A highly-regarded urban public school educator in New Jersey for over twenty years, Principal Baruti Kafele distinguished himself in the classroom and as a school leader. As an elementary school teacher in East Orange, NJ, Principal Kafele was selected as the East Orange School District and Essex County Public Schools Teacher of the Year. As a middle and high school principal, he led the transformation of four different New Jersey urban schools, including "The Mighty" Newark Tech, which went from a low-performing school in need of improvement to national acclaim, which included U.S. News and World Report Magazine recognizing it three times as one of America's best high schools.

One of the most sought-after education speakers in America, Principal Kafele has delivered more than 1000 conference keynotes and professional development workshops since leaving his principalship in 2011. An expert in the area of "attitude transformation," Principal Kafele is the leading authority for providing effective classroom and school leadership strategies toward closing what he coined, the "attitude gap" - defined as, "the gap between those students who have the WILL to achieve excellence and those who do not."

A prolific writer, Principal Kafele has written extensively on professional development strategies for creating a positive school climate and culture, transforming the attitudes of at-risk student populations, motivating Black males to excel in the classroom and school leadership practices for inspiring school-wide excellence. In addition to writing several professional articles on these topics for popular education journals, he is the author of eight books which include his national best-sellers, Closing the Attitude Gap, Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life and The Principal 50. His newest book, The Teacher 50 was recently released in September, 2016.

Principal Kafele is married to his wife Kimberley, and is the father of their three children, Baruti, Jabari and Kibriya. He earned his B.S. degree in Management Science/Marketing from Kean University and his M.A. degree in Educational Administration from New Jersey City University. He is the recipient of over one hundred fifty educational, professional and community awards which include the prestigious Milken National Educator Award, the National Alliance of Black School Educators Hall of Fame Award and the City of Dickinson, Texas proclaiming February 8, 1998 as Baruti Kafele Day.