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Rebecca McKinney, EdD, is the director of the Office of Gifted Education with the Colorado Department of Education. She holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Denver. She began her career in 1997 as an elementary teacher and athletic coach.   After several years in elementary classrooms, Dr.

Colleen Urlik, EdD, holds her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Denver and is the Principal at Hulstrom K-8, the Adams 12 Five Star School District’s magnet school for Advanced and Gifted Learners. She has been in education since 2003 in various roles, beginning as a classroom teacher, working with traditionally marginalized students, where her passion for equity and inclusion developed. Dr.

Michelle Benegas, Ph.D., is an associate professor of TESOL at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A former secondary English Language (EL) teacher, her career began in a newcomer high school.

Natalia Benjamin, EdS is the Director of Multilingual Learning for Rochester Public Schools and prior to that, she taught high school Ethnic Studies and Multilingual Learners in Rochester, MN. She is dually licensed in K-12 ESL and reading and holds a master's degree in Language Acquisition and Teaching. She advocates for multilingual and multicultural education and is part of the Facing Inequities and Racism in Education - Racial Equity Advocates (FIRE-REA) program.

Dr. Timothy Dohrer has been a classroom teacher, administrator, and consultant for over 30 years in K12 schools and higher education. He was a teacher and Principal at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, a school of 4,000 students and staff. He has also served as a Director and Assistant Professor at Northwestern University and Northern Illinois University, and an adjunct instructor at Pennsylvania State University and Northeastern Illinois University.

Dr. Thomas Golebiewski is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He has worked in schools for 40 years, including 26 years as Department Chair of Social Work at New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL.

Kate Anderson Foley is a transformational leader with significant experience leading public school districts and states toward equitable and integrated services for all learners. Her work is grounded in social justice and breaking down the barriers for children who have historically been marginalized. She leads organizational change utilizing a strategic framework that ensures guaranteed and rigorous learning leading to college and career readiness for all students.

Pauline Thompson (D.Ed.) is a senior lecturer in educational leadership at the Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne. Pauline has vast experience working in schools as a teacher, middle leader, assistant principal and as an educational advisor.

Elaine Allensworth is the Lewis-Sebring Director of the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research and a research professor at the Crown School of Social Work, where she has conducted research on educational policy and practice for over 25 years. Her research examines factors influencing students’ educational attainment, school leadership, and school improvement.

Lindsay Whorton is proud to be a founding member of The Holdsworth Center, a non-profit organization in Texas dedicated to building educational leaders. She is proud to have led the organization through a period of significant growth—from serving seven school districts and 42 leaders in 2017 to more than 1,900 leaders in 89 public school districts through 2025.