Meet the Keynote Speaker!

Cale Birk is the Imagineer of the Observable Impact Model and co-author of “Words on the Wall” with Jimmy Casas, "Navigating Leadership Drift", "PLC 2.0 - Collaborating for Impact in Today's Schools" and "Changing Change Using Learner-Centred Design". An educator in the Canadian public school system for 25 years, he is a former District Principal of Innovation and school leader: as a high school Principal, his school was named a model PLC school after increasing student success rates across all grades and subject areas for five consecutive years. The father of two daughters in the K-12 system, Cale is passionate about helping educators and leaders experience and model the learning experiences we want for our students in their classrooms. 

Currently, Cale helps districts, schools and industry leaders answer the question "What is our observable impact?", the observable changes in practice that make the difference for students AND adults in our schools. Using the lens of ‘impact’ rather than ‘action’, Cale has helped district leaders, school leaders and teachers reimagine and implement team plans, school plans and strategic plans that can actually be observed where it matters the most–in classrooms with students and teachers. In addition to his work as an author and facilitator, Cale is a TED Talker and has been the keynote/featured speaker at conferences in numerous states and provinces around North America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Cale also coaches individual school and district leaders, and has been the architect of the “Leading and Planning for Observable Impact Program”, a longitudinal collaborative school leadership teams network designed to share promising leadership practices across schools, districts, and nations around the globe. In one of his latest projects, Cale has developed the Pan Pacific Observable Impact (PPOI) Network for school leaders worldwide to bring international leadership perspectives, ideas and solutions to leadership and instructional challenges in today’s schools. This network gathers annually, with this year’s PPOI Summit in Hong Kong in April 2026. 

For more information on Cale, visit his website: www.birklearns.com