Speakers
Dr. Nancy B. Gutierrez
Dr. Nancy B. Gutiérrez is the President and CEO of the Leadership Academy, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating culturally responsive leadership in school and system leaders. Dr. Gutiérrez proudly began her career as a teacher and award-wining principal in her home community of East San Jose, California. Dr. Gutiérrez holds an Ed.L.D., from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Gutiérrez teaches at Harvard, New York University (NYU), and Latinos for Education; she serves on the boards of Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC), the Hunt Institute, and Brightbeam. Dr. Gutiérrez is a fall 2019 Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow, and in 2020 was named one of the top 100 most influential leaders in education the state of New York. Dr. Gutiérrez received Citizen of the Year distinction in 2020 by The Epsilon Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and named an “Empowered Leader” by the New York State Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents in 2021.
Dr. Susan Faircloth
Dr. Susan Faircloth is one of the few American Indian scholars in the field of Educational Leadership/Administration; Dr. Faircloth is a first generation college graduate, the daughter of parents who graduated from the first American Indian elementary and secondary school in their community. Dr. Faircloth has served as a senior associate editor of the American Journal of Education and member of the editorial board of the Journal of American Indian Education, and is the current Chair of the technical review panel for the National Indian Education Study. She has published widely in such journals as Educational Administration Quarterly, the Harvard Educational Review, and the Journal of Special Education Leadership, to name a few. Dr. Faircloth is a former Fulbright Senior Scholar to New Zealand, and Ford Foundation Postdoctoral scholar with the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Faircloth is a research Fellow with the American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start Research Center, and a recent William C. Friday Fellow for Human Relations. She currently is a professor and Director of the School of Education at Colorado State University. Dr. Faircloth is a graduate of the American Indian Leadership Program (AILP) at Penn State. She also served as the co-director and director of the AILP between 2003 and 2012.
Kwesi Millington
Mr. Kwesi Millington is a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Officer, who has overcome struggles professionally, and personally dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Depression. Mr. Millington is an author, award winning public speaker and Resilience Expert and Certified Wellness Coach who now, teaches youth and high-stress organizations how to avoid burnout, build mental health and cultivate resilience in their lives. Mr. Millington’s story is known nationally and is the subject of the best-selling book, Blamed and Broken. After overcoming a decade long struggle, which included public scrutiny, a wrongful conviction and unjustified incarceration, he has turned the ability to rise above adversity into messages that transform his audiences for the better.
Rick Miller
Mr. Richard Miller is the founder and CEO of Kids at Hope, an international child, and youth development organization that studies family, school, and community cultures to understand better the dynamics of success and failure. Miller has spent 48 years in the field of child and youth development as a practitioner, researcher, teacher, public policy expert, and author. Mr. Miller’s research is revolutionizing the understanding of child and youth development and cultures. Mr. Miller’s work is modeled in 21 states and Canada, his work is cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court to help redefine the juvenile justice system from risk to hope. Mr. Miller is the author of three books and two comic books. He has received Arizona State University’s Visionary Award; the City of Phoenix, Martin Luther King, Jr. Living the Dream Award; and the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge George Washington Medal. Included in his many keynotes, workshops, seminars, and symposiums is a TED Talk. In addition to his work with Kids at Hope, Mr. Miller is a professor of practice at Arizona State University's T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamic; he also conducts research and keynotes conferences with a message of hope, its healing powers and its ability to enable us all to bounce back.
Dr. Celeste Malone
Dr. Celeste Malone is an associate professor and coordinator of the school psychology program at Howard University. She received her MS in school counseling from Johns Hopkins University, her PhD in school psychology from Temple University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in child clinical and pediatric psychology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Malone’s primary research interest relates to multicultural and diversity issues embedded in the training and practice of school psychology. Specifically, her work addresses the development of multicultural competence through education and training, diversification of the profession of school psychology, and the relationship between culturally responsive practice and PK-12 student outcomes. Related to her interest in professional issues in school psychology, Dr. Malone has continuously held leadership positions in psychology professional associations. She is an elected member of the American Psychological Association (APA) Board of Educational Affairs, the governance group which develops policies for education and training in psychology. Dr. Malone is also the President-Elect of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and will serve as the 2022-2023 NASP President. Notably, she will be the second person of color to ever serve in this role. Dr. Malone has been recognized for her ongoing leadership and commitment to social justice in psychology by presidential recognitions from NASP, the Maryland School Psychologists’ Association, and A PA Division 16 School Psychology.