2022 Plenary Speakers

We are pleased to announce the plenary speakers for the 2022 Conference.

Thursday Morning Plenary

Jevon Hunter and Gliset Colón

Jevon D. Hunter, Ph.D. is the Woods-Beals Endowed Chair for Urban Education and Interim Associate Dean for the School of Education at SUNY Buffalo State. He is an award-winning literacy justice educator whose work centers the lived and living experiences of African, African descended, Latinx, and urban youth. His interests are principally collaborative, having partnered with numerous schools, school districts, and educational organizations across the United States to share the benefits of Culturally Relevant Education, Antiracist Education, and other asset-based, liberatory instructional and curricular frameworks designed to engage young people in emancipatory, restorative, and liberating literacy practices that help to center their voices, experiences, and expertise. A sought-after speaker and trainer, Dr. Hunter works side-by-side with prospective, pre-service, and in-service teachers, as well as other educators to envision and implement new forms of learning and instruction so our young people can shine in school and life.

Dr. Gliset Colón is currently an Assistant Professor in the Exceptional Education Department at SUNY Buffalo State. She has the distinct pleasure of coordinating the Teaching Bilingual Exceptional Individuals Graduate Certificate Program. She is also the owner of and an educational consultant for Valley Equity Consulting. She is actively involved in several professional organizations including the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), and the New York State Association for Bilingual Education (NYSABE). Dr. Colón teaches courses on topics related to bilingual special education, behavior and classroom management, and foundations of special education. In addition to teaching, she has research interests and expertise in literacy and language outcomes for multilingual students with and without disabilities, multi-tiered systems of support, disproportionality, and culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy.

Laura Glass is the Senior Policy Advisor for Higher Education in the Office of Higher Education at the NYS Education Department. In this role, she develops and implements policies and regulations related to educator certification and educator preparation programs. Prior to joining NYSED, Dr. Glass worked in the field of education for over 20 years in various positions, including as a high school mathematics teacher and a faculty member, School of Education Associate Director, and Director of the Center for Teacher Education at the University of Delaware. She also engaged in activities at the state and national levels, such as serving as the President of the Delaware Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (DACTE) and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Government Relations and Advocacy Committee.

William Murphy is the Deputy Commissioner for Higher Education at the NYS Education Department, overseeing the Office of College and University Evaluation (OCUE), and offices that coordinate teacher certification; personnel review and accountability for teachers and school leaders; and postsecondary opportunity, access and early college HS programs. Before his appointment as Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Murphy served in various roles at NYSED, most recently as the Director of Professional Education where he led teams responsible for evaluating higher education programs for professional licensure at public and private colleges and universities in New York State and internationally. He holds a Ph.D. from the University at Albany, a Master of Science in Education (M.S. Ed.) from Baruch College, and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Le Moyne College.

Thursday Luncheon Plenary

Laura Glass and Bill Murphy (NYSED)

Friday Morning Plenary

Nicole Mirra

Nicole Mirra is an associate professor of urban teacher education in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She previously taught high school English Language Arts in Brooklyn, New York and Los Angeles, California. Her research explores the intersections of critical literacy and civic engagement with youth and teachers across classroom, community, and digital learning environments. Central to her research and teaching agenda is a commitment to honoring and amplifying the literacy practices and linguistic resources that students from minoritized communities bring to public life and articulating a speculative paradigm for teaching and learning. She is the author of Educating for Empathy: Literacy Learning and Civic Engagement (Teachers College Press, 2018) and a co-author (with Antero Garcia and Ernest Morrell) of Doing Youth Participatory Action Research: Transforming Inquiry with Researchers, Educators, and Students (Routledge, 2015).

Dr. Bettye H. Perkins Ed. D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers (TSTT), has been at the forefront in helping to close the teacher diversity gap in America’s schools for more than 23 years. With an enormous passion for opening doors for young people, Dr. Perkins launched TSTT in 1994 with only 7 students in Westchester County, New York. Today, TSTT’s full-circle collaborative model has been successfully replicated in four states: New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia. TSTT has produced over 250 alumni teachers and administrators, and nearly 800 high school and college students are currently in the pipeline to become caring, competent, committed teachers and leaders.

Dr. Perkins is the recipient of many awards and proclamations acknowledging her outstanding achievement in Educational Leadership such as: the Special Parent Honoree Award by the NYS Education Department, the Pathfinder Award by the NYS Association of Women in Administration; the Trailblazer Award by the NY Chamber of Commerce, the Distinguished Service Award from the Westchester County, NY County Executive’s Office, the prestigious 2018 AARP Purpose Prize Founders Award for Intergenerational Excellence, the 914INC. Magazine “2020 Woman in Business Awards” and nominated for The 2020 George H.W. Bush Points of Light Awards Celebration Inspiration Honor Roll.

Dr. Perkins received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from North Carolina A&T State University, a Master of Science Degree in Education from Pace University, and a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership and Urban Policy from Fordham University. In May 2017, Dr. Perkins received an Honorary Degree in Pedagogy from Manhattan College where she delivered the commencement address to graduate students.

Dr. Perkins’ work was featured in the September 2016 American Federation of Teachers widely read publication, The American Educator, “Growing the Next Generation: A Program Encourages Students of Color to Become Teachers". Her work has been published by the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) as a best practice for Human Capital Management Strategies, and by Harvard Business School for the significant economic value and the critical social impact TSTT has made on our society.

Her work has also been highlighted in several national and local media outlets such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Journal News, and the Westchester County Press.

Born and raised in South Carolina, Dr. Perkins and her husband, John, are avid tennis players and live in Hartsdale, New York.

Friday Luncheon Plenary

Bettye Perkins