Alliance for Decision Education Expands Policymaker Fellowship With State Leadership Teams From Across the U.S.

• The second cohort of the Alliance for Decision Education’s Policymaker Fellowship brings together 20 state and district education leaders from Hawai’i, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, and Washington. This brings the total number of states between both cohorts to seven.
• Fellows represent a range of roles across state legislatures, governors’ offices, education agencies, state school boards, school districts, and education organizations, creating opportunities for cross-state and cross-sector learning.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Alliance for Decision Education, a national nonprofit leading the effort to integrate decision-making skills into K–12 education, today announced the second cohort of its Policymaker Fellowship, convening 20 state and district education leaders from five geographically and politically diverse states.

The Fellowship equips influential leaders from across the political spectrum with the knowledge, tools, and support needed to bring Decision Education to classrooms across the country. Through expert-led learning, mentorship, and peer collaboration, Policymaker Fellows strengthen their own decision-making skills while exploring how Decision Education connects to student learning, educator practice, and existing state and local priorities.

The program is designed as a nonpartisan forum for leadership development, cross-state learning, and professional exchange. Fellows examine research, review examples of classroom practice and state-level initiatives, and learn from decision scientists and education policy experts, including Alliance co-founder Annie Duke.

"As AI reshapes the future our students are inheriting, judgment and decision-making are becoming the human skills that matter most," said David Samuelson, Executive Director of the Alliance for Decision Education. "By bringing together education leaders from different states, systems, and perspectives, we're building a shared commitment to giving every student the tools to thrive in school, work, and life.”

The second cohort of Policymaker Fellows includes:

Hawai’i

• Roy Takumi, Chair, Hawai'i State Board of Education
• Andrew Takuya Garrett, Representative, Hawai'i Legislature

Maine

• Anastasia (Ana) Hicks, Policy Director, Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future
• Page Nichols, Chief Innovation Officer, Maine Department of Education
• Dr. Megan Welter, Associate Commissioner, Maine Department of Education
  

Montana

• Dr. Erin Ellis, Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Hellgate School District
• Susie Hedalen, Superintendent, Montana Office of Public Instruction
• Trish Schreiber, Chair, Community Choice Schools Commission and Representative-Elect, Montana Legislature
• Kerri Seekins-Crowe, Representative, Montana Legislature

Rhode Island

• Stephen (Steve) Osborn, Student Opportunity Officer, Rhode Island Department of Education
• Dr. Rosemary Reilly-Chammat, Director of Office of School Health and Wellness, Rhode Island Department of Education
• Omar Reyes, Director of Adult Learning, Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner
• Michael (Mike) Hobin, Director of College and Career Readiness, Rhode Island Department of Education
• Olivia Smith, Executive Associate, Reimagining High School, Rhode Island Department of Education
  

Washington

• Susan Lathrop, Chief Education Officer, Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
• Logan Noel-Endres, Director of Strategic Advocacy, Washington State School Directors' Association
• Dr. Randy Spaulding, Executive Director, Washington State Board of Education
• Roz Thompson, Director of Government Relations and Advocacy, Association of Washington School Principals
• Lisa Wellman, Senator, Washington Legislature
• Heather Lewis-Lechner, Leadership Counsel & Senior Education Policy Counsel, Senate Democratic Caucus, Washington Legislature

The second cohort builds on the Fellowship’s February 2026 launch, and expands the total number of states engaged in this way to seven. Decision Education is the teaching and learning of skillful judgment formation and decision-making. By equipping state and district leaders with learning, mentorship, and peer collaboration, the Policymaker Fellowship is helping expand the national movement to bring essential decision-making skills to more students and communities.

For more information about the Policymaker Fellowship, click here.

About the Alliance for Decision Education

The Alliance for Decision Education (the Alliance) is a national nonprofit and field builder with the mission of improving lives by empowering students with essential skills and dispositions for making better decisions. Co-founded by bestselling author, speaker, and consultant in decision-making Annie Duke, Ph.D., the Alliance partners with teachers, researchers, academic and business leaders, families, and community members to raise awareness and lead the growing call to have Decision Education taught in schools across the country. We believe that better decisions lead to better lives and a better society.

Media Contact

Ivy McDaniels
Communications Director
ivy@alliancefordecisioneducation.org
(610) 668-1484