Eileen Gale Kugler

Follow Eileen on Twitter @EmbraceDiversiT

Eileen Gale Kugler is a passionate advocate for the benefits that diversity brings schools, communities and workplaces. A global speaker and consultant, she challenges stakeholders to break through assumptions based on race, culture, gender and generation to understand and value "the other,” with the goal of building strong inclusive culture, based in equity.

For nearly two decades, Eileen has worked side-by-side educational and community leaders as diversity has changed the face of our schools and neighborhoods. Through her powerful keynotes, engaging training, and comprehensive consulting, she shares proven strategies for creating positive culture and engaging students and families of all backgrounds. She now shares critical lessons learned in K-12 schools with businesses, non-profits and post-secondary institutions.

Eileen brings a solid grounding in strategic planning and communications, as director of her own communications firm since 1992. Her varied background includes working as a journalist, information director for a federal agency, and executive of several non-profits.

The breadth of Eileen’s expertise can be seen in a sampling of her client work. She has keynoted conferences from the National Blue Ribbon School Awards Summit and the Ohio Superintendents Conference, to the Metro Nashville Public Schools Parent Engagement Conference, and the Virginia Statewide Neighborhood Conference. She works with faculties from Delaware to Minnesota to Georgia. Her work with non-profits includes facilitating strategic planning and message development for the Community Bridges organization, and leading generational diversity training for the National Association of Community Health Centers and Community HealthCorps. She has shared insights across the U.S., Canada and South Africa.

Eileen's award-winning first book, Debunking the Middle Class Myth: Why Diverse Schools are Good for All Kids, was called “a community and civic blueprint for the 21st Century.” Her latest book, Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities, praised as an “invaluable resource,” highlights the work of 17 ground-breaking educators and community leaders around the world. Her articles and commentaries appear in wide-ranging publications, from USA Today and The Washington Post, to Educational Leadership, Kappan and Education Week. She has been quoted hundreds of times, including in The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and NEA Today.

Eileen’s work is informed by her continuing on-the-ground involvement, including an active volunteer life. On yearly trips to a rural South African school with her educator husband, she works to improve literacy. In 2010, she and her husband collected and organized a library of 23,000 quality donated books for the school, sent in a 40-foot shipping container which was converted into the school’s library; and they provided training for educators and families. Their efforts were documented in The Washington Post and Voice of America TV.

Contact Eileen through her website www.EmbraceDiverseSchools.com