2025 Keynote Speakers
George Couros, Worldwide Leader in Innovative teaching, Learning, and Leading
George has a focus on innovation as a human endeavor. His belief that meaningful change happens when you first connect to people’s hearts is modeled in his writing and speaking. In his 20-plus years in the field of education, he has worked at all levels of school, including K-12 teacher, technology facilitator, and school and district administrator, and currently an adjunct instructor with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. George is also the author of the books, The Innovator’s Mindset; Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity, Innovate Inside the Box, the Because of a Teacher series, as well as his latest book, What Makes a Great Principal. George is also host of the popular education podcast, The Innovator’s Mindset. Most importantly, he is a proud father and husband. Learn more about at georgecouros.com.
Steve Goodman, PhD, Partner, National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports
Dr. Goodman is a research specialist at the University of Connecticut and is a partner with the Center on PBIS and a co-investigator with the Integrated MTSS Research Network. Steve was the previous director of Michigan’s MTSS Technical Assistance Center. Steve serves on state, national, and international advisory boards for the implementation of MTSS. He has contributed to over 60 publications and has presented and worked with educators across the nation and in eight other countries on topics of PBIS/MTSS.
Jennifer Pierce, PhD, Senior Technical Assistant Consultant/Researcher, AIR
Dr. Pierce’s areas of expertise are teacher and systems coaching models, Implementation Science, and the use of Integrated Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (I-MTSS) across general and special education. She has prior successful experience working as a teacher, coach, building-level and district-level leader, and adjunct instructor at the university level. At AIR, Dr. Pierce leads several state-level coaching projects, the Coaching Cadre for the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and serves as the implementation/coaching lead for IES-funded randomized control trials examining coaching. Dr. Pierce has authored peer-reviewed articles, numerous coaching tools and served as a founding member and co-lead for the Global Implementation Society Standards Committee. She is also the lead author on a book on coaching to improve teaching, learning, and educational systems.