About the Presenters

Resha Conroy is the Founder and Executive Director of the Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children, a non-profit organization working to eliminate the amplified inequities for Black children experiencing unaddressed dyslexia and related learning disabilities. A mother of two children with learning disabilities, including a son with dyslexia, Resha is motivated by her family’s journey to pursue her lifelong passion for education reform. She has over a decade of experience in education and non-profit management, serving on school leadership teams and as a consultant for charter schools in Washington, DC, and NYC. Resha has shifted her career to a clinical and direct service role; she is currently a speech-language pathologist and an executive functioning coach with a strong interest in language, literacy, and culture. She has a BA in economics from Smith College, an MPA in nonprofit management, and an MS in communicative sciences and disorders from New York University.

Ileana Driggs is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University and her Master of Arts degree from Yeshiva University. Ileana has worked in various school settings such as The Quad Preparatory School and Success Academy. She is currently the Lower School Counselor at The Gateway School, an independent special education school serving students with language-based learning differences. Working with children has always been a true passion of Ileana’s and she firmly believes that kids do well if they can and when they are given the proper emotional support to succeed. She believes that a student’s identity plays a significant role in their understanding of the curriculum and allows them to become self-advocates for themselves and their needs.

Peggy Stern is an Academy Award-winning film Producer/Director with more than 30 years of experience. Her dyslexia led her to filmmaking and animation at a young age, and in March 2006 Peggy won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. She has produced for PBS, HBO, Teachers College at Columbia University, The National PTA, and National YWCA among others. She received her BA from Harvard University and her senior thesis film, Stephanie, was turned into a PBS documentary special and broadcast nationally. Since the launch of SuperDville, Peggy has spoken at a number of webinars and podcasts, including the Dyslexia Narrative Conference, the Dyslexia Training Institute Virtual Conference, Learning Ally’s Spotlight on Early Literacy Virtual Conference, Embracing the Whole Child with Punkinfutz, and the Virtual Summer Dyslexia Institute Conference. SuperDville is a family affair, as her dyslexic daughter, Emma, has been a key advisor!

About the Moderator

Joyce Whitby is a lifelong EdTechKnowLedgist who started off as a special ed educator in NYC, and then taught graduate-level EdTech courses at Long Island University. Since then, Joyce has been in the business of educational technology and has held key leadership roles in sales leadership, professional development, and marketing with organizations like Apple Computer, Scientific Learning, and SchoolMessenger. She has been a longtime member and past co-chair of the SIIA EDU Board, and still coordinates their Innovation Showcase which is part of the CODiEs. She also has extensive experience working with startup EdTech ventures. In 2017, Joyce and her husband (aka @tomwhitby, co-founder of #edchat) launched their consulting business working with emerging and growing EdTech companies, seeking growth in revenue and market share.