Cardona previously served as the Commissioner of Education in Connecticut, a position he held after being appointed by Governor Ned Lamont in August 2019. In this position, he faced the unprecedented challenge of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and led the safe school reopening efforts in Connecticut. Cardona's approach to leadership in Connecticut focused on partnerships: within his Education Department; between State agencies; and with local boards, educator unions, school administrator associations, child advocates, and most importantly, students and families. He attributes his success in Connecticut in part to the strong backing of those partners, as well as support from the members of the Connecticut State Board of Education and his staff at the Connecticut State Department of Education. Cardona has two decades of experience as a public-school educator from the City of Meriden. He began his career as an elementary teacher. A lifelong Meriden resident, Cardona attended CCSU for his bachelor's degree as well as UCONN, where he completed his master’s degree, his doctorate and his superintendent certificate. He is very active in his community, serving on several nonprofit charitable organization board of directors. Cardona and his wife Marissa are the proud parents of two children.

His primary research interest pertains to the overrepresentation of minorities in classrooms for students with special needs and aims to shed light on to this chronic institutionalized civil rights issue, which leads to systemic poor outcomes for students of color. He is the creator of "The Gresham Survey," which quantitatively assess the perceptions of general educators about the overrepresentation of elementary-aged African American males identified as having an emotional disturbance. Gresham is also a published author whose works include Why the SUN Rises: the faces and stories of women in education. Prior to joining the faculty of the George Washington University, Gresham worked for five years as a Master Educator and one year as a Senior Master Educator with the D.C. Public Schools system. He holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Virginia, a master’s degree from The College of William and Mary, and a doctorate from The George Washington University.

Her classroom is housed at Cumbernauld Village, a retirement community and nursing home, and the four-year-old students interact every day with community residents, who serve as volunteer “grandmas” and “grandpas.”  As the National Teacher of the Year, Rosproy has used her platform to promote the importance of early childhood education and the need for social-emotional learning for all students. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in unified early childhood education, including special education and typically developing students, from Southwestern College and is near completion of her Master of Science in education (English as a Secondary or Other Language) at Fort Hays State University.