2021 Conference Vision
The challenges educators face can feel insurmountable.
A global pandemic makes collaboration difficult.
Responsibility to lead change can be isolating.
We are forced to look inward.
You are not alone.
We celebrate and support one another.
We are honored to share our stories with you.
We hope this year's theme reassures and inspires.
We lead together for diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
Just Us: Leading Together for Justice
An educator-led conference for international educators and leaders to connect and develop.
Sponsored by EARCOS
* Session descriptions are available when you register to sign up for individual sessions via SCHED.
- Panel: Diversity in Leadership
- Panel: Diversity in Literature
- Session 1
- Session 2
- Conference Schedule
Panel: Diversity in Leadership
Margaret Park - Panel Moderator
Margaret Park is one of the founders of Seoul of a Leader and serves on the Advisory Council for the Association for International Educators and Leaders of Color (AIELOC). She is currently serving the Seoul Foreign School community as its Elementary School Assistant Principal. Margaret is committed to fostering leadership development with experience in counseling, mentoring, coaching, facilitating professional development, and organizing conferences. Margaret is a Fulbright Scholar and received an Education Masters and Certificate of Advanced Studies from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Margaret is passionate about curating innovative learning spaces and particularly interested in thinking about leadership through an Equity and Justice lens. Find her on LinkedIn: mpark330 and Twitter:@MargaretLPark
Darnell Fine
Darnell Fine is an experienced facilitator of adult learning focusing on curriculum & assessment, diversity, equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive teaching. He has led sessions for national and international conferences, numerous US public, independent and international schools, as well as the Pew Center and the US Department of Education. In addition to facilitation, he serves as a curriculum consultant, reviewing manuscripts and curricula for publishing companies, national arts organizations, and universities. After earning his Bachelor’s in Africana Studies and Education at Brown University, Darnell obtained his Teacher Support Specialist Endorsement through Georgia State University and his Master’s in Creative Writing in London. He is currently an instructional coach and chairs the faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) planning team at Singapore American School. He is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California, studying educational leadership through a lens of equity and social justice. Darnell is a 2012 recipient of the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching and a former advisory board member with Teaching Tolerance.
Dr. Nneka Johnson
Dr. Nneka Johnson is the current Director of Innovation/DEI Coordinator at The International School of Dakar in Senegal, West Africa. She is also a member of the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA) Professional Learning Design Team. In her role at ISD she wears many hats which include: Director of Innovation and Technology, DEI Coordinator, coordinating school accreditation, working with the board on the strategic plan, and organizing on-campus professional learning events. Nneka continues to lead DEI initiatives. Prior to ISD, Nneka worked at an Independent School in Atlanta, GA for 13 years and within that time frame she lived in Sydney Australia for six months and worked for a private school as the Deputy Director of Innovation. Nneka holds a BA in Sociology from Queens College in New York City, an MS in Instructional Technology from Georgia State University, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Mercer University in Atlanta. Her doctoral dissertation centers on the fact that curriculum can change social media usage in adolescents. https://twitter.com/NnekaJ_EDU
Dr. SooJin Pate
Dr. SooJin Pate is an educator, writer, and DEI consultant dedicated to centering the lives and experiences of historically marginalized peoples. She’s an alum of Howard University and the University of Minnesota and was named Educator of the Year and Ally of the Year by Macalester College. She’s the author of From Orphan to Adoptee: U.S. Empire and Genealogies of Korean Adoption, co-host of the Antiracist Parenting Podcast, and co-editor of the anthology-in-progress Ode to George: Reflections on George Floyd Square.
Alysa Perreras
Over a decade in education, much of Alysa’s work is driven by the question, “what does it mean to be free"?”. She began her journey exploring this question as a classroom teacher, learning, laughing and growing alongside high school students in the literature classroom for eight years. Her work has expanded over the last five years to include curriculum design, adult learning, strategic planning and educational consulting, all through an anti bias, antiracist and justice centered lens. She has provided consulting services and in-depth professional learning on anti bias and antiracist practices with various international schools throughout Latin American and has presented on the work of equity and justice education at various conferences around the globe. She combines her own lived experiences and the intentional study of the practitioners of abolition and justice who have come before her to bring an intersectional lens into all the work she does. Alysa has an MS in Multidisciplinary Educational Studies from SUNY Buffalo and is currently pursuing her PhD in Education for Social Justice at University of San Diego.
Kevin Simpson
Flint, Michigan native Kevin Simpson owns and operates KDSL Global, a leading learning organization. He and his team have served thousands of schools, educators, and leaders worldwide in over 25 countries. Since 2008, he has been focused on education in the MENA region, assisted numerous schools with accreditation, training, development, and served as a thought partner with investors on school start-up projects. Simpson is co-founder of the UAE Learning Network, leads the GCC ASCD Connected Community, and founded the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Michigan State University. Twitter: @Globalkdsl
Panel: Diversity in Literature
Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen - Panel Moderator
Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen is an Associate Professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A graduate of UCLA’s Asian American Studies Department, she earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She co-founded and co-edits Research on Diversity in Youth Literature with Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez and Gabrielle Atwood Halko, co-edited Diversity in Youth Literature with Jamie Campbell Naidoo, and co-edited the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly Special Issue on Orphanhood and Adoption in Children’s Literature with Lies Wesseling. Her next books address Asian American youth literature with Paul Lai and race in Harry Potter with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. sarahpark.com @readingspark
Jillian Heise
Jillian Heise, NBCT & MLIS, has been a K-5 Library Media Teacher in southeastern Wisconsin for four years. She previously taught 7th & 8th grade ELA in the Milwaukee area for eleven years. As founder of #ClassroomBookADay, Jillian is a passionate advocate for the power of shared stories and is dedicated to supporting all student identities and lived experiences through access to inclusive literature to build classroom and school community and engagement. She presents at conferences and provides workshops at the local, state, regional, and national level and also brings her literacy expertise and knowledge of kidlit to her role as Chair of the WSRA Children’s Literature Committee. You can find Jillian online at Heise Reads & Recommends and @heisereads.
Minh Lê
Minh Lê is the award-winning author of the picture books Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature), Lift (an Eisner Award-nominee), Let Me Finish!, and The Perfect Seat. He also wrote Green Lantern: Legacy, a middle grade graphic novel for DC Comics and has several forthcoming projects, including A Lotus for You, the authorized picture book biography of the world-renowned Zen Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Thích Nhất Hạnh. In addition to writing books he has written about children's literature for a variety of publications, including National Public Radio (NPR), the Huffington Post, and the New York Times. He currently serves on the Board of We Need Diverse Books.
During the day, he is a federal early childhood policy expert who has worked in education at the national, state, and local level -- both in and out of the classroom. He got his bachelor's degree in Psychology from Dartmouth College and received a master's degree in Education Policy from the Harvard University. In 2018, he was named one of the 100 Coolest Dads in America by Fatherly.com (landing somewhere between LeBron James and President Barack Obama). Outside of spending time with his wonderful wife and children at their home in San Diego, his favorite place to be is in the middle of a good book. You can follow him on Twitter: @bottomshelfbks
Noreen Naseem Rodríguez
Noreen Naseem Rodríguez is an assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on Asian American teachers, racial representation in children's literature, and the teaching of so-called difficult histories to young learners. She has received multiple recognitions for her scholarship, including Early Career Awards from the Children's Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English in 2018 and from the Research on the Education of Asian Pacific Americans Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. Her first book, Social Studies for a Better World: An Anti-Oppressive Approach for Elementary Educators co-authored with Katy Swalwell, will be published in November 2021 by WW Norton. You can preorder her forthcoming book at https://wwnorton.com/books/
Gene Luen Yang
I began making comics and graphic novels in the fifth grade. In 2006, my book American Born Chinese was published by First Second Books. It became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award. It also won an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album – New.
In 2013, First Second Books released Boxers & Saints, my two-volume graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion. Boxers & Saints was nominated for a National Book Award and won the L.A. Times Book Prize. I’ve done a number of other comics, including Dark Horse Comics’ continuation of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender and DC Comics’ Superman!
In addition cartooning, I teach creative writing through Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I teach alongside amazing authors like Anne Ursu, Gary Schmidt, Laura Ruby, Matt De La Pena, and more.
In January 2016, the Library of Congress, Every Child A Reader, and the Children’s Book Council appointed me the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
I was a three-time honoree in this year’s Eisner Awards: His Dragon Hoops won the Best Publication for Kids award, while Superman Smashes the Klan, co-created with the Japanese team Gurihiru, won for Best Publication for Teens and Best Adaptation.
Session 1
Deep Dive into Diversity Equity Inclusion Justice Work
Alysa Perreras
Over a decade in education, much of Alysa’s work is driven by the question, “what does it mean to be free"?”. She began her journey exploring this question as a classroom teacher, learning, laughing and growing alongside high school students in the literature classroom for eight years. Her work has expanded over the last five years to include curriculum design, adult learning, strategic planning and educational consulting, all through an anti bias, antiracist and justice centered lens. She has provided consulting services and in-depth professional learning on anti bias and antiracist practices with various international schools throughout Latin American and has presented on the work of equity and justice education at various conferences around the globe. She combines her own lived experiences and the intentional study of the practitioners of abolition and justice who have come before her to bring an intersectional lens into all the work she does. Alysa has an MS in Multidisciplinary Educational Studies from SUNY Buffalo and is currently pursuing her PhD in Education for Social Justice at University of San Diego.
Creating a Culture of Feedback with Cultural Competency in Mind
Rev. Loris N. Adams
Loris N. Adams has spent the last decade aiding schools to develop and sharpen skills and content centered on the best practices for helping students and families of diverse backgrounds succeed. Having presented on both the local and national levels, she welcomes opportunities to facilitate groups intent on embracing diversity while creating and sustaining a deep-seated commitment to community. Loris is a key-note speaker and workshop facilitator in the following areas: faculty, staff, administration, and board diversity, equity and inclusion training scope and sequence curriculum development with a focus on multi/intercultural competency conflict resolution through coaching inter/multi-faith community building and worship using data to drive measurable DEI success DEI advisory programming leadership development and coaching for BIPOC/BAME faculty, staff and administration DEI goal setting Loris currently serves as Director of Equity and Community Life at The Hewitt School in New York City. Previously, she worked as Director of Community and Equity Affairs at St. Mark's School in Massachusetts and served Trinity Episcopal School in North Carolina as the Lower School Dean of Community Life and Chaplain for eight years. Loris has presented at numerous conferences, including the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE), the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS), and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) People of Color Conference. Loris is a principal consultant with The Glasgow Group as well as a career and life coach. LinkedIn - Loris Nadene Adams
Authentic storytelling
Jerry Won
Jerry Won is a storyteller, brand builder, and community leader. He is the Founder & CEO of Just Like Media, an Asian American storytelling company whose podcast brands include Dear Asian Americans, MBAsians, The Janchi Show, and Asian Podcast Network and have partnered with McDonald's, US Census 2020, and US Dept of Health and Human Services.
He is a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator and has worked with organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, LEK Consulting, Horizon Media, and APABA. Jerry speaks on a variety of topics including authentic storytelling and the Asian American experience in the workplace.
Prior, he was a Senior Strategy Consultant at Accenture and sales leader at start-ups and F500 companies. Jerry has a BS from USC Marshall and an MBA from Michigan Ross, where he served as President of the Student Government Association. He has served in board and leadership roles of alumni organizations and community non profits.
From Socrates to Slam Poetry
Luka Lesson
Luka Lesson is a spoken word poet and rapper whose work engages with the Greek mythology of his family homeland, the fiercely political and the vulnerably self-reflective. Luka has been commissioned by the queensland symphony orchestra & the national gallery of Victoria, released two musical albums and two independant books and been published in a number of poetry collections.
Luka has toured with the likes of Akala (uk), Xiuhtezcatl (usa), and Dr. Cornel West (usa). Luka Lesson has always used education-based programs as a means for social change both within Australia and abroad and his work is currently being studied in English departments across the country.
Anti-Racism within STEM Inclusive Tech Tools for Math Classrooms
Victoria Thompson
Victoria Thompson is a STEM Integration Transformation Coach at Technology Access Foundation--a nonprofit leader redefining STEM education in public schools--a consultant for Ignite EdTech, and a learning specialist for NCCE. She has been in education for five years and began her journey teaching fifth and sixth grade math and science in Summerville, SC. After completing her masters degree in curriculum and instruction she moved to the Seattle, WA area in 2018, where her career has pivoted to focusing on STEM integration in schools, K-12 mathematics instruction with research on decolonizing mathematics curriculum for teachers and learners, creating inclusive math environments, and using technology to bridge equity gaps in math education. She has presented at ISTE, ImpactEducation, CUE, and DigCitSummit on topics such as creating inclusive math classrooms, culturally responsive STEM education, and equity in educational technology. You can find her on Twitter @VictoriaTheTech which is also where you can find her website, sites.google.com/view/victoriathetech/home.
Recruitment Bias Training
Dr. Alan Phan
Dr. Alan Phan is currently the Founding Head of School at Royal Embassy Academy in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. Before joining REA, he served as the Middle School Principal at Shanghai American School, Pudong Campus; American International School Chennai, India; American School of Barcelona, Spain; and ACS Hillingdon International School in London. He also worked as an Assistant Principal and High School Counselor at international schools in Mexico and Belgium. Before moving overseas in 2000, Alan started his career in education teaching math and EAL in California and Washington, DC. Alan has a B.A. in linguistics from the University of California at Irvine, an M.A. in Counseling from Trinity University, a certificate of International School Leadership from the Principal Training Center in London and a doctorate at the University of Bath, England. His doctoral dissertation research was in gender and ethnicity of leadership in international schools.
Prior to the pandemic, he also consulted as a math trainer for Math Specialists in International Schools (MSIS) with Erma Anderson and a workshop leader in Embracing and Managing Conflict for ECIS. Currently, he leads workshops in Implicit Bias and Recruitment Bias.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
Twitter: @TweetAlanPhan
Session 2
“Love Yourself: Speak Yourself”: Going beyond student-centered learning to culturally sustaining pedagogy
Jessica Wei Huang
Jessica was raised in public schools in Arizona, USA where she experienced first-hand the cost of surviving/thriving in educational settings that failed to reflect and value student identity and culture. As an educator & leader with 20 years of experience, she strives to bring her knowledge of creating healing-centered, student-focused spaces into the international school setting. Jessica has a Bachelor's of Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a master's of Education from Stanford University, She brings a lens of social justice to her work as a science teacher and school leader in US schools and Taiwan, and is currently serving as Vice Principal at United World College, Southeast Asia (Dover).
Daniel Wickner
Daniel (he/him/his) is the founder of Identity-Centered Learning (www.identitycentered.com), a framework for supporting students' identity development in schools. This work draws from his own multiracial, multicultural, and multilingual background, along with his twelve years in international education, currently teaching 3rd grade at Hong Kong International School. Daniel holds a Bachelor's of Science and Engineering from Princeton University, a Master's of Science and Engineering from Keio University, and is currently completing a Master's of Education in Independent School Leadership through Columbia University Teacher's college.
“Meat” and Greet: How to create spaces for authentic reflection, vulnerability, courage, and pride.
Liz Cho
Educator since 2003, Liz Cho is passionate about empowering teachers and students. Liz has taken on various leadership roles in education, and she is currently the Principal of Teaching and Learning at KIS. Liz’s 13 years as a U.S. public school and international school teacher before moving into administration full time in 2016 has taught her the value of a competent, empathic leader who models lifelong learning. Certified in Educational Technology and an Apple Distinguished Educator, Liz is an avid believer in using innovative techniques to inspire educators through servant leadership. She also runs, silks, hoops and has a horrible sense of direction. Any other professional info about Liz can be found at lizcho.org and you can connect with her on Twitter @cho_liz.
Sustaining Courage for Change
Joel LLaban Jr
Joel Jr Llaban is a Learning Specialist / Instructional Coach in the ES Teaching and Learning of The International School of Kuala Lumpur. Previously, he worked at Cebu International School, The International School of Beijing, and The International School of Brussels. He has been working in education for 18 years as a classroom teacher with concurrent involvement and leadership in schoolwide curriculum, assessment, professional development, and strategic planning. He also served as a department coordinator and an accreditation coordinator. He is trained in international accreditation as a team evaluator and has been involved in accreditation visits to different international schools representing NEASC and CIS. Currently, Joel serves in the newly formed CIS Board Committee on DEIJ and Anti Racism. Joel holds a Master of Education in International Education Administration and a Certificate of International School Leadership from The Principals Training Center. He is a proud member of AIELOC and Diversity Collaborative. Joel's pronouns are he/him/his. Follow him on Twitter @JoelJrLLABAN.
For Educators of Color Who Considered Quitting/ When Golden Handcuffs Ain’t Enuf *For BIPOC Educators and Leaders
Jeri Byrom
Jeri Byrom is a veteran special education teacher and learning specialist. She is originally from Atlanta Georgia and has served students and their families in schools in Prague, Czech Republic; New Delhi, India; London, UK; Johannesburg, SA and Nairobi, Kenya. In addition, Jeri served as an educational consultant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Darnell Fine
Darnell Fine is an experienced facilitator of adult learning focusing on curriculum & assessment, diversity, equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive teaching. He has led sessions for national and international conferences, numerous US public, independent and international schools, as well as the Pew Center and the US Department of Education. In addition to facilitation, he serves as a curriculum consultant, reviewing manuscripts and curricula for publishing companies, national arts organizations, and universities. After earning his Bachelor’s in Africana Studies and Education at Brown University, Darnell obtained his Teacher Support Specialist Endorsement through Georgia State University and his Master’s in Creative Writing in London. He is currently an instructional coach and chairs the faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) planning team at Singapore American School. He is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California, studying educational leadership through a lens of equity and social justice. Darnell is a 2012 recipient of the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching and a former advisory board member with Teaching Tolerance
Anti Bias and Antiracism Education in the Early Years
Melissa Keith
Kindergarten Teacher at Seoul Foreign School, trying to be a better human and help raise better humans. She/her/Jedi Warrior Princess. You can find me on Twitter @Miss_MelissaBee or on Instagram @never_2_small