Keynote Speakers

August 7

8:00 - 9:00 AM

I’m a former middle school teacher and current college professor on a quest to transform schools into bastions of creativity and wonder. I want to see teachers unleash the creative potential in all of their students so that kids can be makers, designers, artists, and engineers. I explore research, interview educators, deconstruct systems, and study real-world examples of design thinking in action. I share what I’m learning in books, blog posts, journal articles, free resources, animated videos, and podcasts.

In my second year of teaching, we used design thinking for our student-centered documentary project. Everything changed. I spent the next decade on a journey to empower my students to become creative thinkers and problem-solvers. This meant mural projects, service learning projects, STEM camps, and coding projects. But it also meant mistakes. Tons of them. It meant lessons that tanked and projects that failed. But each failure was another iteration on the road to innovation.

Along the way, I helped develop the student-friendly LAUNCH Cycle, a design thinking framework for K-12 students. It’s something I’ve used in the classroom and in the launching of two educational technology start-ups. Over the last few years, I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing people, schools, organizations, and conferences. I had the chance to speak at the White House and share my vision of the future of learning — one that empowers students to be creative thinkers.

August 8th

2:00 - 2:45 PM

A dynamic, versatile motivational speaker and trainer. Mr. Kambon is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of educational consulting and designing and conducting leadership seminars for public and private educational institutions.

Appointed by an Ohio gubernatorial commission, Mr. Kambon served as executive administrator of The Ohio Commission on African American Males. Mr. Kambon created a school for African American males who were at-risk of entering the Ohio penal system. The school received tremendous recognition for its creative approach to reaching and teaching young men who were at-risk of falling through the crack.

Philosophically, Mr. Kambon is a great believer in the efficacy of public-private partnerships. “I am a profound believer in self-help,” he says. When it comes to community issues, “government should be a catalyst and supporter of local initiatives, but must not attempt to apply generic solutions to specific problems and situations.”

Similarly, Mr. Kambon is a strong advocate for the establishment of policies, programs, and procedures that engage parents in the education of their children. “Parents must be hands-on participants in the educational process – active partners with teachers and administrators,” he says. “Getting parents involved often requires special effort and carefully devised programmatic approaches. This is especially true in multi-cultural environments where there may be race, class, and communications issues to overcome.”

Mr. Kambon and his wife, Hanifah – a recently retired teacher in the Columbus Public Schools – are the parents of three daughters.