KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

KEN GINSBURG

Dr. Ken Ginsburg practices Adolescent Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He directs Health Services at Covenant House Pennsylvania, where he serves Philadelphia’s youth enduring homelessness.    

Dr. Ginsburg practices social adolescent medicine -- service with special attention to prevention and the recognition that social context and stressors affect both physical and emotional health. His research over the last 30 years has focused on facilitating youth to develop their own solutions to social problems and to teach adults how to better serve them.    

He is the Founding Director of The Center for Parent and Teen Communications which works with key influencers to empower parents with the strategies and skill sets that will strengthen their family connections and position them to guide their teens to become their best selves. It works to shift the cultural narrative about adolescence from being a time to survive to one in which development is to be optimized and celebrated.    

His books include, "Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings” as well as the forthcoming, “Congrats- You’re Having a Teen!: Strengthen Your Family and Raise a Good Person” both published by The American Academy of Pediatrics. His multimedia toolkit also published through the American Academy of Pediatrics “Reaching Teens: Strength-Based, Trauma-sensitive, Resilience-building Communication Strategies Rooted in Positive Youth Development” offers youth-serving professionals in multiple settings applied strategies to optimally serve young people.    

He is the National Resilience Expert for The Boys and Girls Clubs of America and currently works with Covenant House International’s 35 sites to solidify and magnify their practice model rooted in the healing power of loving and respectful adult connections with youth.

LISA DAMOUR

Recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association, Dr. Lisa Damour co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, writes about teenagers for the New York Times, appears as a regular contributor to CBS News, and works in collaboration with UNICEF. She is the author of two New York Times best sellers, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood and Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls.    

Dr. Damour has written numerous academic papers, chapters, and books related to education and child development. She serves as a Senior Advisor to the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University, consults and speaks to schools and professional organizations around the world, and maintains a private practice.    

Dr. Damour graduated with honors from Yale University and worked for the Yale Child Study Center before earning her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Michigan. She has been a fellow at Yale’s Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy and the University of Michigan’s Power Foundation. She and her husband are the proud parents of two daughters.    

Website: drlisadamour.com

LUIS CRUZ

Luis F. Cruz, PhD, is the former principal of Baldwin Park High School, located east of Los Angeles, California. He has been a teacher and administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Dr. Cruz presents on methods from the best-selling book Time for Change by Luis F. Cruz and Anthony Muhammad.    

In 2007, Dr. Cruz led a collective effort to secure a $250,000 grant for Baldwin Park from the California Academic Partnership Program for the purpose of effectively utilizing “courageous leadership” to promote a more equitable and effective organization. Since becoming a public-school educator, Dr. Cruz has won the New Teacher of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Administrator of the Year, and other community leadership awards. He and a committee of teacher leaders at Baldwin Park received California's prestigious Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association for significantly closing the achievement gap between the general student population and students learning English as a second language.    

As a recipient of the Hispanic Border Leadership Institute's fellowship for doctoral studies, he earned a doctorate in institutional leadership and policy studies from the University of California Riverside.

KARA VANDAS

Kara Vandas is an educator with an enduring passion for empowering learners. She began her career in education at an alternative school for youth-at-risk. Kara spent several more years in the classroom in public education as a middle and high school educator and then transitioned to coaching and professional learning positions that allowed her to support teachers and leaders K-12. Her current role as an author and consultant takes her around the world to partner with schools and school districts.    

Kara is the co-author of Peer Power: Activate an Assessment Revolution; Clarity for Learning: 5 Essential Practices that Empower Students and Teachers; and Partnering with Students: Building Ownership of Learning and holds a Master’s degree of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Regis University. She partners with schools and districts all over the country in the areas of empowering students, growing learner agency, putting the research into practice, building efficacy in educators and students, and more. She also presents nationally and internationally at conferences, with a focus on learner agency and efficacy.