Plenary Speakers
Claude Goldenberg
Claude Goldenberg is Nomellini & Olivier Professor of Education, emeritus, at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. His areas of professional interest center around policies and practices that influence the literacy and academic development of English language learners.
​
Sarah Gordon
Sarah Gordon spent the first two years of her undergrad studying in Israel. Upon receiving her teaching degree in the United States with a specialization in teaching Mathematics, she taught for 7 years in Canada, primarily in 7th and 8th-grade classrooms. Deciding to take leave of the classroom, Sarah founded Israel Connect, an organization that partners over Skype hundreds of students and mentors in the English speaking world to provide the students with authentic English language immersion experiences. Sarah has gone on to receive her MBA from the Telfer School of Management and currently resides with her husband and children in Ottawa, Canada.
​
Anne Sibley O’Brien
Anne Sibley O’Brien (AnneSibleyOBrien.com), from Maine, U.S.A., is a children’s book writer and illustrator who has published 37 books featuring diverse children and cultures. Her experience of being raised bilingual and bicultural in South Korea as the daughter of medical missionaries was the catalyst for a lifelong fascination with and passion for human difference. In addition to creating books, she has spent her life exploring issues of race, culture, representation, and inclusion, including two projects she co-founded, I’m Your Neighbor Books and The Diverse BookFinder.
​
In addition to three plenary speakers, we have a number of invited speakers