Julian Bond has served as chair of the NAACP Board of Directors since 1998 and is president emeritus and a board member of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which publishes Teaching Tolerance magazine. He is a distinguished professor in the School of Government at American University in Washington, DC, and a professor of history at the University of Virginia.
Benjamin is the Religious Literacy Specialist with the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute. He has developed religious literacy programs for public schools, universities, U.S. government organizations, and private foundations and has delivered presentations on religion at universities and nonprofits in the U.S. and abroad. Marcus is a contributing author in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Religion and American Education, where he writes about the importance of religious literacy education.
Katy Swalwell, PhD, is an assistant professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Her research interests focus on social justice pedagogy in communities of privilege, the teaching of controversial issues in elementary social studies curricula, and the politics of teaching. She is also the author of the upcoming book, Educating Activist Allies: Social Justice Pedagogy with the Suburban and Urban Elite (Routledge, 2013).
Mishy Lesser is the learning director for the Coexist Learning Project. She authored the Coexist Teacher’s Guide and devotes herself to teacher education about genocide and othering.
Jamila Bey is a journalist and speaker in Washington, DC. Her work covers American politics and all things First Amendment. She's currently working on a book which is a critical examination of the role of religion in the lives of African-American women.
Nancy Barno Reynolds is a Doctoral Candidate in The Graduate School of Education at Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y. and is planning to graduate in May. A former public school teacher for many years, her research now focuses on critical literacy, Democratic education, and the influence of the standardization movement on her profession.