We welcome anyone interested in character development! Content at the Educator Summit is tailored for K-12 educators and school leaders. However, we’ve had researchers, higher education faculty, and education non-profit staff join us in the past.

Expect amazing keynotes and hands-on workshops of your choice that will prepare you to implement character development in your classroom.

Reserving your spot for the 2020 Educator Summit is on a first come, first serve basis. The number of spots at the Summit is limited by the venue's capacity, so we highly recommend that you register as early as possible.

We are committed to making the Educator Summit affordable for our attendees. The current registration fee is $350. 

Yes, we offer scholarships to cover the cost of the registration fee. To apply for a scholarship, please fill out the registration form and select “yes” to the question “Would you like to apply for a scholarship to cover the cost of Educator Summit?” If you receive the scholarship, we will reimburse you the event registration fee. Applicants will be notified of scholarship decisions by Friday, May 15, 2020.

Educator Summit Refund Policy

1. If a registrant is unable to attend Educator Summit for any reason, they may substitute, by arrangement with the registrar (edsummit@characterlab.org).
2. If a registrant is unable to attend, and providing the conference registrar (edsummit@characterlab.org) is informed in writing by July 1, 2020, the fee will be refunded to the participant.
3. Where the registrant is unable to attend, and is not in a position to transfer his/her place to another person, and does not notify the conference registrar in writing by July 1, 2020, the registration fee will not be refunded but may be applied to the 2021 Educator Summit.

Registration includes breakfast, lunch and a cocktail reception on Thursday, along with breakfast on Friday. Dietary restrictions will be accommodated.

The Philadelphia 201 Hotel is a valet-only property with a daily parking rate of $42 plus 22% service fee per the city. Educator Summit attendees will receive a 20% discounted rate for parking.

For drive-in guests, you can pick up parking passes at the registration table. For overnight guests, the parking will be billed to the master account on each reservation with the discount reflected.

For affordable self-parking in the area, we recommend the Gateway Parking Garage which has a rate of $18 up to 10 hours and $22 up to 24 hours.

Yes, we will offer a lactation room, Salon 7, at the Educator Summit. Please stop by the registration desk to receive the keys to access this room.

Over the years, we’ve had keynotes from amazing speakers such as: 

David Brooks, New York Times Columnist

Geoffrey Canada, President, Harlem Children’s Zone
Angela Duckworth, Founder & CEO, Character Lab
Dan Heath, New York Times Bestselling Author

John B. King Jr., President and CEO, The Education Trust, 10th United States Secretary of Education

If you’d like to join us as a speaker or workshop presenter for the 2020 Educator Summit, please fill out this form and our team will get back to you if we are interested in having you.

Character Lab Research Network Convening Sessions are for school partners who are part of the Character Lab Research Network (CLRN). During these sessions, school partners will dig into the latest science currently being conducted on the network and learn how to interpret and communicate findings with stakeholders. This is also an opportunity to connect with one another to share best practices. Participants will walk away ready to facilitate and improve CLRN activities at their schools. These sessions are by previous invitation only.

CLRN school partners will receive registration and travel instructions directly from Character Lab.

Character Lab is a nonprofit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development. There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that character strengths are as important as are IQ and socioeconomic status to academic achievement and well-being.

Although character strengths are known to be malleable, surprisingly little is known about how to cultivate them intentionally. To help teachers do that, Character Lab facilitates better research and creates proven teacher resources, called Playbooks. Co-designed by educators, designers, and scientists, Playbooks bridge scientific research and daily classroom practice so that teachers can help today's—and tomorrow's—students.

The Relay Graduate School of Education is a nonprofit institution of higher education with the mission to teach teachers and school leaders to develop in all students the academic skills and strength of character needed to succeed in college and life.

Academics are important, but they represent only one dimension of a child’s development. We encourage teachers and principals to adopt a strong focus on personal character strengths that will help their students grow up to be happy, responsible citizens who show grit, love, integrity, and respect for others.

At Relay, we give students unparalleled opportunities not only to learn the techniques that will make them more effective but also to practice with faculty and peers. The feedback they receive helps them refine their practice until they’re ready to perform with confidence in the classroom.

Feel free to email us at edsummit@characterlab.org.