LEAD Conference
A CONFERENCE FOR EDUCATION LEADERSLEAD 2026
The 2026 LEAD Conference will take place July 28-29, at the McNamara Alumni Center. Registration is now open!
The LEAD Conference supports education leaders by offering actionable insights, tools, and strategies to improve PreK-12 school systems. All are welcome.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, registration for LEAD 2026 is now more affordable than ever. We’ve lowered our rates to help more education leaders join us this summer.
- New Standard Rate: $300
2026 keynote speakers
Christopher Emdin
Christopher Emdin
Christopher Emdin, PhD, is an internationally recognized scholar, author, speaker, creative strategist, and educator whose work has transformed the global conversation around teaching, learning, culture, creativity, and innovation. He is the Maxine Greene Chair for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Professor of Science Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he also serves as Program Director for Science Education.
Dr. Emdin also serves as Director of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship for the STEAM Dream IdeaLab, where he leads initiatives that bring together science, technology, engineering, the arts, design thinking, entrepreneurship, and radical imagination. Through this work, he has become a leading voice in helping schools, organizations, and institutions rethink creativity not as an accessory to learning, but as essential to human flourishing, innovation, and transformation.
Known for bridging the worlds of hip hop, science, spirituality, pedagogy, design, and social justice, Dr. Emdin challenges audiences to reimagine what education, leadership, and creativity can look like in the modern world. His groundbreaking work on reality pedagogy, culturally sustaining education, and creative engagement has influenced classrooms, school systems, universities, and organizations internationally.
Dr. Emdin is the author of numerous influential books, including the New York Times bestselling For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too, Ratchetdemic, STEM, STEAM, Make, Dream, and most recently, The Sacred Art of Teaching, coauthored with legendary educator Lisa Delpit.
His leadership extends far beyond the University. Dr. Emdin serves on the board of the Fund for Public Schools and is a founding board member of the Bronx High School of Hip Hop, helping to shape educational spaces grounded in culture, creativity, artistry, community, and youth brilliance.
Whether speaking to educators, artists, business leaders, students, policymakers, or community organizations, Dr. Emdin brings a rare combination of scholarship, storytelling, cultural insight, humor, and visionary thinking that leaves audiences challenged, inspired, and transformed.
Marie K. Heath and Stephanie Smith Budhai
Marie K. Heath
Stephanie Smith Budhai
Marie K. Heath, PhD, (she/her) is not a robot, but she refuses to prove it to Google’s CAPTCHA. She currently works as Department Chair for Education Specialties and as an Associate Professor of Learning Design and Technology at Loyola University Maryland. Prior to her work in higher education, Marie taught high school social studies in Baltimore County Public Schools. Her internationally recognized scholarship interrogates schools and technologies as current sites of encoded oppression, and labors to advance more just technological and educational futures. She is co-editor of the CITE Social Studies Journal, co-founder of the Civics of Technology project, and a faculty fellow at the Center for Research and Evaluation at Loyola University Maryland, and co-author of the book Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Cultivating Justice and Joy. If you ask generative AI a question about Marie, it replies with the Mariah Carey “I don’t know her” meme.
Stephanie Smith Budhai, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Educational Technology program at University of Delaware and an award-winning author and teacher educator whose interdisciplinary work bridges technology, equity, and civic engagement. She is the Council Chair for the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE), serves on the Advisory Council of the Emmy-awarding PBS Kids series, Cyberchase, and as an advisory board member for the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Center of Excellence for Publishing. Dr. Budhai has published over eighty practitioner articles and ten books to support teaching, criticality, leadership and technology in education. Her work has been internationally recognized and two of her books have been translated into Arabic. Dr. Budhai is the recipient of an Excellence in Teacher Education Award from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and two Outstanding Book Honorable Mention Awards from the Society of Professors of Education. She holds K–12 teaching certifications in technology education, instructional technology, elementary education, and special education.
Non-discrimination statement
This event is open to all. The University of Minnesota shall provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, familial status, disability, public assistance status, membership or activity in a local commission created for the purpose of dealing with discrimination, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Land acknowledgement
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is built within the traditional homelands of the Dakota people. It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations. We also acknowledge that words are not enough. We must ensure that our institution provides support, resources, and programs that increase access to all aspects of higher education for our American Indian students, staff, faculty, and community members.