Dr. Simone Gibson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Morgan State University, a Historically Black University located in Baltimore, MD. Additionally, she holds the position of Co-Director for the Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity (Mile). As a literacy specialist, Dr. Gibson concentrates her research and training efforts on preparing both pre-service and in-service teachers to implement culturally humble practices in literacy instruction that are grounded in evidence-based methodologies.

Shane Safir has worked at every level of the education system, from the classroom to the boardroom, for 25 years. In 2003, after teaching in San Francisco and Oakland and organizing in the community to launch a new school, Safir became the founding co-principal of June Jordan School for Equity (JJSE), an innovative national model identified by leading scholar Linda Darling-Hammond as "supporting the success of low-income students of color."

Since 2008, Safir has provided equity-centered leadership coaching, strategic planning, and professional learning support for schools, districts, and organizations across the U.S., Canada, and beyond. She facilitates workshops on listening leadership, becoming a warm demander for equity, and the Street Data model for school transformation, among other content. She is the author of The Listening Leader: Creating the Conditions for Equitable School Transformation (Jossey-Bass: 2017) and the bestselling Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation (Corwin, 2021), coauthored with Dr. Jamila Dugan.