Lynn M. Gangone Honored During AACTE Washington Week
Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D., CAE, who just celebrated her seventh year of serving in the president and CEO position at AACTE, was recognized by AACTE leaders and staff at the 2024 Washington Week before her official retirement later this year.
Gangone began her tenure of service at AACTE in 2017, as her fourth leadership role within a higher education association. During her time in the association, Gangone has advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion, as one of the core values of the Association, which feeds directly into its mission to revolutionize education for all learners in the PK-12 spaces.
“Under her stewardship, the organization underwent significant transformation,” said Anne Tapp Jaksa, Ph.D., chair elect of AACTE’s board of directors and professor at the College of Education at Saginaw State University. “She championed inclusivity and ensured diversity and equity were not just woven into the fabric of our programs but were also a cornerstone of our strategic objectives.”
Tapp Jaksa further noted that Gangone’s leadership during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic was instrumental in ensuring the soundness of the Association.
AACTE Chief Operating Officer Marta Perez Drake recognized her long-term friendship, both personal and professional, with Gangone over the last 27 years.
“Lynn has been a constant presence in my life and I could never have imagined the relationship we would build, and that I would get to honor her here today as she embarks on this new path and journey,” Drake said.
Jacqueline King, Ph.D., a long-term AACTE consultant, noted that changemakers like Gangone are catalysts for innovation in not only the field of educator preparation but education as a whole.
“[Lynn] is eager to identify and promote ideas and approaches that have a real chance of making educator preparation, and by extension, the entire education profession, more accessible, inclusive, and effective,” King said. “AACTE is now an incubator and promoter of innovation and the whole field is embracing change.”
In reflection on her service to AACTE and the timing of her retirement, Gangone said, “One of my goals in my work is that we bring the whole of who we are to the table.”
Gangone addressed AACTE Holmes Scholars in attendance at Washington Week, who continue the legacy of the Association and her work championing diversity, equity, and inclusion: “Whenever we sit in the place of the other, we have more compassion and understanding for one another… Sit in the strength of your intelligence; sit in the strength of your commitment; sit in the strength of the people that you have around you who support and love you.”
Tags: AACTE governance, Lynn M. Gangone, Washington Week
