and BEST NC's recommendations for future analysis and implementation.
Download Our Policy Brief
Learn More

Speakers

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Gabrielle Barnes

Director of Regional Initiatives and Programs, Teach.org

Gab Barnes is the Director of Regional Initiatives at TEACH—a nonprofit with a mission to end the teacher shortage by elevating the perception of the teaching profession and supporting future educators on their path to licensure. Prior to this role, Gab was the Senior Regional Program Manager of TeachNC where she worked closely with North Carolina teacher prep programs, school districts, and community organizations to support teacher recruitment. Prior to her time at TEACH, Gab had 10+ year career in college access with a focus on supporting first-generation college students. With a passion for education equity and a knack for building connections and creating capacity, Gab is known for bringing people together to create impactful programs that ensure everyone has access to opportunity.

She holds a Master’s of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a BA in Psychology from NC State University (#GoPack)! Outside of work, you can find her enjoying the outdoors and attending sporting events with her husband and three boys!

Gab Barnes is the Director of Regional Initiatives at TEACH—a nonprofit with a mission to end the teacher shortage by elevating the perception of the teaching profession and supporting future educators on their path to licensure. Prior to this role, Gab was the Senior Regional Program Manager of TeachNC where she worked closely with North Carolina teacher prep programs, school districts, and community organizations to support teacher recruitment. Prior to her time at TEACH, Gab had 10+ year career in college access with a focus on supporting first-generation college students. With a passion for education equity and a knack for building connections and creating capacity, Gab is known for bringing people together to create impactful programs that ensure everyone has access to opportunity. She holds a Master’s of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a BA in Psychology from NC State University (#GoPack)! Outside of work, you can find her enjoying the outdoors and attending sporting events with her husband and three boys!

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Photo by Raleigh Portrait Photographer Christer Berg

BRENDA BERG

President & CEO

Brenda is the President & CEO of BEST NC (Business for Educational Success and Transformation in North Carolina), a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of 100 business leaders with a focus on making education in North Carolina the best in the nation. Through policy and advocacy, BEST NC strives to ensure that every student in North Carolina will graduate with the knowledge, skills and behaviors to succeed in a competitive global economy.

With over thirty years of experience as a business owner, public policy professional, and education advocate, Brenda leads the overall BEST NC vision, strategy, and operations while leveraging her expertise to be the business-to-education bridge in BEST NC’s work to transform education in North Carolina. In 2002, she founded Scandinavian Child, a baby products manufacturing and importing business. Prior to founding her business, she had almost ten years of public policy experience in both education and transportation policy, research, and programs.

Brenda’s passion for education stems from her own experience as a first-generation college graduate. With two children who attended North Carolina public schools, she is driven by the belief that every child should have access to a great education.

Brenda has been recognized with the “40 Under 40” and “Women in Business” awards from the Triangle Business Journal, as well as the Stanley Frank Class Award from Leadership North Carolina. She is also on the adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a regular guest lecturer at Duke University and NC State University. She also serves on various boards and education organizations, including the NC Principal Fellows Commission, Teaching Fellows Advisory Board, myFutureNC Advisory Board, and the NC Community College Foundation Board. Brenda has a BA in economics and a master’s degree in public policy, both from Georgetown University.

Brenda is the President & CEO of BEST NC (Business for Educational Success and Transformation in North Carolina), a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of 100 business leaders with a focus on making education in North Carolina the best in the nation. Through policy and advocacy, BEST NC strives to ensure that every student in North Carolina will graduate with the knowledge, skills and behaviors to succeed in a competitive global economy. With over thirty years of experience as a business owner, public policy professional, and education advocate, Brenda leads the overall BEST NC vision, strategy, and operations while leveraging her expertise to be the business-to-education bridge in BEST NC’s work to transform education in North Carolina. In 2002, she founded Scandinavian Child, a baby products manufacturing and importing business. Prior to founding her business, she had almost ten years of public policy experience in both education and transportation policy, research, and programs. Brenda’s passion for education stems from her own experience as a first-generation college graduate. With two children who attended North Carolina public schools, she is driven by the belief that every child should have access to a great education. Brenda has been recognized with the “40 Under 40” and “Women in Business” awards from the Triangle Business Journal, as well as the Stanley Frank Class Award from Leadership North Carolina. She is also on the adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a regular guest lecturer at Duke University and NC State University. She also serves on various boards and education organizations, including the NC Principal Fellows Commission, Teaching Fellows Advisory Board, myFutureNC Advisory Board, and the NC Community College Foundation Board. Brenda has a BA in economics and a master’s degree in public policy, both from Georgetown University.

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Related Resources & Programs

SEE FULL RESOURCE LIBRARY

Select one of the options below to learn more about that resource, program or initiative.

Briefs, Documents, & Programs

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Educator Innovation

Educator Innovation Plan

BEST NC has engaged alongside key education stakeholders to design and implement new and innovative policies, programs, and initiatives that will address the systemic barriers facing North Carolina’s education system, specifically the educator pipeline. BEST NC’s strategic and actionable effort to support systemic transformation is called The Educator Innovation Plan.
Visit the Landing Page
Learn More

Data, Report

Facts & Figures: Education in North Carolina

This annual guide is designed to give you quick and easy access to key data that will support your work to improve North Carolina’s education system. Each edition of Facts & Figures is developed in partnership with dozens of stakeholders and represents the collected efforts of hundreds of hours of research, reporting, and review.
Visit Landing Page
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Policy Brief

Teacher Apprenticeship in North Carolina: Exploring In-Classroom Preparation for the Next Generation of Teachers (2025)

This policy brief examines the past, present, and possible future of teacher apprenticeship, the benefits and barriers this initiative presents for North Carolina’s current teacher recruitment strategy, and BEST NC's recommendations for future analysis and implementation.
Download Our Policy Brief
Learn More

Data, Report

Teacher Pay in North Carolina: A Smart Investment in Student Achievement (2025 Edition)

The 2025 Edition of Teacher Pay in North Carolina: A Smart Investment in Student Achievement examines how existing teacher pay structures fail to address decades-long shifts in our national workforce and are inadequate for meeting the personal and professional needs of teachers. This updated report provides an expanded set of strategic recommendations to significantly increase and improve the pay structure for teachers, additional data, and updated assets.
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Policy Brief

The New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program: Navigating North Carolina’s Bold School Leadership Strategy (2024)

This report builds upon BEST NC’s 2018 policy brief by examining the latest research and best practices around principal preparation, providing an update on the merged program, and recommending the next steps for expanding the New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program to have a greater positive impact on students across North Carolina.
Download Our Policy Brief
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Policy Brief

Advanced Teaching Roles in North Carolina: Meaningful Career Opportunities for Teaching Professionals (2022)

This brief examines the state’s Advanced Teaching Roles™(ATR) program, explains what it is and the history of the initiative, summarizes research on its impact, shares best practices for school districts, and provides recommendations for scaling statewide.
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EDUCATION POLICY & LEADERSHIP

Be One of the BEST

North Carolina’s students and educators rely on private citizens and community leaders that actively participate in improving the state’s education system. Business leaders that join BEST NC are investing in the lives of North Carolinians for generations to come.

VIEW FULL MEMBER LIST