In a lecture at Elmhurst College on September 12, Paul Vallas spoke about what he’s learned in 18 years at the helm of some of the nation’s largest and least settled school systems.

A Chicago native, Vallas has advanced ideas and implemented reforms that have reshaped school systems in Chicago, Philadelphia and post-Katrina New Orleans, as well as in countries struggling to make education more accessible for their children.

Vallas’s lecture was part of Elmhurst College’s Education in Crisis lecture series, a yearlong look at the significant challenges facing American education. Other speakers in the series include urban theorist Richard Florida, veteran journalist Peg Tyre and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Taylor Branch.