On-ramp to the Forum (Session 1)
2026-01-21 13:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York)
Not sure what to expect from the EKBN Forum? New to our network?
Join us for On-ramp to the Forum, a short introductory session where you can learn more about knowledge brokering, meet our team, and get a sneak peek at our upcoming virtual forum. Whether you are already registered for the event or are considering if the forum is right for you, On-ramp sessions are a great way to connect with others interested in knowledge brokering and learn more about the opportunities to get involved with EKBN!
*Note that we are offering three On-ramp sessions, each with the same content, to help accommodate a wide range of participant schedules. Please ensure you are signed up for your preferred date and time. All options can be found on our Events page.
Register now for January 21 at 1:00-1:30pm ET

On-ramp to the Forum (Session 2)
2026-01-28 18:30 - 19:00
Not sure what to expect from the EKBN Forum? New to our network?
Join us for On-ramp to the Forum, a short introductory session where you can learn more about knowledge brokering, meet our team, and get a sneak peek at our upcoming virtual forum. Whether you are already registered for the event or are considering if the forum is right for you, On-ramp sessions are a great way to connect with others interested in knowledge brokering and learn more about the opportunities to get involved with EKBN!
*Note that we are offering three On-ramp sessions, each with the same content, to help accommodate a wide range of participant schedules. Please ensure you are signed up for your preferred date and time. All options can be found on our Events page.
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On-ramp to the Forum (Session 3)
2026-02-04 15:00 - 15:30
Not sure what to expect from the EKBN Forum? New to our network?
Join us for On-ramp to the Forum, a short introductory session where you can learn more about knowledge brokering, meet our team, and get a sneak peek at our upcoming virtual forum. Whether you are already registered for the event or are considering if the forum is right for you, On-ramp sessions are a great way to connect with others interested in knowledge brokering and learn more about the opportunities to get involved with EKBN!
*Note that we are offering three On-ramp sessions, each with the same content, to help accommodate a wide range of participant schedules. Please ensure you are signed up for your preferred date and time. All options can be found on our Events page.
Register today for February 4 at 3:00-3:30pm ET

EKBN Forum: Shaping the Future of Knowledge Brokering
2026-02-24 13:00 - 2026-02-26 17:00
Please join the Education Knowledge Broker Network at our first annual forum on February 24-26, 2026. To learn more, submit your proposal, and register for the event, check out our Annual Forum page.

EKBN Networking Hour
2026-03-25 13:00 - 14:00
Please join us for an informal hour of conversation and connection – continue building on discussions from the EKBN Forum or stop by to learn more about our network and what we do. Networking hours are great for expanding your circle of knowledge brokers and sparking new professional collaborations.
Registration is required. Reserve your seat today!
Register

EKBN Networking Hour
2026-04-14 16:00 - 17:00
Please join EKBN Ambassador, Jen Loescher, for an informal hour of conversation and connection. Networking hours are great for expanding your circle of knowledge brokers and sparking new professional collaborations.
Register Today
About your host:
Jennifer Loescher has been an educator in the Clark County School District since 1999 and currently serves as a Math Coach and Trainer with the Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program, supporting educators across five southern counties. She began her career as a classroom teacher, teaching 2nd-grade and 6th-grade math, before transitioning into roles as a Learning Strategist and Data Coordinator.
Jen is an alumna of the Public Education Foundation’s Teacher Leadership Academy, the inaugural Nevada Teach Plus Fellowship, and the CREATEd Fellowship. She has also served on the Teach Plus National Policy Advisory Board and the 2022 Digital Promise Learner Variability Navigator Practitioner Advisory Board, as well as in a senior role as a Powerful Coaching Manager at Digital Promise. Notably, her team was a Finalist in the VITAL Prize Challenge, where they co-designed a technology product to make mathematics more accessible for visually impaired students. Jen holds a BS in Elementary Education and an MS in Curriculum and Instruction, both from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Jen is passionate about serving fellow educators through professional learning, coaching, and collaborative leadership— to ultimately improve student outcomes through the art and science of teaching.

The CREATEd Co-Design Toolkit: A Resource for Knowledge Brokers
2026-04-16 14:00 - 15:00
Join Elizabeth Farley-Ripple, Director of the Center for Research Use in Education at the University of Delaware, and colleagues in this upcoming interactive webinar. You’ll be introduced to CREATEd’s FREE co-design toolkit and will learn more about how to create equity-centered, research-informed resources in collaborative teams, and see results of co-design work!
Hear from those who have used the toolkit, including:

Carolyn Hammerschmidt, Content Creator in the development of the CREATEd Co-design Toolkit and coach to several co-design teams
Isabel Lopez Hurtado, facilitator and coach of several co-design teams
Heather Poparad, facilitator of two co-design teams
Annastasia Purinton, Content Creator in the development of the CREATEd Co-design Toolkit, coach, and facilitator to several co-design teams

Whether you are new to co-design, actively planning a project, or currently engaged in the work, you’ll leave with new insights and fresh ideas.
Register today!

EKBN Journal Club
2026-04-21 12:00 - 13:00
New Event! The EKBN Journal Club will gather to discuss Morgan Meyer’s article, The Rise of the Knowledge Broker. Meyer’s commentary raises important questions for knowledge brokers, and introduces the concept of brokered knowledge. This short and accessible work is a great introduction for those wanting to delve more deeply into the practice and theory of knowledge brokering. We’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of our “double peripherality” and how we can make our often-invisible work more visible.
Join us on Tuesday, April 21st, 12:00 –1:00 PM ET.
Register to receive the reading link and Zoom invite.
Register Now!

Democratizing Education Statistics Through an AI Agent
2026-04-30 14:30 - 15:30
Information about education provides a critical foundation for understanding the status of education and is used to help identify areas for improvement, track progress, and make informed decisions about policies and resource allocation. Yet access to and effective use of federal education data has become increasingly difficult as technical barriers and support structures have eroded.The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is addressing this challenge through the development of a conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agent designed to democratize access to federal education data. By allowing users to ask questions in plain language and receive tailored, data-driven responses, the AI Agent lowers barriers related to software, technical expertise, and data literacy. This session introduces AIR’s AI Analysis Agent and demonstrates how it can transform the way researchers, policymakers, educators, parents, and community-based organizations explore and use education data, shifting complex analyses from time‑consuming technical tasks to intuitive, on‑demand inquiry.
Register Today

From the Streets to the Seats: Partnership for Knowledge Exchange
2026-05-05 13:00 - 14:00
In this casual ‘fireside chat,’ EKBN Director Katie Philp sits down with longtime collaborator, Ruben Saldana, to explore the development of partnerships that elevate the role of lived experience in evidence production and use. They’ll discuss the importance of trust between grassroots and grasstops organizations, how practice and research can co-evolve through partnership, and the impacts of these collaborations in youth development contexts.
Ruben Saldaña is the founder of Credible Messengers of Florida and founder and head coach of RuCamp, a mixed-martial arts program for youth. As a formerly incarcerated gang leader, Ruben has dedicated himself to youth mentorship and youth violence prevention efforts. Credible Messenger Mentors have lived experiences similar to the youth they mentor, such as former justice system involvement or gang participation. Ruben is a recognized leader in youth gang deterrence and violence prevention, serving as an expert consultant for local governments working to address youth crime.
Registration coming soon.

Networking Hour with Tabitha Reynolds Hoang
2026-05-13 04:00 - 17:00
Each month, join us for a conversation with other knowledge brokers for the purpose of meeting others who are doing similar work, create professional connections, and building community.
This month meet Tabitha Reynolds Hoang, a research and policy analyst at Southern Education Foundation and EKBN Ambassador, supporting research partnerships and the design and dissemination of education research.
Register Here

The Unique Vantage Point of Knowledge Brokers
2026-05-21 12:00 - 13:00
Join Dr. Aubrey Escobar to explore the unique vantage point of Knowledge Brokers, and how to identify and mitigate systems failures using ‘The Ghost Triptych’ framework.
Knowledge brokers sit at the intersections where research meets practice, policy meets implementation, and investment meets outcomes, often making them the first to notice the gap between what a system claims to produce and what actually reaches students and communities. Their positioning gives them a unique vantage point for detecting what this session calls “ghosts”: places where knowledge appears to move through a system but quietly evaporates before producing durable change. The Ghost Triptych names three distinct failure modes at the classroom, institutional, and economic levels: Ghost Learning (students who appear to acquire knowledge but retain nothing durable), Ghost Transformation (institutions that adopt reforms on paper while operational reality remains unchanged), and Ghost GDP (economic indicators that reflect education spending without capturing whether that investment produced actual human capability). Because ghost failures disproportionately affect historically marginalized communities, this framework positions knowledge brokering as equity work, not merely translation. Participants will leave with a diagnostic tool they can apply immediately and a deeper appreciation for why their role in the system is not optional but essential.
Register Here
Dr. Aubrey Escobar is a scholar-practitioner whose work sits at the intersection of institutional assessment, organizational theory, and educational technology leadership. She is the founder of The Fulcra Institute, a think tank for institutional plurality research, and serves as CEO and President of CLEAR (Center for Leadership Equity and Research), where she advances equity-centered leadership development across K-12 and higher education. Dr. Escobar’s assessment frameworks, including the 360° ROI Framework, the APRI (AI Program Rigor Index), the IRII (Institutional Risk and Integrity Index), and the DialogIQ measurement architecture, form the diagnostic backbone of her intellectual project: mapping where institutions produce the conditions they claim to eliminate. That structural diagnosis is the foundation of the Ghost Triptych, the framework she presents, which names Ghost Learning, Ghost Transformation, and Ghost GDP as the three measurable failure modes of institutional performance theater. She is the author of The Connected District (April 2026) and the forthcoming The AI Alchemist (June 2026). She serves as adjunct professor at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and American Public University System, teaching organizational leadership and business strategy.

From Evidence to Everyday Practice
2026-05-28 14:00 - 15:00
Join Erika Kitzmiller as she shares the results of a five-year research-practice partnership dedicated to transforming college access and persistence. By working side-by-side with students and staff, her team designed, implemented, and evaluated structural and instructional reforms that are now driving student success.
This session moves beyond theory to focus on the “how” of collaboration between educators, researchers, and youth. Attendees will leave with open-access, adaptable tools, including: A replicable research–practice partnership structure; Sample inquiry and reflection protocols; Templates for practice-embedded data use; Strategies for sustaining knowledge exchange over time
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to apply these evidence-based strategies to your own school or community.
Register Here
About the Speaker
Erika Kitzmiller is the author of Unchartered: How One High School Transformed First-Generation College Success (Harvard Education Press, 2026) and The Roots of Educational Inequality: Philadelphia’s Germantown High School, 1907-2014 (Penn Press, 2022). Erika studies historical and contemporary policies and practices that contribute to inequality and identifies solutions to end it. She is committed to inquiry-driven, practice-based methods to advance educational equity and social justice. She is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago’s Crown School for Social Work, Policy, and Practice’s Urban Education Institute, a non-resident fellow at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center, and a research affiliate with Gordon Institute for Advanced Study at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Her work has been published in Educational Researcher, Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, Dissent, the Hechinger Report, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Reuters, and the Washington Post. She has received funding from Barnard College, Columbia University, Harvard University, the National Academy of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a public and independent school administrator and teacher and regularly consults with businesses, schools, and non-profits. She has also served on the boards and advisory councils of the Institute for Immigration Concerns, The School at Columbia, Athena Center for Women’s Leadership, and Barnard Center for Research on Women.
She earned a Ph.D. in History, a Ph.D. in Education, Culture, and Society, and a Master’s in Public Administration at the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A., magna cum laude, in History and Italian from Wellesley College.

AMA with Derek Eagle Lee LaRance
2026-06-02 15:00 - 16:00
Join Derek Eagle Lee LaRance, an Indigenous strategist and program leader. Derek’s work sits at the intersection of AI, language revitalization, tribal sovereignty, and economic development. Join us for this event to engage in topics such as:

What counts as evidence when indigenous communities are sharpening education and tech.
How can educators engage AI without surrendering sovereignty?
Language revitalization as an education and technological innovation problem, not solely a cultural preservation problem.
Building human infrastructure for equitable tech futures with educators, youth, and community.

Bring your questions and ask Derek anything!
Register Here!
About Derek:
Derek is an Indigenous strategist and program leader whose work sits at the intersection of AI, language revitalization, tribal sovereignty, and economic development. A West Point graduate and former U.S. Army artillery officer, he has led initiatives across Amazon, Cherokee Film, FLAIR, and as a Strategic Advisor to Indigitize, helping build programs in Indigenous affairs, Native language media localization, Indigenous education, and emerging technology. Derek is known for connecting community-centered vision with practical execution across technology, policy, partnerships, and storytelling. His work consistently centers Indigenous rights, community benefit, and long-term capacity building.
In addition to his executive and program leadership work, Derek has served in advisory and board roles supporting Indigenous education, global youth development, and Indigenous technology advancement. Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, he lives with his family in Owasso, Oklahoma, on Cherokee Nation land.

The Business of Brokering
2026-06-10 13:00 - 14:00
Join Claire Han, Founder and CEO of MyEducationResearcher, and Joana Idokwo, Founder of Mind Investors, for this informal conversation about the possibilities and challenges of entrepreneurship as knowledge brokers in education. If you are an independent consultant or entrepreneur or considering entering the sector, don’t miss this opportunity. You’re invited to join the discussion to learn, ask questions, and network with other knowledge brokers.
Register Here
About our featured guests:
Claire Han is passionate about communicating meta-analytic results to practitioners and policymakers by encouraging understanding without ignoring complexity. Her web application, MyEducationResearcher, automates many of the time-intensive search, screening, and analytic steps by codifying What Works Clearinghouse procedures into precise and clear Python commands. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education (U.S.). Claire holds a Ph.D in Education from Johns Hopkins University. At Hopkins, she developed methodological expertise in meta-analysis and research synthesis working alongside Dr. Robert Slavin.
Joana Idokwo is the founder of Mind Investors, where she works across Africa, the U.S., and the Middle East to help young people, especially those with disabilities, successfully transition from school to work and life. Her work focuses on creating access to real-world learning through Career & Technical Education (CTE) and TVET, while also bridging gaps between policy and community needs. She is an active member of the Council for Exceptional Children. Whether collaborating with schools, nonprofits, or government agencies, she brings warmth, creativity, and deep commitment to equity. Joana also serves as an Ambassador for the Education Knowledge Broker Network. She is passionate about making education more inclusive, practical, and empowering.

From Noise to Clarity: Equity-Centered Communication That Builds Trust and Drives Action
2026-06-17 13:00 - 14:00
Communication is not about what’s said, it’s about what’s understood and acted on. In this interactive session, Sharise Johnson will guide participants through a practical approach to equity-centered communication that strengthens how organizations share knowledge, engage communities, and drive action.
Together, we’ll explore:

Where communication breaks down and how it impacts trust and decision-making
How to translate complex research and ideas into clear, accessible messaging
What it looks like to communicate with communities, not just to them

Participants will walk away with real tools, including SMJ Communications’ Communications Equity Audit™, to immediately assess and strengthen their own messaging.
This session is designed to be highly interactive, reflective, and grounded in real-world application.
Register Here!
About Sharise:
Sharise M. Johnson is the Founder and Communications Excellence Officer of SMJ Communications, a strategic communications firm supporting school districts, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations nationwide. With more than two decades of experience in education and public-sector communications, she partners with senior leaders to strengthen messaging, navigate complexity, and lead with clarity during moments of change, growth, and public accountability.
