The Speakers

Author-illustrator Jarrett Lerner is the award-winning creator of the EngiNerds series of Middle Grade novels, the Geeger the Robot series of early chapter books, the activity books Give This Book a Title and Give This Book a Cover, The Hunger Heroes series of graphic novel chapter books, and the Nat the Cat series of early readers, the first of which was named an ALSC/ALA 2024 Notable Book. Jarrett is also the creator of the illustrated novel in verse A Work in Progress, which received multiple starred reviews, was a Kids’ Indie Next List pick, and was selected for the 2023 Global Read Aloud. The book also appeared on the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2023 list, the Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best 2023 list, and was named an Audible Best Book of 2023. The book has also, more recently, been nominated for several 2024 state awards and was given a 2024 Notable Children’s Book Award by NCTE’s Children’s Literature Assembly. All of Jarrett’s books are published by Simon & Schuster. In addition to writing, drawing, and visiting schools and libraries across the country, Jarrett co-founded and co-organizes the KidsNeedBooks and KidsNeedMentors projects, and regularly spearheads fundraisers for various reading- and book-related causes. He is also the founder and operator of Jarrett Lerner’s Creator Club. He can be found at jarrettlerner.com and on Twitter and Instagram at @Jarrett_Lerner. He lives with his wife and daughters in Massachusetts. 

M. Colleen Cruz is an independent consultant and fierce advocate for the students and teachers with whom she shares her passion for accessibility, research-based instruction and equity.

An educator with over two decades of experience in both general education and inclusive settings, Colleen is also the author of several books for teachers including Risk. Fail. Rise. A Teacher’s Guide to Learning from Mistakes; Writers Read Better: Narrative; Writers Read Better: Nonfiction; and The Unstoppable Writing Teacher, as well as the author of a young adult novel, Border Crossing, a Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Finalist. Colleen co-edits the Not This But That series with Nell Duke - a popular series of books that pairs research and practice.

For many years, Colleen worked at Teachers College, Columbia University where she was instrumental in designing new curriculum, developing practices to support students with IEPs, leading the partnership with ChildMind Institute, devising and testing a  comics-based summer school phonics and phonemic awareness curriculum for elementary through middle school, innovating instructional methods using digital tools, and architecting a large-scale tutoring project.

Colleen has been described as someone who doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, while staying firmly grounded in joyful practice. She does this through listening closely, considering relevant research, and building relationships while developing and demonstrating actionable steps. Whether working with a teacher on revamping their classroom library to reflect their student’s needs, or a grade level to develop protocols for implementing interventions or a school-wide team to audit systems that might be in need of change, Colleen makes sure that those she serves get the honest, warm and practical support they need.

Colleen currently supports organizations, districts and schools who want professional development that brings her unique combination of integrity, humor, real-world practicality and a rare depth and breadth of scholarship involving topics including:

• Literacy curriculum transition from more theory based to more research and evidence based

• Reading instruction

• Writing instruction

• Literacy and IEPs

• Supporting students with dyslexia inside general education settings

• Culturally affirming and sustaining knowledge-building

• Digital reading and writing

• General education and special education school-wide cohesion

• Elementary and middle school phonics and phonemic awareness instruction

• Curriculum design and revision

• Administrator curriculum support

When Colleen isn’t working with educators or writing about education, you can find her gallivanting around Brooklyn with her partner, two children and dog, Charlie. Her favorite off-hours activities include buying more books than she has time to read, making complicated confections, and working on a historical fiction novel for middle grade readers.