A Note to My Readers >>>>>
On Tuesday (29 July 2025), Wednesday (30 July 2025), and Thursday (31 July 2025), the annual LEAD conference will be held at the University of Minnesota Alumni Center. In a follow-up article, I will assess the credentials of the keynote speakers at this conference and evaluate the likelihood of contribution of the conference to PreK-12 systemic improvement and promoting equity, action, and diversity--- the stated aims of the conference.
For now, please read for yourselves the background information on keynote speakers at the LEAD conference and form your own views as to the academic training of the speakers and the value of this conference in improving PreK-12 education.
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2025 LEAD (Leading in Equity, Action, and Diversity
(for PreK-12 System-Improvement)/College of Education and Human Development, University
of Minnesota/Twin Cities
Day #1 >>>>> Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Day #2 >>>>> Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Day #3 >>>>> Thursday, 31 July 2025
Keynote Speakers
Dena Simmons
Dena Simmons, EdD, is the founder of LiberatED,
a collective developing school-based resources at the intersection of
social-emotional learning (SEL), racial justice, and healing. Formerly the
assistant director of Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, she has been an
educator, teacher educator, diversity facilitator, and curriculum developer. A
prominent voice on social justice and liberatory pedagogy, Simmons has spoken
at the White House, the Obama Foundation Summit, the United Nations, and
multiple TED events.
Her work has been featured in Education
Week, HuffPost, NPR, and PBS’s MAKERS: Women Who Make America.
A recipient of numerous fellowships, including Truman, Fulbright, Soros, and
Pahara-Aspen, she earned her doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia
University. Her research focuses on teacher preparedness, culturally responsive
pedagogy, and the intersection of equity and SEL to foster justice and safe
learning environments.
Education
Ed.D., Health Education & Behavioral Studies
(Teachers College/Columbia University, 2009-2014)
M.A., Health Education & Behavioral Studies
(Teachers College/Columbia University, 2009-2014)
M.S., Early Childhood Education
(Pace University, 2006-2008)
B.A., Spanish and Teacher Education
(Middlebury College, 2001-2005)
High School Diploma
(Westover School/Middlebury CT, 1997-2001)
Ann M. Ishimaru
Ann M. Ishimaru, EdD, is the Killinger Endowed
Chair and Professor of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy at the
University of Washington’s College of Education. Her work in P–12 educational
leadership focuses on building collective leadership among youth, families,
communities, and educators to advance dignity, justice, and well-being in
schools. Her research is grounded in two core ideas: that leadership is key to
addressing racial injustice in education, and that those most affected by
inequities should help shape solutions. She works to disrupt power imbalances
by fostering equitable collaboration between system leaders and racially
minoritized communities. As a community-based researcher and director of
multiple leadership initiatives, she explores practices that support
cross-racial solidarity and community-driven educational change. Her
books include Just
Schools: Building Equitable Collaborations with Families & Communities (2020)
and the forthcoming "Doing
the Work” of Equity Leadership for Justice and Systems Change (2025).
Education
Ed.D., Health Education & Behavioral Studies
(Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2005-2011)
B.A., Human Biology
(Standford University, 2001-2005)
Yvette Jackson
Yvette Jackson is a lifelong teacher. She is
the winner of the 2019 GlobalMindEd Inclusive Leader 2012 ForeWord Reviews’
Silver Book Award, for her seminal work, The Pedagogy of Confidence:
Inspiring High Intellectual Performance in Urban Schools. She is
internationally recognized for her drive to provide and promote pedagogy that
supports and celebrates educators fulfilling their commitment as “gifted”
teachers and administrator leaders to elicit high intellectual
performances and engagement from ALL their students. Drawing from
neuroscience, gifted education, literacy, and the cognitive mediation theory of
Jean Piaget’s mentee and her mentor, Dr. Reuven Feuerstein, she developed the
assets-focused High Operational Practices to inspire and cultivate students’
strengths for learning, self-determination, and personal achievement. She
has been the CEO of the National Urban Alliance, adjunct professor at Teachers
College, Columbia University, and visiting lecturer at the Graduate Schools of
Education at Harvard, Stanford, Rutgers, and St. Thomas Universities. Jackson
holds multiple degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BA
from Queens College, CUNY.
Ed.D.
(Teachers College/Columbia University)
B.A.
(Columbia University)
Sarah Winchell Lenhoff
Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, PhD, is an associate
professor of educational leadership and policy studies and the Leonard Kaplan
Endowed Professor in Wayne State University’s College of Education. Lenhoff
began her career as a New York City public school teacher, and she led the
research and policy division of the non-profit The Education Trust-Midwest for
four years. Her research focuses on education policy implementation and access
to equitable educational opportunities, with a focus on how collaborative
research with practitioners and community members can facilitate systemic
improvement. Her recent research has examined district and school
infrastructure to support school improvement; the effects of school choice
policy on equitable opportunities for students; and the causes of and practices
to reduce student absenteeism. She currently co-leads a study on the
educational impact of neighborhood transformation through Detroit's Choice
Neighborhoods Initiative in Corktown. She is the faculty director of the Detroit
Partnership for Education Equity & Research (Detroit PEER), a
research-practice partnership with Detroit schools and community-based
organizations working to equitably improve student attendance and engagement in
Detroit. She is the author of the new book, Rethinking
Chronic Absenteeism: Why Schools Can’t Solve It Alone,
now available.
Ph.D., Educational Policy
(Michigan State University, 2013)
M.A., Health Education & Behavioral Studies
(Teachers College/Columbia University, 2009-2014)
M.S., Teaching, Adolescent Education
(Pace University, 2006)
B.A., English and Women’s Studies
(University of Georgia, 2004)
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