Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter, as well as a former professional basketball player. Since retiring from the NBA in 1989, he has been a political activist and education advocate. Before leaving office, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest honor for civilians. His non-action books include biography, social commentary, and history books promoting African-American history and achievements. He has written 15 books and is a New York Times best-selling author. His latest books include Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court, and Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court. Abdul-Jabbar is an award-winning documentary producer and was featured in HBO’s most watched documentary of all time, Kareem: Minority of One. He is a 3x award-winning Columnist of the Year Award from the National Arts and Journalism Awards for his writing in The Hollywood Reporter.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond
 State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond is responsible for the largest public school system in the nation, with more than 6.3 million students and over 10,000 schools. Since taking office earlier this year, State Superintendent Thurmond has made improving equity, access, and opportunity for California’s public school students his top priority. He has created initiatives that are focused on closing the achievement gap for our state’s most vulnerable students and is dedicated to supporting educators in delivering an equitable education to all students via STEAM. During his 10-year tenure in the Assembly, Thurmond authored legislation that successfully expanded the free lunch program, bilingual education, and the Chafee Grant college scholarship program for foster youth. Additionally, Thurmond’s legislation guaranteed preferential voting rights for student school board members, improved access to families for early education and childcare, and shifted millions of dollars directly from prisons to schools. State Superintendent Thurmond is a social worker, educator, advocate, and public school parent who continues to work tirelessly on behalf of all students to ensure they reach their full academic potential.

Dr. Christopher Emdin

He is the author of the award-winning book, Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation and the New York Times Best Seller, For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood and the Rest of Ya’ll Too. Christopher Emdinis the creator of the #HipHopEd social media movement and Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S.. An Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science,and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University, Emdin also serves as Associate Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from an educator who has been honored as a STEM Access Champion of Change by the White  House under President Obama.

Ellen Ochoa
Ellen Ochoa is the first Hispanic woman ever to go into space! She’s also the second female Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center — where she led the human space flight enterprise for the nation from 2013 to 2018. Ochoa is a trailblazer like no other and joining us at the 2019 STEAM Symposium! Don’t miss the chance to hear her speak about leadership, innovation and discovery.