Justine GonzalezJustine Gonzalez is a Chicago-based entrepreneur who supports K12 school districts through her consulting firm, EducatorAide. She has published numerous articles, been a guest on multiple podcasts, and writes a monthly column for The Indianapolis Recrder Newspaper. Justine has served as a teacher, instructional coach, and K12 school and district-level administrator in both Chicago and Indianapolis. As a third-culture kid born and raised in northern Indiana to her Puerto Rican father and Amish/Mennonite background mother, she is intimately familiar with navigating cultural dissonance personally and through her educational experiences in public schools. After teaching and coaching in Indianapolis Public Schools, Justine was accepted to the nationally acclaimed New Leaders Principal Residency program in Chicago. Afterward, she served as an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools' turnaround network. Some career highlights have included turnaround efforts in both classroom and administrator roles boasting results such as 90% of all K-1 students reading at or above grade level at a chronically failing (10+ years) elementary school in Chicago Public Schools, implementing previously non-existent bilingual programming, increasing enrollment, and actively increasing community partnerships. Following her time in Chicago, she became a founding Principal for a network of schools focused on disengaged youth (dropout status or incarcerated) in Indianapolis and East Chicago. Within one year, she was promoted to serve as a Regional Director (Superintendent) for 10 high school campuses across Indiana and had developed the New Teacher Cohort program and training model, while increasing multiple campus partnerships. Justine currently volunteers as a founding board member for Midwest Center for Social Services and is passionate about partnering with organizations to cultivate culturally connected, inclusive, and equitable learning and working environments through her consulting firm, EducatorAide. She is a PhD candidate with her body of research focused on cultural neuroscience, cultural psychology, and cross-cultural communications. With a creative spirit that is fueled by various entrepreneurial efforts, she has been a best selling co-author (in the 2018 book, Wealth for Women). In addition, she co-hosts The Sunflower Society podcast with her sister, Kara. As a millennial leader devoted to equity, social impact, and liberatory transformation, Justine continues to prove that humans are multi-faceted and do not need to be boxed in to one single lane. Her message consistently helps others develop their self-awareness to maximize and leverage their spiritual gifts in order to impact the world in positive ways. She resides in the greater-Chicago area with her partner, Scott, and is a proud auntie to her nieces and nephews. Quirky hobbies: Brewing coffees with different types of mediums (i.e. pourover, greca, French press, etc.) and watching documentaries! Read More Read Less