Rick Rood has been on the front lines of Education for nearly 30 years, working directly with children and front-line staff.  With degrees in Education, Afterschool Care, and Applied Mathematics, Rick is a student of the thought leader movement, distilling lessons from master teachers like Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, and Brendon Burchard – giving them practical application to education professionals.  Participants have described his workshops as “fascinating” and “life-changing.”

Rick is a classroom teacher, and in the past he has run afterschool programs, taught music, computer programming, and youth leadership workshops.  Rick is a contributor to “Youth Today!” and is the author of “Games Teachers Play Before the Bell Rings”.  Rick is a Certified High Performance Coach^TM and works privately and in groups with education professionals to help them achieve higher levels of performance in their work and personal lives.

Rick is the driving force behind Transforming Teachers, Transforming Education, an organization rooted in the Positive Youth Development philosophy dedicated to training and inspiring youth-serving professionals.  Through Transforming Teachers, Rick has delivered workshops and keynotes to thousands of education professionals, helping teachers transform their “inner game” of teaching to better serve youth, children, and families.

Rick and his team created the Beyond School Time Conference for Out-of-School-Time Professionals in 2018 as a way for California’s OST Professionals to connect, learn, and gather inspiration.