Spark26 Speakers
The 2026 Spark Symposium for Charter Schools will offer an exciting and insightful experience for attendees. With impactful presentations from distinguished speakers, the symposium will explore the latest trends and developments shaping the charter school landscape. Keep reading to learn more about this year’s keynote, and stay tuned for updates on our additional speakers!
Spark Your Thinking with
Charter School Innovator Ian Rowe
We are excited to announce that Ian Rowe, a nationally recognized leader in education and upward mobility, will deliver the keynote at the 2026 Spark Symposium. With decades of experience across education, philanthropy, media, and public service, Rowe has influenced educators, school leaders, and communities through his work expanding opportunity for young people.
Keynote Message: Embracing Agency, Rejecting Victimhood
Every child deserves the opportunity to lead a flourishing, self-determined life with meaning and purpose. Ian Rowe will present his F.R.E.E. framework (Family, Religion, Education, Entrepreneurship) as a pathway to empower young people to embrace Agency and reject victimhood. He will present an overview of an Agency curriculum that has been piloted at public, private, and parochial schools across the country, and how he brings these ideas to life at Vertex Partnership Academies, the International Baccalaureate public charter high school in the Bronx, organized around the four cardinal virtues of Courage, Justice Temperance, and Wisdom.
Breakout Session: Agency, Applied: A Deeper Dive with Ian Rowe
This interactive breakout builds on the keynote by focusing on how schools can translate the concept of agency into daily practice. Ian Rowe will engage participants in practical discussion around the F.R.E.E. framework — Family, Religion, Education, and Entrepreneurship — and explore how intentional school design and culture can empower students to reject victimhood and lead purposeful, self‑directed lives.
About the Keynote
Rowe is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he focuses on education, upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. He is the cofounder of Vertex Partnership Academies, a network of virtues-based International Baccalaureate high schools launched in the Bronx in 2022, and previously served for a decade as CEO of Public Prep, a nonprofit network of public charter schools in New York City. He also serves as chairman of the board of Spence-Chapin, a nonprofit adoption services organization, and is cofounder of the National Summer School Initiative. He concurrently serves as a senior visiting fellow at the Woodson Center and contributes to the 1776 Unites Campaign.
Earlier in his career, Rowe held leadership roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MTV, and the White House’s USA Freedom Corps, and began his work in education as a teacher with Teach For America. He has been widely published in outlets including the New York Post, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Examiner, and is a frequent voice in national conversations on education and opportunity.
Following the publication of his book Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power, Rowe leads the FREE Initiative at AEI, which explores how family, religion, education, and entrepreneurship work together to shape the development of young people. His work has been shared with leaders across the country seeking to strengthen the institutions that support student success.
Rowe’s keynote will take place from 9:00–10:00 A.M. and will include a live Q&A, giving attendees the opportunity to engage directly with him. He will also lead a breakout session during Spark Zones: Track 1 from 10:35–11:50 AM, offering an additional opportunity to learn from and interact with his work.
Whether you are an administrator shaping school culture or an educator working directly with students, Rowe will provide valuable perspectives to support your work and inspire new ideas.
Event Details
Tuesday, May 19th, 2026
North Little Rock Event Center