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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

Margarita Bauzá Wagerson is a freelance writer for Teaching Tolerance. She has 15 years of daily newspaper writing experience in Michigan, 10 of those in Detroit, where she wrote about education, transportation and jobs. She has been a staff writer at the Lansing State Journal, Grand Rapids Press, the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. A native of Puerto Rico, she is a graduate of Michigan State University and a former board member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Her freelance work focuses on education and health care.

Dr. Pat Clark is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Department of Elementary Education at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. Pat teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in diversity and early childhood education. She also frequently takes students on off-campus study trips and has traveled with students to Mexico, Jamaica, and the U.S. Southwest. Pat's research interests currently focus on preservice and inservice teacher attitudes towards diversity and the types of experiences that impact those attitudes. Along with Eva Zygmunt-Fillwalk and other faculty and

Rusul Alrubail is a writer on education, teaching and learning. She is also the editor of Medium’s The Synapse publication on learning, teaching and education. Her work focuses on teacher development and training, English language learners and pedagogical practices in and out of the classroom. Before taking up freelance writing, Alrubail was a professor at Seneca College in Ontario for five years. She taught college English and Literature to domestic and international students. Alrubail is an educator who is passionate about using social media as a digital learning tool to build networks and

Peter J. Elliott has worked with adolescents for almost 20 years as an English teacher and social justice educator. After completing a bachelor’s degree in English at Amherst College, he obtained a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. A fan of fairy tales in all their forms, he loves sharing good stories with his two children at home.

Andrea has worked for over 20 years reporting on issues such as reducing health disparities, infant mortality, prevention of chronic disease, end-of-life care, childhood obesity, men’s health, women’s health and HIV/AIDS. Her writing on heath has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Essence, More, Heart & Soul, the Washington Post, the Lansing State Journal, Huffington Post, Salon.com, NBC BLK, The Root, The Griot, Yahoo and others. She is the author of two health-related books: Still With Me…A Daughter’s Journey of Love and Loss and The Black Woman’s Guide to Black Men’s Health. Twitter:

Carrie Gaffney, who spent twelve years as a secondary English teacher, is the managing editor of The Educational Forum and the copy editor for Dark House Press. Carrie holds an undergraduate degree in English Education and an MFA in creative writing. As a writer, she regularly contributes to Kentucky Monthly and Punchnel’s. She is also active in the Hoosier Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and Second Story, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that is dedicated to bringing creative writing to underserved schools. Her work is represented by Katie Shea of the Donald Maass