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Paula began her career as a high school social studies teacher in California and later became the Program Director at the Center for Ethics and Education in 2015. McAvoy’s research focuses on the aims of schooling in a democratic society, and she has recently used the tools of moral and political philosophy to consider cases of cultural and religious accommodation, the aims of sex education, and the ethics of teaching about politics in schools.

Chris teaches senior-level science in the same Rochester school district he attended as a student. At World of Inquiry School #58, he uses science instruction to empower his students, emphasizing the links between math, science and social justice. Widmaier holds multiple leadership roles at his school and is a founding member of the Rochester Regional Teacher Empowerment Network. He received the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2016.

Becki Cohn-Vargas is the director of Not In Our School (NIOS) and a national speaker on the subject of school-based bullying. Currently she develops standards-based bullying prevention curriculum and has worked with over 150 NIOS efforts at schools and colleges across the United States. Earlier in her career, she spent over 35 years in public education in California. Her new book,“ Identity Safe Classrooms: Places to Belong and Learn,” co-authored with Dorothy Steele, was published by Corwin Press .

Barrie Moorman is a high school history teacher at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. She engages her students by taking them out of the classroom and into the community, including a civil rights tour of the South to empower her students through history. Moorman also emphasizes critical thinking and learning through stories. She facilitates Race and Equity in Education Seminars in D.C. She is also a receipient of the 2014 Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching.

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.

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.

Dana Compton McCullough is a biology teacher at Evans High School in Evans, Georgia. She has taught middle school science and language arts, 5th grade science, math, and language arts, and various high school science classes for 23 years in Columbia County, Georgia. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Augusta State University and Master’s Degree in Biology from Georgia Southern University. Her research and teaching interests include teaching science for social justice and Freirean approaches to teaching and learning.

Chris Avery is the director of programs of Steppingstone Scholars in Philadelphia, Penn., which helps underserved students achieve academic success. Formerly an eighth-grade world cultures teacher and director of community and diversity at The Haverford School, he also consults for TURNING STONEchoice, a nonprofit dedicated to helping students make self-empowering choices and publisher of his most recent work, ANGST: Overcoming Freshman Year of High School, a young adult novel. He is also a receipient of the 2014 Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Geneva Gay is a professor of education at the University of Washington-Seattle, where she teaches multicultural education and general curriculum theory. She is nationally and internationally known for her scholarship in multicultural education, particularly as it relates to curriculum design, staff development, classroom instruction and intersections of culture, race, ethnicity, teaching and learning. She has written a number of books and book chapters, including the book Culturally Responsive Teaching. She works with Scott Foresman as a member of the authorship team for its New Elementary

Sherry has been an educator for 39 years and currently serves as the student support leader at Iles School in Springfield, Illinois. Frachey became passionate about stress reduction and restorative justice practices in schools and now partners with the Memorial Medical Center Foundation and the Harvard School of Medicine’s Benson-Henry Mind/Body Institute to teach The Relaxation Response, a stress-reduction program that uses developmentally appropriate exercises for school-age children. Her work has been featured on Yoko Ono’s website IMAGINE PEACE, Everyone Matters and Free the Children.