Julie Wright Changemaker Award

Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus is a veteran West Contra Costa educator and instructional leader. She currently serves as Executive Director, Area 1, in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. In this role, Katherine leads more than two dozen principals to develop site-level systems and practices that strengthen their instructional leadership. Katherine served as principal at Montalvin Elementary School for 11 years, and began her teaching career at Lincoln Elementary School in Richmond. She serves on the district’s Literacy Taskforce, and has advocated for the adoption of curriculum and instructional practices that are known to drive academic growth for students.

Robin Wilson is a founding Board Member and Executive Director of West County READS. She previously served as a Library Media Specialist in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. During her career, Robin worked at the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library, the Graduate School of Education, MESA, and the Lawrence Hall of Science. In 2011, Supervisor John Gioia named her El Sobrante’s Woman of the Year as an advocate for children’s literacy.