Keynote Speakers Bios

Peter C. Groff, Senior Advisor – BAEO

Peter C. Groff, is a Senior Advisor at the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) and is heading up BAEO’s legislative and diversity portfolio. Before BAEO, he served as president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS).  He joined the charter movement after serving as the director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Education.  This center is part of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Prior to accepting that position, Groff was the founder and executive director of the University of Denver’s Center for New Politics and Policy (formerly Center for African American Policy), and lectured at the University’s Public Policy program.

Groff also served as the 47th president of the Colorado State Senate and was the first African-American in Colorado to hold that post, and only the third African-American in the nation’s history to hold the gavel as state Senate president.  Senator Groff, who was called the “Conscience of the Senate,” served in the Colorado General Assembly for nine years and passed landmark legislation creating visionary education reform measures, prohibiting racial profiling and requiring booster seats for young children.

Born in Chicago, Groff was raised in Denver. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Redlands (Calif.), a Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver College of Law and an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Denver.

Dr. John Barge, State School Superintendent

Dr. John Barge was born and raised in Cobb County, Georgia, graduated from Campbell High School in 1984, and attended Berry College in Rome, Georgia on academic and journalism scholarships where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1988.

John has earned three advanced degrees, a master’s degree and a specialist’s degree from the State University of West Georgia and his doctorate degree in educational leadership from the University of Georgia. In his 20 years in education, Dr. Barge has served as a high school English teacher, middle school Spanish teacher, assistant principal, and principal.  He also served as the State Director of Career, Technical and Agriculture Education for the Georgia Department of Education. John has been recognized as a STAR teacher in 1996, as Georgia’s Assistant Principal of the Year in 2001, and received the Berry College Alumni Association’s
Distinguished Achievement Award in 2005.

Prior to becoming State School Superintendent, John served as the Director of Secondary Curriculum & Instruction with the Bartow County School System.

John and his wife Loraine, long-time Floyd County residents, have been married for 19 years. They have a 15 year-old daughter who attends public school in Floyd County.

Alisha Thomas Morga n, Political Voice * Author * Inspirational Speaker * Empowering Trainer

Alisha Thomas Morgan is respected throughout her home state of Georgia, and throughout the United States, as an impassioned political leader, rousing motivational speaker, fearless ambassador for youth and role model for female leaders and young professionals.

She began building her profile as a trailblazer and at the young age of 23, when she defeated the odds (and scores of naysayers) to become the first African-American to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives for Cobb County. Now 32, Morgan is one of the youngest female members of the Georgia General Assembly.

While she is known and respected for many things, many of Morgan’s most noteworthy accomplishments are in the area of her key passion: education. Blazing trails in education, Morgan has become a state and national leader in the movement for education reform. She forged a bipartisan coalition to pass a law in 2009 that empowers parents to access more options within the public school system and is leading a statewide effort to raise achievement and close gaps. Through this effort, Morgan brings together education and community stakeholders to raise issues such as teacher and leader quality, parental options, and the dropout crisis among black males. She was appointed to a national bi-partisan group of legislators to work under Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and with senior staff at the US Department of Education (DOE) on the reauthorization the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, formerly known as “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB), and is a newly appointed board member of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), a national education advocacy organization.
Morgan has been named, one of “America’s Young Civil Rights Heroes” by AOL Black Voices, one of fifteen women of the “New Power Generation” by Essence Magazine, and one of the Nation’s 30 Leaders who are under 30 by Ebony Magazine. She’s been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and on both CSPAN and BET. In Fall 2010, she released her highly-anticipated debut book, No Apologies: Powerful Lessons in Life, Love & Politics.

Morgan is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga. where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Sociology and Drama. She resides in Austell, GA with husband David, a member of the Cobb County School Board, and daughter Lailah.