Meet the Candidates for
AESA Executive Council
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AESA is led by a group of educational service agency leaders who are elected by region to serve on the AESA Executive Council. AESA's four regions are Eastern, Central, Southern, and Western. This year, the Western region has a "bye."
The following professionals are seeking election to the executive council. Only one person will be elected from each region. The election will be held by electronic ballot beginning Monday, December 14, 2020 and closing on Monday, January 11, 2021.
The CEO of member organization get to cast the ballot for that organization.
We are sharing the list of candidates and their brief biographical information here for all members to read. The AESA Executive Council and staff are grateful that these candidates have expressed their interest in representing each region. They certainly provide a strong slate of candidates!
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Jeremy Kovash serves as the executive director for Lakes Country Service Cooperative, Minnesota, providing innovative support to schools and government entities.
Originally from Moorhead, MN, Jeremy earned his bachelor’s degree from Concordia and his master’s degree and superintendent’s licensure from Moorhead State University. Formerly, Jeremy was a teacher of psychology, history, political science, and an administrator in Perham.
Jeremy has served on the board of directors for the United Way, the Minnesota Rural Education Association, Minnesota Association of School Administrators, AESA, and is the legislative chairperson for the Minnesota Service Cooperatives. He is a Humphrey Policy Fellow with the University of Minnesota and serves on hospital and bank boards.
Jeremy has been instrumental in passing legislation to assist communities and schools in Minnesota. Additionally,
Jeremy worked to pass federal legislation to aid employees and public entities across the United States.
Jeremy resides on Marion Lake with his wife Deanna and three sons.
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Dr. Dan Schnoes has been the CEO of Educational Service Unit #3, Nebraska, since 2014. ESU #3 employs over 375 staff members that serve 18 school districts with over 85,000 students in Nebraska’s Omaha Metropolitan area. Additionally, Dan is currently serving as president-elect of the executive committee for Nebraska’s ESU Coordinating Council and has previously served for four
years as the council’s treasurer.
Dan has 37 years of experience in education. His leadership experience includes being a superintendent, secondary principal, assistant principal, athletic director, teacher and coach.
Moreover, he has also served as an educational consultant, national trainer and adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
Dan received his doctorate in educational administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2008. He and his wife, Connie, have been married for 37 years and have six children and four grandchildren.
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Dr. Joshua Wenning has served as the executive director of Region 8 Education Service Center, Indiana, since July 2012.
He stated that a highlight during his time in this position is serving in a
leadership capacity for the statewide school insurance trust (ESCRFT, 90+
members) that focuses on property and casualty and workman’s comp. Additional areas of focus for Joshua include building connections and resources for schools through their regional economic development entity; securing private grants to fund resources and professional development for educators; leading
collaborative groups for superintendents, principals, and food service directors; and promoting individual and team excellence as a Certified Gallup Strengths FinderCoach.
He completed his doctorate in global leadership in March, 2020. He earned his master’s degrees from Michigan State University (M.A.) and Indiana Wesleyan University (M.Ed); and, his bachelor's degree from Indiana University-Bloomington in secondary education/social studies.
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Dr. Mark Hoffman joined the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (Bucks IU), Pennsylvania, in 2007. Prior to assuming the role of executive director in 2015, Mark led organizational initiatives in instructional technology,
information technology, online learning, facilities, and special education. Previously, Mark served as an administrator at the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit and as a Spanish teacher in the Central Bucks
School District.
Mark graduated from Penn State University with degrees in education and Spanish and received his
master’s degree in education from St. Joseph’s University. He earned his doctorate from the University
of Pennsylvania, with a research focus on entrepreneurship within educational service agencies.
Mark is a regular attendee of AESA events, having attended and presented at many AESA national
conferences on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to multiagency collaboration. Mark is the
president-elect of the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units, the state’s AESA affiliate organization.
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Amy Razor is a passionate educator who has 29 years of experience teaching and leading in
Kentucky. She has served in various roles to include teacher, instructional coach, principal, assistant
superintendent, and certified twice as a National Board-Certified Educator. Currently, Amy serves
as the executive director of the Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services (NKCES), an
organization that expands a traditional 30-year cooperative approach to a future forward organization.
In addition, Amy has received several prestigious awards during her tenure including Schools of
Success, Education Commission of the States, and Kentucky School Administrator of the Year. She
currently serves as the president of KAEC (Kentucky Association of Education Cooperatives). "AESA provides unlimited avenues to strengthen our collective efficacy, leverage our united voice, and strengthen our human
capacity to create the best services for students possible," she said. Amy stated she would be honored to serve in this role as an advocate for all kids.
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A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Jan Webster, EdD, graduated from UNC, Chapel Hill with a degree in math education and a master's degree in education leadership and supervision. She received her doctor of education in leadership and supervision from Western Carolina University. Jan's experience includes serving as a teacher and assistant principal in Durham County, an assistant principal in Buncombe County, a principal in Henderson County. Currently, she is the director of the Western Region Education Service Alliance (WRESA) in Asheville, NC and has served in that roll for 13 years.
WRESA works with 18 school systems in Western North Carolina along with charter and private school members. Coordinating job alike groups, providing professional development, organizing shared grant proposals, and addressing various needs as they arise are a few of the responsibilities that WRESA addresses for its members.
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New Entrepreneurial Network Starts November 3!
The purpose of the Entrepreuneurial Network network is to learn with other Entrepreneurial ESA as a Community of Practice.
Sessions will be held virtually six (6) times per year, 90-minutes each session.
Additionally, the network participants will be intentional about meeting at AESA national
events.
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All sessions will be held 2 – 3:30 pm (EST)
November 3; January 12; February 9; March 9; May 11; June 8
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Register today for AESA's Virtual
Annual Conference
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The learning will continue even as this year's Annual Conference has gone virtual. Take advantage of all the learning while saving money on travel costs AND the registration fee, which has been reduced by 50%!
Over 80 breakout sessions and three keynote speakers make this the most cost-effective way to learn from other organizations just like yours!
As a bonus, the breakout sessions will be recorded and available for viewing for a minimum of three months after the conference.
We hope you will come and learn with ESA leaders, just like you!
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December 2-5, 2020
12-5 p.m. EST
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