Formation Delivered at Scale
Dr. Zerek Mayes, EdD, LCSW brings 15+ years of clinical expertise and formation science to stages, classrooms, and organizations. His presentations don't just inform — they move people from where they are to where they're trying to become.
It's not about feeling better. It's about finally becoming — and knowing how you got there.
Inquire About SpeakingSpeaking Is Not the End. It's the Entry Point.
Most keynotes leave people inspired for a day. Dr. Mayes designs presentations that leave people with a framework they can carry — a new way of seeing themselves, their work, and the systems they operate in.
Every engagement is grounded in The Mayes Method™ and the From Rock to Root™ framework — formation science applied to the specific context of your audience, whether that's a school district, a conference, a nonprofit, or a corporate leadership team.
"The goal is not to send people home feeling good. The goal is to send them home thinking differently — about themselves, about the people they serve, and about what it actually takes to build something that lasts."
— Dr. Zerek Mayes, EdD, LCSW
Where the Work Has Landed
Naperville Community Unit School District 203
Rethinking Identification, Evaluation & Placement
Facilitated a professional development session on structurally equitable identification and placement practices — challenging the systemic conditions that produce disproportionality in special education and offering a formation-centered framework for change.
Encore
Organizational Formation & Cultural Transformation
Delivered a formation-centered presentation on how organizations move from stated values to structural reality — building the internal conditions that make belonging possible, not just probable.
Social Work Conferences
Identity, Intersectionality & Clinical Formation
Presented on the intersection of identity, systemic inequity, and clinical practice — bridging The Mayes Method™ with academic frameworks to equip clinicians with a formation lens for their work.
Aurora University · Boise State University · University of Central Florida
Teaching Identity & Learner Formation
Facilitated sessions on developing teaching identity, honoring learner diversity, and embedding formation-centered equity into higher education pedagogy — because educators cannot form students further than they've gone themselves.
What Dr. Mayes Speaks On
Each presentation is customized to your audience, context, and goals — grounded in formation science and delivered with the kind of authenticity that only comes from lived experience.
The Architecture of Becoming
An introduction to The Mayes Method™ and the From Rock to Root™ framework — formation science applied to individuals, organizations, and systems.
Identity & Intersectionality
How overlapping identities shape lived experience, mental health, and access — and what it means to build systems that honor the full complexity of who people are.
Structural Equity in Education
Moving beyond compliance and representation toward the structural conditions that allow every student to become — not just belong.
Trauma-Informed Leadership
Applying trauma-informed principles to leadership, team dynamics, and organizational culture — because you cannot lead people further than you've gone yourself.
Formation-Centered Clinical Practice
Equipping clinicians, educators, and leaders with a formation lens — moving from symptom management to identity development in the people they serve.
Mental Health & Organizational Formation
Reducing stigma, building psychological safety, and creating the structural conditions for employee well-being — because healthy organizations begin with formed people.
How We Can Work Together
Bring Formation to Your Stage
Whether you're planning a conference, a professional development day, or a leadership retreat — Dr. Mayes delivers presentations that don't just inspire. They form.