Dr. Rodney E. Watson became Superintendent of the Spring Independent School District in July 2014, and his tenure has been marked by developments in academics, early childhood, and special education; improved student data management; innovative new-teacher development and postsecondary preparedness programs; and forward-looking initiatives to ensure that the district is strong enough to meet both current and future challenges. Prior to accepting the leadership role at Spring ISD, Watson served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at the Houston Independent School District, the largest district in Texas and the seventh-largest in the nation, with more than 210,000 students and 30,000 employees.

Watson received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and music education, his master’s degree in counseling psychology, and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in Urban Leadership & Policy Analysis and Curriculum & Instruction. His professional affiliations include work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Association of Black School Administrators, and the American Counseling Association.

Dr. Alejandro del Carmen is currently serving as the Associate Dean of the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Strategic Studies at Tarleton State University in Fort Worth. Prior to joining Tarleton, Dr. del Carmen served as Chair and Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at Arlington. He is an instructor in the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (since 2001) and has served as an instructor in the Arlington Police Department Training Academy (4 years). He is certified as a grant evaluator/reviewer for the Department of Justice and as an instructor for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE). He earned a Ph.D. in criminology and criminal justice from Florida State University in 1997. His research interests include law enforcement, racial profiling, crime prevention; and corrections. Dr. Del Carmen has published over twenty-five refereed academic manuscripts in internationally recognized journals. His most recent book is titled Racial Profiling in America (2008) Prentice Hall Publishing.

Darryl Williams serves as the Co-Managing Director of the Teach Like a Champion Team, leading their leadership and school consulting work, where he works directly with schools to identify their learning goals and use a variety of tools to help achieve them. Under Darryl’s leadership, this part of the work is growing rapidly and his experience leading schools in a wide variety of settings and a special talent for helping schools understand themselves and see concrete steps on the path forward has led to rave reviews. Pretty much everyone who works with him is clamoring for more.

Dr. David Banks is president of Noble Success Strategic Group. He is a certified speaker, trainer, coach with John Maxwell. He is a certified professional trainer, a wholeness and success coach and author. He is the coordinator of Global Kindness Day!

As a professional coach, he specializes in relationship development, success development, leadership development, and motivation, and purpose discovery.

Dr. Banks speaks to government leaders, ministry leaders and corporate leaders. He is a global strategiest who empowers leaders with concepts to impact their nation. He is presently working in Philippines, Nigeria, Pakistan, Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, India and Denmark.

Dr. David Banks and his lovely bride; Lady Sylvia reside in Chattanooga, TN with their three children.

Principal Baruti Kafele, a highly-regarded urban public school educator in New Jersey for over twenty years, has distinguished himself in the classroom and as a school leader. One of the most sought-after education speakers in America, Principal Kafele has delivered more than 1000 conference keynotes and professional development workshops since leaving his principalship in 2011. An expert in the area of "attitude transformation," Principal Kafele is the leading authority for providing effective classroom and school leadership strategies toward closing what he coined, the "attitude gap" - defined as, "the gap between those students who have the WILL to achieve excellence and those who do not."

A prolific writer, Principal Kafele has written extensively on professional development strategies for creating a positive school climate and culture, transforming the attitudes of at-risk student populations, motivating Black males to excel in the classroom and school leadership practices for inspiring school-wide excellence. In addition to writing several professional articles on these topics for popular education journals, he is the author of eight books which include his national best-sellers, Closing the Attitude Gap, Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life and The Principal 50. His newest book, The Teacher 50 was released in September, 2016.

Dr. Lupita Hinojosa joined Spring ISD in 2014 as the Chief Schools Officer and currently serves as the district's Chief of Innovation and Equity. An experienced educational leader with more than 25 years in public education, Hinojosa began her career in 1988 as an elementary bilingual teacher with the Houston Independent School District and has since served as an elementary principal, middle school principal, executive principal, school services officer, and as an assistant superintendent – a role in which she oversaw 114 magnet programs serving approximately 45,000 students. During her time at Houston ISD, she gained valuable experience as a campus and district administrator, improved school ratings, developed principals to achieve school goals, and provided leadership in planning, developing, implementing and supervising quality research-based instructional programs. Starting in 2012, she served as School Services Support Officer for Houston ISD, overseeing federal and state compliance, school improvement efforts, and parent and community assistance. In addition, she coached and supported department heads, school support officers and principals.

Hinojosa holds a Bachelor of Science in fashion merchandising from the University of Texas at Austin, an Elementary and Bilingual Education Certification from the University of Houston, a Master of Education in educational leadership and management from the University of Houston at Clear Lake and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from the University of Houston.