The Perkins Platform

Best selling author, philanthropist, acclaimed speaker, and senior level executive, Steve Pemberton, joins us to discuss his new book, The Lighthouse Effect. Steve currently serves as Chief People Officer for Workhuman. He previously served as Global Chief Diversity Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise in the world. Before his post at Walgreens Pemberton was the Chief Diversity Officer for Monster.com where he helped the company achieve all-time growth in applicants. From his participation on several non-profit boards to establishing A Chance in the World Foundation, Steve remains a relentless champion for those who have often been left in the shadows. His commitment to others and his refusal to accept things as they are, have earned him national recognition, including the coveted Trumpet Award and the prestigious Horizon Award by the United States Congress. Tune in on Wednesday, June 1 @ 6pm EST!

Join us on Wednesday, May 25 @ 6pm EST for a special conversation with the I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) program creator, Dr. Myrna B. Shure and lead national trainer for ICPS, Stephanie Colvin-Roy, to discuss their work and Dr. Shure’s book, Raising a Thinking Child.

Dr. Myrna B. Shure is professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She is the creator of the I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) program—a school-based social and emotional learning/violence prevention program, recognized for research and service by numerous national organizations. She is the author of the Raising a Thinking Child Workbook, an ICPS program for families, with recognition by the Strengthening America’s Families Project and NASP. She has been recognized by the American Psychological Association’s Psychology Matters initiative for research relating to schools and families.  Her books for parents, Raising a Thinking Child and Raising a Thinking Preteen are both Parent Choice Award winners. Dr. Shure consults on issues of mental health in our nation’s youth.

Stephanie Colvin-Roy has spent over 18 years providing professional development in prevention education and youth development. She provides professional learning, consultation and technical assistance to schools and youth-serving agencies with a focus on social and emotional learning as the training and organizational development associate for the Center for the Promotion of Social and Emotional Learning at Center for Schools and Communities. She is Lead International Trainer and manages the I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) and Raising a Thinking Child programs in partnership with the program developer, Dr. Shure. She has received extensive training in SEL and other areas, including character education, Courageous Conversations-Beyond Diversity, and Supporting Students Exposed to Trauma.

SPECIAL BROADCAST:  Educator Sari Beth Rosenberg joins us on Tuesday, May 24 @ 6pm EST to discuss how she’s addressing the recent Buffalo supermarket shooting in the classroom.  Ms. Rosenberg has been teaching U.S. History and AP U.S. History at a New York City public high school for the past 20 years, and she currently hosts the PBS NewsHour Classroom Educator Zoom series. She writes social studies curriculum and lessons for the New York City Department of Education. She has also been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Axios, Reuters, Chalkbeat, TheSkimm, and many other outlets. She is the co-founder of Teachers Unify Against Gun Violence and a senior advisor for Voters of Tomorrow. She holds a B.A. from Columbia College, Columbia University and a M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Join us on Tuesday, May 17 @ 6pm EST for an exciting conversation with professor and author, Dr. Ayelet Fishbach, discussing her work on motivation and her latest book, GET IT DONE: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation. Dr. Fishbach is the Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. She is the past president of the Society for the Study of Motivation and the International Social Cognition Network. Also an expert on motivation and decision making, Dr. Fishbach’s groundbreaking research on human motivation has won the Society of Experimental Social Psychology's Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award.

Join us on Wednesday, May 11 @ 6pm EST for an exciting conversation with Dr. Pam Davis, who is the Founder of Wellbotics, an organization that delivers pop up makerspaces to cancer care communities and other safe spaces. Dr. Davis is an accomplished educator with a balance of education and experience in instructional media and technology. Her expertise spans the fields of teaching computer literacy and integrating technology into existing practice. Dr. Davis excels in developing student centered learning environments for learners at all levels and proficiencies. In 2016, Dr. Davis combined her interests, passion and profound gratitude to those who helped her in her own battle with breast cancer by developing and offering Wellbotics to children and families dealing with the troubling times that often accompany a family cancer diagnosis. Wellbotics now helps people of all ages cope with and prevent the negative impact of various traumatic events. She resides in the New York City area as a workshop leader, public speaker and a STEM Educator. To learn more about Dr. Davis and her journey follow wellbotics on social media and drpamdavis on LinkedIn.

Executive director of the newly created Office of Human Trafficking Prevention and Baton Rouge native, Dr. Dana R. Hunter, joins us for an important conversation on the impact of human trafficking on individuals and what the State of Louisiana is doing to fight it. In 2017, after serving in various leadership roles in academia and government, she was appointed by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards as the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office Children’s Cabinet. In this role, she worked passionately to coordinate and align resources and policies to better outcomes for children in the state of Louisiana.  She worked closely with Governor Edwards and First Lady Donna Edwards to facilitate statewide anti-human trafficking efforts and the Human Trafficking Prevention Commission. This past year, Governor John Bel Edwards appointed Dr. Hunter to serve as Executive Director of the newly established Governor’s Office of Human Trafficking Prevention. The mission of this office is to prevent and combat human trafficking and to promote healing and justice for victims and survivors.  Additionally, the OHTP will take a lead role in creating a statewide cohesive care coordination model for victims regardless of their location and identity and a network of resources to aid in prevention. Tune in on Wednesday, May 4 @ 6pm EST!

Justice Shannon Frison joins us on Wednesday, April 27 @ 6pm EST to share some of her experiences overcoming bias. She was appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court in March of 2013 at the age 42. She took that seat after serving for more than three years on the Boston Municipal Court, beginning her tenure on the bench at age 39. Before her appointment, Justice Frison practiced locally and abroad as owner of Frison Law Firm, P.C. Her practice focused on “blue collar” criminal law and military justice. Justice Frison Graduated from Hyde Park Career Academy and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Harvard University & Radcliffe College. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center. 

Justice Frison also holds the rank of Major in the United States Marine Corps, and is a Marine Corps Judge Advocate. She completed Officer Candidates School and accepted her commission in the U.S. Marine Corps and continued on to complete The Basic School and Naval Justice School. From 1997-2000 she was the prosecutor aboard Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina. In addition to serving the country and practicing law, she has served as a Guberman Teaching Fellow at Brandeis University for three years teaching “Introduction to Law,” as well as appearing as guest lecturer at Brandeis on military justice and military tribunals. Justice Frison is a jurist, a Major of Marines, and a mentor to new trial lawyers.

Dynamic speaker and transformational leader and educator, PJ Caposey, joins us to share his thoughts on how school leaders can build realistic optimism. PJ began his career as an award-winning teacher in the inner-city of Chicago and has subsequently led significant change in every administrative post he has held. He became a principal at the age of 28 and within three years was able to lead a small-town/rural school historically achieving near the bottom of its county to multiple national recognitions. After four years, he moved to his current district, Meridian CUSD 223, as superintendent and has led a similar turnaround leading to multiple national recognitions for multiple different efforts.

PJ is also a best-selling author and has written 8 books for various publishers. His work and commentary has been featured on sites such as the Washington Post, NPR, CBS This Morning, ASCD, Edutopia, the Huffington Post, and was featured in a Global Leaders Forum thinkpiece alongside the likes of General Petraeus and General McChrystal. He works in the Education Department of two universities and in a myriad of capacities with the Illinois Principal's Association including Principal Coach and author of the first complete stack of MicroCredentials offered in Illinois. Tune in on Wednesday, April 20 @ 6pm EST!

Join us on Wednesday, April 13 @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation with Dr. Valerie Young, who is considered the foremost expert on impostor syndrome and co-founder of Impostor Syndrome Institute. In addition to speaking at over 100 universities in the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, and the UK including Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and Oxford, she’s spoken at such diverse organizations as Google,Pfizer, BP, Facebook, P&G, Intel, Boeing, Microsoft, and many more. And her work has been cited around the world including in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, and Science. Valerie earned her doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she studied internal barriers to women’s achievement. Although her research subjects consisted of a racially diverse group of professional women, much of her original findings have proved directly applicable to anyone with impostor feelings. And her award-winning book The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It with Random House is now in six languages.

Author of The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time to Do Everything Better, Thatcher Wine, joins us to share his thoughts on Monotasking. The Twelve Monotasks grew out of Thatcher’s efforts to improve his own productivity and creativity, reduce stress, and be more connected to friends and family. He has long been an advocate for reading as a form of self-care and a means to build focus in the digital age, concepts that form part of the foundation of his book. He is also the Founder & CEO of Juniper Books, a twenty person company based in Boulder, Colorado, that produces beautiful book sets and libraries. While defending the place of printed books in our culture for the past twenty years, Thatcher has sought to reinvent their creative potential. Tune in on Wednesday, April 6 @ 6pm EST!