Meet the Authors provides an intimate setting where attendees are a part of a live Author read, which will also include a Q&A and an opportunity to meet the author, purchase their book(s), and get them signed. Meet the Authors book signings will take place in the Palm Springs Convention Center in Smoketree F. 

Our Keynote Meet & Greet and Book Signing will be held at the BOOST Booth 0101 & 0105 in the Exhibit Hall. Please click here for more information.

Please click on the image below to submit your Meet the Authors application by the December 31st due date.

TUESday, April 28

1:00PM-2:00PM

Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students
Erika Bare, M.Ed., Superintendent/Author, South Umpqua SD/Connecting Through Conversation, Ashland, OR; Tiffany Burns, M.Ed., Faculty Instructor/Author, Southern Oregon University/Connecting Through Conversation, Ashland, OR

This book is a must-read for all educators. The practical and easy-to-implement tools, strategies, and templates will create a culture of connection in our schools. Readers will be inspired and equipped with immediately applicable moves to build connected relationships for learning, avoid power-struggles, and apply communication as a universal support for all students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. 

Bare and Burns draw on more than forty years of combined experience, stories from the field, and a good dose of humor to share a student-centered approach that can help transform behavior. The conversational tone, accessible table of contents, CTC Tips, and Connected Takeaways summarizing each chapter make this an ideal tool for book studies, professional development, and growing together as an educational community. Readers will find themselves returning to the tools in this playbook again and again as they embark on the daily adventure of talking with students. 

2:30PM-3:30PM

Seated In The Ashes
Anthony Walker, CEO & TV Producer, The Dupree Exchange, Atlanta, GA

Fear often keeps us tethered to past experiences that we desperately need to release. We may find ourselves prioritizing our feelings over the truth, leading us to live in a world shaped by our imaginations. "Seated in the Ashes" is a powerful testimony of God's grace amid spiritual warfare. While many recognize me as Anthony Dupree—the TV producer, artist, and creative—I am also a survivor of profound spiritual battles. 

Initially, I failed to seek God’s guidance and found myself ensnared in a demonic situation. Though I ultimately chose obedience by stepping away, this decision did not spare me from the struggles that followed. I was compelled to confront the ashes of my repentance, facing significant losses, including moments where my mental health was severely tested. 

Through this journey, I discovered that effective leadership is rooted in self-awareness and the courage to prioritize mental well-being. My hope is that my candid narrative inspires readers to embrace their own journeys, fostering resilience and understanding the importance of mental health in navigating life's challenges. Join me as we explore the complexities of faith, leadership, and the transformative power of vulnerability.

4:00PM - 5:00PM

Victorious Underdog
Roosevelt Sargent, Author/Speaker/Pastor, Roosevelt Sargent Speaks, Madison, TN 

In handcuffs once again, fifteen-year-old Roosevelt Sargent stares down a future that looks all too familiar — trouble, violence, and pain. Entangled in the murder of a rival gang member, his life spirals deeper into a world fueled by drugs, poverty, and fear.

With both parents behind bars, Roosevelt is left to fend for himself on the unforgiving streets. Homeless and hardened, he becomes consumed by a gangster lifestyle where loyalty means survival and death waits around every corner. Surrounded by chaos, he forms a brotherhood of warriors determined to outlast the odds — but even the strongest armor can’t protect a wounded soul. 

Can Roosevelt escape the darkness that’s claimed so many before him? Or will the streets write the final chapter of his story? 

Victorious Underdog is a raw, honest, and gripping journey of pain turned into purpose — a powerful true story of how God’s grace can reach even the most broken places and transform a life once counted out.

Wednesday, April 29

10:00AM-11:00AM

Duty of Care
Jitendrapal (Jit) Kundan, Executive Director, The Origins Program - Developmental Designs, Minneapolis, MN 

While this book focuses on educational settings, it’s also intended to provide parents, caregivers, community leaders, and others who care about healthy child development and social justice with reflective tools for personal growth as well as the growth of the children around us. The better we understand ourselves, our motivations, our hot buttons, and our joys, the more effective we can be in all of our daily relationships, and the more satisfaction we can find in life.

As you go through the chapters, you’ll see that this book is a combination of scholarly research, professional and personal anecdotes, and best practices. At the end of each section are reflective exercises and Brain Breaks to refresh you before you go on to the next section. You’re encouraged to try them and adopt these tried and true activities for use in your own environments.

11:30AM-12:30PM

Sacred Lessons: Teaching My Father How to Love
Mike de la Rocha, Author, Sacred Lessons, Burbank, CA

Sacred Lessons is a moving memoir for anyone seeking self-love and healing. Intensely personal, it explores the struggles men face in connecting with themselves and others, offering tools for growth and ways to build authentic relationships. Through his story, Mike de la Rocha reflects on his father’s legacy as a beloved professor who influenced thousands of students yet struggled to show vulnerability to his own son. Mike examines the challenges of communicating with his father and loved ones—a result of a culture that discourages men from expressing emotion or learning how to give and receive love. These reflections reveal how trauma passes across generations and how cycles of harm can be broken. Ultimately, both Mike and his father learn the greatest lesson of all: the sacredness of love between a father and son.

2:45PM - 3:45PM

Thriving in Intersectionality: Immigrants, Belonging, and Corporate America
Lola Adeyemo, CEO, Founder, EQImindset/Immigrants in Corporate Inc., San Diego, CA

Lola M. Adeyemo’s Thriving in Intersectionality explores immigrant status and its intersection with other underrepresented identities within the corporate work culture in America. Adeyemo uses the experiences and lessons from her life and the lives of over thirty immigrant women who are thriving in their environments as a basis for insightful analysis. She offers an insider’s perspective — the whys and wherefores to those wishing to give support to others.

Thriving in Intersectionality addresses some of the biggest concerns while offering consideration to include those of different backgrounds, genders, religions, and ethnicities. You will read of:

* Actions to leverage cultural uniqueness in the corporate workplace

* Impact of the legal barriers and challenges to obtain and maintain a job

* Building a supportive community and what you can do

4:15PM - 5:15PM

What Is My Value Instructionally to the Teachers I Supervise?
Baruti Kafele, Retired Principal, Consultant / Speaker, Author, Principal Kafele Consulting, LLC, Jersey City, NJ

Kafele contends that the primary purpose of supervising teachers is to help them continue to improve in the classroom so that all students have the support and skills they need to succeed. For principals and assistant principals, in particular, it is easy to be so inundated by the noninstructional aspects of the work that the instructional side—including instructional coaching—suffers. This has an adverse effect on the entire school. Just as the quality of teaching directly affects student outcomes, there is also a direct correlation between instructional leadership and student achievement and well-being.

Kafele structures the book around 10 self-reflection prompts to help the reader answer the question that the title poses: What is my value instructionally to the teachers I supervise? This powerful resource offers illuminating stories about and practical strategies for focusing on the instructional side of leadership to improve teacher pedagogy and enable student achievement to soar.

Thursday, April 30

10:00AM-11:00AM

11:30AM - 12:30PM

SEL Muscle Mastery: 6 Tools for Building Resilience and Connection in Schools and Communities
Lori Woodley-Langendorff, Chief Executive and Visionary Officer, All It Takes, Simi Valley, CA 

Social emotional literacy is for everyone—and it starts with the adults.

In SEL Muscle Mastery, former school counselor, award-winning film producer, and educational consultant Lori Woodley-Langendorff introduces six SEL Muscles™ that, when strengthened, help educators, caregivers, and community members regulate their own emotions while creating safe, joyful environments for young people. Through a clear framework for managing behavior and classroom dynamics, reflection prompts, practical exercises, stories, and access to videos and open curriculum, this beautifully illustrated guidebook equips readers to navigate hard moments with more ease, connection, and purpose—in and out of the classroom.

1:30PM-2:30PM

Advice From The Principal's Desk 
Dr. David Franklin, Consultant and Professor of Education, The Principals' Desk, Eagle, ID 

Advice from the Principal’s Desk: 5 Pillars of School Leadership is a fresh, new take on school leadership. In the book, you’ll find the tools and strategies that veteran school administrators need to succeed in their roles. You’ll learn how to increase attendance and parental involvement in student affairs, minimize suspension, navigate budget cuts, and more.

Explore 5 key areas that school leaders cannot neglect and examine how busy school leaders should spend their extremely limited time.

Strategies you can deploy to best support your students and other stakeholders

How to navigate the often-conflicting demands of parents, teacher unions, and governing bodies. 

How to best use and implement technology to support your work and create a positive and productive school environment

Advice from the Principal’s Desk is packed with the research, real-world examples, and practical techniques that educators need to improve the results of their leadership.

3:45PM-4:45PM

Leading With Culture
Shaun Hurtado, Principal, Modesto City Schools, Modesto, CA

Leading with Culture: Creating Schools That All Students Want to Attend shows how culture—not programs—drives learning. Blending research, stories, and field-tested tools, it defines positive culture through five pillars: Relationships, Trust, Vision, Community, and Habits. Leaders get practical routines—visible leadership, recognition systems, restorative/PBIS practices, MTSS, student voice, staff wellness, family partnerships, and smart data use—to boost belonging and achievement. Each chapter offers checklists, templates, and reflection prompts to sustain improvement.

Friday, May 1

8:30AM-9:30AM

10:00AM-11:00AM

Teach the Brain, Change the World
Lyndsay Morris, Founder of Generation Wellness, Generation Wellness, Olympia, WA 

Emerging neuroscience shows that when we teach the brain, we change how students learn, connect, and thrive. Teach the Brain, Change the World turns complex science into simple, 10-minute tools that anyone can use to create calmer classrooms and stronger relationships. 

Grounded in trauma-informed practices and social-emotional learning, this book offers practical strategies that help students regulate emotions, focus their attention, and build resilience. Through real stories from schools and homes, readers discover how small shifts in understanding the brain can transform everyday interactions and replace “just calm down” with lifelong skills for peace, connection, and well-being.

Meet the Authors Contact

If you have any questions about our Meet the Authors event, please contact:

Dwayne Wiggins, Jr., BOOST Leadership Team This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	On-Site Support Team This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.