The keynote luncheon will feature Carmen Tafolla, an award-winning poet and children’s author, storyteller, performance artist, motivational speaker, scholar and university professor. The author of more than 30 books and a Professor of Transformative Children’s Literature at UT San Antonio, she holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual Education from the University of Texas and a B.A. , M.A. , and a Doctorate Honoris Causa in Humane Letters from Austin College.  Tafolla has performed her one-woman show throughout the Americas, Europe, and New Zealand, and her work appears internationally in textbooks, newspapers, journals, magazines, elementary school Big Books & posters on city buses, and engraved on sidewalks and museum walls. Tafolla credits the community around her with her inspiration and her training.