Dr. Lanise Block - Founder / CEO
Lanise Block, Ed.D., Educational Leadership Strategist specializing in human-centered AI implementation and justice-centered innovation.
As the Founder and CEO of Lift.ED Consulting, Dr. Lanise Block is the Founder and CEO of Lift.ED Consulting and the creator of three connected frameworks the Liberation Innovation Framework Experience™ (LIFE), Digital Kinship™, and the Justice Junctures™: Leadership for Human-Centered AI that together form a justice-centered architecture for AI leadership in education. Her work begins with a single question that most AI strategists never ask: who does this technology serve, and who does it leave behind?"
Dr. Block holds an Ed.D. in Critical Pedagogy from the University of St. Thomas, an M.A. in Teaching from Drake University, and a B.A. in History. She also earned graduate certificates in Learning Technologies, E-Learning, and Online Teaching, alongside credentials in Strategic Planning, Design Thinking, Systemic Innovation, and Digital Transformation from leading institutions including the University of Virginia, Northeastern University, and AJ&Smart.
An experienced educator, Dr. Block has taught and developed graduate-level courses focused on inclusive innovation and digital equity, including Promoting Equity With Technology (University of St. Thomas) and Digital Empowerment & Engagement in Education (Augsburg University). She is the creator of three connected frameworks: the Liberation Innovation Framework Experience™ (LIFE), the philosophical foundation of all Lift.ED work; Digital Kinship™, which applies it at the instructional level; and the 5Ps Framework for Purposeful AI Integration™, which applies it at the executive level.
These frameworks help educators, leaders and organizations center cultural responsiveness and digital justice in their work.
Previously, Dr. Block served for 21 years in Minneapolis Public Schools, where she led major digital initiatives as a Technology Integration Specialist and Strategic Project Administrator. She founded and directed the Digital Empowerment Academy, a community-based edtech organization focused on access and innovation. Her work has been featured at national conferences, in academic publications, and earned her honors such as the Education 2.0 Outstanding Leadership Award and inclusion in the Top 100 Innovators and Entrepreneurs Magazine in 2022.
Dr. Block currently serves as Lead Mentor for the Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching (CEUT) at Hamline University, teaches Promoting Equity with Technology at the University of St. Thomas, and serves on the planning committee for the AI Summit 'Leading Learning in the AI Era' hosted by AI4MN and MNGAIA.
Our Founder has worked with the following companies.