Victoria Purcell-Gates is the Canada Research Chair in Early Childhood Literacy for the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. She studies the ways in which people within communities value and practice literacy in all aspects of their lives. Her interests also include designing early literacy instruction that builds on young children's linguistic, cognitive, cultural, and social models for reading and writing acquired within their home communities. She is a former president of the National Reading Conference and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame. Her latest book is
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
Tess Domb Sadof is a recent graduate of Amherst Regional High School in Massachusetts. She and three peers started the social climate-centered project.
Sandra Wozniak recently retired from teaching after 33 years at the Mt. Olive Middle School in New Jersey. There, she developed and implemented coursework integrating critical thinking and technology. Sandra currently works with schools throughout the United States helping students learn how to think, not what to think. In 2010, she was honored as NJ Middle Level Educator of the Year.
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.