Steve Constantino

Leader, teacher, speaker, and best-selling author Dr. Steve Constantino has a long and distinguished career working at the school, district, and state levels and is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities in the area of family and community engagement.

Dr. Constantino’s work quickly gained national prominence, and he began traveling the United States speaking and working with educators to promote sound practices in the leadership of organizations and the leveraging of family engagement as an essential element in increased academic achievement for all students.

Dr. Constantino began his career as a teacher and moved through the ranks from award-winning principal to district superintendent. At the state level, Dr. Constantino held positions as Chief Academic Officer and Acting State Superintendent for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Steve is an Executive Professor in the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership Department at the William & Mary School of Education and continues to accept numerous invitations to speak and consult with schools, districts and business organizations in the United States and around the world.

Tara Cousineau

Tara Cousineau, PhD, is a Staff Clinical Psychologist at Harvard University Health Services. She is the author of The Kindness Cure: How the Science of Compassion Can Heal Your Heart and Your World and The Little Deck of Kindfulness. Dr. Cousineau is a mindfulness meditation teacher through the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification program (Sounds True; Greater Good Science Center) led by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. She is a trained teacher in Making Friends with Yourself for adolescents and young adults, an adaptation of the Mindful Self-Compassion group program, based on the teachings Drs. Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. Dr. Cousineau is also a certified facilitator of the Daring Way Method™ in practices of courage and resilience, based on the research by Dr. Brené Brown, PHD, LMSW. She is a founder of KindMinds, which is devoted to bringing “kindfulness” practices to individuals, schools, and workplaces, through her numerous speaking engagements and workshops.

Ron Culberson

Humorist Ron Culberson began his career as a home-care social worker at Hospice of Northern Virginia (now Capital Caring), working with people at the end of their lives.  After several years, he became Manager of Counseling Services, where he ultimately supervised a large department of social workers, chaplains, and bereavement counselors.  Ron’s goal was to create a thriving department while at the same time encouraging his staff to both enjoy and to be fulfilled by the work they were doing and by their own lives.

Ron eventually became the Director of Quality Service, a senior management position.  After being trained at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, he developed and managed the first quality improvement and customer service program for Hospice of Northern Virginia.  This program was instrumental in training staff in customer service, implementing process improvement projects, and preparing the organization for regulatory accreditation.

As well as enjoying opportunities to share his positive message through public speaking engagements, Ron is a life-long learner – going back to school in 2020 so he could become a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and he now serves his local community by volunteering on both the Wintergreen Fire & Rescue Squad and the Nelson County Rescue Squad.

Amos Fodchuck

Amos Fodchuck is the President and Founder of Advanced Learning Partnerships, a consulting firm led by learners in service of learners. He is a passionate educator and life-long learner who aspires to help communities define and scale learning models which serve the needs, strengths, and dreams of their people.

To this work, Amos brings a wealth of perspective, empathy, and skill accumulated over the last two decades. As a curious and intrepid traveler, he has visited thirty-six countries (and counting!) and served professionally in South Korea, France, and China. He draws daily on his ten years of experience as a National Board-Certified high school English teacher in Alberta, California, and Virginia. Since 2009, Amos has led Advanced Learning Partnerships, working alongside and supporting school, district, higher education, governmental, non-profit and business leaders across North America.

Philosophically, Amos draws strength and inspiration from a fiercely energized, loyal team of educators and leaders who commit their efforts to building the capacity of learners. Amos and the other members of ALP apply their collective strengths in service to the profession that unites them and the communities who welcome them.

Paul Krismer

As a keynote speaker, consultant and executive coach, Paul Krismer teaches the practical application of positive emotions to achieve corporate and personal excellence.  Paul’s authentic and passionate commitment to his subject matter shines through his work. His playful and captivating storytelling complements his accessible presentation on the science of success. His teaching is powerful and persuasive. At the same time, Paul is exceptionally practical, providing tools that audiences and entire workforces can immediately use.

Paul has a proven track record as an inspirational leader and keynote speaker. For twenty years, he has served in senior management roles—overseeing hundreds of employees, working on multi-million-dollar projects, leading organizational keynotes, and enthusiastically growing future leaders. Now, he has made a name for himself as a decorated keynote speaker and Certified Executive Coach. Paul is appreciated for his kind-hearted attention to each client’s pursuit of their best life. Helping people to reach greater happiness and success is his trademark promise.

In addition to his speaking, coaching and consulting, Paul is the best-selling author of Whole Person Happiness: How to be Well in Body, Mind and Spirit. As a teacher of cutting-edge positive psychology, he is truly the “Happiness Expert.”

Jeff Rose

Jeff Rose is Vice-President of Leadership Development at Cognia.  As a forward-thinking executive leader with over 20 years of experience within education (3X Superintendent, Curriculum Director, Principal, & Classroom Teacher), he is primed to support leaders in their pursuit of solutions to some of the most complicated educational problems of practice.  His communication and collaboration skills are excellent, allowing him to mentor, manage, and work with others who are invested in the well-being and development of our youth. His wealth of experiences as an educator have prepared Jeff to take on complex challenges and deliver results and his goal is to help others do the same.

Jorge Valenzuela

Jorge Valenzuela is an education coach, author, and advocate who has years of experience as a classroom and online teacher, a curriculum specialist, and a consultant. His work focuses on improving teacher preparation in project-based learning, computational thinking and computer science integration, and STEM education, as well as equity and SEL integration. Jorge is an adjunct professor at Old Dominion University and the lead coach at Lifelong Learning Defined. His book Rev Up Robotics and jump start guides Ready, Set, Robotics and SEL in Action are available from ISTE, and his next book, which takes a deep dive into the Equity and SEL Integration Framework, is forthcoming from Solution Tree. Jorge is also the host of the SEL in Action podcast on BAM Radio Network.