Tim Odegard is a professor of psychology at Middle Tennessee State University, where he also holds the Katherine Davis Murfree Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies. In addition, he leads the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Dyslexia, a consulting editor of the Journal of Learning Disabilities, and is a former editor at large for Perspectives on Language and Literacy. With nearly a decade of experience in his current roles, he combines his expertise as a research scientist with practical applications as a reading therapist. Tim completed a two-year dyslexia specialist training program at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas.

Shelby Skaanes is a dedicated educator and seasoned consultant with three decades of experience in the field of education. For the past 15 years, she has owned and operated SJS Educational Consulting, providing professional development and technical assistance to educational organizations nationwide. Her collaborative work with institutions such as Boston University, the University of Oregon and the National Center on Improving Literacy focuses on integrating research-backed practices to enhance educator efficacy and improve student literacy outcomes.

Shelby’s consultancy services encompass a broad spectrum of professional development and technical assistance offerings. She specializes in on-site coaching and model lessons, equipping educators with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively implement evidence-based practices.

Daryl Michel, PhD, consults with organizations nationally and internationally in areas such as instructional coaching, teacher education, disciplinary literacy, learning and lesson study, and curriculum design. He is the founder of Be A Change, LLC, and coauthor of Student-Focused Coaching: The Instructional Coach’s Guide to Supporting Student Success Through Teacher Collaboration (Brookes Publishing, 2022). In addition to his educational consulting, he serves as a project manager for The University of Texas at Austin’s Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk and as a statewide coordinator at WestEd supporting secondary disciplinary literacy. Daryl began his career in the education profession nearly three decades ago and, today, continues to follow his passion of learning with and from others and advocating for voices and perspectives to be heard.

Lindsay Kemeny is a seasoned elementary-school teacher who is currently teaching first grade. After her son was diagnosed with dyslexia and depression, she began her deep dive into effective literacy instruction. She is a CERI certified Structured Literacy Classroom Teacher and holds a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. In addition to being a classroom teacher, Lindsay has served as a teacher mentor and reading interventionist. She enjoys presenting locally and nationally, and co-hosting the Literacy Talks podcast. She is the author of the book, 7 Mighty Moves: Research-Backed, Classroom-Tested Strategies to Ensure K-3 Reading Success. Her articles have appeared in The Reading League Journal and IDA Perspectives.

Julie Brown has held a variety of roles including Structured Literacy Teacher, Literacy Facilitator, ELL Coordinator, and Special Educator for her district in Woodstock, Vermont. She holds three Vermont teaching endorsements for Special Education, Multilingual Learner, and Reading Specialist. For the past nine years, she has taught middle and high school Structured Literacy and Structured Writing courses. Julie is a doctoral student at Mount St. Joseph University studying Reading Science with research interests in prevention and adolescent literacy. Her students are her inspiration.

Sherry Sousa has dedicated her career to working with adolescents with disabilities. In her many capacities serving Mountain Views Supervisory Union, Sherry has focused on providing students with learning differences opportunities to grow and to remain in their home communities.  Under her leadership, the role of a MVSU special educator was reimagined as Learning Specialist--reducing the number of students receiving special education services from 17% to 11%.  She has co-authored three books on nonverbal learning disabilities and has presented throughout the Northeast on this topic.  For the last four years, Sherry has had the privilege of serving as MVSU’s Superintendent.  She has welcomed the opportunity to engage with an outstanding staff on behalf of her students and their communities. Sherry is committed to improving educational equity and sees literacy as a key component of that work.

Margaret Goldberg is a literacy coach in a large urban district in California. She's held a variety of roles including district Early Literacy Lead, site-based literacy coach, reading interventionist, and classroom teacher. In every role, she's worked to help schools and districts align instruction with reading research. She is the co-founder of The Right to Read Project, a group of teachers, researchers, and activists committed to the pursuit of equity through literacy. Her writing is published on The Right to Read Project blog and on Reading Rockets