2025 Speakers

Heidi St. John is the author of ten books, including “Becoming MomStrong: How to Fight with All That's in You for Your Family and Your Faith” and its corresponding Bible study. Her best-selling book, “Bible Promises for Moms,” has 200,000 copies in print, and her popular podcast, enjoyed by audiences worldwide, has been downloaded over 24 million times.

She has written dozens of Bible studies for her online ministry, Faith That Speaks. You can join at FaithThatSpeaks.com and become part of a wonderful community of women dedicated to studying God’s Word and applying biblical truths where faith meets culture.

Heidi is a sought-after speaker who frequently travels to share her insights with audiences nationwide on topics related to family, faith, and culture. She has been married to Jay, her college sweetheart, since 1989. The St. Johns live just outside beautiful Vancouver, Washington, where they oversee their non-profit organization, Firmly Planted Family, and the Homeschool Resource Center. They have seven children, all of whom were homeschooled, and an ever-growing number of grandchildren.

A veteran homeschooler with four college scholarship graduates, Jeannie Fulbright is the author of Apologia’s best-selling, multi-award-winning science series. Her books infuse a love for science and a solid faith in the Word of God. Jeannie's Young Explorer series imparts a top-notch science education through the joy of discovery. Jeannie Fulbright Press continues this tradition with products and curricula that impart a superior education, build faith, and cultivate a love for learning.
Jeannie and her husband, Jeff, homeschooled their four children, who all graduated from the University of Georgia, where they attended on scholarship. For more than twenty years, Jeannie has traveled the country speaking to homeschoolers and serving the homeschool community through her curricula, books, podcasts, blogs, speaking engagements, and articles.
Jeannie received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Fairfield University. She is a Certified Christian Life Coach and has a heart for ensuring that homeschoolers educate with excellence while creating memories and moments that their family treasures for a lifetime.

Mark Hancock began his career founding a national advertising agency and running it for fifteen years. His conversion to Christ led him into ministry as a Youth and College Pastor, Associate Pastor, Homeless Ministry Director and Global Event Director for an international ministry, organizing events on five continents.
He holds two Masters Degrees in the Mental Health Counseling field, having spent a number of years in private practice, and has taught at secular and Christian colleges. Mark has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs including: Fox Nation's Starnes Country, Family Life Radio, Focus on the Family, and James Dobson's Family Talk Program. In 2017, Mark was named to the American Family Association's '40 Faithful'. An author, award-winning writer, and conference speaker, he serves as Chief Executive Officer of Trail Life USA and lives near Greenville, SC with his wife of over 30 years. They have two sons.

Abby Banks is a former classroom teacher, now homeschool mom of five and pastor’s wife in Wayne County. She has successfully graduated three from her homeschool. Abby is a homeschool evaluator and consultant for Pennsylvania homeschoolers. In these relationships with PA homeschoolers and on her blog at 4onemore.com, Abby loves to equip & encourage other homeschool families.

She’s the host of the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast, where you will find actionable strategies that take you from overwhelmed to confident in your homeschool adventure.

You can find Abby’s entrepreneurial courses for teens and Inductive Bible study courses at 4onemore.teachable.com. Subscribe to her YouTube channel for curriculum reviews and homeschool solutions.

Melissa has been married to her husband Robert for 24 years. She followed her fifth grade dreams to teach Special Education for 5 years and went on to support families of preschoolers in Early Intervention for 3 years. As Melissa has homeschooled her own two children (each with different learning disabilities), she has filled her cup by serving families in Disability Ministry in her church and Joni & Friends.

Melissa currently serves as the Executive Assistant to Heidi St. John, operates a Health and Wellness company, and consults with families parenting children with special needs.

Trent was born in Ozark mountains of Southwestern Missouri, but now lives in the Shenandoah valley in Virginia. He brings energy and nonstop ideas to the table and is always ready to try something new or dangerous. Trent is a deep thinker, has a well-informed and unique perspective on current culture, and is passionate about distilling big ideas into easy-to-understand principles. When speaking, Trent loves to incorporate personal stories that make his sessions hilarious and energetic, but always with the purpose of reinforcing the bigger ideas he is trying to communicate.

Will began his legal career working for HSLDA in January 2004 as a legal assistant to HSLDA Senior Counsel Scott Woodruff. After graduating from Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy with his Juris Doctor in 2006, he moved on to direct HSLDA’s Federal Relations department and serve as HSLDA’s federal lobbyist.
Will worked as a career federal employee in the Office for Civil Rights at the US Department of Health and Human Services from 2018 to 2021. In November of 2021, he resigned from the federal government and was selected by the Board of ParentalRights.org to serve as the first full-time president of ParentalRights.org and the Parental Rights Foundation.
In June of 2023, Will decided to return to his roots at HSLDA, this time serving as a senior counsel and contact attorney for HSLDA members in the states of California, Wyoming, Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. He works to make homeschooling possible for thousands of member families and hundreds of thousands of homeschool students by advocating in state legislatures for homeschool freedom, working to ensure that homeschool graduates are treated equally, and that the laws protecting the rights of homeschool families are followed by government officials.
Will is a member of the following state and federal bars: U.S. Supreme Court, First Circuit Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, California, and District of Columbia. In June of 2023, Will was selected by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to serve a four-year term on the Board of Visitors of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.
Will and his wife, Rachel, have two sons, Dominic and Merrick, and live in Northern Virginia.

Michael Farris has been a national leader in the homeschooling movement since he founded Home School Legal Defense Association in 1983. He has been the Chairman of HSLDA for the last 42 years.
Mike is a constitutional lawyer with over 48 years of experience. He has litigated and handled the appeals of dozens of cases involving important questions of constitutional law. He has argued and won two constitutional cases in the Supreme Court of the United States. He has argued numerous additional cases in both the state and federal appellate courts across the country.

He has led numerous conservative legal organizations over his decades of practice. He is best known as the Founding President of the Home School Legal Defense Association which he started in 1983. He has received many awards for his leadership in homeschooling including being named to the Top 100 Faces in Education for the Twentieth Century by Education Week. He was cited for his work in winning legal recognition for the right to homeschool.

He was the President and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom from January 2017 until he retired in October 2022. During that time, ADF served as counsel in the Supreme Court for several important cases including Masterpiece Cakeshop. He personally argued NIFLA v. Becerra in the Supreme Court in 2018, winning a case that voided a California law that sought to silence pro-life pregnancy centers. During his presidency of ADF, the organization served as co-counsel to the Attorney General of Mississippi for the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case that reversed Roe v. Wade.

Farris was the Founding President of Patrick Henry College. He is currently Chancellor Emeritus for PHC. For seventeen years, he taught Constitutional Law, Public International Law, and coached the school’s moot court team.

Michael Farris graduated from Western Washington State College with an honors degree in Political Science in 1973. He earned his J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1976 with honors. He was also an honors graduate from the University of London with an LL.M. in public international law.

He has used his international law degree primarily to lead efforts to successfully block the ratification of UN treaties which would have the effect of transferring jurisdiction of domestic issues from the states to the federal government which in turn would be under the supervision of the UN. He has successfully argued that Americans should make the law for America.

Michael Farris is also an ordained Baptist minister and currently serves as an elder for his church, Cornerstone Chapel, in Leesburg, Virginia. He and his wife, Vickie, have ten children, thirty-one grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Apologia’s esteemed math author, nationwide speaker, a homeschooled student herself, Kathryn (Bell) Gomes holds an M. Ed. in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh. She has taught math to homeschooled students for thirteen years and is very familiar with the challenges of learning math at home. Kathryn spent three years teaching mathematics in inner-city Philadelphia through Teach for America. She then taught in the most ethnically diverse high school in Pennsylvania. During this time, Kathryn designed Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 curricula for English Language Learners. Now one of her great passions is improving mathematics education for homeschoolers by increasing rigor while maintaining the creativity and free-thinking that she enjoyed in her schooling.

Alicia and her husband Todd homeschool their 3 kids in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Alicia holds a BS in Disability Services from Indiana University of PA and worked as a Developmental Specialist in Early Intervention, Behavioral and Mental Health Consultant and Vision Therapist. She also ran a private preschool for several years. God led their family into this unexpected journey of homeschooling in 2016 when they started exploring educational options for their kids. Now along with homeschooling her own children she serves in several local ministries, helps encourage homeschoolers around the Pittsburgh area through in person and virtual support groups as well as serving as a volunteer with CHAP and answering homeschooling questions from curious people all over the state of PA.

Todd and his wife Alicia homeschool their 3 children in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Todd holds a BS in Sociology and MS in Information Systems Management and works as a Telecom Engineer. Todd has no blog, podcast, or book. He is just a husband and dad supporting his family through this unexpected journey of homeschooling.

Jay St. John is the Executive Director of Firmly Planted Family, a non-profit organization that focuses on encouraging families to thrive within a biblical framework. A gifted worship leader and song-writer, Jay is also the homeschooling father of seven children and "Papa" to his grandchildren. In 2017, Jay and his wife, Heidi, opened the "Firmly Planted Homeschool Resource Center" which serves as a full-time homeschool support to families in the Portland/Vancouver area. Jay and Heidi have been married since 1989.

Cheri Kay was an Educational Consultant for HSLDA from 2022 to 2024. She has 15+ years' experience as a pediatric physical therapist, special needs advocate, and homeschooling mom. Cheri Kay's four amazing children were all adopted internationally and have a variety of unique needs. She received her bachelor's from Michigan State University in Athletic Training, a master's degree from the University of Rhode Island in Physical Therapy, and a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California with an emphasis on pediatrics.
Along with her training as a physical therapist, she trained to provide trauma-informed care and is fluent in American Sign Language. She has experience navigating the school system, the community mental health system, and the health care system both as a parent and a professional. With her unique understanding of how these systems work, she is equipped to advocate for families that also need to access these services.
Cheri Kay enjoys traveling and has spent three years living overseas in the beautiful country of Haiti, serving the Haitian people through various medical and therapy clinics. Along with parenting the children who have stolen her heart, Cheri Kay’s passion is to come alongside other families with resources and encouragement and help them soar into their own success!

Dr. Georgia Purdom holds a PhD in molecular genetics. After teaching college for 6 years, she joined Answers in Genesis where she now serves as the Vice President of Educational Content. Dr. Purdom and her husband Chris have been married for 27 years and have one daughter, Elizabeth.

Jennifer Hall Rivera EdD is the Director of Educational Programs for Answers in Genesis, where she oversees and presents in daily workshops and is involved in educational outreach and the high school lab programs. Her interest in the forensic sciences started at an early age and is credited to the godly instruction of her father, a renowned fingerprint expert. Her experience in the field of forensic science includes employment in a crime scene unit, over a decade of teaching, journal publications, and numerous speaking events.