Dr. Amy Price Azano (Ph.D.): Virginia Tech 

Dr. Amy Price Azano is the founding director of Virginia Tech's Center for Rural Education and a faculty member in the School of Education. A first-generation college student, Azano grew up in a small rural town in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and taught high school English before earning her Ph.D. in Education at the University of Virginia in 2009. At Virginia Tech, she directs the Summer Enrichment Experience and the Supporting Autism Friendly Environments (SAFE) Program. She is also the Principal Investigator for the Appalachian Rural Talent Initiative, Chair of the Rural Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, and co-editor of The Rural Educator. Dr. Azano’s scholarship focuses on equity issues in rural schooling, with a focus on special populations and adolescent literacy. She co-authored the first text dedicated to rural preservice education, Teaching in Rural Places: Thriving in Classrooms, Schools, and Communities; co-edited The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rural Education in the United States;and has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

Dr. Stevie L. Lawrence (Ph.D.): SREB (Southern Regional Education Board)

Stevie L. Lawrence II joined Southern Regional Education Board in September 2019 as vice president for postsecondary education. In this role, he will lead SREB’s postsecondary programs, such as the Academic Common Market, Doctoral Scholars Program, education data services and state authorization reciprocity agreements. He will also be charged with developing additional initiatives to support postsecondary state offices and institutions.

Lawrence comes to SREB from Fort Valley State University in Georgia, where he is founding dean of the University College and previously led student affairs and enrollment management. He has also held positions at the University of North Carolina system, Shaw University, Virginia Union University and Halifax Community College. His background includes strategic leadership in academic affairs, specifically in student success and retention.

Lawrence earned a bachelor of arts degree from North Carolina A&T State University, a master of public administration from North Carolina Central and a doctor of philosophy in urban higher education from Jackson State University.

Dr. Stephanie Sowl (Ph.D.): ECMC Foundation (Educational Credit Management Corporation) 

Dr. Stephanie Sowl is a program officer at ECMC Foundation and oversees a portfolio of grants that work to increase college persistence and completion for students from underserved backgrounds. Stephanie completed her PhD in Higher Education from Iowa State University and her dissertation explored how college access and enrollment were spatialized across the United States and the role community context played in creating college-going cultures in rural areas. Her other research interests include residential mobility for college graduates and how people- and place-based factors influence decision-making. She has worked in higher education for more than a decade in areas such as academic advising, retention coordination, data management under a federal research grant, and college access and success research and programming.