NAME is thrilled to announce our keynote speakers for the November
2024 Conference in Anaheim. They represent the foundational and cutting-edge scholars, researchers and activists in the diverse field of multicultural education.
NOTE: This is a partial list, to date. Please watch for additional announcements.
Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona
Ethnic Studies & Theater Educator
Guadalupe Cardona has been an Ethnic Studies and Theatre educator for 23 years. She is dedicated to developing critical curriculum and facilitating cultural productions. She accomplishes this by fusing her curriculum and pedagogy with community cultural knowledge and a focus on auto-biographical counter narrative. Guadalupe has spent her personal life and career (re)membering herself and helps others on their quest for self-identity and the tools for telling their own stories. Guadalupe is the chair of the Association of Raza Educators Los Angeles, co-founder of XOCHITL Los Angeles, member of LAUSD’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum Committee, member of Ethnic Studies Now Coalition’s Coordinating Committee,
Clyde Wilson Pickett
Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
University of Pittsburgh
Clyde Wilson Pickett serves as University of Pittsburgh’s Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion providing leadership for university-wide comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. Pickett joined Pitt following a national search having previously served as the chief diversity officer for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. He is co-author of Inclusive Directions, that examines strategic diversity leadership programs in higher education.
Vajra Watson
Professor of Ed. Leadership & Policy Studies
Sacramento State University
Sacramento State's Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Vajra Watson is the director of their doctoral programs. She is a steadfast solutionary who works at the intersections of theory and practice, policies and pedagogies. She is the author and editor of several books, including, Transformative Schooling (Routledge, 2018), The Soul of Learning (Routledge, 2022). She also founded Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS), an organization dedicated to elevating young people as the authors of their own lives and agents of change
Paul Gorski
Founder, Equity Literacy Institute
& EdChange
Paul Gorski, PhD, is the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange. He has 25 years of experience helping educators, nonprofit workers, and others strengthen their equity efforts. As the research director of the Equity Literacy Institute, he conducts and collaborates on research and scholarship related to maximizing the transformative potential of equity efforts. He has published more than 70 articles and has written, co-written, or co-edited 12 books on various aspects of educational equity, including Reaching & Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap. His latest book (co-authored with Katie Swalwell), Fix Injustices, Not Students & Other Principles for Transformative Equity Leadership (ASCD, 2023) won NAME's Philip C. Chinn Multicultural Book Award.
James A. Banks
University of Washington-Seattle
Often referred to as "The Father of Multicultural Education" James Banks, professor emeritus at UW-Seattle, regularly energizes NAME conferences with his speeches and panels. In 2023, Banks received AERA's highest honor, The Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award, which is designed to publicize, motivate, encourage and suggest models for education research at its best.
This year at NAME he convenes a panel focusing on global multicultural education.
Christine Sleeter
Professor Emerita,
Cal State U-Monterey Bay
Christine E. Sleeter, Ph.D. is professor emerita in the College of Education at California State University Monterey Bay, where she was a founding faculty member. She is past president of the NAME, and past vice president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Her research focuses on anti-racist multicultural education, ethnic studies, and teacher education. She has published over 150 articles and 24 books, including two novels, and has won numerous awards for her scholarship and writing.
Carl A. Grant
Professor, Univ. of WI–Madison
Carl A. Grant, Ph.D, Professor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction, UW–Madison, has received numerous awards and recognitions. He is a founding member and past president of NAME. Grant has lectured on six of the seven continents, and in 49 of the 50 states. He has written or edited 48 books, as well as many articles on multicultural education, social justice, and inclusion for teachers and teacher educators. He has mentored many educators and activists to work towards equity and social justice .