Our Team

Laura Pinsof is an educational leader with an unwavering focus on nurturing student and staff growth and well-being. She leads with compassion, joy, and humility and loves to build vibrant learning communities driven by shared goals, data-driven truth telling, and a commitment to reflection and open communication.

Laura is experienced in translating equity goals into concrete steps toward meaningful action to upend inequitable systems, practices, and outcomes. Ultimately, she believes that every student can thrive when they are supported, challenged, and part of a collaborative and empowered school community where everyone feels a deep sense of belonging.

Laura first knew that she wanted to work in education when she had the opportunity to assistant teach in a bilingual middle school math class in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. From there, she went on to teach high school, serve as a district curriculum coordinator, lead an early childhood center, and work as an instructional coach and MTSS coordinator. Along this journey, Laura also served as a university-level instructor of social studies methods, SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) leader, new teacher mentor, anti-bias parent educator, and instigator of no-cut, inclusive dance performance opportunities for young people.

Laura holds a B.A. with Honors in Anthropology and a Concentration in Dance from Wesleyan University, an M.A.T. in History from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an Ed.M. in Educational Organization and Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She lives in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago with her husband and two teenage children and enjoys gardening, cooking, and the occasional dance party. While not a native speaker and always a learner, she loves to practice speaking Spanish whenever she can.

Jasmine Sebaggala was born and raised in Evanston, IL. She is the product of a strong and supportive village and the Evanston school system. Jasmine graduated from Willard Elementary School, Haven Middle School, and Evanston Township High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from DePaul University in 2000, a Master of Arts in Teaching from National-Louis University in 2002, and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University in 2011. Jasmine enjoyed being a preschool teacher but decided to become an elementary school teacher because she was displeased with the low expectations that educators had for her godson.

Jasmine is a dedicated, reflective, relational and data driven educator with more than 20 years of experience as an educator and leader in Evanston Skokie School District 65. Jasmine enjoyed serving as a teacher at Dewey Elementary School for two years and as a teacher at Willard Elementary School for the last nineteen years. Jasmine collaborates and encourages her colleagues to improve the educational outcomes of students by removing barriers to learning and using data to improve student outcomes.

Mrs. Sebaggala is a founding member of D65’s Equity Leadership Team. She was selected and trained to be a certified Courageous Conversations about Race practitioner and Jasmine was a member of the District 65 Student Assignment Project Committee. District 65’s Response to Hate protocol was created by a team of Willard educators after Jasmine Sebaggala refused to ignore racism. She urged her colleagues to do something more to address the issues of racism in a more structured, intentional, and responsive way following a racial incident.

Jasmine is a student centered leader because she remembers the times that she did not feel safe, represented, or valued at school. Jasmine Sebaggala enjoys taking time away from her hectic schedule to spend time with her family and friends. Mrs. Sebaggala also loves reading, dancing, and preparing meals with her daughters.