The Speakers

Keynote Speaker Dr. Lori Desautels

Dr. Lori Desautels has been an Assistant Professor at Butler University where she has taught both undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Education since 2016. Lori was also an Assistant Professor at Marian University in Indianapolis for 8 years where she founded the Educational Neuroscience Symposium that has now reached thousands of educators and is in its 16th year. Lori’s passion is engaging her students through the social and relational neurosciences as it applies to education. She does this by integrating the tier one trauma-accommodating Applied Educational Neuroscience framework and its learning principles and practices into her coursework at Butler.

The Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification, created by Lori in 2016, is specifically designed to meet the needs of educators, counselors, clinicians and administrators who work beside children and adolescents who have, and are, experiencing adversity and trauma. The certification is now global and has reached hundreds of educators.

Lori’s articles are published in Edutopia, Brain Bulletin, and Mind Body Spirit international magazine. She was also published in the Brain Research Journal for her work in the fifth-grade classrooms during a course release position with Washington Township Schools. Lori continues her work co-teaching in the K-12 schools integrating her applied research into classroom procedures and transitions preparing the nervous system for learning and felt safety. Lori is the author of 4 books with more to come. Her most recent books are: Intentional Neuroplasticity, Our Educational Journey Towards Post Traumatic Growth, Connections over Compliance: Rewiring our Perceptions of Discipline. Her newest book was a 2024 manual titled, Body and Brain Brilliance: A Manual to Cultivate Awareness and Practices for our Nervous System. Lori has met with over 200 school districts across the country, in Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, Scotland, England and Dubai equating to more than 150,000 educators with much more work to be done!

Plenary Speaker Stacy Williams, M.Ed. Trauma & Healing Practitioner

Stacy Williams is an educator, consultant, and practitioner in the field of trauma, healing. and resilience whose work spans K-12 and higher education. Certified in Healing-Centered Engagement, Trauma-Informed Community Development, and Trauma Responsive Educational Practices, Stacy draws on over 20 years of experience translating research into practice to address complex issues of equity and access in large city schools. As a teacher leader in the classroom, school administrator, and district coach, Stacy supports educators with their commitments to provide students with the tools they need to succeed and thrive. Her passion for this work comes from her own experience as a student, educator, parent, auntie, and advocate. She practices "putting on her own oxygen mask first" by spending time with family and friends cooking, traveling, enjoying the outdoors and teaching her rescue pup to communicate with buttons.

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