Sara Bloomberg:

Sara Bloomberg, MA (they/them/theirs), is a Senior Montessori Instructional Coach for Bezos Academy. Sara lives on the unceded land of the Timucuan in what’s now known as St Augustine. Sara is a co-founder of Blossoming Beyond the Binary, a consulting group that helps educational communities embrace and develop gender diverse practices and curricula that uplift and center lgbtqia+ children, families, and educators. Sara co-wrote Queering Your Culture: The importance of Gender Diversity and Inclusion in the Classroom for Montessori Life. They co-wrote Intentionally Inclusive: THE LGBTQIA+, Gender Diverse Montessori School for the Montessori Collaborative World Review: The Montessori Roots of Social Justice (AMS/AMI) Sara has led workshops for the AMS TME, for the Montessori Alliance of Tennessee, BAMA and for MEPPI. Sara also presents on this topic for various AMS affiliated TEP Programs in the US and across the globe. Sara was the head of the Early Childhood division at the St. Augustine Public Montessori School in Saint Augustine, Florida; founding director of Battery Park Montessori in New York City. Sara is thrilled to have this opportunity to be in community and learn from the fine folx at MPPI!

Patina Park:

Patina Park, JD, is the director of Tribal State Relations Systems Implementation for the State of Minnesota, serving as a senior advisor to Governor Tim Walz, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, commissioners, and key state government staff in tribal-state policy and relations. Ms. Park facilitates active learning communities and executive coaching to create a safe space for deepening the proficiency of state leaders engaging in tribal-state relations. In partnership with state government and tribal leaders, she is building upon existing knowledge, policies, practices, and relationships to facilitate productive and respectful tribal-state relations. She has also held leadership positions with the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, Falmouth Institute, Minneapolis Division of Indian Work, and the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Justice. Ms. Park is Mnicoujou Lakota, and her biological family comes from the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux Tribes; her adoptive family is Osage. Because of her own experiences as an adoptee, Ms. Park is passionate about issues related to Native American children and families and has led training sessions nationwide related to Federal Indian Law, ICWA, historical trauma, and implementing trauma-informed, culturally responsive programming.

Julia Volkman:

Julia Volkman has been teaching children and mentoring teachers in private and public schools since 1997. She is a Faculty Member of the Brain Health Initiative, guest lecturer for Harvard University’s Neuroscience of Learning course, a Montessori mentor, and the founder and president of the educational project Maitri Learning. She has worked as a primary consultant for the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector (NCMPS), a columnist for the Public School Montessorian (now Montessori Public), and as the teacher’s representative on the Advisory Panel for the Annenberg Foundation's course Neuroscience & the Classroom (developed in conjunction with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). Ms. Volkman earned her AMI 3 to 6+ diploma from the Montreal Montessori Training Centre (a bilingual program) and her Master’s degree from Harvard University. Her graduate research on early literacy earned her the Dean’s prize for outstanding thesis. Her work focuses on transforming education into a transdisciplinary, scientific pedagogy grounded in mind, brain, and education (aka, Montessori education).  Ms. Volkman is the mother of two (one by birth and one by adoption) and married to a biochemist/MBA. She enjoys kayaking, hiking, yoga, meditation, singing, and conversation at the dinner table.