Think Tank

Jane entered the CEO role at Future Ready Columbus with four decades of experience in education and a tireless dedication to improving the lives of children in Franklin County. Throughout her career, Jane has put human beings at the center of the work, setting the standard that people always come first.

As a lifelong member of the Columbus community, Jane believes she is called to serve the area. This is evident in her professional background as a teacher, school administrator, and preschool founder. It is in her bones to wake up and ask herself: What can I contribute to meet the needs of our community today?

Jane’s commitment to excellent and equitable education has been revered and recognized by community members throughout her career. Among other recognitions, she was named Northwest Woman of the Year honored by the Upper Arlington Rotary and received the Community Involvement Award from Columbus City Schools. The Ohio State University recognized Jane early in her career with the Young Educator Award.

While she gained substantive knowledge in the process of obtaining her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Ohio State University, Jane maintains that life experience has been her greatest teacher. Throughout her professional experience and community engagement, it became clear to her that education is so much more than reading, writing, and mathematics — another reason why she believes so deeply in the Future Ready by 5 plan.

Jane is inspired by the unique opportunity to take a collective impact approach at FRC. She believes deconstructing and rebuilding systems is the best way to accomplish the Future Ready by 5, community-wide goal. Jane says it is her great fortune to lead this organization and, with all hands on deck, change the life trajectory of every child, family and community in Franklin County.

Marcel Robischon is a full Professor for Agricultural Ecology at Humboldt University Berlin since 2020. He graduated in Forest Sciences from the Universities of Freiburg and Oxford, completed his PhD in Plant Biology at University of Cambridge and worked as postdoctoral researcher at the USDA-FS Institute of Forest genetics in California. He taught both plant sciences and education in agricultural sciences. His research interests include tree developmental biology, conservation and world natural heritage. In the field of teaching and education he holds a special interest in place and object- based learning and teaching. Together with Susanne Junker he leads the teaching and research project "Agritecture" which combines agricultural ecology and architecture.

Susanne Junker is Professor for architecture, interior design and virtual media at Beuth-Hochschule für Technik Berlin (University of Applied Sciences), since 2001. She completed her PhD on Bauhaus photographer Walter Peterhans at University of Fine Arts Hamburg with extended research at IIT Chicago. She graduated from Technical University Berlin and taught at TFH Berlin since 1994. 1992 - 1995, she worked with Prof. Josef Paul Kleihues on the "Hamburger Bahnhof Museum". She publishes regularly on Baunetz.de and other architectural platforms. Her photographic work has been awarded numerous international prizes. Together with Marcel Robischon she leads the teaching and research project "Agritecture" which combines agrarecology and architecture.

Sarah Lytle, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network (PLLAN). PLLAN fosters the creation of playful learning infrastructure and activities in the everyday spaces where children and families gather. By infusing our cities with playful learning opportunities, we seek to improve educational equity and enhance children’s cognitive and social development, better preparing them for success in the 21st-century. Sarah comes to PLLAN after a decade at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, where she was most recently the Director of Outreach and Education.

Sarah is an expert in child development and has conducted research on language development and children’s interactions with screen media. She has more than a decade of experience in connecting science to practice, working extensively with parents, early learning providers, and policymakers to promote evidence-based interactions with children.

Sarah has a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University.

David Webb is the owner and founder of “The Well – Preschool and Child Care” and recently launched a non-profit, “Global Playground, Incorporated.” David had two great-grandparents receive teaching degrees in the 1920s, all four grandparents were educators, his father was a principal and his mother and brother teachers. There have been many discussions around education throughout the years, but only recently, after having children and starting a business that would benefit them, did David and his wife focus on play as a priority in education.

Learning through play is at the heart of the curriculum at the Well. Bringing joy and educational experiences to life through smiles and laughter is their focus.

During the summer of 2020, David and his wife/business partner Angi were heartbroken as the realities of some our country’s largest faults were highlighted, protested, and discussed. In order to play their small role in driving change, they started a non-profit focused on playgrounds in under resourced communities. Global Playground inc. strives to offer those same moments of joy and educational play to children from all backgrounds. As they look to support children and their life long learning, they think the place to start is the local playground. Without a safe space, close to your house to play, they think an uphill battle begins.

David received his Bachelors degree in Kinesiology from UW-Eau Claire. He went on to work as a personal trainer in MN and has coached all levels of soccer for over 20 years. He and Angi met in Dubai while receiving their M.B.A. from Hult - International Business School. David and Angi have 3 children ages, 8, 6, and 3.

Ross Jackson, a member of Legat’s Columbus, Ohio studio, felt at home when he started working at Legat in March 2020 (and not just because of the shelter in place order). Since then, he has worked on several educational projects including renovations and maintenance upgrades.

When Columbus City Schools challenged Legat to design masonry repairs and flooring improvements at two schools, Ross’s team not only finished drawings early, but also came in under budget. Ross also helped design roofing replacements at several Ohio University satellite campuses.

Ross comes to us from JL Bender, a Columbus-based architecture and planning firm at which he played a key role on several office renovation and residential projects.

Ross earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture at The Ohio State University. As a graphics class teaching assistant, he taught undergraduates how to use several architectural programs.

Ross enjoys baking pizza from scratch, playing ice hockey, and painting board game miniatures. He also won an award at a board game tournament . . . for placing last. Ross does not enjoy camping, bees, or the outdoors in general.