GC10 Honorees

GC National Educator Changemaker Award for her fearless working over the last 28 years educating Oklahoma City students to become politically active and engaged. Ms. Davis inspires her students to new heights every day at Northwest Classen High School and has inspired GC to improve our own programming and curriculum. Ms. Davis is an exemplar of what effective civics education can look like, and how it can make classrooms come alive.

Debra Davis is a 28-year veteran teacher with Oklahoma City Public Schools. She earned her A.A. from Coahoma Community College, Clarksdale, MS and holds a B.A. from Alcorn State University, Lorman, MS. Ms. Davis is a 12th grade Government teacher at Northwest Classen H.S.  She is the 2019-2020 Teacher of the Year. Several of her accomplishments include Loves’ and Perry’s Publishing and Broadcasting Teacher of the Month, NWC Teacher of the Year 2016-2017, and the GC Teacher Change Maker Award Recipient 2019-2020. Debra is dedicated to ensuring that her students are equipped with the core values and skills they need for empowerment in advocating for themselves as well as their community. Her Faith, Family, and Friends are the staples that keep her grounded.

GC Community Changemaker Award for her work leading the entire field of civics education to rigorously measure our outcomes, put equity front and center in the work, and ensure that our young people are at the heart of everything we do.  Through her work directing the pre-eminent civics education research firm in the country, Kei has told the story of how young people are re-engaging in politics, while inspiring the country, and GC, to think about the right metrics in our work. Kei has been a true trail-blazer for youth civics education.

Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Ph.D., is the Director of CIRCLE. She oversees CIRCLE’s wide-ranging portfolio of research and impact projects with its diverse partners and for audience groups. Kei has a background in Community Psychology and Social-Emotional Learning, which she applies to various projects at CIRCLE. Kei has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (Child and Family subspecialty) from Loyola University Chicago but identifies as a community psychologist. Before coming to CIRCLE, Kei worked with young people and families at a public high school, and at an emergency room and community health center as a therapist in training. Working with people who faced numerous structural challenges made her want to work with systems that created those challenges in the first place, which attracted her to CIRCLE.

Kei serves as a national board member of Generation Citizen and Democracy Works, and lends her expertise as an advisory group member for Nonprofit VOTE, Project Information Literacy, Citizen Z project at Education Week, and the American Bar Association’s Division of Public Education. She has been the lead author on landmark papers and reports, such as The Republic is (Still) at Risk – and Civics is Part of the Solution (with Peter Levine); The Future of Civic Education (in NASBE Magazine); Taking the Lead: How Educators Can Help Close the Gender Leadership Gap (with the National Education Association and the American Association of University Women); and All Together Now: Collaboration and Innovation for Youth Engagement. She has also published extensively in various peer-reviewed journals and written several book chapters.

GC Civic Changemaker Award for her tireless work advocating for young people, and for Generation Citizen. Mary joined GC’s Board in its first year of operations, and became the organization’s first (and third!) Board Chair. She helped see the organization through its humble beginnings to become one of the pre-eminent civics education organizations in the country. Mary never hesitates to ask the tough questions, and believes deeply in the power of civics education to form the better democracy we so desire in the current moment. Her energy, enthusiasm, and selflessness for GC serves as a model for all of us.

Mary Vascellaro was the founding board chair of Generation Citizen and remains an active board member.  She holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Brown University. In addition to her work with Generation Citizen, Mary is a member of the Teach for America Bay Area Advisory board and is a chair emeritus of that board.  She also serves on the Executive Committee of Teach for America’s national advisory board. She recently joined the advisory board of Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. She has also served on the Associates Council of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown and is a Past Chair. Mary also has served on Brown’s Women’s Leadership Council, a presidential advisory group. She serves on the Felice Lesser Dance Theater board in New York. Mary has extensive experience advising and working in the fields of arts and education in London, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area.