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Cannonball Conference Is Thursday

10/21/2024

The Cannonball Conference will Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Busch Student Center. 

This event is held each year to recognize staff contributions to SLU and gets its name from the battlefield injury suffered by St. Ignatius in 1521.

Saint Louis University alumna Tiffany Anderson, Ph.D., was the speaker for the commencement ceremony Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, at Chaifetz Arena. She will deliver the keynote address at Thursday's Cannonball Conference. Photo by Steve Dolan.

Saint Louis University alumna Tiffany Anderson, Ph.D., was the speaker for the commencement ceremony Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, at Chaifetz Arena. She will deliver the keynote address at Thursday's Cannonball Conference. Photo by Steve Dolan.

SLU alumna Tiffany Anderson, Ph.D. (Ed ’94, Grad Ed ’01). Anderson is the first black woman superintendent in Topeka, Kansas, home of the landmark, Brown v. Board of education legislation that ended legal segregation, changing schools across the nation. She is one of the nation’s 16 Leaders to Learn From identified in 2014 by Education Week.  

Anderson has served as a school superintendent for twenty out of her almost 30 years in education and she credits the preparation from SLU for the excellent training in leadership. Anderson is an author with various articles published and the most recent publication is her 2024 book published by Corwin Press, Building Parent Capacity in High Poverty Schools: Actions for Authentic Impact. In 2024, Topeka Public Schools, the school district she leads,  was featured on CBS Evening and Morning News for the initiatives that improved access and opportunities for families in Topeka.

Anderson's speech is intended to energize participants to think differently as she explores the neuroscience of human connection and happiness.  Anderson will share practical strategies that improve organizational outcomes and increase human connection within systems. 

She will also share the neuroscience impacting happiness, motivation and workplace fulfillment as key levers to increasing joy at work. She will use humor and storytelling to empower attendees with strategies to leverage behaviors that create a culture of joy and fulfillment.

Anderson will share how she helped transform organizations using the power of human connection to increase staff fulfillment and improved mental health outcomes for students and staff.  

Cannonball Conference Schedule

The Cannonball Conference will kick off at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Wool Ballroom of the Busch Student Center. More information about the conference can be found on the conference website.