Tickets
Location
Hyatt Regency Princeton
102 Carnegie Center Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540
We have reserved a room block for all attendees at the Hyatt Regency Princeton. Book your room here. Reservations are available to book until February 3, 2027. A Travel Waiver has been approved by the NJDOE for hotel stays on the evening of 3/2/27.
Dining
Breakfast and lunch will be served.
Gluten-free or food allergies must be noted in your registration under “Accommodations.” We will do our best to accommodate.
Keynote Sessions
Day 1; March 2, 2027
Who Do We Need To Be? Reimagining Inclusion Through Belonging, Belief, and Possibility
with Margo Gross
What if the greatest barrier to inclusion is not a student's disability, behavior, or life circumstances, but the beliefs we hold about what is possible?
Through the story of a student whose journey was shaped by trauma, adversity, and learning challenges, this keynote challenges educators, leaders, and advocates to examine the mindsets that influence how we respond to students every day. Participants will reflect on the difference between inclusion and belonging, explore the impact of deficit-based thinking, and consider how strengths-based, trauma-informed practices can transform lives.
Blending personal experience, professional insight, and a powerful call to action, this keynote challenges us to shift our thinking from “How can we fix this student?” to “Who do we need to be for this student?” Together, we will explore how our beliefs, expectations, and actions shape whether students merely attend our schools or truly belong within them. Because inclusion is not simply about where students are placed. It is about who we choose to be for them.
About Margo
Margo Gross is an award-winning educational leader, national speaker, author, and advocate whose work focuses on inclusion, belonging, educational equity, and student success. With experience as a teacher, dean, special education leader, equity leader, adjunct professor, instructional coach, and principal, she has dedicated her career to helping educators create environments where all students feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
Margo was named both Calvert Elementary Teacher of the Year and Calvert County Public Schools Teacher of the Year and has received numerous honors recognizing her contributions to education, leadership, and advocacy. She is a certified Gallup Strengths Coach, Life Coach, and the bestselling author of The PUSH. She has presented nationally and internationally on inclusion, leadership, equity, culturally responsive practices, and student success.
As someone whose own life was transformed by educators who chose belief over limitation, Margo brings both professional expertise and personal experience to her work, challenging audiences to consider not only what students need, but who educators must be to ensure every child truly belongs.
Day 2; March 3, 2027
Who Needs Shoes? Seeing the Child Before the Label
with Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde
When her son Maceo entered the school system, Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde saw how often institutions see shoes before they see children, noticing the diagnosis and the deficit before the person. As a former teacher, professor, and instructional coach, she had spent years inside those systems. As a parent, she learned what they can cost a family, including the day police were called on her son. In this keynote, Tanya brings both perspectives to one question every school community has to answer: what does it take to see the whole child? She examines how schools decide who gets seen and what changes when leaders, educators, and families choose to look further. Attendees will leave with a shared language for inclusion and a challenge to bring back to their schools.
About Tanya
Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde is an educator, disability advocate, author, and literacy expert whose work sits at the intersection of language, learning, and liberation. With more than two decades of experience in education, she has served as a high school English teacher, Assistant Professor at the City College of New York, national instructional coach, and professional learning leader. She is currently a Senior Specialist on WestEd’s Communications team, translating research into accessible resources for educators, leaders, and families.
A former Board President of the PEAL Center, Pennsylvania’s leading disability advocacy organization, Tanya is deeply committed to helping families and self-advocates build confidence and voice in educational systems. Her perspective is also deeply personal: her son, Maceo, has autism, an experience that has shaped her advocacy and writing around autism, race, safety, and inclusion. She is the creator and host of Who Needs Shoes?, a podcast and YouTube channel exploring autism, disability, and what meaningful support looks like.
Tanya is also a poet and author of Every Watering Word, with writing featured in HuffPost and other publications. She holds a PhD in Education and an M.A.T. from the University at Albany and a B.A. from Rutgers University.
Keynote Sessions
Day 1; March 2, 2027
Who Do We Need To Be? Reimagining Inclusion Through Belonging, Belief, and Possibility
with Margo Gross
What if the greatest barrier to inclusion is not a student's disability, behavior, or life circumstances, but the beliefs we hold about what is possible?
Through the story of a student whose journey was shaped by trauma, adversity, and learning challenges, this keynote challenges educators, leaders, and advocates to examine the mindsets that influence how we respond to students every day. Participants will reflect on the difference between inclusion and belonging, explore the impact of deficit-based thinking, and consider how strengths-based, trauma-informed practices can transform lives.
Blending personal experience, professional insight, and a powerful call to action, this keynote challenges us to shift our thinking from “How can we fix this student?” to “Who do we need to be for this student?” Together, we will explore how our beliefs, expectations, and actions shape whether students merely attend our schools or truly belong within them. Because inclusion is not simply about where students are placed. It is about who we choose to be for them.
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Margo Gross is an award-winning educational leader, national speaker, author, and advocate whose work focuses on inclusion, belonging, educational equity, and student success. With experience as a teacher, dean, special education leader, equity leader, adjunct professor, instructional coach, and principal, she has dedicated her career to helping educators create environments where all students feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
Margo was named both Calvert Elementary Teacher of the Year and Calvert County Public Schools Teacher of the Year and has received numerous honors recognizing her contributions to education, leadership, and advocacy. She is a certified Gallup Strengths Coach, Life Coach, and the bestselling author of The PUSH. She has presented nationally and internationally on inclusion, leadership, equity, culturally responsive practices, and student success.
As someone whose own life was transformed by educators who chose belief over limitation, Margo brings both professional expertise and personal experience to her work, challenging audiences to consider not only what students need, but who educators must be to ensure every child truly belongs.
Day 2; March 3, 2027
Who Needs Shoes? Seeing the Child Before the Label
with Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde
When her son Maceo entered the school system, Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde saw how often institutions see shoes before they see children, noticing the diagnosis and the deficit before the person. As a former teacher, professor, and instructional coach, she had spent years inside those systems. As a parent, she learned what they can cost a family, including the day police were called on her son. In this keynote, Tanya brings both perspectives to one question every school community has to answer: what does it take to see the whole child? She examines how schools decide who gets seen and what changes when leaders, educators, and families choose to look further. Attendees will leave with a shared language for inclusion and a challenge to bring back to their schools.
-
Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde is an educator, disability advocate, author, and literacy expert whose work sits at the intersection of language, learning, and liberation. With more than two decades of experience in education, she has served as a high school English teacher, Assistant Professor at the City College of New York, national instructional coach, and professional learning leader. She is currently a Senior Specialist on WestEd’s Communications team, translating research into accessible resources for educators, leaders, and families.
A former Board President of the PEAL Center, Pennsylvania’s leading disability advocacy organization, Tanya is deeply committed to helping families and self-advocates build confidence and voice in educational systems. Her perspective is also deeply personal: her son, Maceo, has autism, an experience that has shaped her advocacy and writing around autism, race, safety, and inclusion. She is the creator and host of Who Needs Shoes?, a podcast and YouTube channel exploring autism, disability, and what meaningful support looks like.
Tanya is also a poet and author of Every Watering Word, with writing featured in HuffPost and other publications. She holds a PhD in Education and an M.A.T. from the University at Albany and a B.A. from Rutgers University.
Keynote Sessions
Day 1; March 2, 2027
Who Do We Need To Be? Reimagining Inclusion Through Belonging, Belief, and Possibility
with Margo Gross
What if the greatest barrier to inclusion is not a student's disability, behavior, or life circumstances, but the beliefs we hold about what is possible?
Through the story of a student whose journey was shaped by trauma, adversity, and learning challenges, this keynote challenges educators, leaders, and advocates to examine the mindsets that influence how we respond to students every day. Participants will reflect on the difference between inclusion and belonging, explore the impact of deficit-based thinking, and consider how strengths-based, trauma-informed practices can transform lives.
Blending personal experience, professional insight, and a powerful call to action, this keynote challenges us to shift our thinking from “How can we fix this student?” to “Who do we need to be for this student?” Together, we will explore how our beliefs, expectations, and actions shape whether students merely attend our schools or truly belong within them. Because inclusion is not simply about where students are placed. It is about who we choose to be for them.
-
Margo Gross is an award-winning educational leader, national speaker, author, and advocate whose work focuses on inclusion, belonging, educational equity, and student success. With experience as a teacher, dean, special education leader, equity leader, adjunct professor, instructional coach, and principal, she has dedicated her career to helping educators create environments where all students feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
Margo was named both Calvert Elementary Teacher of the Year and Calvert County Public Schools Teacher of the Year and has received numerous honors recognizing her contributions to education, leadership, and advocacy. She is a certified Gallup Strengths Coach, Life Coach, and the bestselling author of The PUSH. She has presented nationally and internationally on inclusion, leadership, equity, culturally responsive practices, and student success.
As someone whose own life was transformed by educators who chose belief over limitation, Margo brings both professional expertise and personal experience to her work, challenging audiences to consider not only what students need, but who educators must be to ensure every child truly belongs.
Day 2; March 3, 2027
Who Needs Shoes? Seeing the Child Before the Label
with Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde
When her son Maceo entered the school system, Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde saw how often institutions see shoes before they see children, noticing the diagnosis and the deficit before the person. As a former teacher, professor, and instructional coach, she had spent years inside those systems. As a parent, she learned what they can cost a family, including the day police were called on her son. In this keynote, Tanya brings both perspectives to one question every school community has to answer: what does it take to see the whole child? She examines how schools decide who gets seen and what changes when leaders, educators, and families choose to look further. Attendees will leave with a shared language for inclusion and a challenge to bring back to their schools.
-
Dr. Tanya Manning-Yarde is an educator, disability advocate, author, and literacy expert whose work sits at the intersection of language, learning, and liberation. With more than two decades of experience in education, she has served as a high school English teacher, Assistant Professor at the City College of New York, national instructional coach, and professional learning leader. She is currently a Senior Specialist on WestEd’s Communications team, translating research into accessible resources for educators, leaders, and families.
A former Board President of the PEAL Center, Pennsylvania’s leading disability advocacy organization, Tanya is deeply committed to helping families and self-advocates build confidence and voice in educational systems. Her perspective is also deeply personal: her son, Maceo, has autism, an experience that has shaped her advocacy and writing around autism, race, safety, and inclusion. She is the creator and host of Who Needs Shoes?, a podcast and YouTube channel exploring autism, disability, and what meaningful support looks like.
Tanya is also a poet and author of Every Watering Word, with writing featured in HuffPost and other publications. She holds a PhD in Education and an M.A.T. from the University at Albany and a B.A. from Rutgers University.
What do our attendees have to say?
Engaging sessions for administrators, educators, parents, and self-advocates—all about inclusive education.
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Our wide variety of workshops gives attendees the skills and resources they need to develop and sustain inclusive learning communities—for all students.
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Workshops are provided by nationally recognized inclusive education experts, leaders, and advocates who have extensive experience in the field.
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Attendees can earn up to 10 professional development hours.
