Keynote Speakers

College and Career Readiness

Dr. Alexis Stokes currently serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Engagement Launch Senior Manager at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).  She has over 11 years of experience working with non-profit and higher education institutions.  Throughout her career she has worked to not only increase college and career access but also create systematic changes to support the success of underrepresented minorities, nontraditional students, and education programs in rural and urban areas.  In her current role, she is responsible for working with various SEAS offices, including Faculty Affairs, Academic Programs, Human Resources, and the senior Administrative Leadership Team, to develop and implement a diversity and inclusion plan, programming, engagement initiatives, and special projects.  Her research interests are student retention, college access, and creating inclusive academic environments.  She was recently awarded the Donald A. Gatzke Dissertation Award by the American Association of University Administrators for her work on "An Explanatory Model of First Year Retention".  Alexis has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana, a Master of Education in Community Counseling from the University of Georgia, and a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University.

Success for all Students

Chresal D. Threadgill is a native of Mobile, AL and is a graduate of John L. Leflore High School.  Chresal attended Alabama State University where he received a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership.  He began his educational journey, at Greenville Middle School in Butler County where he served as a middle school P.E. Teacher/Coach.  After only two years, the administration took note of Mr. Threadgill's excellent leadership ability and he was encouraged to become a part of the administrative team at Greenville Middle School.  After only two years of teaching, Chresal became the Vice-Principal.  Mr. Threadgill later relocated to Troy, Alabama, where he worked as Assistant Principal of Charles Henderson Middle School and later became the Principal.  After his work was completed at the building level, Mr. Threadgill then moved to the district office to serve as Assistant Superintendent.  As the Assistant Superintendent of Troy City Schools, his responsibilities included being Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Director of Special Education, and Director of Federal Programs, as well as additional supervisory responsibilities.  Chresal's tenure as Assistant Superintendent prepared him for his next appointment as Superintendent of Elba City Schools.  Mr. Threadgill served as the leader of Elba City Schools for five years and during his leadership, the system was able to grow to heights some viewed as impossible.  Recently, Mr. Threadgill returned home as the Chief of Staff for Mobile County Public Schools, where he worked in close conjunction with the Superintendent in overseeing 7,500 employees and approximately 55,000 students.  Mobile County School System is currently the largest school system in the state of Alabama.  Mr. Threadgill was selected as Mobile County Public School Superintendent in March of 2018, upon Martha Peek's retirement.

Throughout many of Mr. Threadgill's leadership positions, he has received numerous accolades and recognitions for his dedication and commitment in the field of education.  Mr. Threadgill was recently selected as the sole representative from the State of Alabama to participate in the Texas Superintendent's Academy, at Lamar University.  In addition, he served as the District II President in the Alabama School Superintendents Association.  While serving as the District III representative, Chresal was named Superintendent of the Year for District III.  Chresal was also appointed as the Chairman of the Advisory Council for College of Education at Troy University.  His most recent accolade includes being featured in The School Superintendent's Association's (AASA) publication based on his proved record of leadership within the field of education.

Pedagogy/Culture/Class

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is one of the leading intellectual voices in the country.  

He is currently the host of BET News and a political contributor for CNN.  An award-winning journalist, Dr. Hill has received numerous prestigious awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, GLAAD, and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Hill is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University.  Prior to that, he held positions at Columbia University and Morehouse College.

Since his days as a youth in Philadelphia, Dr. Hill has been a social justice activist and organizer.  He is a founding board member of My5th, a non-profit organization devoted to educating youth about their legal rights and responsibilities.  He is also a board member and organizer of the Philadelphia Student Union.  Dr. Hill also works closely with the ACLU Drug Reform Project, focusing on drug informant policy.  Over the past few years, he has actively worked on campaigns to end the death penalty and to release numerous political prisoners.

Ebony Magazine has named him one of America's 100 most influential Black leaders.  Dr. Hill is the author or co-author of four books: the award winning Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity; The Classroom and the Cell: Conversations on Black life in America; the New York Times bestseller Nobody: Casualties of America's War on The Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond; and Gentrifier.  He has also published two edited books: Media, Learning, and Sites of Possibility; and Schooling Hip-Hop: New Directions in Hip-Hop Based Education.  Trained as an anthropologist of education, Dr. Hill holds a Ph.D. (with distinction) from the University of Pennsylvania.  His research focuses on the intersections between culture, politics, and education in the United States and the Middle East.

Equity in STEM

Dr. Malcolm B. Butler is a Professor and Associate Director of the School of Teaching, Learning and Leadership at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.  Dr. Butler also coordinates the Science Education PhD Program.  He was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and spent his childhood in south Louisiana with his eight siblings and loving mother, Adlean F. Butler, and father, the late Lee Butler, Jr.  After earning a BS in Physics from Southern University in Baton Rouge, he began pursuit of a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Florida.  While in Gainesville, Butler became fascinated with the idea of "growing" more scientists, subsequently changing his degree plans, and ultimately earning a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Science Education.  Butler has taught and learned mathematics and science from elementary, middle and high school students.  In addition, he has been affiliated with several institutions of higher education, including the College of William and Mary, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, the University of Georgia, and the University of South Florida.  Dr. Butler has secured over six million dollars in funding to support his research and professional development initiatives.  He has presented his research findings and conducted workshops across the United States, as well as in Canada, Japan, The Philippines, Singapore, Cyprus, South Africa, and Botswana.  Along with numerous book chapters and journal articles, he co-authored Teaching Science to English Language Learners and co-edited Multicultural Science Education: Preparing Teachers for Equity and Social Justice.  Dr. Butler is also one of the authors of the K-5 science curriculum, National Geographic Exploring Science, "a research-based program that brings science learning to life through the lens of National Geographic."

Equity in Math Education

Dr. Peter Eley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Grades, Secondary and Special Subjects and current advisor for Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society.  Dr. Eley attended Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in pure Mathematics. He attended graduate school immediately after undergrad at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and earned Master's Degrees in Applied Mathematics and Mathematics Education. He earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education also from NCSU.

Dr. Eley has taught on multiple levels during his career. He began as a mathematics and science teacher at Eaton Johnson Middle School in Henderson, NC. He gained valuable experience as a high school teacher of mathematics at South Granville High School in Creedmoor, NC. Dr. Eley's collegiate experiences started at Saint Augustine's College in Raleigh, NC where he worked as the Data Manager/Webmaster for Saint Augustine College in Raleigh. He later relocated to Winston-Salem, NC to work at Winston-Salem State University to serve as the Mathematics and Science Education (NC-MSEN) Pre-College Program Coordinator. After serving in the coordinator capacity for five years, Dr. Eley accepted the challenge of becoming an assistant professor at Fayetteville State University. Dr. Eley's research interests are in equity, school policy and technology used to teach mathematics. He has a special interest in middle grades mathematical understanding and motivating students to learn using technology.

Dr. Eley was selected as the 2014-15 Middle Grades Secondary and Specialized Subjects Professor of the Year and 2014-15 Fayetteville State University College of Education Professor of the year. Additionally, he was also awarded the Wynton H. Hadley Teaching Award in 2014-15. During early 2015 Dr. Eley was selected as a Senior Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute for College and Career Readiness (MICCR) in collaboration with Boston University College of Education, MassInc's Gateway Cities Innovation Institute (GCII), and the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy.