Keith Jones is the President and CEO of SoulTouchin’ Experiences, an organization aimed at bringing a perspective to the issues of access inclusion and empowerment, which affect him as well as others who are persons with a disability. To achieve this multicultural, cross-disability education and outreach efforts he collaborates and conducts trainings with the purpose of strengthening efforts to provide services and information for people with disabilities. The issues he tackles are wide ranging from immigration, criminal justice reform, health care and environmental justice just to name a few. Paralleling with his policy and social justice work Mr. Jones is a multi-talented artist who along with Leroy Moore and Rob Temple founded Krip Hop Nation which is an international collection of artists with disabilities. Krip Hop Nation is currently celebrating 13 years with the recent success of their title song for the Netflix documentary of the Paralympic Games, Rising Phoenix and its critical acclaimed sound track. Keith is an artist in residence teaching hip hop at Wild at Heart in Australia, and Calcutta and currently his art and policy work have combined under the publishing company Soulful Media Works, with the book; For You: Young Black Disabled Men.

Samuel Habib, 21, is a high school graduate and community college student currently pursuing a career as a multimedia storyteller. He interned at the local community access television station in Concord, NH and had a paid job at a video production studio. In 2016, he created a film about disability rights leader Judith Heumann that was featured in the Breaking Down Barriers Film Festival in Moscow, Russia. Samuel also helped Dan create the nationally broadcast film Mr. Connolly Has ALS. Samuel uses a wheelchair for mobility and a communication device (as well as his voice) to express himself. In addition to exploring his current and future academic and career options, Samuel also navigates significant, chronic health challenges.

Dan Habib is the creator of the award-winning documentary films Including Samuel, Who Cares About Kelsey?, Mr. Connolly Has ALS and many other films on disability-related topics. Habib is a filmmaker at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability. His latest documentary, Intelligent Lives, examines our society’s narrow perceptions of intelligence. The Intelligent Lives project also contains four short films focusing on effective practices in transition for youth with disabilities from high school to higher education and employment. Habib received the Champion of Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the Justice for All Grassroots Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities. In 2014, Habib was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Habib and his wife, Betsy, live in Concord, NH, with their sons Isaiah, 24, and Samuel, 21.

Since 2017, Glenna Gallo is the Assistant Superintendent of Special Education in the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington and the Past-President of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). Prior to that, she spent seven years as the State Director of Special Education for the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), following work as a classroom teacher and administrator. She has over 25 years of public education experience teaching students with disabilities and adults, and 15 years of experience in state-level educational leadership with expertise in the improvement planning, management, and monitoring of public special education programs. Glenna has a B.S and an M.S in Special Education, a special education teacher and administrative license, endorsements as a Program Administrator, Principal, and Superintendent, and an M.B.A.

During her work in Washington state, special education programs were allocated an additional $155 million dollars for state special education programs, $25 million dollars for statewide inclusionary practices, $12 million dollars for paraeducator training, and $60,000 to reduce the use of restraint and isolation, revised the historical funding allocation formula to a two-tier system that considers inclusion, and revised the state high needs risk pool process to alleviate burden on school districts. Collaboration is a priority for her work, and collaborative efforts are infused within all state efforts regarding students with disabilities.

Glenna feels strongly that application of the intent of IDEA requirements results in increased student outcomes for students with disabilities and works with school and district administrators, special education staff, advocates, and parents of students with disabilities at the LEA, State, and national levels to review research, current student achievement, and compliance data to ensure state and local efforts are addressing instructional issues that impact results for students with disabilities.

Alfredo J. Artiles is Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. His interdisciplinary scholarship examines the dual nature of disability as an object of protection and a tool of stratification. He aims to understand how responses to disability intersections with race, language, gender and social class advance or hinder educational opportunities for disparate groups of students.

Lauren Katzman, EdD. is the Executive Director of the Urban Collaborative and Associate Research Professor at Arizona State University. She is also an adjunct professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to this work, she served as the Assistant to the Superintendent for Special Education Services for the Newark Public Schools and the Executive director of special education in the New York City Department of Education. In both of these positions, she developed and led significant reform efforts, increasing academic achievement, inclusive educational and experiential options, reliable data management, and statutory/regulatory compliance. She worked to develop strong interdisciplinary partnerships between districts, states, universities, advocacy groups, and communities to build the foundation for deep and sustaining systemic reforms. Prior to these two high-level and demanding school district leadership positions, Dr. Katzman served as Associate Professor of Special Education at Boston University and co-authored the book Effective Inclusive Schools: Effective Inclusive Schools: Designing Successful Schoolwide Programs with Dr. Thomas Hehir, former Director of the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. She was also a special education teacher for 14 years in St. Louis, New Jersey, and New York City and has conducted program evaluations of the special education services for the District of Columbia Public Schools, the state of Massachusetts, Ithaca Public Schools, and the New York City Department of Education.