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Schilsky is president and chief creative director of the Warehouse Project & Gallery. She holds a master's degree in social work from Loyola University, Chicago and a bachelor of arts in sociology and anthropology from North Central College, Naperville, IL.

Cynthia Levinson writes nonfiction for young readers. Her debut middle-grade book, We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, won numerous awards, including the Jane Addams Book Award and the IRA Young Adult Nonfiction Award. Her forthcoming book Watch Out for Flying Kids addresses multicultural issues in Israel and the United States through two children’s circuses. In addition, she is writing a biography of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her short nonfiction pieces have been published in Cobblestone, Faces, and other magazines. She lives in Austin and Boston.

Amanda Ryan Fear has served as an art teacher, leadership teacher, and dean of students at a large, comprehensive high school in the Portland, Oregon area. She is a doctoral candidate in education methodology, policy and leadership at the University of Oregon and works with preservice teachers on community building and equity issues in the classroom. Her professional interests include leadership for equity, student voice and college readiness. She recently became a mother and misses sleep.

Anthony Godby Johnson is a writer who lives in New York City. His memoir, A Rock and a Hard Place, was published in 1993 (Signet). He writes a monthly column for the Gregory House Gazette, an AIDS care newsletter published in Honolulu.

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

Kathleen Melville teaches English, Spanish and playwriting at a small public high school in Philadelphia. A graduate of Swarthmore College, her degree is in English and education. Her teaching career includes two years at a bilingual school in Guatemala City and two years at a small Friends school for students with learning differences. She is also a teaching consultant with the Philadelphia Writing Project and enjoys reading, traveling and spending time outdoors.

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.