Vanessa Vakharia

Known as the Lady Gaga of math education, Vanessa Vakharia is the founder and director of The Math Guru, a super cool boutique math & science tutoring studio in Toronto that's changing stereotypes about what math education looks like. She is also the host of the Math Therapy podcast, author of the Math Hacks Scholastic book series, author of the NEW bestselling book Math Therapy, and lead singer/keytarist for rock band Goodnight Sunrise. She has her Bachelor of Commerce, Teaching Degree, and Masters of Math Education. She appears regularly on national television and news outlets as an expert in math education and math positivity, and her #goals are to be Oprah-level-famous and to totally change math culture so that STEM is finally as cool as every single Taylor Swift song ever written. She failed Grade 11 math twice, which was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Sponsored by:

Dr. Charles Bowman

Dr. Bowman is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and a background as a high school and college mathematics educator. His lived experience as an underrepresented Black male in education shapes his commitment to challenging stereotypes and fostering inclusive classroom environments that highlight the brilliance of all students. Believing in the transformative power of culturally relevant teaching, he bridges gaps in education while empowering marginalized communities. Additionally, he is the author of The Adventures of Charlie, a children’s book series inspired by his own life, addressing topics such as labels, confidence, role models, and aspirations. Through his books, Dr. Bowman aims to inspire and guide children, particularly those lacking advocates, by providing empowering and culturally relevant reading material during their formative years.

Sponsored by:

Zarek Drozda 

Zarek Drozda is the Executive Director of Data Science 4 Everyone, a national initiative and coalition based at the University of Chicago. Zarek helped launch DS4E in 2019 with Freakonomics’ Steven Levitt, co-organizing a coalition of 3000+ education leaders to advance data science and data literacy education in K-12 schools across more than 25 states. Zarek also contributes to AI education policy with the Federation of American Scientists, and previously served for the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), where he led research on emerging technology and advised the national COVID response, on assignment to a joint taskforce between the White House, Department of Education, and Center for Disease Control (CDC).