Tom Epstein began his career in Education as a Teaching Artist in NYC specializing in Drama Therapy and Expressive Arts after receiving his BFA in Theatre Arts from Emerson College in Boston. He later received his MAT from Johnson and Wales University and began teaching Special Education at the Paul Cuffee Charter School in Providence, Rhode Island in 2009. After working as a Secondary Special Educator for the last thirteen years, he accepted a position at the Rhode Island Department of Education as the Charter Support Fellow in 2022, where he currently works on their Unified Enrollment project, Charter school renewals/New Seats, and monitoring charter school support grants. He spends his free time performing and teaching improvisation at a local Providence theater. Tom is thrilled to be part of this cohort and is looking forward to learning about all the wonderful work happening in other state districts.