Dr. Bettina L. Love is the William F. Russell Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the acclaimed author of Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal, a New York Times bestseller. The book has received numerous honors, including the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism, a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize, the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice, the National Council for Black Studies' Anna Julia Cooper & C.L.R. James Book Award, and long-listing for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. In recognition of her transformative work, Dr. Love was named a 2022 Next 50 Leader by the Kennedy Center for her commitment to fostering inspiration, inclusion, and compassion. In 2024, she was honored with the Truth Award for Excellence in Education from Better Brothers Los Angeles and The Diva Foundation, as well as the Black Girl Magic Award at Lincoln Center in New York City. Dr. Love was instrumental in the creation of the "In Her Hands" initiative, which distributed over $13 million in financial support to Black women throughout Georgia. A sought-after public speaker, she addresses issues including abolitionist teaching, anti-racism, Hip Hop education, Black girlhood, queer youth, educational reparations, and the power of art-based education in civic engagement. Her commentary and work have been featured in NPR, PBS, The Daily Beast, Time, Education Week, The Guardian, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. In 2018, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring Dr. Love’s significant contributions to education. As a public scholar, she is a regular contributor to Education Week Opinion, writing on race and education in the United States. Her 2019 book, We Want To Do More Than Survive, has sold nearly 200,000 copies and is a foundational classroom text, cementing her as one of today’s most influential voices in education. Dr. Love is also the co-founder of the research project Developing Reparative Educational Approaches for Meaningful Systemic Shifts (DREAMS). This national study investigates Black educational freedom dreams emerging from the most racialized spaces of educational resistance, with the goal of advancing educational repair. She is the author of the forthcoming children’s book, Bettina and the Ball, published by Candlewick Press.

Nat Nadha Vikitsreth, LCSW (she/her) is a dot connector, norm agitator, and lover of liberation. Nat works as a nationally award-winning decolonized therapist, a keynote facilitator, a trans rights activist, and a host of the Come Back to Care Podcast. She founded Come Back to Care for anyone who cares and raises children to heal as we get free. Her book, Raising Change Agents: Practicing Social Justice in Everyday Parenting, helps parents make parenting political in practical ways.