Empower Students to Become Solutionaries with Zoe Weil and Steve Cochrane

Zoe Weil is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), where she created the first graduate programs in comprehensive Humane Education, linking human rights, environmental sustainability, and animal protection and offered online through an affiliation with Antioch University. IHE also offers an online Solutionary Micro-credential Program for teachers, a free Solutionary Guidebook for educators, How To Be A Solutionary guidebook for students and changemakers, and award-winning resources.

Zoe is a frequent keynote speaker at education and other conferences and has given six TEDx talks including her acclaimed "The World Becomes What You Teach." She is the author of seven books including "The World Becomes What We Teach" and Nautilus silver medal winner "Most Good, Least Harm." Zoe was named one of Maine Magazine’s 50 independent leaders transforming their communities and the state and is the recipient of the Unity College Women in Environmental Leadership award. She was also a subject of the Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait series. She holds masters’ degrees from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania and an honorary doctorate from Valparaiso University.

Passionate about preparing young people to lead lives of joy and purpose, Steve Cochrane has had a remarkable journey through the field of education. It is a journey that has taken him from the campus of Princeton University, where he served as an admissions officer and an assistant dean of students, to the classroom of a public elementary school, where he had the privilege of teaching – and learning from – his fourth and fifth grade students.

Steve has been a dorm director and associate dean of admissions at Wheelock College in Boston. He has also been an elementary school principal, a middle school principal, an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and, prior to his current work as the Executive Director at the Institute for Humane Education, he was the superintendent of the Princeton Public Schools in Princeton, New Jersey where he was honored with the award of County Superintendent of the Year in 2020. In each of these roles, Steve has collaborated with others to prioritize innovations in learning, wellness for students, equity, and a belief that every child should be supported and inspired to achieve their highest potential. Steve received his undergraduate degree in English from Princeton University and his master’s degree in educational administration from Harvard.

Erica Terry is a 20-year educator and co-author of the Eva the Diva Girl rhyming picture book series written with her daughter, to empower young girls to build confidence and grow in self-love. She is also the founder of Healthy Wealthy Educators, where she equips teachers with actionable tools and resources to start a profitable online business and build generational wealth without stress.  

You can find her hanging out on Instagram @ericanterry_