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Dena Simmons, Ed.D., is a lifelong activist, educator and student of life. A native of the Bronx, New York, Dena grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with her two sisters and immigrant mother. There, Dena learned and lived the violence of injustice and inequity and decided to dedicate her life to educating and empowering others. As the director of implementation at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, she works with schools to use the power of emotions to create a more effective and compassionate society. Prior to her work at the Center, Dena served as an educator, teacher educator

Riley Drake is an assistant professor of school counseling in the Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Human Services at the University of Wisconsin-Stout School of Education. Riley’s vision for educational justice is grounded in education as the practice of freedom, and her research, including her dissertation, The Purpose Is Process: Exploring Humanizing Social Emotional Praxes in Elementary Education, explores how educators honor and struggle for liberation alongside young people, families and community organizers. Specifically, she is interested in the praxes of elementary school