About Us
“We are passionate about education policy. Among us, we have served in a variety of capacities including the State Board of Education, State Legislature, State Charter Board, District School Board, the Governor’s office, and most importantly as a teacher. Often the biggest challenge in affecting change in education is understand who is responsible for what. Our goal is to help in providing a better understanding of each area of decision making in education policy to help parents, teachers and taxpayers in engaging in the process.”
Nick Varney
Nick has developed a strong passion for education throughout his life.
When he was in high school, he founded and ran a free academic credit recovery program at Pleasant Grove High. After graduating and enrolling at Utah Valley University, he worked for the federal education grant GEAR UP where he tutored and mentored over one hundred low-income high school students throughout Utah County. During the 2016 Legislative Session, he served as the legislative intern for the State Superintendent’s Office and the State Board of Education.
In 2017 Nick was invited to shadow the education policy staff at the National Governor’s Association as a Program Scholar. During his time with the NGA, he conducted education policy research with the NGA Center for Best Practices and gained a detailed knowledge of the Every Student Succeeds Act and the Common Core. After spending time at the NGA, Nick served as the Associate Director of the Utah Innovation in Education task force. The task force successfully created ULEADE, an innovation center housed in the State Board of Education.
In addition to participating in the Stanford University Innovation Fellowship, Nick currently teaches history at Cedar Valley High School, where he sits on the school’s leadership committee. Nick is also a steering committee member of Civics Unplugged, a national civics education non-profit that works to empower youth to become more active and thoughtful participants in local and national politics.
Jefferson Moss
Jefferson Moss has a deep appreciation and extensive background in education. His father
served as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Utah while Moss was growing up.
His mother spent her career as an art education professor and placed student teachers throughout the state. This led to Jefferson’s desire to play an active role in education, which resulted in his interest in running for the Utah State Board of Education. He spent four years on the board, primarily focused on the financial and oversight responsibilities. He led the efforts for a Superintendent search and gained a deeper perspective of the many stakeholders that have a role in education in Utah.
He also served as the board representative on the Utah State Board of Regents. At the end of his term, he chose to run as a Representative in the Utah House of Representatives. He has served on the Public Education Appropriations committee and the Education Standing committee and has worked on numerous education related bills. He’s learned a great deal from his wife, who is currently in her first year as a kindergarten teacher in the Alpine School District. Jefferson is currently the Associate Vice President for Central Advancement at Utah Valley University and the Chief Operating Officer at the Utah Valley University Foundation. He is also an Adjunct Professor and oversees the UVU Wolverine Fund, a student run venture capital fund. He received both a BA in Political Science with an emphasis in Philosophy and an MBA from Brigham Young University.
Susan Pulsipher
Susan Pulsipher has been involved in education throughout her life. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Elementary Education. She was an active participant in the schools her four daughters attended. Susan helped in the classroom, served as PTA President, and on School Community Councils. The Pulsipher family lived in a large, fast growing school district in Southern Nevada. The Clark County School Board formed the Attendance Zone Advisory Commission to work with district staff, parents, and members of the community to analyze school boundaries and make recommendations to the school board for zoning each year. Susan served as Vice Chair of this 15 member commission. As a result of this rapid growth the Nevada Legislature mandated each county for a panel to study methods for funding school construction in the state. The Oversight Panel for School Facilities was made up of 1 member of the county commission, 1 city council member from each for each of the 5 cities, 1 member with a background in engineering, 1 member from higher education, 1 member representing public works, 1 member from the business community and a member of the public with an interest in education.
Susan was selected as the member of the public with an interest in education and chosen to Chair this committee. Susan served for seven years as a commissioner, representing the public, with the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, a seven state accreditation association which assessed and awarded accreditation to qualified schools. She served as the Chair of the Member Services Committee. Susan received a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Policy from BYU. Teaching experience includes 2 years as a Teacher Assistant at a Charter School. In 2011 Susan was elected to the Jordan School District Board of Education where she worked to ensure a quality education for more than 50,000 children. As Board President she set up Board Advisory Committees which made changes that saved 17% on building costs. After 6 years as a member of Jordan School Board, Susan was elected to the Utah House of Representatives where she currently serves.
Jim Moss
Jim Moss has been interested in education policy since he served as a student representative on the Alpine School Board in high school. After participating in the Help One Student To Succeed (HOSTS) tutoring program for third-grade students in Santa Ana, California, he returned to school to obtain an Ed.D. in Urban Education from the University of Southern California, focusing his research and dissertation on charter schools and unions. He currently serves on the Utah State Charter School Board, on the Wasatch High School Community Council, and the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Education Committee.
Jim obtained degrees in Political Science and Law from Brigham Young University, and practices employment law and business litigation with Payne & Fears LLP, a regional business law firm. Before joining Payne & Fears, Jim served as a law clerk to the Honorable A. Andrew Hauk of the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, and was an associate with Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal (now Dentons) in Los Angeles, California.