MAINSTAGE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Mark your calendars for March 12-15, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to be inspired by the industry’s best and brightest and to gain valuable resources and concrete strategies to help you in your professional role within positive behavior support. 

With an agenda that promises insightful speakers and valuable networking opportunities, we are excited to announce our mainstage keynote speakers!  

Bringing Our Community Closer

Joe Sanfelippo

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Author & 2019 National Superintendent of the Year
Day 1 – March 13, 2025

We’re starting the conference with the mainstage speaker for day one, “Bringing Our Community Closer,” featuring Joe Sanfelippo. Dr. Sanfelippo will reveal insights into promoting positive behavior in school districts to empower your team to create a safe and supportive school environment. So, ensure you get a front-row seat and register today!

We like to think of the APBS community as a network of multidisciplinary peers coming together to advance knowledge, share resources, and advance positive behavior support. We’ve been working hard to develop new ways to unite our diverse community. During this main stage, Sanfelippo will share their successes, explain the importance of Tier 1 interventions, encourage equity in the use of behavior-specific praise, and promote well-being through relationship building. Come to this keynote to find out exactly what’s in store!

Strengthening Partnerships in Community

Lola Dada-Olley

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Attorney, disability inclusion advocate, mom, wife, and podcast host
Day 2 – March 14, 2025

On day two, we’re keeping the momentum by bringing out a heavy hitter, Lola Dada-Olley. Lola touches on societal stigma, culture, the intersection of race and disability, and corporate disability inclusion efforts. She will share that getting a diagnosis for autism—or for any special need—is like being “drafted into the special forces unit of motherhood.” And for her, that has happened twice.

Dada-Olley’s multi-generational experience with autism gives her a unique perspective and a passion for ” living out loud.” Through this experience, Lola will help conference attendees improve their understanding of the support families and the IDD community need and provide a framework for professionals to support better families with children with disabilities.

Joe Sanfelippo

Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, retired Superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Wisconsin, is a celebrated educational leader and author. During his tenure, the Fall Creek School District was recognized as an Innovative District twice by the International Center for Leadership in Education. Joe authored multiple books, including best-sellers "Hacking Leadership" and "Lead From Where You Are." Honored as one of 117 Future Ready Superintendents and among the 50 Personalized Learning Leaders by the US Department of Education, Joe was also named one of the 100 Most Influential Educators by District Administration Magazine. In 2019, Education Dive awarded him National Superintendent of the Year.

Lola Dada-Olley

Lola Dada-Olley is an attorney, advocate, mother, wife, sister, and podcast founder. She practices law at a global banking institution, where she sits at the intersection of law, accessibility, and technology. Her role includes advising business partners on matters relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act as it relates to the design, procurement and implementation of customer-facing technology. 

In 2020, Lola launched the Not Your Mama's Autism Podcast. Part audio memoir/part interview style podcast, Lola weaves in personal narratives of her life as an older sibling to an autistic man with an intellectual disability and now, as a mother of two autistic children, with interviews of various members of the global neurodivergent and disability communities. Lola’s podcast touches upon issues such as societal stigma, culture, intersection of race and disability, access to health care, community policing and corporate inclusion efforts. 

As a TEDx Speaker, Lola talks about how seemingly disjointed events led her to the life purpose she lives today. In 2021, she gave a TEDx talk, titled, "Your Path is Your Purpose", where she explained how seemingly disjointed events led her to the life purpose she lives today.

Lola gives talks nationwide on a variety of topics including hope, societal stigma, disability inclusion, design thinking, special education, access to health care, and the mental health of lifetime caregivers. Past audiences include the federal government, state education departments and private institutions.

Lola has served on the board of two non-profits dedicated to bettering health care, support, and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In 2024, Lola was honored by the American Council on Rural Special Education for her advocacy efforts with their social justice award.

Lola has a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Eastern Illinois University, a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a law degree from Howard University School of Law. She lives in the Dallas Fort Worth area with her husband, two children and an entitled Portuguese water dog. In her spare time, Lola enjoys writing, podcasting, and sleeping like a baby whenever possible.

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