You don’t need another abstract framework—you need support that is grounded, practical, and deeply aligned with your values. Through keynotes, workshops, and consulting, I partner with districts, schools, universities, and organizations to help leaders turn crisis into a catalyst for equity-centered change.
My keynotes bring research on crisis, equity, and hope to life in ways that are honest, accessible, and immediately useful for practitioners. Audiences leave with language for what they are experiencing, tools they can try right away, and a renewed sense of grounded, critical hope.
Whether you are convening school leaders, policy makers, faculty, or community partners, I tailor each keynote to your context and goals.
Want to get a feel for my speaking style and the kinds of ideas I share with audiences?
Watch this book talk from Sarah Lawrence College, where I discuss the Crisis as Catalyst framework and how school leaders can navigate crisis while centering equity and critical hope.
What I Hope Readers Take Away from Crisis as Catalyst
Want another way to experience my speaking style and how I talk about crisis, equity, and leadership? Watch this Mitstifer Lecture, where I draw on Puerto Rico’s education system to explore leadership resilience through collaboration and community, and how educators confront colonial legacies, policy-driven collapse, and youth-led resistance in an era of polycrisis.
Sometimes you need more than inspiration—you need time, structure, and a thought partner to do the real work. These interactive workshops and multi-session professional learning experiences help teams apply the Crisis as Catalyst framework, applying the Theory of Educational Leadership Amid Polycrisis (TELAP) and hopeful leadership practices directly to their own contexts or university-level course.
Sessions are highly participatory, with space for reflection, planning, data analysis, and honest conversation about the barriers leaders face.
Over three years, a recent Equity-Oriented Learning Series with Paterson Public Schools illustrates the impact of this approach: leaders engaged in a multi-year sequence of virtual sessions, walkthroughs, and one-on-one office hours focused on anti-racist and transformational leadership. The work contributed to measurable growth in equity-focused leadership practices across the district.
Participants described the series as both challenging and hopeful, naming that the work sparked necessary conversations about equity, whiteness, and student-centered practice in their schools.
Over three years, Paterson leaders moved from talking about equity to building it into the district’s core values. In 2021, most leaders reported they were just getting started; by 2024, 78% indicated equity was explicitly integrated into their school or district mission and vision, signaling a major cultural shift.
Together, leaders moved from “getting started” to building equity into mission and vision, strengthening accountability systems, and rating the professional learning itself as exemplary, showing that deep, structural change is possible when districts invest in leadership for justice over time.
Want to see the fuller impact story from this multi-year partnership? Email virellap@montclair.edu to receive an abbreviated version of the Paterson Equity-Oriented Learning Series impact report.
Workshops can be offered virtually or in person and are always customized to your organization’s needs.
You don’t need another abstract framework—you need support that is grounded, practical, and deeply aligned with your values. Through keynotes, workshops, and consulting, I partner with districts, schools, universities, and organizations to help leaders turn crisis into a catalyst for equity-centered change.
Bringing someone into your community is a big decision. I’m happy to talk through your goals, audience, and context to see if we’re a good fit.
Use the contact form or email me with a brief description of your event or project, and my team and I will follow up with next steps.
Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, Montclair State University | Author of Crisis as Catalyst | Transforming crisis into opportunity for equity in education
virellap@montclair.edu
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