Wade Antonio Colwell gratefully serves geographically diverse school communities as a poet, author, teacher, songwriter, facilitator, mentor and performance artist. His passionate collaboration as Co-Founder of Youth Equity Stewardship (YES!) and national consultant for the Deep Equity professional development process with Corwin Press, is inspired by a growing social movement of collective reciprocity, where students, teachers, families, support staff, administrators and the community at large, realize the mutual benefit of healthy relationships, inclusive practices, and equitable educational environments. Over the years experiencing “creativity” as a powerful catalyst for institutional uplift, Wade strives to artfully integrate professional disciplines such as musical expression, restorative practices, humor, environmental advocacy, hip hop culture, multilingual communication, healing arts, visual and video aesthetics, cultural ceremony, improvisation, mass media analysis, movement/dance, technology, ethnic studies, and soundscape design into his work. Wade credits his mother Catalina, a painter & philosopher, and his father Paul, a musician & lyricist, with laying the foundation for his sustained enthusiasm as a learner.

Benjie Howard is the executive director of New Wilderness Project, an outdoor education program focused on developing youth leadership for equity and land justice. He is the co-founder of Youth Equity Stewardship (YES!), a program offering an inter-generational, experiential, arts based approach to school change efforts in public education. Benjie is the managing Deep Equity consultant with Corwin Press. He is a touring singer-songwriter with 4 albums, including his collaborative 2016 release and annual Borderless tour with YES! co-founder Wade Antonio Colwell. His first book of poetry, Separation Point, At The Edge of Wildness was published in 2020 by Laguna Wilderness Press. Benjie is a guide on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park where he has been designing/ leading educational expeditions for 18 years.