Michael Hernandez

Author, Speaker, Educator

Michael is an award-winning teacher, author, and international speaker in Los Angeles whose work focuses on digital and civic literacy, social justice, and student-centered learning experiences. His new book about authentic learning,Storytelling With Purpose: Digital Projects To Ignite Student Curiosity, leverages student passion to solve some of the biggest challenges educators face, like low student engagement and artificial intelligence.

As a trusted expert, Michael has worked with schools, tech startups, non-profits, and corporations to develop their brand and engage their stakeholders. His podcast and monthly newsletter about innovation, Change The Narrative, has a global audience of thousands. Michael is an Apple Distinguished Educator, PBS Digital Innovator, Adobe Education Leader, and Lindblad/ National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow.

Dee Lainer

Lead Experience Designer

Dee is the Lead Experience Designer at Lanier Learning, LLC, which is dedicated to co-designing equitable learning experiences for school leaders, staff, and students. We also partner with non-profit and for-profit corporations that are committed to community good.

Dee is the author of Demarginalizing Design and a passionate and energetic educator and learner with over two decades of instructional experience on the K-12 and collegiate levels. Dee holds Undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Sociology with special interests in education, race relations, and equity.  Dee is an award-winning presenter, TEDx Speaker, Google Certified Trainer, Google Innovator, and Google Certified Coach that specializes in creative applications for mobile devices and Chromebooks, low-cost makerspaces, and gamified learning experiences. Dee is a founding mentor and architect for the Google Coaching program pilot, Dynamic Learning Project, and a co-founder of Our Voice Academy, a program aimed at empowering educators of color to gain greater visible leadership and recognized expertise. Dee is also the creator of the design thinking educational activities called, Solve in Time!® and Maker Kitchen™️ and co-host of the Liberated Educator podcast.