The International Association of Top Professionals will honor Joan Gillman at their annual awards gala in NYC at the Plaza Hotel
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, February 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Joan Ava Gillman, Science teacher at the Browning School, was recently selected as Top 50 Fearless Leaders for 2026 by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) for her outstanding leadership, dedication, and commitment to the industry.
Inclusion with the International Association of Top Professionals is an honor in itself; only a few members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. While being selected to be published in IAOTP’s Top 50 Fearless Leaders Publication, is an honor in itself, only 50 of the world’s most brilliant, courageous, inspirational professionals are selected for this distinction.
These special honorees are hand selected to share their stories of perseverance, resilience, passion and strength. They have made outstanding contributions to society; they have impacted their industries and are respected in their trades. A chapter will be dedicated to each honoree and Volume 5 will be released in 2026.
www.iaotp.com/award-gala
With over four decades of experience in the industry, Ms. Gillman has certainly proven herself an expert in the field. As a dynamic, results driven leader, Ms. Gillman is a certified educator via National Geographic, and is celebrated for her tenure at The Browning School in New York. Since 2019, she has taught second, fourth and sixth grade students in STEM disciplines, having previously served as a science teacher for second, fifth and sixth grade students. She is also a licensed K-8 educator in New Jersey with an endorsement in K-12 education for students with hearing impairments. Prior to her career at the Browning School, Ms. Gillman was a fifth and sixth grade science teacher at the Calhoun School in New York for 10 years, having formerly taught at Anna C. Scott Elementary School, Yeshivat Noam, the Bede School in Englewood, New Jersey, Joytown Kent Elementary School and St. Angela Merici School. Likewise, she served for two decades as a fourth and fifth grade teacher and a sixth-grade mathematics and science teacher at the Professional Children’s School in New York City, which bestowed upon her the Young Teachers Incentive Award.
Areas of expertise include, but are not limited to program and curriculum development, instructional and curriculum design, public speaking, grant writing and research. Ms. Gillman has given workshops at numerous science conferences for many years. (NSTA, NSTA STEM, STANYS, SCONYC, and NYSAIS Diversity Symposium) She has also had her science unit, “Straw Rockets are Out of This World” published in “Science and Children,” a publication of NSTA. In addition, the unit was also chosen to appear as a chapter in a book titled, “Bringing STEM to the Elementary Classroom.” Recently, her work appeared in another book from Corwin Publishers titled, “What Teachers Want to Know About Teaching Climate Change.”
Before embarking on her career path, Ms. Gillman earned the Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Teaching from Felician University (Summa Cum Laude) followed by her Master’s degree in Education from New York University.
Throughout her illustrious career, Ms. Gillman has received many awards and accolades and has been recognized worldwide for her accomplishments. Ms. Gillman was recognized with the Urhy/Thompson Award on behalf of the Calhoun School in 2017. In 2021, she received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and is named a Marquis Distinguished Leader by Marquis Who’s Who. Recognized as Teacher of the Year, Ms. Gillman was featured in Enterprise Magazine’s “Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Follow in 2024” and Fortunes Time Magazine’s “Top 10 Influential Voices Transforming the Education Sector” in 2024. In 2025, she was awarded for her selection of Top Educator of the Year by IAOTP and she was chosen to be published in IAOTP’s Top 25 Global Impact Leaders publication. This year she will be considered for a feature in TIP (Top Industry Professionals) Magazine. She will be awarded on stage for her most recent selection of Top 50 Fearless Leaders as well as her prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Educator of the Decade, in December at the iconic Plaza Hotel in New York.
The President of the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP), Stephanie Cirami, stated: “Choosing Ms. Gillman for this honor was an easy decision for our panel to make. She is inspirational, influential, and a true visionary and thought leader. We cannot wait to see her and celebrate her accomplishments at this year’s gala.”
Looking back, Ms. Gillman attributes her success to a strong values-based leadership style, a passion for her work, and mentors she had along the way. When not working, she enjoys traveling and spending time with friends and family. Alongside her primary work, she is a talented performance pianist and violinist for several orchestras. In the future, she hopes to empower people going into the field.
For more information please visit: https://www.joangillman.com/
About IAOTP
The International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) is an international boutique networking organization that handpicks the world’s finest, most prestigious top professionals from different industries. These top professionals are given an opportunity to collaborate, share their ideas, be keynote speakers, and to help influence others in their fields. This organization is not a membership that anyone can join. You have to be asked by the President or be nominated by a distinguished honorary member after a brief interview.
IAOTP’s experts have given thousands of top prestigious professionals around the world, the recognition and credibility that they deserve and have helped in building their branding empires. IAOTP prides itself to be a one-of-a-kind boutique networking organization that hand picks only the best of the best and creates a networking platform that connects and brings these top professionals to one place.
For More information on IAOTP please visit: www.iaotp.com
Annette Natoli
IAOTP
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