A dedicated educator for over 20 years is the founder and president of Women Excelling in Leadership. A former special educator, she has demonstrated a passion for meeting the needs of all learners. Her teaching experience and academic study have provided her with a deep understanding of how all children, especially those with learning disabilities, learn. Using her passion and knowledge of learning and her understanding of how school’s function, she supports schools and the students they serve through a focus on instructional improvement for all student populations.. For the past 16 years, she has focused her attention on struggling schools through designing academically successful instructional programs, the delivery of professional learning needed to support both the students and the program, and the refocusing and securing of operational structures to alleviate all distractions in the academic program.

As the network leader of CFN 535 for the Center for Educational Innovation, CEI, she honed her skills of support through providing professional development, data interpretation and remediation, and whole school operational congruence. In her role as Director of Professional Services for Educators for Students Success, ESS, a company she helped found, she developed a love for conducting professional development for both teachers and administrators. Her prescription of the services schools and districts need to succeed, and her assigning of the best professional consultants to meet those needs, led to several state identified schools losing their low performing status. Her commitment to her schools, administrators, and districts has led to improved performance across the board. Utilizing her experience, all she has learned, and her commitment to creating a responsive learning environment for all children, Ellen Padva founded Women Excelling in Leadership.

Ben Waxman has served the children of New York City as an educator of some 50+ years. After a rewarding teaching career as a teacher of Mathematics and teacher trainer in District 18, Ben joined the staff of New York City Teacher Center Consortium at the United Federation of Teachers. For the next 14 years, he held a unique position housed at the Office of the Chancellor. During this time he served as a facilitator of Schoolwide Programs and Coordinator of Support for Low Performing Schools. He went on to become Director of Middle School Initiatives at Community School District 4 and with the advent of the regions, Restructuring Regional and Local Instructional Superintendent for Region 5.

Ben worked for several colleges as an adjunct instructor teaching courses in Administration, Discipline and Classroom Management, Pedagogy, Mathematics and Facilitation. Upon his retirement he was recruited by the UFT as the Director of Operations for the UFT Elementary Charter Schools.

He served as a PSO Network Leader for CEI-PEA CFN 534 and then as the Director of Professional Services for CEI. Utilizing his success and experience, he went on to be a founder of Educators for Student Success, ESS. As its Director of Professional Services, he prescribed, delivered, and assigned consultant services that strengthened school’s instructional, interventional, and supportive operational, prowess.

Ben Waxman has been repeatedly recognized by his peers and has earned acclaim by the ASCD as a Distinguished Educator, and Educator of the Year. He has been awarded the Parent Empowerment Award for Distinguished Service to the Children and Parents of New York City Public Schools by the United Parent Associations, acknowledged by the NYC Middle School Principals Association as a Distinguished Educator, and his Network 534 repeatedly evaluated as a top performing network. Utilizing all the knowledge and experience he had gained in his 52 years as a dedicated educator, Ben, with Ellen Padva, founded Women Excelling in Leadership

Patty Cardello has been a Department of Education operations specialist for some 28 years. She has served as Chief Executive Office Administrator, Executive Assistant for the Senior Director of Building Services, Chief of Staff for the Executive Administrator of School Facilities, Director of Space Planning, Director of Facilities, Transportation, and Health, Operations Associate for Affinity Schools Citywide, and most recently retiring from Operations Associate for ACCESS Schools Citywide. Her extensive experience has given her a detailed understanding of the operational workings of both schools and districts. Patty’s extensive experience has allowed her a clear vision of how a school’s dysfunctional operational program can create distractions that negatively influence student achievement, while a smoothly functioning school operational program with few distractions, allows for instructional growth , a climate that encourages positive behavior, and increased parent support. Using her experience and her deep understanding of how school’s function, she coordinated with both Ellen Padva and Ben Waxman on the creation of a school support organization to service all schools, their districts, and their educational communities, Women Excelling in Leadership, WEL. As Women Excelling in Leadership’s CFO, she provides the organization with a well rounded look at how a school’s operational program furthers their goals, and how best an effective operational program can be secured in the schools WEL serves.