The National Conference on Mean Girls & Relational Aggression

We have confirmed the following keynote speakers:

Rosalind Wiseman	Jodee Blanco
Trudy Ludwig	Valerie Hodge-Lane
Josh Lorick	Diane Senn

We have confirmed the following pre-conference workshop speakers:

Julia Taylor

Diane Senn

Rosalind Wiseman is the author Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence published by Crown in May 2002. Twice a New York Times Bestseller, Queen Bees & Wannabes was the basis for the 2004 movie Mean Girls. Other recent publications include contributions to Parade magazine and Town and Country. Her most recent book Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads was released in 2006 and she is a monthly columnist for Family Circle magazine.

Since founding the Empower Program, a national violence-prevention program, in 1992, Wiseman has gone on to work with tens of thousands of students, educators, parents, counselors, coaches, and administrators to create communities based on the belief that each person has a responsibility to treat themselves and others with dignity.

Wiseman speaks to boys and girls, parents, and educational professionals throughout the world. Her presentations on social justice transcend cultural and economic boundaries, and her speaking engagements take her to public, private, and religious schools, as well as non-profit organizations and major corporations. Audiences have included the American School Counselors Association, Capital One, National Education Association, Girl Scouts, Neutrogena, Young Presidents Association, Independent School Associations and the International Chiefs of Police.

National media regularly depends on Wiseman as the expert on ethical leadership, bullying prevention, and school violence. She is a frequent guest on the Today Show and been profiled in The New York Times, People, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, USA Today, Oprah, Nightline, CNN, Good Morning America, and National Public Radio affiliates throughout the country.

Wiseman is a recipient of the Lanterns Social Justice Award from the Black Women's Bar Association of Los Angeles. She is an advisory member of the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence and Liz Claiborne's Love is Not Abuse Campaign. She was a liaison to the American Bar Association's Domestic Violence Committee and a member of the Violence Against Women Act's Subcommittee on Girls and School Violence. She is certified through the Program for Young Negotiators at Harvard University and has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Occidental College. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and two sons.

Jodee Blanco, author of the New York Times Best-Selling memoir, Please Stop Laughing at Me…, as well as the Creator and Executive Producer of the It’s NOT Just Joking Around!™ anti-bullying education program understands how it is to be the school outcast, and knows first-hand what it’s like to contemplate “retaliation.”

Since the release of her book, Jodee has committed her life full-time to turning her pain into purpose. Inspired by the thousands of letters and speaking requests she receives from students, parents, and teachers, Jodee travels from coast to coast sharing her story of survival and forgiveness in schools, communities, and organizations. In addition to her landmark strides in middle and high schools, she is taking her unprecedented approach to university campuses in an effort to help fraternities and sororities survive and prevent hazing incidents with her program, The Desperate Freshman™. One of the nation’s most sought-after keynote speakers and seminar presenters, Jodee’s anti-bullying initiatives redefine the scope of possibilities for curbing suffering in our schools from kindergarten through college world-wide.

The United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Interior recently sponsored Jodee to speak at schools and conventions. The National Crime Prevention Council and the United States Department of Health and Human Services have also endorsed her anti-bullying program It’s NOT Just Joking Around!™

Jodee is regularly sought after as a crisis management expert and consultant by schools, families, legal professionals, government officials, and the national media including CNN, Newsweek, NBC, and FOX to help America understand the emotional reasons behind the behavior of American students

Jodee’s remarkable story has been featured in such influential media outlets as: CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, FOX News, Teen Newsweek, Parade magazine, Teen Guideposts, Hispanic, Teacher Magazine and Scholastic

While Jodee Blanco doesn’t advocate violence, she understands its inspiration, because it held her in the grip of its temptation. It is her memory of this loneliness and anger, and her willingness to utilize it to reach kids who are hurting as she once did, that is changing the face of bullying prevention in the United States. Her efforts have ignited a grass-roots movement, one whose mission is to remind this nation that when it comes to school bullying, It’s NOT Just Joking Around!™

Jodee Blanco is on the faculties of New York University and The University of Chicago.

Trudy Ludwig specializes in writing children's books that explore the colorful and sometimes confusing world of children's social interactions. She has received rave reviews nationwide from educators, experts, organizations, and parents for her passion and compassion in addressing relational aggression-the use of relationships to manipulate and hurt others. Trudy wrote her first book, My Secret Bully, after her own daughter was bullied by some friends. Since then, she has become a sought-after speaker, presenting at schools and conferences around the country and educating students, parents, and teachers on the topic. She is also the author of the children's books: Sorry, apologizing from the heart and Just Kidding, when teasing is no laughing matter.

Trudy has been profiled on national and regional television, radio, and newsprint. Children's books have always been Trudy's great passion. It was her daughter's experience which inspired Trudy to quit her freelance writing career to focus on making a difference in kids' lives, one book at a time.®

Trudy lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children. She is a member of the International Bullying Prevention Association and collaborates with leading anti-bullying experts and organizations including The Ophelia Project and Hands & Words Are Not For Hurting Project.

Valerie Hodge-Lane is founder and president of Positive Image Consulting Firm. She started Positive Image Consulting Firm on the principle of providing professional services in areas of Childhood Abuse, Domestic Violence, Relational Aggression and Sexual Abuse trauma. Valerie has more than 7 years of training, facilitating, and leadership experience. Valerie is a graduate of Southern Wesleyan University with a degree a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration and Springfield College with a Master’s of Science degree in Human Services. Valerie is currently a Doctorate candidate at Capella University where she is pursuing her Doctorate degree in Counseling and Psychology.

Valerie is currently employed with Sistercare, Inc. as a Community Advocate Counselor and serves on the Board as Vice Chair for Domestic Violence as well as the Advisory Board for the Lee Center in Lee County. She is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Columbia. She also served as Vice-President for Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers in Lexington and Richland County. She is a seminar trainer, life coach, and motivational speaker with an emphasis on self-esteem development, confidence building and getting to the root of the problem.

Valerie has facilitated workshops involving hundreds of participants with her revolutionary Making Peace with Your Past programs in area churches, schools, organizations, and correctional facilities. She strongly believes that in order to move forward from your past you must get to the root of the problem.

Diane Senn is presently a school counselor at an elementary/middle school complex and has worked in the educational system for over 25 years. She earned a Masters of Education and Education Specialist Degree in counseling from the University of South Carolina and in 2005 received National Board Certified Teacher status. Diane’s developmental guidance program was cited as an exemplary school counseling program in The Best for Our Kids, 1990 by Martin Gerstein and Marilyn Lichtman.

Diane has presented nationally at workshops for counselors and teachers has co-authored the books, Coping with Conflict, “Bee” your Best with Character Ed, and Puzzle Pieces: The Classroom Guidance Connection; as well as authored the books Small Group Counseling for Children, Creative Approaches for Counseling Individual Children, and Bullying in the Girls’ World.

Josh Lorick enjoyed a very successful career in the radio industry for 10 years. He is a partner in Midland Communications Co., owners of the Columbia, South Carolina radio station, WTGH. Josh is employed with the Office Of The SC Attorney General as State Director of the Youth Mentor Program. He was one of the developers of this research-based program which targets repeat, non-violent juvenile offenders. Josh helped to develop legislation for the Youth Mentor Act, which was signed into law in 1996. He also serves on the South Carolina Legislative Gang Study Committee, which is established to explore legal and programmatic responses to the gang problem in South Carolina.

Josh was appointed by the State Attorney General to the position of State Director of the Youth Mentor Program. His responsibilities include the development of legislation for the Youth Mentor Act, and the establishment of the program in each of the sixteen judicial circuits in South Carolina. He is much sought after as a speaker and conference facilitator on issues pertaining to gangs and youth aggression.

Julia Taylor is a professional school counselor for Wake County Public Schools in Raleigh, North Carolina and the author Salvaging Sisterhood, and G.I.R.L.S. (Girls in Real Life Situations): Group Counseling Activities for Enhancing Social and Emotional Development. Originating from the Washington, DC area, she received her undergraduate degree from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and master’s degree from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. She has been a counselor at both the middle and high school level.

Julia is a nationally recognized public speaker and frequently presents solution focused workshops to educators at national and state conferences, county and district in-services, and various PTA organizations. She has conducted television, newspaper, and documentary interviews, along with authoring numerous publications about adolescent and parenting issues. Julia is the Professional Interest Network Bullying Specialist for the American School Counselor Association and serves on the North Carolina School Counselor Association Board as the middle school vice president.

In addition to speaking to professionals, Julia frequently educates children, teens, and parents in local communities about relational aggression, body image, and other adolescent/teen issues.