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Pam Watts writes, teaches and blogs about childhood adversity and children’s books. She is an expert in graphic novels, and first became interested in them when she studied them in the Writing for Children & Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Since then, she has spoken about graphic novels to audiences of other writers and teachers, and she can often be found in dark corners scribbling her own. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Chappell is an assistant professor in the department of elementary and bilingual education. She specializes in diversity and curriculum issues, English language learning, bilingual education and arts education. She also is interested in building communities of learners in online instruction.

Writer and activist,

Ana María Hanssen is an award-winning Colombian journalist, writer and author. A graduate of the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, she co-wrote “Holocausto en el Silencio,” a ground-breaking report on the 1985 invasion of the Colombian Palace of Justice by guerilla forces, which won the National Literature Award for best non-fiction book in Colombia in 2006. She has worked as a documentary researcher and has also written for publications such as (La Nación and G7 in Argentina), (Poder in Mexico and the US), and (Cambio, El Espectador and Alternativa in Colombia), where she began her career. She

Maureen Costello, retired director of Teaching Tolerance, has been a teacher and educational leader for over 40 years. Before joining the Southern Poverty Law Center, Costello worked for Scholastic, Inc. and directed the Newsweek Education Program. She began her career as a history and economics teacher at Notre Dame Academy High School in Staten Island. Throughout her career, Costello has been committed to fostering the ideals of democracy and citizenship in young people. She is a graduate of the New School University and the New York University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. In

Brenda Anfinson is a Minnesota-based writer, educator and speaker on issues in adult basic education. She currently teaches basic literacy and civics classes to adult learners. After completing bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and anthropology at Luther College, she completed a master’s degree in education at the University of St. Thomas. When not teaching, she is busy cycling and enjoying the great outdoors.

Drawing on her experience as the child of Jamaican immigrants, born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Patrice enjoys exploring issues of race, immigration and belonging. Her essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including Sweet: A Literary Confection and the online editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post. Her radio commentaries have appeared on Charlotte, North Carolina’s NPR station WFAE 90.7.

Katie is a high school writing and English teacher at The Hill Center, a K–12 school for children with learning differences in Durham, North Carolina. She previously taught at a middle school in Boston and at a secondary school in rural Tanzania. Mgongolwa has a passion for diversifying curricula, helping students and teachers develop strategies for courageous conversations, and working with schools to close the opportunity gap.

Monita K. Bell is Learning for Justice’s former associate director for editorial and host of The Mind Online podcast. Before joining LFJ, she taught composition and literature courses at Auburn University and Alabama State University; she has also worked as an online writing tutor. Bell is the author of Getting Hair “Fixed”: Black Power, Transvaluation, and Hair Politics.

Breeanna is a Massachusetts history teacher who currently works as the outreach specialist at Boston University’s African Studies Center. She is an educator with a global focus whose work meets at the crossroads of equity in educational opportunities and African studies. Elliott has taught internationally and domestically, and she advocates for rigorous, interdisciplinary education approaches as a means to encourage intercommunal understanding, empathy and global citizenship. She has spent much of her adult life traveling in East Africa and working in African studies.