Parent & Family Engagement
October 15-17, 2025
Statewide Conference
Waco, TX
Waco Convention Center
Conference Presenters
Dr. Adolph Brown
Dr. Adolph Brown aka "The World's Greatest Edu-tainer" (the name given to him by friend Doug E. Fresh - "The World's Greatest Entertainer,") is an internationally renowned credentialed master teacher, character education leader, servant leadership consultant, educational & clinical psychologist, author, researcher, entrepreneur, and an influential thinker/practitioner in the fields of education, human behavior, and neuroscience. He was once the youngest tenured full professor in our nation even after his extremely humble beginnings and being the first in his family of 5 to graduate from high school.
Head Start gave Dr. Brown his aptitude for learning and he continues to grow and learn to this very day. Dr. Brown is a graduate of the College of William & Mary with degrees in Psychology, Anthropology, and a minor in Education. He completed his graduate studies in clinical psychology at the College of William and Mary extension of the Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology (Child & Family and Education tracks). He completed his residency at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.
He writes and teaches from a unique perspective of an experienced passionate & award-winning educator & research scientist, an innovative & effective business leader, and an engaging consultant. Dr. Brown has devoted his life’s mission to positive human development. Adolph loves to receive invitations to present any number of his vast array of master classes. He is not your typical “motivational speaker” or self-proclaimed “guru.” He educates, informs, challenges, and delights with some amusement and a little "show and tell.” Adolph customizes each masterclass or workshop for the audience with lots of audience participation, profound challenges, multiple takeaways, and BIG FUN!
Catch Dr. Brown and Ali Wentworth on their new television show “The Parent Test” on ABC primetime.
Dr. Karen Mapp
Karen L. Mapp, EdD, is a Professor of Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Over the past twenty-five years, her research and practice focus has been the cultivation of partnerships among families, community members and educators that support student achievement and school improvement. Dr. Mapp holds a Doctorate and Master’s of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a Master’s in Education from Southern Connecticut State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
From 2008 to 2022, Dr. Mapp served as the Faculty Director of the HGSE Education, Policy and Manangement (EPM) Master's Program. She is a founding member of the District Leaders Network on Family and Community Engagement, and serves on the boards of the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE) and The Hyams Foundation (Boston). From 2010 to 2023, she served as board member and six years as board chair of the Instutute for Educational Leadership (IEL).
From 2011 to 2013, Dr. Mapp served as a consultant on family and community engagement to the United States Department of Education (USDOE) in the Office of Innovation and Improvement where, in collaboration with the USDOE, she developed the first version of the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships.
Dr. Mapp joined the HGSE faculty in January of 2005 after serving for eighteen months as the Deputy Superintendent for Family and Community Engagement for the Boston Public Schools (BPS). While working with the BPS, she continued to fulfill her duties as president of the Institute for Responsive Education (IRE). She joined IRE in 1997 as Project Director, was appointed vice-president of IRE in May of 1998, and served as president from September 1998 to December 2004.
Dr. Mapp is the author and co-author of several articles and books about the role of families and community members in the work of student achievement and school improvement including: A New Wave Of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement (2002); Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships (2010); Debunking the Myth of the Hard to Reach Parent (2010); Title I and Parent Involvement: Lessons from the Past, Recommendations for the Future (2011); A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform (2011); Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (2014); “From Private Citizens to Public Actors: The Development of Parent Leaders through Community Organizing” (2015); "Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success” (2017), Embracing a New Normal: Toward a More Liberatory Approach to Family Engagement (2021), and Everyone Wins!: The Evidence for Family-School Partnershiips and Implications for Practice (2022).
Dr. Steve Constantino
Leader, teacher, speaker and best-selling author Dr. Steve Constantino has a long and distinguished career in leadership and bringing innovation to educational and business organizations.
Dr. Constantino is internationally recognized for his work in family engagement and his innovative, non-conventional, entrepreneurial and outlier approaches to leading organizations and acquiring impressive results. As a master of the stage, he has captivated thousands of teachers, administrators, school board members and business people from the United States and around the world. His amazing keynote presentations and workshops have been featured in local, state, regional, national and international conferences. With the gifts of storytelling, humor and the knack for telling it like it is, Dr. Constantino is a much sought-after speaker and leadership consultant because he is the rare combination of someone who can both lead and teach others how to lead.
Dr. Constantino’s work quickly gained national prominence and soon he began traveling the United States speaking and working with all types of educators, school board members, and businesses to promote sound practices in the leadership of organizations and the leveraging of family engagement as an essential element in increased academic achievement for all students and workforce productivity for businesses.
As a result of his experiences and his practical approach to engaging families, Steve has authored five books on the subject. His first book, Making Your School Family Friendly (NASSP, 2002) was published after being selected by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the MetLife Foundation to create the first-ever family friendly schools national symposium, held in Washington DC.
His second book Engaging Every Family (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003) soon followed. This book expanded on the conceptual framework of the four domains of family engagement. In 2008, Steve released his third book 101 Ways to Create Real Family Engagement (Engage Press, 2008). Steve’s fourth book, released in 2016, is Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles and is published by Corwin Press. In September 2020, the new improved, second edition of Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles was released. Both editions of the book quickly became best sellers.
Steve began his career as a teacher and moved through the ranks to district superintendent. At the state level, Steve held positions as Chief Academic Officer and Acting State Superintendent. Today, Steve is an Executive Professor in the Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership Department at the William & Mary School of Education and continues to accept numerous invitations to speak and consult with schools, districts, states and business organizations around the world.
Patricia Weinzapfel
Patricia Weinzapfel is the Executive Director of Community Schools and Family Engagement for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in Evansville, Indiana. She helps oversee the implementation of the community school model and directs the family engagement work in the 39 schools in the district.
Patricia holds two degrees from Northwestern University: a Bachelor of Science in Journalism/Social Psychology and a Master of Science in Broadcast Journalism with a concentration in Economic/Business reporting. Prior to becoming an educator, Patricia worked as a broadcast news writer, reporter, and producer for almost 15 years. She also taught writing and broadcast journalism at the University of Southern Indiana.
Patricia is the author of No More Mumbo Jumbo, Bridging the Communication Gap Between Educators and Families. The book is designed to help educators build relationships with families through effective communication practices.
Patricia is a strong believer in family engagement and community collaboration. For eight years, Patricia served as First Lady of Evansville where she partnered with several organizations on city initiatives. She currently serves on many community boards and is active in other community collaborations and organizations.
Patricia and her husband Jonathan have three children, Nathaniel, Benjamin and Eleanor and a rescue dog named Archie.
Present at the PFE Conference
Applications for presenting at the PFE Conference have closed. Find the application to present guidelines below.