Anu Upadhyaya is Virginia based educational pioneer with expertise in special education, data analysis, and applied behavior analysis student. He has worked in wide variety of professional capacities in both public and private sectors. Since graduating from the very first exceptional education degree program at Longwood University, Anu has been busy being the missing voice on behalf of the exceptional children. It is at Longwood, he was the founding father for the Alpha Phi Alpha chapter fraternity transcending cultural boundaries. Following graduation from Longwood, Anu spent a decade in special education classroom spanning from self-contained to full inclusion that led him to earn the nomination for teacher of the year. To further add to his educational portfolio, Anu returned to graduate school to earn the master’s degree in administration and supervision at Virginia State University. Managing work and graduate school, he was able to close out an ongoing investigation from the Office of Civil Rights case involving over identification in special education in a Richmond area public school division. This is just an example of Anu’s confident work and communication skills. Moving forward, as a school administrator, Anu worked tirelessly to reduce discipline incidence and leading the school to become fully accredited during his tenure. During his tenure as Special Education Federal Monitor and Data Analyst with Virginia Department of Education, Anu employed the use of data made available by VDOE and used it to help the schools divisions meet their goals for on-site compliance and performance review. He was able to visit over half of school divisions in Virginia to monitor special education program. Anu has vast experience in both rural and urban settings. During the past several years, he spent as Special education director, closing the corrective action plan and taking the school division to “Meets requirement” the highest rating. During his tenure, special education discipline decreased dramatically. As an engaging and dynamic presenter, Anu customizes the presentations and uses the data driven content to fit the need of the audience. Anu is passionate about finding meaning behind the numbers and values strategies that are supported by data to make the decisions that are in the best interest of students. He considers himself competitive and enjoys the challenge in improving special education program outcomes. He is a team player ready for any challenge that comes his way. He always roots for the underdog in sporting events and for this reason, he returned to classroom to earn his Board Certified Behavior Analyst through Virginia Commonwealth University to support students with autism. He enjoys spending quality family time with his lovely wife and three children. He loves to kayak, go biking, chill on nature hikes and working on puzzles.