Presenters are listed in order of appearance.

Open Planning Sessions Will Take Place on Saturday and Sunday Mornings

Sharon Nakazato ~ Sharon Nakazato, is a Prizewinning professional artist Sharon has charge of the Art Room at Longview School, where she offers courses in Art/Creativity, Asian Brush, and a variety of Art History/Culture-related classes.

Jerry Mintz ~ Jerry Mintz, has been a leading voice in the alternative school movement for over 30 years. In addition to his seventeen years as a public and independent alternative school principal and teacher, he has also helped found more than fifty public and private alternative schools and organizations. He has lectured and consulted in more than twenty-five countries around the world.

In 1989, he founded the Alternative Education Resource Organization and since then has served as it’s Director. Jerry was the first executive director of the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools (NCACS), and was a founding member of the International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC).

In addition to several appearances on national radio and TV shows, Jerry’s essays, commentaries, and reviews have appeared in numerous newspapers, journals, and magazines including The New York Times, Newsday, Paths of Learning, Green Money Journal, Communities, Saturday Review, Holistic Education Review as well as the anthology Creating Learning Communities (Foundation for Educational Renewal, 2000).

Jerry was Editor-in-Chief for the Handbook of Alternative Education (Macmillan, 1994), and the Almanac of Education Choices (Macmillan/Simon & Schuster, 1995). He is the author of No Homework and Recess All Day: How to Have Freedom and Democracy in Education (AERO, 2003) and is editor of Turning Points: 35 Visionaries in Education Tell Their Own Story (AERO, 2010).

Mark Jacobs ~ Mark Jacobs, is the co-founder and director of Longview School, a private, democratic school located in Brewster, NY, and the host school for this AEROx Conference. He is also a co-founder of NADEC, the Northeast Association Democratic Education Conference, in which capacity he hosted two of the annual conferences at Longview School. He is a social activist who has spent much of his life trying to find solutions to the problems our communities face. He is an award-winning public speaker and nationally-ranked racquetball player. He lives in Garrison, New York, with his wife, to whom he has been ecstatically married for over 20 years, and has two children and one grandchild, who never cease to amaze and delight him.

Kerry McDonald ~ Kerry McDonald, is a Senior Education Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019). She is also a regular contributor at Forbes, spotlighting innovative K-12 education models. Her articles have appeared at the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Reason, NPR, Education Next, City Journal, and Entrepreneur, among others. Kerry is a founding Board member at the Alliance for Self-Directed Education. She has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an M.Ed. in education policy from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children.

Molly ~ Molly, is a 13-year-old unschooler from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has many interests but her top passions include baking, crafting, acting, reading fantasy books, writing fan fiction, and doing math. She is also more than halfway on her path to a first-degree black belt in martial arts, in which she takes classes three times a week. Molly’s interest in martial arts led to a curiosity about Korean language and culture, and she learns with a native Korean language tutor several times a week. She also attends a self-directed learning center for unschoolers twice a week where she does computer programming, drawing, theatre, and hangs out with friends. Follow her on Instagram @mollys_makery.

Alison Snieckus ~ Alison Snieckus is on the board for Liberated Learners and is a staff member at Princeton Learning Cooperative in New Jersey. She has worked with young people in Self-Directed Education settings for almost 20 years, most recently as a teacher/mentor at PLC, and prior to that working with teens in her local homeschooling community.

Leo Fahey ~ Leo Fahey, is a retired professor of Communication, Media and Culture, Leo has from the Fall of 1980 taught undergraduates at Kingsborough Community College, Jersey City State College, New York University, Elizabeth Seton College, Long Island University/Brooklyn, Bronx Community College, Marymount Manhattan College, Molloy College, and Fordham University. He has presented papers and organized panels at national Communication and Media conventions and has given workshops at numerous AERO and AEROx conferences. He remains an active advocate for the Twice-Exceptional child who principally authored bills in the New York State Legislature recognizing this category of pupil for service unique to the characteristics of this population and who promotes Democratic Education in service to the Twice-Exceptional. Leo has also been a tireless advocate for Democratic Education since coming together with other New York City advocates in 2003 on initiatives establishing Democratic Education communities in the City, one of which was the Brooklyn Free School.

Faith Clarke ~ Faith Clarke, is a business strategist and teamwork specialist with a background in computer engineering, education and is completing doctoral studies in the psychology of new venture teams. She helps disruptive, eclectic businesses infuse their core DNA into their team so that they can catalyze social change from the inside out. Faith especially loves to do this with special needs family run businesses who create space for people with all abilities.

Dr. Peter Berg ~ Dr. Peter Berg, is Author of the Tao of Teenagers: A Guide to Teen Health Happiness & Empowerment is the founder of Youth Transformations, where he works with youth as a board Certified Holistic Health and Mental Health Coach.

His work includes helping teenagers empower themselves so they can take charge of their health and happiness and be the masters of their own lives.

He holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and has written extensively on alternative, holistic, integrated educational theory and integrated health. He also serves as a faculty member for the Graduate Institute for Transformative Learning.

Peter works with AERO on various aspects of the organization. He is a reviewer for the American Educational Research Association. He has consulted on many school and organizational startups and has spent many years as an educational leader.