LeDerick Horne

Diagnosed with a learning disability in the third grade, LeDerick Horne defies any and all labels. He’s a dynamic spoken-word poet. A tireless advocate for all people with disabilities. An inspiring motivational speaker. A bridge-builder between learners and leaders across the U.S. and around the world. An African-American husband and father who serves as a role model for all races, genders, and generations. The grandson of one of New Jersey’s most prominent civil rights leaders, LeDerick uses his gift for spoken-word poetry as the gateway to larger discussions on equal opportunity, pride, self-determination and hope for people with disabilities. His workshops, keynote speeches, and performances reach thousands of students, teachers, legislators, policy makers, business leaders, and service providers each year. He regularly addresses an array of academic, government, social, and business groups, including appearances at the White House, the United Nations, Harvard University, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, the Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Alabama State Departments of Education. His work addresses the challenges of all disabilities, uniting the efforts of diverse groups in order to achieve substantive, systemic change. From 2003 to 2012, LeDerick served as the Founding Board Chair of Eye to Eye (eyetoeyenational.org), the only national nonprofit mentoring program for students labeled with LD / ADHD, and continues to serve on the board today. He is on the advisory board for The National Resources for Access, Independence, Self-determination and Employment (RAISE) Technical Assistance Center (www.raisecenter.org), and he is a Senior Consultant for The Center for School Climate and Learning. LeDerick has earned a BA in Mathematics with a Fine Arts minor from New Jersey City University and also studied Mathematics at Middlesex County College. His poetry is available on iTunes and YouTube.

Dr. Sarah Schoen

Sarah A. Schoen, PhD, OTR/L, is the Director of Research at the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Dr. Schoen is an Occupational Therapist with 34 years of clinical experience and a doctorate in Occupational Therapy from New York University (2001). She was awarded the Developmental Psychology Endowment Grant from the William T. Grant Foundation to study the Sensory Processing Three Dimension Scales, which she currently being standardized by Western Psychological Services. Dr. Schoen is certified in Neurodevelopmental Treatment and has taught continuing education workshops nationally. She is currently an Associate Professor at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions and has served on multiple doctoral committees. She also co-developed and teaches the monthly Advanced Mentorship trainings at STAR Institute. Dr. Schoen has advanced training in Sensory Integration Therapy and clinical expertise in infants and toddlers with Regulatory Disorder, children with Sensory Processing Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In 1997, Dr. Schoen received the Recognition of Achievement Award from the American Occupational Therapy Association and the Virginia Scardina Award of Excellence from the American Occupational Therapy Foundation in 2011.

Dr. Megan Foley-Nicpon

Megan Foley-Nicpon is a Professor of Counseling Psychology and Associate Director for Research and Clinic at the Belin-Blank Center, both at the University of Iowa. Dr. Foley-Nicpon is a licensed psychologist whose research and clinical interests include assessment and intervention with high ability students with disabilities, and the social and emotional development of talented and diverse students. She is an Associate Editor for the APA Handbook of Giftedness and Talent; has written over 50 referred articles and book chapters in the areas of gifted, counseling psychology, and twice-exceptionality; and has given over 100 presentations at international, national, and state professional meetings.

Dr. Ross Greene

Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., is the originator of the innovative, evidence-based approach called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS), as described in his influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost & Found, and Raising Human Beings. He is also the developer and executive producer of the documentary film The Kids We Lose, released in 2018. Dr. Greene was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 20 years, and is now Founding Director of the non-profit Lives in the Balance. He is adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech and adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Greene has worked with several thousand behaviorally challenging kids and their families, and he and his colleagues have overseen implementation and evaluation of the CPS model in hundreds of schools, inpatient psychiatry units, and residential and juvenile detention facilities, with dramatic effect: significant reductions in discipline referrals, detentions, suspensions, and use of restraint procedures and solitary confinement. Dr. Greene lectures throughout the world and lives in Portland, Maine.