Jeanne Miraglia, '16 MA

"Education is the great equalizer." I first encountered that idea as a teenager in Glendale, CA, and it has never left me.

I was fortunate to attend schools - both public and private - that were genuine melting pots of culture, race, and socioeconomic background. What I witnessed in those classrooms was quietly profound: when students are presented with something new to learn, our differences dissolve. We weren't defined by where we came from or what our families had. We were defined by what we were discovering together. That experience planted a seed in me that has shaped everything since.

When I enrolled in the Educational Policy Master's Program at ASU's Mary Lou Fulton School of Education, I was at an inflection point. My children were grown, and I was searching for my next chapter.  I explored think tanks and policy work, but the program ultimately reminded me of something essential: my passion has always been for the front lines. Not the boardroom or the briefing paper - the classroom, the student, the moment when a child's eyes open to something new.

Since graduating in 2016, that conviction has driven my work in arts education. I became a presenter with Art Odyssey AZ, a nonprofit bringing comprehensive art programming to Title 1 schools in Phoenix. I completed the Phoenix Art Museum's rigorous two-year Docent training program, leading school tours and bringing museum education directly into classrooms. And I joined the museum's Board of Trustees - a role that would soon become more meaningful than I anticipated.

As Art Odyssey's founding leadership stepped back, the program faced an uncertain future. I saw an opportunity. Art Odyssey's mission aligned seamlessly with the museum's evolving strategic plan, and I worked to bring the two together - guiding the Education Department and the Docent corps to carry Art Odyssey forward. Today, more than 40 Docents take that program into schools across Phoenix, teaching students to observe closely, think analytically, and see themselves as part of a larger human story.

That is what equalization looks like in practice. Not sameness - but shared access to the experiences, skills, and ways of seeing that allow every child to stand on equal ground. Art does that. Education does that. And I intend to spend the rest of my career making sure more children have both.