Carly Posey is a nationally recognized speaker and advocate for school safety and community preparedness. Her journey in safety advocacy began after a life-altering experience on December 14, 2012, when two of her four children were inside Sandy Hook Elementary School during the tragic events that forever changed the nation. Carly’s youngest son bravely escaped from his first-grade classroom, while her daughter remained hidden in an art room. Her older two children, attending the nearby intermediate school, were placed in lockdown for hours. This tragedy ignited Carly’s passion for supporting schools, districts, first responders and communities in strengthening safety protocols and emergency responses.
Carly has since held impactful leadership positions within the safety and security industry, including serving as the Mission Director at The “I Love U Guys” Foundation, where she spearheaded reunification and crisis response initiatives, and as the Executive Director of Safe2Tell, a nationally acclaimed anonymous reporting program. She also served as the Program Director for Anderson Software, focusing on enhancing public safety communication and support. Prior to her work in school safety, Carly and her husband successfully owned and operated multiple businesses for over 20 years, leading a team of more than 50 employees. Known for her dynamic and relatable speaking style, Carly effectively translates complex safety concepts into actionable strategies that resonate with audiences. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband, Dave, and their four children and continues to be a driving force in advancing school and community safety.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Shakeshaft - one of the nation's leading experts on the prevention of sexual abuse of students by school staff - has been studying equity in schools for over five decades. Charol is a Distinguished University Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, currently teaching doctoral students in the Dept. of Educational Leadership. She is an accomplished author, a tireless researcher, an expert witness, a Title IX hearing officer, an advisor to the New York State Attorney General’s Office on cases of school employee sexual misconduct, and a fierce advocate for the victims of sexual abuse. Her presentation will be the first of its kind at our School Safety Conference.
Dr. Shakeshaft received the 2015 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Distinguished Contributions to Gender Equity in Education Research Award and the AERA Division A Outstanding Research Award in 2020. At VCU, she has received the Award for Excellence, the Distinguished Research Award, and the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Charol is the author of six books and over 200 referred articles and papers, many of which have received national and state awards. Among other topics, Shakeshaft studies sexual abuse and harassment in K12 schools and higher education, particularly focusing on school employee misconduct toward students. Her latest book, Organizational Betrayal: How Schools Enable Sexual Misconduct and How to Stop it, was published by Harvard Education Press, November 2024.
Charol was a member of the founding committee of Women Leading in Education (WLE), an international organization focused on women and girls in education; she currently serves as WLE facilitator and a founding member of the National Women’s Studies Association.
Charol is the recipient of a 2020 Centers for Disease Control 4-year, $1.6 million grant to study prevention of school employee sexual misconduct. In recent years, Dr. Shakeshaft received a $5.2 million grant to develop state-of-the-art principal preparation to include the first immersive, interactive, and web-enabled computer simulation for school administrators. In 2004, Dr. Shakeshaft completed a report mandated by the U.S. Senate that presented state-of-the-art information on the prevalence of educator sexual misconduct and recommendations to the Senate and House of Representatives for federal, state, and local prevention initiatives. Two earlier studies also funded by the U.S. Department of Education examined responses to reports of educator sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in middle schools. She published a study on the Standard of Care for the Prevention of Educator Sexual Misconduct and is completing a book on educator sexual misconduct.
Dr. Shakeshaft serves as an expert witness in both criminal and civil cases on the sexual abuse of children in youth organizations and schools. She has written over 300 expert assessments of organizational compliance with Title IX and other standards related to preventing the sexual abuse of children by adults employed in youth-serving organizations in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Charol has presented expert testimony in more than 150 depositions and 29 trials in state and federal cases concerned with sexual abuse in K-12 independent and public schools, child-care facilities, youth organizations, religious organizations that serve youth, and higher education.
Foresight Security Consulting
Ron Havniear is the Executive Director of Security, Leadership Development, and Facilities for the Medford School District. He is a seasoned operational leader with extensive leadership experience in the military, the corporate world, and education. Ron is a dynamic leader, adept at performing in complex, time-constrained, and high stakes operating environments. He was the architect of one of the largest school-based active shooter and emergency response exercises in the nation, with over 450 participants and more than 30 agencies and organizations participating. The exercise will be featured in an upcoming HBO documentary. For his efforts, Havniear has recently been recognized for excellence by the mayor, the governor, the Superintendent, the American Society of Safety Professionals, and PACE for excellence in safety, security and emergency management. Ron is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Ron believes that community level issues require community level solutions, and he is committed to 'bringing to life' safety and security as an everyday value and a keystone habit. Ron and his assistant, Tina Chasteen, will share lessons learned from MSD's "22 June" exercise and provide insight on how we can all better systematize safety and security in our school districts and communities.
Safer Schools Together
Colton Easton joined Safer Schools Together (SST) in 2016 after receiving a degree in Law Enforcement Studies. In his current role as Director of Program Management, Colton works closely with SST CEO/Founder Theresa Campbell in the development and implementation of training and services.
Colton is an accomplished trainer, having presented to thousands of individuals from organizations across North America including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and numerous other law enforcement agencies, K to 12 school districts and higher education campuses.
Colton began his time at SST as a Threat Analyst where he gained invaluable experience and knowledge collecting social media data that is used to assist Safety/Threat Assessment teams in conducting accurate threat assessments.
Critical Response Group, America’s most trusted provider of indoor mapping solutions, provides simple visual communication and collaboration tools to coordinate emergency response both outside and inside a building. CRGs enhance response time and improve command and control during an incident through common language and unified points of reference between internal teams and response units. Our solutions, validated by thousands of real-world incidents, are deployed across the United States to protect schools, businesses, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure. Our team of former military Special Operations veterans and retired public safety executives ensure the solution is fully implemented into preexisting software platforms used by public safety. crgplans.com
CRG is a 2025 DIAMOND level sponsor
PACE was formed in 2006 by the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) and the Special Districts Association of Oregon (SDAO). These organizations work together to keep Oregon students safe, reduce risks and conserve member resources. No one can match the expertise and decades of experience that OSBA and SDAO bring to property-casualty coverage for local public entities, and their property and liability risk pool of school entities in the state - the largest in Oregon, with more than 200 education organizations.
pace.osba.org PACE is a 2025 GOLD level sponsor
Oregonians Credit Union is a team of individuals who live and work in the same communities as you do, and they exist to serve you. They're not a bank. They are a member-owned not-for-profit financial co-op. Every dollar invested by members is reinvested in members in the form of lower loan rates, higher deposit rates, low fees, and great service. oregonianscu.com
Oregonians Credit Union is a 2025 SILVER level sponsor
Safer Schools Together is a global leader in school violence prevention, supporting school districts, law enforcement, and community partners with proven strategies to create safe learning environments. Our expert team helps identify and manage threats - including violence, suicide, and radicalization - through best practices in Safety/Threat Assessment. Regardless of where technology takes us, it’s the staff, students, caregivers, and agency partners who will always be the best app to ensure safe and caring school communities. saferschoolstogether.com
SST is a 2025 SILVER Level Sponsor
OSROA is proud of our continuing partnership with the National Association of School Resource Officers. As a chartered state organization under the NASRO banner, we share their vision of safer schools and safer kids and believe we can accomplish that with law enforcement officers who are carefully selected, specifically trained and properly equipped for the SRO position. NASRO is supporting our conference with a generous grant. nasro.org
Verkada is the leader in cloud-based enterprise building security. By building high-end hardware on an intuitive, cloud-based software platform, modern enterprises are able to run safer, smarter buildings across all of their locations. More than 5,000 organizations, including 28 Fortune 500 companies, use Verkada to protect people and assets, secure facilities, and gain new insights that improve the efficiency of their operations. Verkada’s vision is to be the operating system that runs every building in the world. verkada.com
Verkada is a 2025 BRONZE level sponsor
