Conference Speakers

Carrie Sanchez

Carrie Sanchez, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a native of Toledo, Ohio and a proud graduate of E.L. Bowsher High School. She earned her undergraduate degree from Ohio Northern University and her Master’s in Educational Leadership and Administration as well as her Educational Specialist degrees came from Bowling Green State University. Sanchez recently earned her Women in Leadership certificate from Cornell University.
Sanchez began her career in education as a K-12 music teacher at Hardin Northern Local Schools in Ada, Ohio. In 1999 she accepted the position of Director of Choral Activities and Drama at Bellevue Senior High School in Bellevue, Ohio. After 13 years in the classroom, Sanchez transitioned to the principal’s office in 2009 as Principal of Port Clinton Middle School. In 2022 Carrie joined the North Point Educational Service Center administrative team as the Director of Leadership and Learning. Her leadership coaching and teaching serves over 27 Northern Ohio school districts reaching nearly two hundred school administrators and curriculum leaders and over one thousand teachers which impacts over 40,000 students in the region. Leadership has always been a natural role for Sanchez.

Remembering Your WHY...Living Your TRUTH and Celebrating Your WORK

In her keynote session, Carrie will bring our Wayfinding theme to life and reenergize attendees in navigating unfamiliar waters. Carrie will focus on celebrating the power we have within and the importance of trusting ourselves. Attendees will experience her humor, her real talk about the real world and leave invigorated to meet the challenges of not only their work, but their outside lives, as well.

Strategies and Tools for Elevating Your Work

In this session, Carrie Sanchez will provide tactical strategies for dealing with challenging situations and challenging people. She will take a deeper dive into leadership when the waters are rough. Attendees will leave with new tools in their professional tool belts they can start using the very next day to steer their team, councils and communities in the right direction.

Jim Still-Pepper

Jim has almost 40 years of experience working with troubled, at-risk youth.
He is the Director of Community Based Clinical Services at Allwell Behavioral Health
Inc., a community mental health center. Jim coordinates the clinical team that offers
services to youth and families out in the community. He works with youth from
preschool through high school, though he loves to work with oppositional middle school
girls. Jim is the founder of Still Light Seminars LLC, a motivational training company and
makes about 150 presentations a year. He is the past winner of the Linda Pope Award
through the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program and was the winner of the
Distinguished Trainer Award through the National Staff Development and Training
Association. He has also been awarded the Rising Star Award from OCWTP. He has
been trainer of the Year at the North East Ohio Regional Training Center. Jim has a
empathic and creative style in his presentation that motivates participants to try practical
interventions and skills taught. Jim’s workshops focus on the mental health and care of
children and adolescents. Jim is an author. He has written almost 100 articles and has authored or co-authored 7 books. For Jim though, the best part of what he gets to do is to be a husband and a father.

Way Finding—Where Do You Want to Go Next

We’ll dive headfirst into the art of strategic development. Buckle up, because we’re not just talking about any old plan—we’re talking a powerful and practical plan to move from here to what is next. As a result of participating in this keynote, participants will re-imagine their professional (and personal) development and create their own blueprint for their development.