2025 Featured Voices
Erin Gruwell
Founder Freedom Writers Foundation
Daneé Pinckney
2025 Ohio Teacher of the Year
George Philhower
Superintendent of Eastern Hancock County Schools, Indiana
Peter Kahn
Educator, Poet, and Project Creator
Other featured presenters joined us from:
...and more!
Ready for 2026?
We’re already planning next year’s event, and we want you there! Join us for two transformative days as we reimagine education, reconnect with the joy of teaching, and empower students to change the world!
Want early access to registration and updates?
You’ll be the first to know when dates, speakers, and registration go live.
Summer Institute for Authentic Learning and Leadership
That’s a wrap on Summer Institute 2025!
This year’s gathering brought together hundreds of K-12 educators and leaders for two powerful days of authentic learning, inspiring keynotes, and hands-on breakout sessions. Together, we explored what it looked like to create schools that are out of this world!
We are sincerely grateful to our host, sponsors, and partners: Upper Arlington Schools, Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation, Fanning Howey, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, Harry C. Moores Foundation, and ESC of Central Ohio.
“Thank you so much for such a wonderful conference. This Institute was SO INSPIRING! And absolutely just what I needed to restore my faith in why I truly love this profession.”
— Previous Summer Institute Attendee