The Literacy Center's staff and Summit planning committee spent many, many hours researching keynote speakers for our 2020 Summit. One name (well, more like one TEDx Talk) rose above the rest. Dr. Keisha Siriboe impressed everyone with her dynamic presentation style, and her depth of knowledge on early childhood literacy and parent-child reading aloud.
Dr. Siriboe, scholar, researcher, and international advocate of literacy education and student leadership development, will be joining us as our keynote speaker at the Literacy Center of West Michigan’s Community Literacy Summit on February 28, 2020. The half day event, held at the Eberhard Center in Grand Rapids, will address the topic Ready to Read, Ready to Succeed: Developing Literacy Birth to Five. Dr. Siriboe's keynote will help provide a national context for the conversation about early childhood literacy.
Through Dr. Siriboe’s TEDx talks, international conference lectures, research, and programmatic work, she brings a diverse perspective to educational research and leadership development. As the first African-American to earn a master’s from Beijing Normal University in Beijing, China and the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong, Dr. Siriboe is a globally respected scholar with several academic awards to her name. She has served in leadership capacities with the American Education Research Association (AERA) and with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Education 2030 Project.
Most recently, Dr. Siriboe worked as the Director of Literacy Content and Programming at Reading is Fundamental in Washington DC and now serves as the inaugural Director of the ROX Institute in Columbus, Ohio. The ROX – Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX) – Institute, is the world’s first multidisciplinary research and training institute focused on girls. The ROX Institute provides a research and training infrastructure to systematically educate adults who want to be more aware, empowering and supportive of the girls in their lives.
In addition to the keynote, Dr. Siriboe will be leading a breakout session on Courageous Literacy Teaching. During the session, Dr. Siriboe will provide suggestions in creating a literacy environment where adults and children feel safe to expose their vulnerabilities and highlight learning opportunities when using culturally competent picture books.
Tickets are available for the Community Literacy Summit at www.literacycenterwm.org/summit2020.
