5th Annual WNY Family Engagement Conference

Join us for the 5th Annual WNY Family Engagement Conference at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara in Amherst, NY. This exciting in-person event is a great opportunity for both education, community-based organization, and mental health professionals to get together and learn about evidence-based family engagement strategies and participate in break out sessions specific to mental health, family dynamics and disability issues.

About our keynote speaker, Sharlonda Buckman-Davis:

Sharlonda Buckman-Davis is an expert consultant for national and local organizations on family engagement and youth development. She currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Family and Community Engagement for the largest public school district in Michigan, Detroit Public Schools Community District. Previous to that, she was the Chief Executive of Detroit Parent Network, an independent nonprofit membership organization engaging parents as Champions for children citywide. She was born and raised in Detroit, earned her Master's degree in Community Economic Development from the University of New Hampshire and for more than 30 years has served on numerous educational panels including for MSNBC.

Mrs. Buckman-Davis has been the recipient of various awards including the Judge Wade McCree Jr. Friend of Children Award, Spirit of Detroit, Crain's Detroit Business 40 Under 40, Citizen of the Week, Michigan Chronicle Community Leader, Woman of Excellence, Detroit News Michiganian of the Year and most recently was recognized for her tireless work during the pandemic from national EdWeek as a Leader to Learn From.

Mrs. Buckman-Davis is also a published author. She wrote, The Ardent Advocate, a practitioners guide to engaging parents through a collection of experiences, strategies and best-practice reforms. This book also explores the opportunities and failures of public education with progressive ideas to better serve children of color in large urban centers in America. It is written through the lens of a woman, once discarded from the system as a young teen, who persevered despite insurmountable barriers in her path that could make or break any person. Discover her resilience and how you can apply these systematic strategies within your school community to be a voice for the voiceless and ignite change.