Skip to main content

Search NYU Steinhardt

NYU Metro Center is Deeply Honored to Have Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings as Keynote Speaker

Posted
Image captures multiracial audience attendees applauding in response to the presentation before them.

Now, only in its third year, NYU Metro Center’s annual conference has become a blockbuster success amongst a host of educators, scholars, parents/caregivers, and youth participants alike. This remarkable education justice event has reliably become a phenomenal “pedagogical laboratory,” where proven, equity-driven best practices, research, and strategies are shared with attendees. The Equity Now Conference not only enhances the culturally responsive knowledge base of districts and schools, but also intentionally and consistently breaks fresh ground in the development of an inclusive educational system that invites all of our children to achieve their best possible academic, socioemotional, and cultural development.

Facilitating this pivotal convening is a herculean effort in both word and deed. Equity Now Conference organizers have had to conduct an extensive and thorough search to secure a distinguished, brilliant, and inspirational individual to address this year’s pedagogical conclave. After an exhaustive search, a stellar selection was made.

The logo for NYU Metro Center's 2025 Equity Now Conference. This logo centers around the NYU Metro Center logo and articulates the themes of the converning, which read "Welcoming, Affirming, and Healing Schools".
  • The individual chosen to address the 2025 Equity Now Conference is the former editor of the American Educational Research Journal. 
  • This educator has received numerous awards from national organizations and universities, including the Distinguished Service Medal from Teachers College, Columbia University, as well as the John Nisbet Award from the British Educational Research Association at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England
  • This leading pedagogical theorist has impacted the field of education, with their work on the adverse and destructive effects of systemic racism and economic inequality on educational opportunities. 
  • The revelatory findings of this teacher educator in the areas of culturally relevant pedagogy and critical race theory have proven to be monumental and prodigious. 

Similarly, her book The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African-American Children continues to serve as an essential text for educators.  

Image captures photo of Gloria Ladson-Billings.  The photo focuses on Dr. Ladson-Billings standing with arms folded against her person. She wears a green and pink colored top and eye-glassed. She is the only person featured in the image.

It seems that the conference search committee made the correct decision about who should address the Equity Now Conference.

The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools is proud to announce Professor Emerita and former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor in Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, and was Faculty Affiliate in the Departments of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Gloria Ladson-BIllings, as the keynote speaker for its 2025 Equity Now Conference: Welcoming, Affirming, and Healing Schools.

The third (3rd) annual Equity Now Conference will be held in New York City, on Friday, May 30th, 2025. Registration for the conference is officially openNote: Discounted rates are available from now through the early-bird registration deadline of April 1st, 2025.   

image captures the QR Code for the 2025 Equity Now Conference

NYU Metro Center’s Deputy Executive Director of School Change and Community Engagement, Dr. Maria G. Hernandez, reminds educators, parents/caregivers, and youth that it is not too late to submit workshop proposals for the conference. The Call for Submissions window for the 2025 Equity Now Conference will close on Friday, November 22nd, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

The 2025 Equity Now Conference offers a full day of community building, networking and learning for educators, parent/caregivers, youth, community organizers and technical assistance providers who are committing to transforming their classrooms, schools and districts. NYU Metro Center's annual convening also offers a unique opportunity to hear from an educational equity luminary and pioneer, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings. Dr. Ladson-Billings work in the areas of culturally relevant teaching, economic inequality, and systemic racism has greatly impacted the field of education. Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings keynote address at the 2025 Equity Now Conference promises to both enlighten and inspire. 

Registration for NYU Metro Center's 2025 Equity Now Conference will be open through Friday, May 9th, 2025.