UNITED PROGRAM

2025 Keynote Speakers

Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad is an Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has previously served as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, school district administrator, curriculum director, and school board president. She studies Black historical excellence in education, intending to reframe curriculum and instruction today. She has also received numerous national awards and is the author of the best-selling book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Model for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Her newest book, Unearthing Joy, provides a practical guide for putting culturally and historically responsive education into curricular practice.

Keynote

John C. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, speaker, coach and leader who has sold more than 34 million books. He is the founder of Maxwell Leadership—a leadership development organization that has trained tens of millions of leaders in every nation. Having been recognized as the #1 leader in business and as the world’s most influential leadership expert, Maxwell continues to influence individuals and organizations worldwide—from Fortune 500 CEOs and national leaders to entrepreneurs and the leaders of tomorrow. For more information, visit maxwellleadership.com.

2025 Pre-Conference Workshops

Add on a day of learning to your experience at UNITED with pre-conference sessions. More information coming soon!

The distribution of leadership within a school is essential to ensure positive change and should not be left to chance. Every staff member has the capacity to lead and shape successful and sustainable reform. Casas draws from his 22 years of experience as a school leader and shares his expertise for developing and building leadership capacity within all team members. Participants will learn practical strategies to grow and develop leaders. More importantly, they will leave inspired and with a renewed understanding of how to move their school to the next level.

We know “rigor” isn’t the most popular word among educators. But what if we told you, it’s the key to unlocking your students’ full potential? Recent research shows that rigor is critical for high-level learning. The problem? There’s been no clear definition of what rigor actually looks like in the classroom. In this pre-conference workshop, we will introduce a game-changing tool that highlights 25 observable indicators of rigor in the classroom, eliminating any guesswork. Participants will also be given the opportunity to analyze instructional moves and identify coaching supports to ensure all students experience high expectations teaching. Discover how, as a school leader, you can transform the dreaded buzzword, “rigor,” into a pathway for student success.

As administrators, coaches or colleagues, we often come up against situations where difficult topics must be addressed. What do we know about the best strategies for these specific moments? What questions should we be asking ourselves before we speak, and what language is best for when we do speak? Based on Jennifer’s books, Having Hard Conversations and Hard Conversations Unpacked, and her work with conflict and interpersonal communication, this session will provide participants with planning and scripting tools for having those necessary humane and growth producing conversations with families at this time of unpredictability.