Mr. Risen has been an educational consultant and special education advocate since 2004 and was an impartial due-process hearing officer in Illinois from 2008 – 2015. He has been an invited speaker for the Illinois State Board of Education’s due-process hearing officers’ training and for the Illinois Principals Association and various Illinois school districts on special education law. He is a member of the Illinois Association of School Administrators and the Central Illinois Valley Division of School Administrators and is Chairperson of the Bradly University Superintendent’s Roundtable. Mr. Risen received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Illinois State University and his Ed.S. from Western Illinois University.