Miguel A. Cardona served as the 12th United States Secretary of Education under President Joe Biden. While in office, Secretary Cardona focused on the reopening of schools after the COVID-19 pandemic, accountability in higher education, and the expansion of upward economic mobility via education. His initiatives included growth in reading achievement for lower-performing students and the addition of school counselors and mental health experts in schools across the nation. Prior to his time as U.S. Secretary of Education, Secretary Cardona served as a principal and classroom teacher in Connecticut for almost three decades. Today, Secretary Cardona is the founder of Cardona Solutions, which aims to empower schools and systems to develop comprehensive career pathway programs.

Margaret Spellings served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009. She led implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, a bipartisan initiative to provide greater accountability for the education of U.S. public school students. She also launched the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, a plan to address challenges of access, affordability, quality, and accountability in American colleges and universities. From 2001 to 2005, Secretary Spellings was a White House domestic policy advisor. In that role, Secretary Spellings oversaw the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the development of a comprehensive immigration plan to ensure long-term economic stability and to secure U.S. borders. Her other initiatives concerned health and human services, transportation, labor, justice and housing.