Authors & Presenters

Eric Atuahene serves as principal at Littleton STEM Academy in Avondale, Arizona. He has more than 10 years of proven leadership experience, including implementing systems, raising student achievement, and improving school culture.

Ashley Avila is an English teacher at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. She is passionate about bridging the gaps in education and working with youth who are troubled or at risk.

Brooks Baca is the principal of Bowman Middle School in Texas, where he has spent the last five years working with his staff to build a culture of collective responsibility that leads to improved student outcomes through the PLC process.

Justin Baeder is director of The Principal Center, where he helps school and district administrators build capacity for instructional leadership. Driven by the belief that leaders belong in classrooms—where the most important work is being done—he created the 21-Day Instructional Leadership Challenge, which has helped more than 10,000 leaders from 50 countries develop the habit of getting into classrooms and having evidence-based conversations with teachers.

Kim Bailey is former director of professional development and instructional support for the Capistrano Unified School District in California. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University in California.

Dr. Anisa Baker-Busby served as the principal of Lindsey Elementary since February 2016 and was appointed principal of Shirley Hills Elementary in July 2022. She has over twenty years of educational experiences serving as an elementary teacher and administrator. Her passion is to help schools build systems of support for collaborative teams that will ensure high levels of learning for all students.

Dr. Tonya Balch is a professor in the Department of Applied Clinical and Educational Sciences in the Bayh College of Education at Indiana State University and has been the program coordinator for the School Counseling M.Ed. program for 15 years. She is passionate about ensuring excellence in graduate programming and providing authentic experiences in practice.

Bradley Balch, PhD, is professor and dean emeritus at Indiana State University. He is currently a graduate faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership, Bayh College of Education, and affiliate faculty member in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Business Education, Scott College of Business.

Jack Baldermann has been a passionate educational leader for over 30 years. His experience includes leading several high-poverty urban schools to significant success and supporting eight different priority or high-poverty schools to become Model PLC at Work® schools.

Sarah Ballew is the district mathematics coordinator for grades K-12 at Willis ISD in Texas. She specializes in helping instructional leaders at the elementary and secondary levels implement PLC processes that impact teaching and learning.