ATA Summer Conference 2026

Join President Jason Schilling in welcoming delegates to the 2026 Summer Conference

David Edwards, PhD is General Secretary of Education International, the voice of teachers and other education employees around the world. Through its 375 member organisations, Education International represents over 33 million teachers and education support personnel in 180 countries.

Dr Edwards leads the organisation since 2018, after seven years as Deputy General Secretary directing education policy, advocacy, research and communications. 

Prior to joining Education International, Dr Edwards was an Associate Director at the National Education Association of the United States. He has worked as an Education Specialist at the Organization of American States and began his career as a public high school teacher. Follow Dr Edwards on LinkedIn.

Dr Trudy Cardinal is a Cree/Métis scholar, educator, storyteller, and leader in Indigenous teacher education. She is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta and will serve as Associate Dean, Indigenous Teacher Education. Her work is grounded in narrative inquiry, relational accountability, Indigenous pedagogies and the responsibilities carried through story.

Across her teaching, research, and community-engaged work, Dr Cardinal creates spaces where Indigenous learners, educators, women, and youth can see their knowledge, identities, and lived experiences honoured. Her scholarship and leadership centre intergenerational mentorship, belonging, language and cultural revitalization, and Indigenous women’s leadership. Through projects such as Braiding Stories to Live By and the Young Indigenous Women’s Circle of Leadership, she supports story-based, creative, and relational spaces where confidence, healing, and resurgence can grow. Her leadership is guided by kinship, community, and the belief that story is not only something we tell, but something we live forward for future generations.