Alexs Pate

Alexs Pate is President and CEO of Innocent Technologies and creator of the Innocent Classroom. He is a New York Times bestselling author who has written five novels, a children’s book, a book of nonfiction, and has curated numerous literary anthologies. His latest book The Innocent Classroom: Dismantling Racial Bias for Children of Color was published by ASCD (August 2020)

Throughout his career, Alexs has attacked racial stereotypes that limit the realities of people of color. He has worked to create worlds in which the humanity of everyone is recognized, known and finally assumed. Alexs founded Innocent Technologies to build the world in which we can live our authentic humanity, uninhibited by the stories about who we are supposed to be. The success of the Innocent Classroom has led to the development of Innocent Classroom for Early Childhood Educators and Innocent Care training for health care professionals to build quick connections with their patients.

Alexs leads his company through his vision for a world in which our children are free to achieve their unlimited potential, our people are free to live healthily and fully, and our individual humanity is prioritized and valued in the structures of society.

Matthew Brandt, Ph.D

Dr. Matthew Brandt worked alongside Innocent Technologies CEO Alexs Pate to create and launch The Innocent Classroom in 2012. Now, as Senior Vice President, Matthew creates and sustains our nation-wide partnerships with schools and districts committed to building affirming academic spaces for children of color and Indigenous children.

Matthew is a lifelong leader in protecting and nurturing Indigenous language and culture and in building a more inclusive society. He has worked for more than 20 years in non-profit management and program development including serving as the Vice President of the Minnesota Humanities Center.

Matthew’s efforts to decolonize American culture most notably include funding the premier Ojibwe Language program and resource in the united states in partnership with Tony Treuer and Bemidji State University. Matthew helped produce the first public story of US Treaties told exclusively from an Indigenous perspective, “Why Treaties Matter” (winner of the Schwartz Prize for Best in Public Humanities, 2012) in partnership with Indigenous people from within the borders of Minnesota and the National Museum of the American Indian. He is Ho-Chunk by descendancy (from the place we now call Wisconsin) and has ancestors who arrived here from Germany.

As Vice President, Jaimee leads the Strategic Partnership efforts of Innocent Classroom, guaranteeing the best possible aligned outcomes for each school and district partner. Jaimee also guides our internal operations – leading and organizing our team to reach our most powerful possible impact.

Jaimee earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Minnesota and has more than 15 years of professional experience in education focused on racial equity as a paraprofessional, OST provider, teacher, coach, and non-profit leader. Prior to joining Innocent Classroom, Jaimee served as the Director of Talent Acquisition at Minneapolis Public Schools and as the Education Director at Northside Achievement Zone.

Julian Condie

As Vice President, Julian leads the Program Implementation Team in the development and implementation of all our Innocent Classroom partnerships. He helps educators and leaders to prepare for Innocent Classroom transformation, and leads the team in partnership to ensure the quality and effectiveness of all our work. Julian joined Innocent Classroom in 2015 and has led Innocent Classroom partnerships in hundreds of districts, partnering with educators across the country to strengthen their relationships with their children, to improve academic and social outcomes for children of color and other historically marginalized students.   

Julian is also the co-founder and President of Community Food Project, an initiative and non-profit organization he started during the Covid-19 pandemic to aid in providing food to school children and families in need using the skills, experience and relationships he’s built over decades of work in the restaurant industry. Julian was the keynote speaker for a Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative and Educare of Omaha conference in August 2021. He is a proud Black American from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Julian is a graduate from the University of Minnesota with degrees in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies & Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature.