LEAD conference
A CONFERENCE FOR EDUCATION LEADERSJoin us July 29-31
The 2025 Leading in Equity, Action, and Diversity (LEAD) conference supports education leaders in improving PreK-12 school systems to disrupt pervasive racial inequities. It offers actionable insights, tools, and strategies for creating more equitable education systems that eliminate racial harm and disparities in students’ opportunities, experiences, and outcomes. All are welcome.
Adding a third day: Be@School
This year, we’re expanding to a three-day format, building on the two-day structure held since 2022. The third day, in partnership with Hennepin County’s Be@School, will focus on addressing barriers to school attendance for K-12 students and their families through collaborative, family-focused early interventions.
Registration now open!
Registration is now open for this year’s LEAD Conference: Leading in Equity, Action, and Diversity for PreK-12 System Development!
- LEAD Conference (July 29-30): $495
- Be@School (July 31): $175
- Save $75 on Be@School when you register for all three days
Please note: If you register for both days of LEAD first, your receipt will include a discount code for the Be@School registration.
Submit a breakout session proposal for Be@School
All breakout sessions will be an hour long and are intended to share promising practices both in schools and communities as they relate to reducing chronic absenteeism. Submit your presentation proposal using the form below.
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.
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).
Ann M. Ishimaru
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 PracticesÔ 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.
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.
Sarah Winchell Lenhoff
Non-discrimination statement
This event is open to all. The University of Minnesota shall provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, familial status, disability, public assistance status, membership or activity in a local commission created for the purpose of dealing with discrimination, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Land acknowledgement
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is built within the traditional homelands of the Dakota people. It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations. We also acknowledge that words are not enough. We must ensure that our institution provides support, resources, and programs that increase access to all aspects of higher education for our American Indian students, staff, faculty, and community members.