Julia is nationally recognized as an award-winning children’s book author and parenting expert, and her books have been referenced in such publications as Parent’s Magazine, The New Yorker, Green Child Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Yahoo.com, DrLaura.com and BabyZone.com has. She has also been featured on CNN’s HLN News, and several large metropolitan networks. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Julia became actively involved in teaching children how to ski, an experience that led to a love of teaching in general. Julia now lives in Fremont, Nebraska. Her Master’s degree is in Elementary School Counseling. While serving as a guidance counselor, Julia often used children’s books to enhance her classroom lessons. She has presented in thousands of schools across the country and abroad, regularly speaks at national education and counseling conferences. She has published nearly 100 children’s books on a wide range of characters and social development topics. Her books showcase her innate ability to enter the worldview of a child through storybooks, giving children both the “what to say” and the “how to say it.” The goal behind Cook’s work is to actively involve young people in fun, memorable stories and teach them to become lifelong problem solvers. Inspiration for her books comes from working with children and carefully listening to counselors, parents, and teachers, in order to stay on top of needs in the classroom and at home. In her spare time, Julia enjoys spending time with her husband, family, and puppies.

LeRoy Butler is a retired Green Bay Packer and the Inventor of the Lambeau Leap. LeRoy will share his personal journey of achieving his dreams through his unique gifts and talents. Attendees will be inspired by LeRoy’s story from being wheelchair bond as a child to leaping into the stands with fans in Green Bay. Growing up, LeRoy struggled with physical challenges being born pigeon-toed to the point where doctors had to break the bones to repair them. He was limited to a wheelchair and crutches for much of his childhood, making him a victim of bullying. Butler faced many kinds of adversity in his childhood, growing up on the rough side of Jacksonville, Fla. with his four siblings all raised by his mother. Despite the adversity he faced growing up, he was able to play football and find a spot on the Florida State University Gators team in college. After spending three years with Florida, LeRoy declared for the NFL draft in 1990 where he was drafted in the second round by the Green Bay Packers where he would play for 12 seasons. He played in 181 games, earned a Super Bowl ring after the 1996 season, selected All-Pro 5 times, and was selected to the Pro Bowl four times (1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998). He was named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and later inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 2007. LeRoy started "Butler vs. Bullying" that has reached thousands of youth and adults in its third year. In his "Butler vs. Bullying" campaign, LeRoy is taking a grass roots approach by striving to bring professionals, teachers, parents/families together to discuss, in an open microphone format, the social problems that derive from bullying.