Dr. Allison Slade is an innovator, a change agent, and a fervent believer in the importance of human capital as a lever to drive student growth and overall school success. Dr. Slade has over 14 years of school leadership experience in the city of Chicago and in the Chicago suburbs. She is the founder of Namaste Charter School, a K-8th grade charter school founded on the idea that children who are healthy and active perform better in the classroom. For the past 16 years, the school has been a leader in integrating socio-emotional health and wellness into its curriculum for overall student success in school and in life. In 2011, the school received a federal dissemination grant to share its best practices in the Healthy Lifestyles Program, and since that time, the school has welcomed and trained over 1000 school leaders world wide in the practices that have proven effective in raising overall student achievement. Dr. Slade also teaches in the Mindful Practices SEL certification program and is a professor in the Dual Language Teacher Leadership program at Roosevelt University, as well as the Director of the Instructional Leadership program which prepares principals to lead in today's schools. Dr. Slade is a school-based expert on Socio-Emotional Learning and sits on the advisory board for the Midwest Principal's Center and the Illinois Principal Association's North Cook Board. She practices yoga, breathing and self-care daily, as well as implements a calm down corner and choices for her own two daughters daily during home schooling for COVID-19.