Hi there, I’m Karen Dudek-Brannan!

I’m a Professional Development Specialist, SLP, and founder/CEO of Dr. Karen, LLC, a company focused on empowering therapists and educators to design interventions that support language, literacy, and executive functioning. In my current role, I develop engaging professional development and products that help school teams work together to get better results.

On the De Facto Leaders Podcast, I share up-to-date evidence-based practices, my own experience, and guest interviews designed to help pediatric therapists, educators, and aspiring school leaders design services that support social, emotional, and academic growth and set kids up for success in adulthood. Whether you want to learn effective strategies for your therapy session or classroom, be an influential leader on your team, or find creative ways to use your skills to advance in your career, I’ve got you covered. You can listen to the De Facto Leaders podcast on most popular podcast directories, and can scroll through past episodes on this page here.

Latest Episodes

BONUS: The Authority: Executive Functions for Every Classroom with Mitch Weathers

About The Authority Podcast:Hosted by leadership coach, storytelling strategist, and edtech advisor Ross Romano, The Authority provides education leaders with proven i...

Turning disagreements in to alliances in K-12 education (with Dr. Barb Flowers)

There’s a lot of "us vs. them" thinking happening relating to what’s going on in the school systems.Parents feeling like teachers don't want to accommodate students wi...

Comorbidities and Differential Diagnosis (ADHD, DLD, Dyslexia)

When kids need support with language, reading/writing, and executive functioning, they often have multiple diagnoses.This makes both treatment planning, diagnosis, and...

Literacy and background knowledge: Essential skills for life (with Dr. Pamela Snow)

The most effective reading instructional practices aren’t always the ones that gain traction.It’s the ones with the most successful marketing campaigns. The best marke...

Unpacking the early literacy debate and building a foundation in PreK (with Jane Gebers)

The literacy space has become increasingly polarizing since the reading wars began.There are a number of debates and questions that continue, including:Will kids learn...

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