Keynote Speakers

Joanna Williams Joanna Williams, Ph.D., is Senior Director of Research at Search Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating the strengths, relationships, and opportunities necessary for young people to thrive. Dr. Williams earned her doctoral degree in developmental psychology from Temple University and a master’s degree in human development from the University of Pennsylvania. Her education and learning journey have also been shaped by supportive mentors, peers, and young people. She previously served as a tenured faculty member at the University of Virginia and Rutgers University, where she cultivated her research skills with a focus on diversity, identity, peer relationships, and positive youth development. Dr. Williams is committed to working at the intersection of research and practice and is involved in efforts to translate the science of adolescent development into useful recommendations for parents, practitioners, and policymakers. She served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Board on Children, Youth and Families from 2020–2026 and is a current member of the National Scientific Council on Adolescence.

Jason FoglerJason Fogler, Ph.D., has an extensive background in administering, teaching, and researching innovative therapies for challenging patient populations and psychosocial contexts, including ADHD, complex trauma, and other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. He is a Senior Psychologist, the Director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) fellowship, and the Co-Director of the ADHD Program in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital where he provides parent guidance, psychotherapy, and neuropsychological testing for children, teens, and young adults with ADHD. He is also the attending psychologist on a team devoted to children who have been adopted (domestically and internationally) or in the foster care system; and he routinely provides guardianship evaluations for young adults in our Center with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition, Dr. Fogler is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology at Harvard Medical School. He has authored over 50 publications, including educational guides for parents of children with ADHD, peer-reviewed clinical research and systematic reviews, and two edited books: Trauma Therapy in Context: The Science & Craft of Evidence-Based Practice and Trauma, Autism, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Integrating Research, Practice, and Policy.

Ryan A. Mckelley, Ph.D., LP, HSPRyan A. McKelley, Ph.D. is a Licensed Psychologist, Professor of Clinical/Counseling Psychology, Interim Program Director for the School Psychology Graduate Training Program, and Program Coordinator for the Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Minor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He earned a B.S. in Organizational Communication from Northwestern University, and a M.A. in Educational Psychology and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He regularly teaches courses on health psychology, behavior modification, abnormal psychology, group counseling, and men and masculinities. He has taught summer sessions abroad in England, Ireland, Spain, China, Costa Rica, & Thailand. He previously served as the Chair and Associate Chair of the Psychology Department.

Dr. McKelley has co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, mostly in the area of men and masculinities. Specific research and presentation topics include men’s emotions, help-seeking, alternative treatment models, non-traditional work and family roles, fatherhood, men and depression, marketing mental health, and the placebo effect in biofeedback.

In addition to his teaching and research, Dr. McKelley has provided clinical services in a community mental health center, three university counseling centers, and a pain clinic. He currently provides contract clinical services in individual and group therapy, and clinical supervision. He’s been a weekly discussant on the internet radio show and iTunes podcast The Secret Lives of Men, and is Past-President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinities, a division of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. McKelley has been interviewed extensively in the area of men’s mental health and changing gender roles. In the last few years, he has been quoted in outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, ABC News, Upworthy, Vox Media, documentaries, and local papers in U.S. and abroad. He has also appeared on several radio stations such as National Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ABC Radio News, has a TEDx talk on social connection and masculinity, interview on masculinity and culture on the Here We Are science podcast, La Crosse Thinkers podcast, the ManKind Project, Men's Therapy Online, and teach-in presentations on rape culture and toxic masculinity.