Education Speakers

Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. In addition, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

Salome Thomas-EL

A remarkably inspirational educator and author of the best-selling book, I Choose to Stay, Thomas-EL appears regularly on The Dr. Oz Show to discuss healthy parents and children. He is the author of the new paperback, The Immortality of Influence.

Erin Gruwell

Erin Gruwell leveraged the power of education to transform Long Beach's "unteachables," by teaching tolerance through literature and writing. Her tenacity and commitment to her students is chronicled in The Freedom Writers Diary - How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around ...

Jonathan Kozol

A former inner city teacher, Kozol has been an activist and advocate for social justice and equity in public education for over 40 years. His newest book, Letters to a Young Teacher, reignites a number of controversial issues: the mania of high-stakes testing, the invasion of our public schools by private ...

America Ferrera

Best known for her Emmy-winning starring role in Ugly Betty, America Ferrera - an artist ambassador for Save the Children - is also an activist committed to issues surrounding education & children.

Geoffrey Canada

Profiled on 60 Minutes, Canada has achieved great success as President and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, an agency that fuses community building with academic achievement to improve the futures of inner city youth. Recently, President Obama launched an initiative to create “Promise Neighborhoods” around ...

Alfie Kohn

Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. He is the author of 12 books, including Punished by Rewards, The Schools Our Children Deserve, Beyond Discipline, Unconditional Parenting, The Homework Myth, and most recently, Feel-Bad Education and Other ...

Rudy Crew

During his 25 years as an educator, Dr. Crew has served as an administrator, a teacher, a college professor, and coordinator of special programs and staff development. Throughout his career, he has dedicated his talents and his energies to ensuring a quality education for children of all backgrounds. His work to close the ...

Kay Toliver

Subject of the Peabody Award-winning PBS special "Good Morning, Miss Toliver". Espouses her straight-forward philosophy on education: all students can learn and it is a teacher's job to lead them.

Linda Darling-Hammond

Linda Darling-Hammond is currently Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University where she has served as the faculty sponsor for the Stanford Teacher Education Program and launched the School Redesign Network and the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute. Her research, teaching, and policy work ...

Cile Chavez

Inspiring and empowering presenter on leadership, school restructuring and the development of human potential.

LouAnne Johnson

Inspiration for the movie Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnson is a former US Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer, high school teacher and college instructor. At present, she is an author, lecturer, college instructor, tutor and advocate for public schools and students.

Marco Antonio Torres

A 10-year high school teacher, media coach, and education technology director for San Fernando High School, one of the nation's largest urban schools in Los Angeles, he is also a professional filmmaker and photographer who uses these digital storytelling skills to add value to his curriculum.

Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor at Harvard, is a pioneering intellectual thinker whose expertise reflects decades of study in leadership, intelligences, and ethics. His most recent book is Truth, Beauty & Goodness Reframed.

Rachel Simmons

Simmons is the author of The New York Times bestseller Odd Girl Out, the first book to explore the phenomenon of bullying between girls - just as harmful as boys, but harder to recognize. The Founder and Director of The Girls’ Leadership Institute, she is a highly sought-after consultant to schools all over ...

Susan B. Neuman

Dr. Susan B. Neuman is currently a visiting professor at Georgetown University and a Professor in Educational Studies at the University of Michigan. She recently served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, under President George W. Bush. In this role, Dr. Neuman was responsible for the ...

John Medina

Dr. John J. Medina is a developmental molecular biologist focused on the genes involved in human brain development and the genetics of psychiatric disorders. Medina was the founding director of the Talaris Research Institute, a Seattle-based research center originally focused on how infants encode and process information ...

Ian Jukes

Jukes's focus has consistently been on the compelling need to restructure our institutions so that they become relevant to the current and future needs of children. His self-avowed mission in life is to ensure that children are properly prepared for the future rather than society's past.

Sonia Manzano

Those who grew up learning their ABC's with Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Kermit and the Cookie Monster will immediately recognize Manzano as the bilingual "Maria" on Sesame Street. Manzano attributes her appeal to the fact that she acts the same toward children as she does toward adults - honestly and directly. She is ...

Rosalind Wiseman

Rosalind Wiseman is an internationally recognized expert on children, teens, parenting, bullying, social justice, and ethical leadership. She is the author of Queen Bees and Wannabes, the groundbreaking best-selling book that was the basis for the movie Mean Girls, and its follow-up, Queen Bee Moms and ...