Keynote Speakers

Mathew Nosanchuk

Matt Nosanchuk is an accomplished strategist, thinker, leader, lawyer, public speaker, and writer. Over the course of his career -- working in the executive branch, the Senate and House, and in the non-profit and private sectors -- Matt has developed breadth, depth, and expertise working on policy, strategy, advocacy, communications, and stakeholder engagement. Most recently, Matt co-founded and led the New York Jewish Agenda (NYJA), a startup non-profit organization focused on education and advocacy on priority issues for the pluralistic and diverse Jewish community in New York City and State. In 2020, Matt led

Jewish and LGBTQ+ outreach efforts for the DNC and the Biden-Harris campaign. Matt served throughout the Obama-Biden Administration in senior roles in the White House, on the National Security Council Staff, and at the Departments of State, Justice (DOJ), and Homeland Security (DHS). These including serving as Senior Counselor to Assistant Attorney

General Tom Perez in the Civil Rights Division at DOJ, where he led the Division's work to advance LGBTQ+ rights and established its Policy Section, and as White House liaison to American-Jewish community, where he played a key role in outreach, policy, and communications work relating to the U.S.-Israel relationship, combating antisemitism, and

Vice President Biden's Holocaust Survivor Initiative. For his efforts to advance LGBTQ+ rights, Matt received the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award and the American Bar Association's inaugural Stonewall Award. Matt is originally from Michigan and is a graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School, where he was a Truman Scholar and Senior Note Editor on the Stanford Law Review.


Dr. Buddy Berry

Visionary Dr. Buddy Berry has a passion for reinventing the K-12 school experience. His School on FIRE (Framework of Innovation for Reinventing Education) model is currently in it's 9th full year of implementation and is seeing dramatic results. Dr. Berry is in his 12th year as Superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools and his team’s success has allowed him to be invited to the White House twice, the first as one of the 100 top school Superintendents in America at their only National Connected Superintendents Summit. Dr. Berry’s work and school district have also been the focus of numerous media and news stories released by Edutopia (George Lucas Films) for several videos. 

Inspired by Silicon Valley’s tech industry and Disney World’s Epcot park, the EDhub features eight makerspaces—such as robotics and design thinking labs—and a library where students can borrow power tools to build any creation they dream up. The building’s circular shape, many windows, and moveable walls breathe a sense of openness and community into the building. 

Keith Curry Lance

Keith Curry Lance is a consultant who works with libraries and related organizations as a researcher, statistician, public speaker, proposal writer, and facilitator.  He was the founding Director of the Library Research Service at the Colorado State Library in 1987.  Since leaving that position in 2007, he has focused on consulting both independently and with the RSL Research Group, based in Louisville, Colorado.

Keith is best known in the school library community as the principal investigator of the most prolific research team studying the impact of school libraries and librarians on academic achievement and student learning. That team is now involved in another landmark study to investigate what’s really going on behind the data indicating dramatic losses of school librarians since the Great Recession.

He is best known in the public library community as the co-creator of the Library Journal Index of Public Library Service and a long-time state and national leader in the development and use of public library statistics.

Keith is working more and more as a member of proposal-writing teams and an evaluator of LSTA- and other federally-funded projects. He is also available, and experienced, as a focus group interviewer and a neutral process-focused facilitator of guided discussions.


Professor David V. Loertscher

Professor David Loertscher was a Pied Piper elementary school librarian in the era of high tech sound filmstrips along side 10,000 print books that were worn out in three years. Add to this, his high tech high school library stint in a high school where the library was the textbook for all classes. Then on to a doctoral dissertation that resulted from a visit to every grade ten through twelve in the state of Indiana. Teaching and professing in four universities and a decade as head of the editorial department of Libraries Unlimited were all a joy.  Add the presidency of AASL where the Count on Reading initiative resulted in 68 million books read during his presidential term. Old as dirt. Still loving school libraries. See davidloertscherlibrary.org and you can download all the books and articles written over half a century that no one need care about. P.S. in 1986, I wrote the following book not realizing that it would be so appropriate for 2023:

Reader’s Guide to Non-Controversial Books for Children, Young People, and Discriminating Adults.





Dr. Anthony Chow

I am married with three children and have a PhD in instructional systems design (my major professor was Dr. Marcy Driscoll) and MS in educational psychology (my advisor was Dr. Bruce Tuckman) from Florida State University and a BS in developmental psychology from San Francisco State University. After a few years working in training for the Florida Department of Revenue and an Internet company, I became a non-tenured track faculty member at Florida State's School of Information Studies where I headed up their online learning program, usability lab, and their information technology department. I began teaching courses in leadership, usability, and technology teaching, conducting research, and consulting in the LIS field (6 years at FSU and 15 years at UNCG) before joining the iSchool. As a consultant, I am the CEO of Strategic Performance Systems, where I develop strategic plans for libraries as well as conduct evaluations and needs assessments for a wide array of organizations across the nation. 

My academic career spans 21 years during which time I have worked as a faculty member; served as coordinator/director of online learning; published two books and two book chapters and 141 peer-reviewed publications, proceedings, presentations and posters; and received over $3 million in grants and contracts to fund research projects. I have a steep record of service and leadership at all levels of academia and the library and information science field and take deep pride in contributing to any team or group I am part of. Academic leadership positions I have held include serving as Secretary for the UNC System Faculty Assembly, the founding co-editor of the UNC System Journal of Digital Learning Innovations, UNCG’s Faculty Senate Chair, Chair of UNCG’s P&T Committee, Chair of UNCG’s Internal Grants Committee, and School of Education Faculty Assembly Chair.