Thursday, October 31, 2024
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Adolph Brown
Dr. Adolph Brown, aka “The World’s Greatest Edu-tainer” (the name given to him by friend Doug E. Fresh – “The World’s Greatest Entertainer,”) is an internationally renowned credentialed master teacher, character education leader, servant leadership consultant, educational and clinical psychologist, author, researcher, entrepreneur, and an influential thinker/practitioner in the fields of education, human behavior, and neuroscience. He was once the youngest tenured full professor in our nation even after his extremely humble beginnings and being the first in his family of five to graduate from high school.
Head Start gave Dr. Brown his aptitude for learning and he continues to grow and learn to this very day. He writes and teaches from the unique perspective of an experienced passionate and award-winning educator and research scientist, an innovative and effective business leader, and an engaging consultant. Dr. Brown has devoted his life’s mission to positive human development. He is not your typical “motivational speaker” or self-proclaimed “guru.” He educates, informs, challenges, and delights with some amusement and a little “show and tell.”
General Session: From Polarization to Progress: Leading and Modeling in a Time of High Conflict
How can we bolster our work together with our communities, boards, and parents in a time of challenging polarization? Superintendents, board members, and educators find it difficult to make sustained progress on their initiatives because they are navigating divisive semantics, culture wars, and intense ideologies that often have little to do with quality learning for students. We can and we must make progress toward changing this environment by building our good conflict muscles—muscles that allow us to be curious, disagree, problem solve, bring new ideas to bear, and then go have dinner or go to a little league game with the people we disagreed with. Engage with national education leaders and practitioners as they highlight simple principles of good conflict and ability to decrease polarization—be curious, be respectful, and build bridges. These core principles, proactively sought, developed, and supported, can help us navigate and change polarized environments.
Friday, November 1, 2024
General Session: Viewpoints from Educators & Students
Hear from educators and students as they share their candid and thoughtful viewpoints on a variety of timely topics in education.
Keynote Speaker: Brandon Fleming
Brandon Fleming is a renowned speaker, nationally acclaimed educator, and author of MISEDUCATED: A Memoir. His triumphant story of struggle, success, and service has captured the heart of national media and inspired millions of people around the world. An at-risk youth and college dropout turned award-winning educator, Fleming is a former debate coach at Harvard University and Founder and CEO of the Veritas School of Social Sciences in Atlanta, GA. Fleming’s story represents the transformative power of equity. The equity model Fleming has built to close performance gaps is one that academic and corporate institutions have highly sought to replicate. As a renowned speaker, Fleming has keynoted for international governmental organizations such as the United Nations. Fleming has spoken at the nation’s most prestigious colleges, universities, and K-12 conferences. Fleming has also keynoted conventions for corporate executives at the nation’s largest brands such as Walmart, Bank of America, FedEx, the Federal Reserve Bank, and many more. At the age of 29, Forbes Magazine named Fleming to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. In 2020, The Root Magazine named Fleming one of the top 100 most influential African Americans in the United States. And in May 2021, North Carolina Wesleyan College bestowed upon Fleming the honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.