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2024 General Session Speakers
Keynote speakers will inspire and elevate attendees at the 2024 Joint Annual Conference in Chicago. GRAMMY award winning musician and educator Mickey Smith Jr. and bestselling author and trust expert David Horsager will Light the Way with encouraging and motivational messages during the First and Second General Sessions on Friday and Saturday. Co-headlining the Third General Session on Sunday, November 24 will be Illinois Superintendents Michael Lubelfeld and Nick Polyak speaking about the importance of leadership and service.
First General Session
Friday, November 22
Mickey Smith Jr.
Mickey Smith Jr. is known as an Educator, Encourager, and Musician. Smith is a seven-time Teacher of the Year and recipient of the 2020 GRAMMY Music Educator Award. He has inspired children and adults through his unique motivational mixture of music and message. An international keynote speaker and presenter, Smith also continues to serve as a full-time teacher at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. Through a love for music, Smith creates a dynamic experience that entertains, educates, and elevates everyone to excellence. Smith is dedicated to helping educators discover their sound, and “strives to encourage others to keep on going.”
Second General Session
Saturday, November 23
David Horsager
David Horsager is CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute and a global authority on building high-trust teams and organizations where people can perform at their best and get measurable results. Horsager is the inventor of the Enterprise Trust Index™, Director of Global Study with The Trust Outlook®, and bestselling author of The Trust Edge, The Daily Edge, and Trusted Leader. He has shared his framework with organizations ranging from Delta Airlines, McDonald’s, FedEx, and Toyota to the New York Yankees, Walmart, Zoom, MIT, and global governments. Horsager’s decades of trust work have served as a catalyst for trust awareness and development across the globe.
Third General Session
Sunday, November 24
Michael Lubelfeld, Ed.D.
Michael Lubelfeld, Ed.D. has been an Illinois superintendent since 2010 and is Superintendent of Schools for North Shore SD 112 in Highland Park and Highwood. Lubelfeld presents on leadership topics, student voice, and global service and is active in leadership development, including aspiring superintendent workshops, with state and national associations. He is co-author with Nick Polyak of four Rowman & Littlefield books: The Unlearning Leader: Leading for Tomorrow's Schools Today; Student Voice: From Invisible to Invaluable; The Unfinished Leader: A School Leadership Framework for Growth & Development; and Unfinished Teacher: Becoming the Next Version of Yourself.
Nick Polyak, Ed.D.
Nick Polyak, Ed.D., is Superintendent for Leyden CHSD 212, serving students from Franklin Park, Melrose Park, Northlake, River Grove, Rosemont, Schiller Park, and Leyden Township. The district has won two Magna Awards and Leyden is named among the Top 100 Workplaces by the Chicago Tribune. He also served four years on the school board for Manhattan SD 114. Polyak is co-author with Michael Lubelfeld of The Unlearning Leader: Leading for Tomorrow’s Schools Today; Student Voice: From Invisible to Invaluable; The Unfinished Leader: A Leadership Framework for Growth and Development; and The Unfinished Teacher: Becoming the Next Version of Yourself.