Keynote Speakers
Ron Berger
teacher and professional development designer
Ron is responsible for leading EL Education‘s vision of teaching and learning, bringing with him 40 years of experience as a teacher and professional development designer, 28 of those years teaching public school.
Part of EL Education since its founding, Ron has authored two books: An Ethic of Excellence and A Culture of Quality, co-authored three more: Leaders of Their Own Learning, Transformational Literacy, and Management in the Active Classroom, and has ensured that quality and craftsmanship are reflected not only in the work that they encourage from students and teachers, but in their work as an organization as well. He is a sought-after keynote speaker nationally and internationally.
A graduate of Hampshire College, Ron holds a master’s of education from Harvard University, where he now teaches a course that uses exemplary student project work to illuminate academic standards.
Vernita Mayfield
Educational Consultant
Vernita Mayfield, PhD, hails originally from Los Angeles, California, where she began her career teaching elementary school. As a teacher, Mayfield found her first love serving and supporting students who have been historically marginalized. Since then, she has continued to do so through numerous positions of service, including secondary school principal, researcher and lecturer, and educational consultant at state and national levels.
In 2012, she founded Leadervation Learning to support organizations seeking to build leadership capacity, particularly in marginalized communities. The company evolved into a vehicle supporting leaders at all levels to understand and dismantle inequitable systems and organizations by building the cultural competency of staff.
Jon Eckert
Educational Leadership
Jon Eckert, Ed.D., is the Copple Professor of Educational Leadership at Baylor University. He taught and coached intermediate and middle school students outside of Chicago and Nashville for 12 years. He completed his doctorate at Vanderbilt University and served at U.S. Department of Education during both the Bush and Obama administrations. For ten years, he prepared teachers at Wheaton College.
He is the author of The Novice Advantage: Fearless Practice for Every Teacher (Corwin, 2016) and Leading Together: Teachers and Administrators Improving Student Outcomes (Corwin, 2018), book chapters, and numerous articles. He researches collective leadership, teaching quality, and school improvement and supports school leaders, particularly Christian leaders through Baylor’s Center for Christian Education, in their pursuit of deeper learning for students.