People of all ages learn in a variety of ways – by reading books, listening to lectures, watching documentaries and pursuing new experiences. We also learn from the examples set by others.

The honorees listed in these pages excel at providing all of those tools. This year, the Education Power 50 pays particular homage to those who not only provide traditional lessons through time-tested methods, but also, through their work, provide sterling examples for all of us.

Take for example, the top two honorees – Jennie Pu and Tahina Perez. Pu serves as the director of the Hoboken Public Library and in that role has expanded access to the library’s resources and rehabilitated its physical space.

But she is also a beacon in these unfortunately censorious times. As our profile notes, Pu is an advocate for intellectual freedom. While efforts to ban books proliferate around the country, Hoboken and its library established the state’s first book sanctuary city and has become a model for other regions around New Jersey.

Also consider Tahina Perez, the executive director of Teach for America New Jersey, an organization dedicated to creating an equitable education system that prepares 50,000 students each day for success in life. The group has expanded significantly since its founding in 1993 and Perez has continued that growth. Under her leadership, TFA NJ recently brought on its largest corps member cohort since before the pandemic.

Among its current priorities, the organization is working to double early literacy in local communities and bringing a virtual tutoring program – Ignite – to local schools — providing 700 additional hours of student learning. Those efforts might not be visible every day, but they are vital to giving students the foundation upon which to build the rest of their education. And that, in turn, is essential to keeping New Jersey’s economy strong.

So, as you read through the profiles of our honorees, keep in mind the absolutely critical role they all play in fashioning the business leaders of tomorrow. And let us know what you think of their work and the choices represented in this list.

As always, the top 10 honorees are listed in numerical order; the rest are listed alphabetically.