2025 National Family Engagement Summit

The Homecoming

Leveraging the power of family & school partnerships to transform & tackle real and relevant issues in our schools.

The Homecoming:
Back to Where it all Began

Registration is now closed for the 2024 National Family Engagement Summit. Head on over to the hotel page for location information and all the great things you can do around Savannah, GA! Check back soon for Super Early Bird pricing for the 2025 National Family Engagement Summit. Location to be announced very soon!

Registration is now open for the 2025 National Family Engagement Summit! Register today or head on over to the hotel page to check out next year’s great location and all the great things you can do around Richmond, VA!

Celebrating a Decade of Impact!

Join us for the 10th Anniversary of The National Family Engagement Summit—a milestone celebrating a decade of transformative family engagement, inspiring partnerships, and shared commitment to student success. This year’s conference promises to be our most impactful one yet, bringing together visionary educators, administrators, and family engagement leaders for an unforgettable experience filled with dynamic workshops, inspiring keynotes, and practical strategies that will elevate your work and empower your school communities.

Whether you’re looking to deepen your understanding of equitable family engagement, build stronger connections with families, or ignite new ideas that drive student achievement, The NFE Summit is the place to be. Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate our journey, connect with passionate professionals, and recommit to making a difference together.

2025 Summit Agendas

Event Information

2025 Summit Pricing

Early Bird Discounted

Payment Options

Credit Card
Purchase Order

Checks should be made payable to Successful Innovations, Inc.

Proudly Hosted By

With Help From Our Amazing Sponsors!

Why Should You Attend?

Gain strategies and best practices to leverage family engagement to address…

Chronic Absenteeism

Teacher Preparation

Teacher Retention

Culturally Responsive Practices

Student Achievement

Early Literacy

Mental Health Issues

Immigrant Families

2025 Featured Presenters & Thought Leaders

To Be Announced…

2025 Featured Distinguished Panel

This panel brings together educators and thought leaders who all have unique perspectives when it comes to the importance of K–12 teachers, student success, and family engagement. The six panelists will engage in a conversation, guided by these key questions:

Why do K–12 teachers and educational leaders need to engage families in their work?
What’s the status of teaching about family engagement in educator prep programs nowadays, in terms of coursework and fieldwork?
When teacher education programs teach about “families,” what sorts of families are discussed? Are these families diverse and representative of the families teachers will work with when they become practicing teachers?

Meet the Panel

Ruby Batz, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Special Education

University of Nevada, Reno

Fred A. Bonner II, Ed.D.

Endowed Chair in Educational Leadership and Counseling

Prairie View A&M University

Founding Executive Director of the Achievement, Research, Creativity and High Ability (ARCH-III) Center

Keesha Greer-Effs, Ed.D., B.C.S.E.

Assistant Professor of Special Education

Berea College

Nicholas D. Hartlep, Ph.D.

Robert Charles Billings Endowed Chair in Education

Berea College

Carolyn S. F. Silva, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Elementary Education

University of Nevada Reno

Terrell L. Strayhorn, Ph.D.

Associate Provost

Virginia Union University

Professor of Education and Psychology, Director of Research, Center for the Study of HBCUs, Principal Investigator, The Belonging Matters Lab

Past Presenters & Thought Leaders

Dr. Joyce Epstein

Co-Director

Center on School Family & Community Partnerships / National Network of Partnership Schools

Keshia Knight Pulliam

Emmy Nominated Actress, Director, and Family Cultural Icon

Dr. Manny Scott

Original Freedom Writer / Best-selling Author

Dr. Meredith Anderson

Director K-12 Research

UNCF

Dr. Steve Constantino

Best-Selling Author, Family Engagement Expert

Dr. Peggie Constantino

Exec. Assoc. Professor, Director of Executive Ed.D. Program

William & Mary

Dr. Eric Davis

Leadership Expert, Best-Selling Author

Joseph Washington

Change Catalyst School Reform Expert Founder | Average Breaker Best-Selling Author

Cecily Darden

Director of Family Outreach

US Department of Education

Dr. Val Hill-Jackson

Assistant Professor

Texas A&M University

Fulbright Scholar & AERA/Spencer Fellow | Co-editor, Journal of Teacher Education (AACTE)

Robert Jackson

International Speaker
Award Winning Author
Family Engagement Specialist

Session Presenters

Rebecca Chrystal

Managing Director of Programs & Partnerships

Raising a Reader

Hillary Jones

Director, Professional Learning

Foundations, Inc.

Ari Gerzon Kessler

Coordinator of Family Partnerships

Boulder Valley School District (CO)

Lee Shainis

Founder

Simplify Language

Dr. Roslyn Moffitt

Director of Community Engagement

Successful Innovations

Emily Fleming

Founder

Yoga In Classrooms And Schools Consulting (YCSC)

Lynn Fay

MBA, Ed. S., Certified Clinician Specializing in Estrangement, Grief, Other Family Issues

Time 2 Thrive, LLC

Logan Taylor

CEO & Founder

Y.B.Normal?

Amber Allen

Human Development & Family Science Field Specialist

University of Missouri Extension

Katie Pemberton

Human Development Specialist

University of Missouri Extension

Jennifer Perez

Territory Manager

Building Foundations for Literacy

Gail Cormier, MS

Director

NFSTAC Family Center of Excellence

Lynda Gargan, Ph.D.

Executive Director

National Federation of Families

Kish Russell-Yoquelet

Tammy Pawloski, Ph.D.

Director, Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty

Francis Marion University

Ambria King

Early Learning Specialist

Georgia Public Broadcasting

Lindsay A. Whitley, Ed.D.

Associate Superintendent, Communications and Community Engagement

Cumberland County Schools

Dennis M. Williams, Jr., Ed.D.

Principal

Hatboro-Horsham H.S.

Heather Lopez

REACH Program Director

Educational Service District 112

Vickei Hrdina

Director of Career Readiness & STEM Initiatives

Career Connect SW

Molly Daley

Regional Math Coordinator

Educational Service District 112

Thea T. Faulkner

Community, Parent and Family Engagement

Jackson Public Schools

Dr. Angela Flowers

Director of Student Services

Portsmouth Public Schools

Dawn Deadles

Family Engagement Specialist and Kindergarten teacher

East Jackson Elementary School

Allyson Pennington

Principal

East Jackson Elementary School

Christina Rand

Early Childhood Education Manager

Georgia Public Broadcasting

Yesenia Rivera-Ortiz

Family and Community Engagement Coordinator

Capitol Region Education Council’s Montessori Magnet School

Ana Medina

Family & Community Engagement Specialist

Chesapeake Public Schools

Lisa Kerry

Family & Community Engagement Specialist

Chesapeake Public Schools

Dr. Kathleen M. Williamson, PhD, NCSP

Project Coordinator

Connecticut WSCC Partnership

Tracy Stefano

K-12 Supervisor of Health & Physical Education

East Hartford Public Schools

Michelle L. Texidor-Pham

Family and Community Partnership Coordinator

East Hartford Public Schools

Sonya Stemmer

Supervisor of the Office of Equity, Partnerships & Achievement

East Hartford Public Schools

Ruth James

Coordinator of Community Initiatives & Afterschool

SCAEOP Immediate Past President 2024-2025

Heather Kilgore

Program Manager

Parent Teacher Home Visits

D.G. Mawn, JD

President

National Association for Community Mediation

Becca Kearl

Executive Director

Living Room Conversations

Katie Harrison

ESL Instructional Specialist

Pelham City School

Lindsay Kilgore

Instructional Specialist

Pelham City School

Alma Canete

Neighborhood Manager, Upper Manhattan

LINC

Laura Walsh

Chief Programs Officer

LINC

Amy Rovai Gregory

Director - Family Engagement & Partnership Development

San Juan Unified School District

Elizabeth Lopez

Coordinator of Problem Resolution

San Juan Unified School District

Ana Martinez

Bilingual Parent Liaison Family Engagement Program Leader

Princeton City School District

Janis Bellon

Secondary EL Coordinator

Hamilton County ESC

Kelli Perrin

Director of English Learner Services

Princeton City School District

Lindsay Burton

Associate Director

Department of Homeland Security

Darbi Hunt

Early Childhood Projects Manager - Community and Family Service Division

BHSSC

Natasha Rouse

Parent Engagement Instructional Specialist Office of Federal Programs & Grants

Newark Board Of Education

Michelina Thorton

Director of Federal Programs and Grants

Newark Board of Education

Samantha Foote

Neurological Music Therapy Fellow/Dialectical Behavior Therapy-informed Music Therapist

Najah Callander

Senior Executive Director of External Engagement

Houston Independent School District

Alaa “Ally” Abdulmajid

Director of Family and Community Engagement

Houston Independent School District

John Meade

Director of Community Partnership

Houston Independent School District

Shana McIver

Senior Director of Learning & Practice

Learning Heroes

Desmond Rudd, Ed.D.

K12 Education | Higher Education / Certified Executive Coach

Professorial Lecturer / Chief Executive Strategist

Dr. Shadae Harris

Professor in Residence | Virginia State University

President & CEO | Groundwork Consulting

Lorraine Adkins Schlichte

M.S. Ed., Ed.S., Director of School Counseling

Portsmouth Public Schools

Kayla Benson

Director of Impact

The EdVenture Group

Dr. Megan Mikesell

Senior Program Manager

The EdVenture Group

Victoria Taylor

Program Manager & Family Engagement Specialist

The EdVenture Group

Past Summit Presenters

Our Summit Host

Successful Innovations is an international leader and proven education reform specialist in strategic family engagement solutions. We deliver our solutions by providing visual, interactive outreach resources and capacity building training to schools and communities across 49 states, Puerto Rico and New Zealand, parents and teachers continue to build strong collaborative partnerships that enhance students’ achievement.

The International Family Engagement Foundation’s (IFEF) mission includes promoting family engagement & empowerment, STEM opportunities, career readiness, and student success. IFEF is committed to creating a world where children most impacted by inequity thrive, prosper, and excel. We are vested in laying the foundation and creating the infrastructure to leverage equitable family, community, and school partnerships to propel students to new levels of success and achievement.

2025 National Family Engagement Summit

The Homecoming

The Homecoming:Back to Where it all Began

Celebrating a Decade of Impact!

2025 Summit Agendas

Event Information

2025 Summit Pricing

Payment Options

Why Should You Attend?

2025 Featured Presenters & Thought Leaders

Dr. Peggie Constantino

Dr. Eric Davis

Joseph Washington

Cecily Darden

Dr. Val Hill-Jackson

2025 Featured Distinguished Panel

Meet the Panel

Ruby Batz, Ph.D.

Fred A. Bonner II, Ed.D.

Keesha Greer-Effs, Ed.D., B.C.S.E.

Nicholas D. Hartlep, Ph.D.

Carolyn S. F. Silva, Ph.D.

Terrell L. Strayhorn, Ph.D.

Dr. Peggie Constantino

Dr. Eric Davis

Joseph Washington

Cecily Darden

Dr. Val Hill-Jackson

Past Presenters & Thought Leaders

Dr. Joyce Epstein

Keshia Knight Pulliam

Dr. Manny Scott

Dr. Meredith Anderson

Dr. Steve Constantino

Dr. Peggie Constantino

Dr. Eric Davis

Joseph Washington

Cecily Darden

Dr. Val Hill-Jackson

Robert Jackson

Dr. Peggie Constantino

Dr. Eric Davis

Joseph Washington

Cecily Darden

Dr. Val Hill-Jackson

Session Presenters

Rebecca Chrystal

Hillary Jones

Ari Gerzon Kessler

Lee Shainis

Dr. Roslyn Moffitt

Emily Fleming

Lynn Fay

Logan Taylor

Amber Allen

Katie Pemberton

Jennifer Perez

Gail Cormier, MS

Lynda Gargan, Ph.D.

Kish Russell-Yoquelet

Tammy Pawloski, Ph.D.

Ambria King

Lindsay A. Whitley, Ed.D.

Dennis M. Williams, Jr., Ed.D.

Heather Lopez

Vickei Hrdina

Molly Daley

Thea T. Faulkner

Dr. Angela Flowers

Dawn Deadles

Allyson Pennington

Christina Rand

Yesenia Rivera-Ortiz

Ana Medina

Lisa Kerry

Dr. Kathleen M. Williamson, PhD, NCSP

Tracy Stefano

Michelle L. Texidor-Pham

Sonya Stemmer

Ruth James

The Homecoming:
Back to Where it all Began