2025 Speakers

Dr. Lori Desautels is an Assistant Professor at Butler University and a leading expert in applied educational neuroscience. She created the global Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification to support educators, counselors, and administrators working with youth affected by trauma. With over two decades of experience, Lori integrates neuroscience and trauma-informed practices into classrooms and teacher preparation programs. She has worked with more than 200 school districts worldwide and authored several influential books, including Connections over Compliance and Intentional Neuroplasticity. Lori’s work bridges research and practice to help schools cultivate regulation, resilience, and felt safety for all learners.

Known as a "Teen Whisperer," Kriya brings over 20 years of experience working with high-risk youth in schools, private practice, and residential treatment settings. A licensed addictions clinician and prevention specialist, her passion for prevention and intervention is deeply rooted in her own journey of recovery as a teen. She combines clinical expertise with lived experience to deliver powerful, relatable insights on supporting adolescents through substance use, mental health challenges, and behavioral struggles. A dynamic educator and single mother, she has trained thousands of educators and students worldwide with a mission to build resilience and foster "addiction-proof" youth.

As a former engineer turned motivational speaker and coach, I help professionals, students, and educators transform challenges into powerful opportunities. My journey—marked by challenge, reinvention, and grit—resonates with those seeking purpose and resilience in work, school, and life. Whether I’m addressing a room of corporate executives or inspiring a school assembly, I bring people together with energy, empathy, and real-world strategies. My goal is simple: to empower audiences to think bigger, lead with confidence, and keep climbing higher.

Soumya (pronunciation: SOH-myuh, she/her) is a licensed psychologist, restorative justice practitioner, and national trainer on mental health literacy. Currently, Soumya provides consultation to organizations and schools to help implement mental health literacy programming, restorative justice, and relationship-centered spaces. Her journey facilitating changes in communities started with planning and implementing prevention programming at a rape crisis center. Currently, Soumya is a National Trainer for Mental Health First Aid (teen, youth, adult) and most recently, was a medical consultant for the Social Security Administration. In addition to being a National Trainer, Soumya was instrumental in the rewrite of Adult MHFA 2.0, Youth MHFA 2.0, and the associated train-the-training programs. Prior to consulting, Soumya served as an Associate Director at University Health Services at University of Wisconsin- Madison, sitting on the leadership team for the mental health division.

Ian (pronunciation: EE - uh n, he/him) is a Wisconsin-based educator with 15 years of classroom teaching experience. As a teacher and student advisor, Ian mentors students and staff on how to center justice and equity through course and project design. These projects are grounded in essential questions which contain multiple avenues for teachers and learners to access knowledge, develop new skills and demonstrate learning. As a school-based Restorative Justice practitioner, he developed and sustained a partnership with the YWCA (in Madison, WI), weaving Restorative Practices into myriad aspects of the teaching and learning environments throughout the school. Ian’s pedagogical approach is also heavily influenced by his experience with interdisciplinary instruction and project-based learning. His work in developing collaborative, interdisciplinary, and project-based work with students was captured in Wisconsin Public Radio’s Classroom Frequency, which aired in June 2019 and was awarded a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Education.