Keynote Speakers

Broderick oversees the Comcast’s Public Policy team and holds overall responsibility for the company’s role in the digital equity space. Comcast is a leader in solutions to bridge the digital divide, and Broderick works closely with our partners in government and other stakeholders to support our shared goal of connecting as many Americans as possible to the Internet, and to shape our corporate policies that allow our businesses to continue to grow and innovate.

Broderick has more than three decades of experience as a lawyer, policy advisor, and political strategist, most recently with the international law firm of Covington & Burling. He has served under two U.S. Presidents, as Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs under President Clinton, and as Assistant to the President and Secretary of the Cabinet under President Obama. Broderick also served as chief counsel for several committees in the U.S. House.

Professor López Turley directs the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, which brings together data, research, engagement, and action to improve lives. In 2011, she founded the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC), a research-practice partnership between Rice University and eleven Houston area school districts, representing over 700,000 students. A program of the Kinder Institute, HERC works to improve educational equity by connecting research to policy and practice, working directly with district leaders. She directed HERC from 2011 to 2022, during which she raised over $30M so that school districts would not have to pay for research. She also founded the National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships, which connects and supports over 60 partnerships between research institutions and education agencies throughout the country. She is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard and is originally from Laredo, Texas. 

Lead Pastor of The Word Church, Jamail Johnson, serves as an educator, a fearless leader, author, success coach and a pioneer for change within his community. His drive, vision, and devotion to helping others led him to create Increase M.E. (Momentum Effectively). As founder and CEO of this organization, Mr. Johnson mentors other pastors, leaders, and entrepreneurs by providing practical and motivational leadership strategies. Whether in church, classroom, or corporate settings, Jamail unselfishly shares his knowledge and spiritual wisdom as a guide to ensure the advancement of his pupils.

Meeting the needs of marginalized communities, advocating for the transformation of education, and promoting social empowerment are merely a few of Jamail’s commitments he’s able to fulfill through being a liaison for organizations such as; The Greater Houston Frontiers Club, Police and Clergy Alliance, Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., to name a few. 

Jamail earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Southern University, a Bachelor of Theology from Penefaith Biblical Institute, and an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Kingdom Training Circuit Institute. His features and accolades include being recognized by Congresswoman Shelia Jackson-Lee, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Aldine I.S.D., ABC 13 News, The Houston Food Bank, and one of the 2018 Top 50 Black Professionals and Entrepreneurs of Texas. His background also includes fifteen years of pastoral and community activism experience that allows him to be an effective multigenerational and multicultural voice for change. 

Jamail forever speaks of his admiration for his wife, Natasha, and their two sons, JayeLon & Adonis.

Principal Baruti Kafele, a highly regarded urban educator in New Jersey for more than 20 years, has distinguished himself as a master teacher and a transformational school leader. As an elementary school teacher in East Orange, NJ, in addition to being named the East Orange School District and Essex County Public Schools Teacher of the Year, Principal Kafele was a finalist for New Jersey State Teacher of the Year and a recipient of the New Jersey Education Association Award of Excellence.

As a middle and high school principal, Principal Kafele led the transformation of four New Jersey urban schools, including “The Mighty” Newark Tech—which went from a low-performing school in need of improvement to national recognition, and which was recognized three times by U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s best high schools.

One of the most sought-after school leadership and classroom equity presenters in America, Principal Kafele is impacting America’s schools! He has delivered over two thousand conference and program keynotes, professional development workshops, parenting seminars and student assemblies over his 35 years of public speaking. An expert in the area of “attitude transformation,” Principal Kafele is the leading authority on providing effective classroom and school leadership strategies toward closing what he coined, the “Attitude Gap.” In addition to writing several professional articles for popular education journals, he has authored twelve books, including his seven ASCD best sellers – Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School & in Life, Closing the Attitude Gap, Is My School a Better School BECAUSE I Lead It?, The Teacher 50, The Principal 50, The Assistant Principal 50 and his newest release, The Equity & Social Justice Education 50.

Dr. King is an avid thought sponsor who uses her more than 17-years of experience as an educator, administrator, and consultant working to find ways to reduce and close the digital divide for students.  She is an award-winning digital equity advocate, student innovation champion, education curriculum and technology strategist and was honored by the FCC Commissioner as a 2020 Digital Equity Innovator for providing millions of students across the country with vital mobile connectivity during the pandemic.

As a keynote speaker and four times Forbes-published author, Dr. King is a tireless advocate for distance learning, and works to assess the needs of schools, develop strategic technology solutions, and deliver program plans that are high quality, well-supported, and fiscally sound. Dr. King is a results-oriented organizational leader who is driven by an acute desire to connect the nation’s most vulnerable children to online educational opportunities through distance learning programs that leverage advanced communications technologies and platforms.

In her current role leading T-Mobile for Education, Dr. King and her highly tenured education industry advisory team have provided critical connectivity for over 4.5 million students and leads Project 10 Million, a $10.7 billion commitment to students that was designed to provide free internet service and free wi-fi hotspots to 10 million student households in need across the country.