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Maribel Valdez Gonzalez is a Xicana educator and San Antonio-born daughter of Mexican immigrants with a goal to create academically and culturally engaging learning experiences through a culturally responsive framework that fosters empowerment, agency, and radical kindness. She is a STEMbyTAF Transformation Coach for Technology Access Foundation. She works directly with administrators and teachers to achieve educational justice for all students, especially Black and Brown students. Maribel partners with K–12 public schools as an instructional coach to shift pedagogy, transform curriculum using

Dr. Kiara Lee-Heart is a native of Richmond, Virginia. She holds a B.A. in sociology with a minor in Latin American and Iberian Studies from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree in education from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. She earned her Ph.D. in education at Virginia Commonwealth University and her dissertation research focused on colorism and the lived experiences of dark-skinned Black college students. She teaches first-year students writing and critical thinking skills in the Department of Focused Inquiry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Kiara