Announcing 2022 Fall Heads Meeting Speakers

Keynote presenter:

Michelle Kinder

 Speaker, Leadership Coach and a Licensed Professional Counselor

presenting:  

Leading with Mental Health in Mind

The last few years have brought into focus how much is out of our control as leaders. One thing we can control is to actively prioritize the mental health of our teams by better understanding the neurobiology of stress and change. This session will unpack the effect recent stressors have had on the nervous system and explore concrete strategies for you and your team to stay grounded and resourced this school year and beyond.

About Michelle Kinder

Michelle Kinder is a Speaker, Leadership Coach and a Licensed Professional Counselor. In her business, Embody EQ, she helps leaders doing good in the world embody their emotional intelligence and prioritize the mental health of their teams. Michelle has a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from Baylor University and a master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas in Austin. She received her license as a professional counselor (LPC) in 1998, is a Certified Professional Coach through Coaching Evolved where she now serves as Faculty. Additionally, she is credentialed through the International Coaching Federation as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC). She is a Certified Trainer in 3 Vital Questions: Transforming Workplace Drama and is a Polyvagal Informed Practitioner being trained by Deb Dana.

Michelle has over a decade of experience in executive leadership and is the former Executive Director of Momentous Institute, a 100-year- old non-profit focused on building and repairing social emotional health. Under her leadership, Momentous Institute was named one of the top 100 Best Workplaces for Women by Fortune magazine and Great Places to Work and one of the 50 Best Workplaces in Texas. Michelle has received numerous leadership awards including CEO of the Year by CNM Connect, Faces of Hope by the Grant Halliburton Foundation, Dallas-Fort Worth Teach for America’s Honorary Alum, Juliette Fowler Communities Visionary Woman, and Award of Excellence by the Dallas Historical Society.

She has navigated many of the challenges her clients face and has identified a path from endless striving and exhaustion to an embodied, highly resourced and thriving state. Michelle is a fellow of the OpEd Project and has articles featured in over a dozen publications including TIME, Washington Post, Texas Tribune, Ms. Magazine, The Hill, Dallas Morning News, Mindful Magazine, Huffington Post and PBS’ Next Avenue. She is a nationally recognized speaker on leadership, navigating stress and trauma, embodying emotional intelligence, and prioritizing the mental health of teams. She is also the co-author of WHOLE: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive and is a published poet.

Michelle was raised in Guatemala as the fifth of six children and lives in Dallas with her husband, daughters, and pups.

And Workshop Presenters: 

Kawai Lai

Transformation Consultant @ Aug.co

and

Eric Hudson

Chief Program Officer @ Global Online Academy (GOA)

Presenting:

Leadership Habits To Create Trust, Connection, and Learning 

As school leaders you often carry the needs and culture of your faculty, students, and community, especially during the past few years. What does it mean to be a leader today? How do we focus on what’s next while honoring this past year?  This session will share habits you can have as a leader to create greater trust, connection, and learning with your team. These habits are practical actions you can apply immediately and that can have a ripple effect, leading to greater purpose and outcomes. This session is designed for school leaders.

About Kawai Lai and Eric Hudson

Kawai Lai | Transformation Consultant @ Aug.co

Kawai is a designer and facilitator partnering with leaders to plan for the future. She brings an equity lens, deep education expertise, and a visual practice that sparks joy in her work. She also supports leadership development as an Instructional Coach with Global Online Academy, reimagines more inclusive ways of working with Aug.co, and is a co-author of The New Team Habits © 2020, which provides practices for leaders to build better team habits. She co-founded VizLit to unleash the visual mind of every learner, formerly served as Vice President of Innovation at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and helped launch and grow Education Elements. Prior to her career in education, Kawai focused on change and technology with Deloitte Consulting. She currently serves as a trustee on the boards of several independent schools as well as an advisory board member of Defy Ventures. She has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Methodist University.

Eric Hudson | Chief Program Officer @ Global Online Academy (GOA)

Eric reimagines learning to empower students and educators to thrive in a globally networked society. He leads GOA’s strategy around programming for students, educators, and school leaders. Eric believes that learning experiences must be human-centered and research-based, principles that drive his work with learners of all ages. Prior to joining GOA in 2013, Eric lived his passion in the classroom, teaching English and Spanish to middle school, high school, and college students. Eric is an author and frequent speaker on topics including modern approaches to leading teams, competency-based education, online/hybrid learning design, and connecting what we learn in school to making an impact on the world beyond it. He currently serves on the board of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS), an organization devoted to preparing  schools for the future. Eric has a MA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. Eric lives on Cape Cod, MA.