Keynote Speakers

 

Erin BROWDER
State Technical Assistance Specialist

Biography

Erin Browder serves as key staff and consultant for the national Center to Improve Social & Emotional Learning and School Safety and the US Department of Education Region 2 Comprehensive Center through West Ed.

Browder is a member of the Talent Management and Diversity Division at WestEd. She provides technical assistance and project design to school systems for K-12 initiatives relating to trauma-informed topics, school improvement, leadership development, social-emotional learning, and culturally responsive and equity-centered approaches that foster safe and supportive learning environments for students, staff and families.

From her start as an elementary classroom teacher in East Harlem to facilitating school transformation in comprehensive Los Angeles high schools, Browder brings a diverse skillset of working with schools, districts, and state systems to create positive changes through capacity building, systems change, and implementing improvement methods that center and uplift students, families, communities and the professionals that serve them. She has demonstrated success as a non-profit leader creating funding and partnership opportunities between education agencies, healthcare systems, community organizations, and non-profits.

She is currently ABD at Johns Hopkins’ Doctorate of Education program, studying principal burnout. She holds two masters in Education Administration (CSU Dominguez Hills) and K-6 Special Education (CUNY Hunter College).



Presentation Slides and Recording


The session slides from this keynote are available here.


 

Tracey KNIGHT
President/CEO, I AM Tracey Knight, A People-development Company

Biography

“I AM Tracey Knight.”  A Powerful Woman. Servant Leader. Educator. Mentor. My purpose is to help teachers, school administrators and supporting staff reconnect with their integrity, work in their authentic purpose and reclaim their personal power so they will have the capacity and fortitude to transform the lives of young people and change the public narrative around the impact and effectiveness of educators.

Coach Tracey Knight is a 25-year, veteran educator, former middle school mathematics teacher, instructional leader, and senior executive in higher education and nonprofits. She has been lauded for her ability to design, implement and validate research supported program models for youth and young adults living in high risk communities. Coach Tracey combines her vast experience in human development and emotional intelligence (EQ) with her keen abilities as an organizational development tactician to transform workplace culture and climate. She has worked in over 106 communities; supporting some of our country’s most noteworthy nonprofit organizations, colleges, universities, and school systems. She is an accomplished trainer, speaker, coach and author with a no-nonsense approach to empowering educators and social servants to confront and change the beliefs and habit that prevent them from stretching their vision beyond the circumstances they have, to achieve the impact they want in education and youth development. She certified is Social and Emotional Intelligence and holds a M. Ed. in Education Administration, a B.S. in Mathematics/Education.



Presentation Slides and Recording


The session slides from this keynote are available here.


 

Alycia MERIWEATHER
Deputy Superintendent, Detroit Public Schools Community District

Biography

Alycia Meriweather currently serves as Deputy Superintendent of Partnerships and Innovation for the Detroit Public Schools Community District. She has worked in Detroit Public Schools for almost 25 years as a teacher and administrator and is a life-long resident of the city of Detroit. Mrs. Meriweather is passionate about ensuring equitable education and unique learning experiences for Detroit teachers and students and has worked diligently toward this goal. She is also very involved in her Southwest Detroit community and teaches as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University. Alycia Meriweather is a graduate of Renaissance High School, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.



Presentation Slides and Recording


The session slides from this keynote are available here.


 

José Luis VILSON
Teacher, NYC Department of Education / Executive Director, EduColor

Biography
José Vilson is a math educator for a middle school in the Inwood/Washington Heights neighborhood of New York, NY – a neighborhood directly experiencing the challenges of COVID-19. He’s also a committed writer, activist, web designer, and father. His first solo project, This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and the Future of Education, was published by Haymarket Books in the Spring of 2014. He is the co-founder and executive director of EduColor, an organization dedicated to race and social justice issues in education. Mr. Vilson is a Nationally Board-Certified Teacher and a Math for America Master Teacher.


Presentation Slides and Recording


The session slides from this keynote are available here.