Dr. Vinnie Pompei is an educational leader and advocate for social justice with expertise in promoting policy to practice and using SEL, anti-bias, and culturally responsive approaches that foster equitable outcomes for all students. Before he joined SDSU as an assistant professor in their Doctoral Program for Educational Leadership, he spent nearly a decade as the National Director of the Youth Well-Being Program for the Human Rights Campaign, developing innovative policies, emerging best practices, and nationally recognized publications and programming to promote the safety and inclusion of LGBTQ+ students in K-12 schools. He has authored several resources in collaboration with the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Association of California School Administrators and has been invited to speak at the National Principals Conference numerous times. Pompei currently sits on several advisory committees, including the Equity Working Group for the California Health and Human Services, the Safe and Supportive Schools Advisory Committee for the California Department of Education, and the Advisory Council for the American Counseling Association Foundation. Pompei previously worked in the College of Education at SDSU as the Project Director for the Center for Excellence in School Counseling and Leadership, where he developed a first-of-its-kind national convening for educators on bullying and suicide prevention, receiving acknowledgments from President Obama and the U.S. Department of Education. During his years as a public educator, he served as President of the California Association of School Counselors, authored the LGBTQ section of the American School Counselor Association’s National Model®, and was a national cadre trainer for the National Education Association. Pompei’s dedication to the safety and inclusion of all students has been nationally recognized. He was acknowledged by the National Education Association as a Classroom Superhero and was honored by the California PTA, KPBS, and Equality California for his dedication to creating safe and inclusive schools.