Short bio: Craig Aarons-Martin is an award-winning educator, author, and leadership strategist with more than 20 years of service in urban education. A champion for transformational leadership, culturally responsive teaching, and cultures of belonging, he’s dedicated to advancing educational equity and building inclusive, high-achieving learning communities. Full bio: Craig Aarons-Martin is an award-winning educator, author, and leadership strategist with more than 20 years of service in urban education. A champion for transformational leadership, culturally responsive teaching, and cultures of belonging, Aarons-Martin has dedicated his career to advancing educational equity and building inclusive, high-achieving learning communities. He’s an ASCD faculty member and the author of two forthcoming books: Creating Brave Spaces for LGBTQIA+ Youth: Five Keys to Schoolwide Belonging & Safety and The Brave Leaders Playbook: 10 Leadership Shifts to Ignite Belonging, Brilliance, and Results in Your School. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he prepares future educators, with a focus on inclusive leadership and instructional excellence. His writing has appeared in Education Week, K-12 Digest, and ISTE+ASCD publications, contributing to national conversations on equity, leadership, and organizational change. As superintendent and executive director of a PK-8 charter school district, he led cross-department collaboration that transformed school culture, increased staff diversity by 64%, improved retention to 67%, and produced a 106% growth in Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education accountability percentile between 2018 and 2022. As the principal of a Boston PK-5 school, Aarons-Martin guided a successful turnaround that closed achievement gaps for English learners and Latino students, reduced suspensions by 50%, decreased chronic absenteeism by 22%, and achieved a 320% improvement in state achievement percentiles over five years. His leadership has been recognized with numerous honors, including National Distinguished Principal (NAESP), Massachusetts Elementary Principal of the Year, Boston Public Schools Educator of the Year, and the Global Forum for Education & Learning Excellence in Education Award. Through his work with schools, districts, and national organizations, Craig continues to inspire educators to lead bravely, center belonging, and design learning environments where every student can thrive.