State Policy Network
Hamish Brewer, award winning principal and education entrepreneur, to headline session at SPN’s 29th Annual Meeting

The pandemic has brought widespread attention to many shortcomings within state and federal policy—highlighting areas for reform in everything from education to healthcare to election integrity to maintaining a balance of powers during emergencies. Opinion polls and even the 2020 election results have shown Americans want solutions and the majority believe those fixes start at the local level.

The public support for different approaches is presenting state leaders and communities with rare and immediate opportunities to advance meaningful reform.

Who better to inspire and inform the Network’s reform efforts than innovator and disruptor Hamish Brewer?

SPN 29th Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker Hamish Brewer

The tattooed, skateboarding principal from Northern Virginia isn’t a typical school administrator. Brewer is nationally recognized for transcending the status quo and typical educational norms for the purpose of empowering all students to envision and create the best possible future for themselves.

Brewer constantly calls on his students and his audiences to “be relentless” in the pursuit of building an education system that unleashes students’ potential. He has modeled this very message throughout his career as an award-winning principal at both the secondary and elementary school levels. Under his leadership, his elementary school was recognized as a Nationally Distinguished Title 1 School, and he has since gone on to turn around one of the toughest middle schools in the state of Virginia. As a school turnaround and school improvement specialist, he also works with some of the most at-risk students in the United States.

Brewer’s passion to serve others has grown out of his firsthand experience with the challenges that many students face. He grew up in a home affected by poverty, addiction, and difficult family dynamics. He understands the feelings of fear, lostness, and desperation that overwhelm too many children today—because that was his life. His experience drives him to work relentlessly to help people living in the toughest areas envision and attain a better future.

The principles that enable Brewer to overcome diverse problems within the education system can also be applied to any policy issue or professional challenge. Anyone interested in exploring how to innovate and get past long-standing political barriers will be inspired by the insights shared during Mr. Brewer’s keynote session at SPN’s 29th Annual Meeting, and will be empowered to be relentless in their pursuit of success.

Registration for SPN’s 29th Annual Meeting will open in early May. Subscribers to SPN Annual Meeting Updates will have the opportunity to register in advance. Sign up now.

The conference hotel is already accepting reservations. Information on booking your rooms at the conference rate is available here.

Explore Hamish Brewer’s Work

More about Hamish Brewer

Relentless: Changing Lives by Disrupting the Educational Norm

Docuseries: How Hamish Brewer is changing the game

TEDx Talk: How radical love transformed a school

Organization: State Policy Network