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Joy Masha (she/her) is a program manager at the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools, where she is dedicated to building family-school-community partnerships. Joy is at the forefront of transformative change in Washington, D.C., where she is dedicated to organizing and collaborating with parents and practitioners. Her mission is to dismantle normative narratives that hinder family success and well-being. Joy envisions a world where liberatory learning and engagement are accessible to all parents and families, as well as professionals and practitioners.

Shamari Reid, Ed.D. (he/him), is an assistant professor of teaching and learning at New York University. He has taught Spanish, English as a new language, and ELA at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels in Oklahoma, New York, Uruguay, and Spain. He is the creator and host of the podcast Water for Teachers. Shamari is also the author of the book Humans Who Teach: A Guide for Centering Love, Justice, and Liberation in Schools. As a scholar–educator, Shamari’s work centers love as a moral imperative in social justice education and as a path toward culturally sustaining school

Ashanti Jones (she/her) is a dedicated policy analyst and equity strategist with a passionate commitment to ensuring that no children are imprisoned or entangled in carceral systems. Jones is a policy analyst in the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Apart from her most important role as a mother, Jones is also a social worker, speaker, and policy analyst with a specialty in juvenile justice, restorative and transformative justice, and equity practices.

Delvin Davis (he/him) is a senior policy analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Brandon Haas, Ph.D. (he/him), is Learning for Justice’s curriculum developer and a researcher and educator dedicated to equity and justice.

Felicia Graham is a PhD candidate in Social Science & Comparative Education at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. At UCLA her teaching and scholarship focus on youth civic engagement, global media, and decolonizing epistemologies of the global south. Guided by Chicana feminist theory, her current research engages youth in a political and economic critique of media to become advocates for culturally, historically, and politically responsive education based on human dignity, earthly respect, and rooted in the practice of love. Felicia is a student fellow for the

Maia Ferdman is the deputy director of the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute and the staff director of the UCLA Dialogue Across Difference Initiative. She is also the founding principal of Bridges Intergroup Relations Consulting, a firm that supports organizations and communities to build vibrant spaces of belonging – celebrating our complex identities, proactively exploring our differences, and fostering resilient relationships between groups. Maia has worked with and consulted for agencies and organizations including the California State Water Boards, the City of Los Angeles, Pepperdine