Laura Kaloi, MPA - With over twenty-five years of DC-based experience, she is an accomplished public affairs executive with keen interest and demonstrated results in Prek-16 education and health policy. Laura creates partnerships, alliances and opportunities for clients to expand and strengthen their policy prowess, funding capacity, leadership, visibility and organizational effectiveness on key priorities. Laura has worked for health and education-focused nonprofit organizations as a senior executive as well as the private sector. As a nationally recognized policy expert and child advocate, she has led and consulted on successful initiatives with the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, and with the White House. Throughout her career, she has successfully influenced PreK-16 education, career and technical education, disability and workforce laws. With a focus on vulnerable children and adults, Laura is recognized for her policy and advocacy successes in early learning, early literacy, education assessments and accountability, elementary and secondary education. Laura is a published writer and enjoys public speaking, especially when she is training new advocates to find the power of their story. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Utah and a Master in Public Administration from Brigham Young University, Romney Institute of Public Management where she currently advises MPA candidates and serves on the Executive Advisory Board. Laura is a volunteer mentor to young women ages 12-18, proud public high school varsity basketball parent, avid reader and especially loves to harangue her family into watching musicals.

Nelson Mar is a senior staff attorney at Bronx Legal Services. His practice includes Education Law with prior experience in Social Security Disability, labor/employment and community economic development law. Nelson was co-chair of the Education committee of the NYS Bar Association’s Task Force on Racism, Social Equity and the Law. He previously served as the coordinator for the Legal Services NYC’s citywide Education Law Task Force and chaired the Education Law Committee of the New York County Lawyer’s Association (NYCLA). Nelson was a member of the Mayor’s School Safety Community Partnership Committee and previously a subcommittee member of Mayor de Blasio’s School Climate Leadership Team which produced significant recommendations on improving school climate in New York City’s public schools.

Over the last 25 years Nelson has represented hundreds of families in education law issues with a focus on the intersection of students with disabilities and student discipline in the hopes of disrupting the schools to prison pipeline. This focus culminated in Nelson initiating TH et. al. v. Farina et. al., 13cv8777 (SDNY), a groundbreaking federal lawsuit challenging the practice by NYC schools of sending students to hospital emergency rooms for disruptive behaviors. Nelson is a proud product of the NYC public school system and received a dual degree JD & MSW from the University at Buffalo and his BA from Binghamton University.

Rasheedah Brown-Harris (she/her/hers) is a paralegal with the Education Law Unit focused on Healing Centered Schools. In that capacity she plays a leading role in that initiative. Prior to joining Bronx Legal Services, Rasheedah played a leadership role in the Healing Centered Schools Working Group. She is a mother of a 13 year old public school student and a community builder. Rasheedah has many years of experience as a parent leader, family advocate and an equity in education champion in the New York City public school district through her significant involvement with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), School Leadership Team (SLT), District Leadership Team (DLT), Community Education Council (CEC), Presidents’ Council, and Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council (CPAC).

Rasheedah is also a parent participant of NYC’s Critically Conscious Educators Rising program, and is a National CRSE (Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education) Fellow through NYU Metro Center supporting the efforts toward dismantling racism and unpacking biases in schools. Rasheedah has also participated in the national healing centered engagement.

Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of the influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost and Found, and Raising Human Beings. He is the originator of the model of care described in those books, now called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS). Dr. Greene was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 20 years, and is now founding director of the non-profit Lives in the Balance, which provides a vast array of free, web-based resources on the CPS model. He has appeared in a wide range of media, including The Oprah Show, Good Morning America, The Morning Show, National Public Radio, Mother Jones magazine, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and the Boston Globe. Dr. Greene lectures and consults widely throughout the world and lives in Portland, Maine.