Dr. Nora Volkow is an expert in drug abuse and addiction. She is the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health.

Cecily Hardaway is an assistant professor of African American studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Hardaway’s research centers on understanding how socioeconomic status influences child development and family processes. Her work examines links between poverty-related risks (e.g., exposure to community violence and material hardship) and adolescents’ socioemotional adjustment and academic achievement.

Ellen Oh is an author and the co-founder of the organization We Need Diverse Books. She writes fiction for middle-grade and young adult audiences, including the Prophecy fantasy series. Her newest book is 2021’s Finding Junie Kim, based on Oh’s mother’s experiences in the Korean War.

Freeman Hrabowski has been president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, since 1992. In 2012 President Obama named him to chair the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans, and his leadership has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report, Time and The Washington Post.

Karsonya (Kaye) Wise Whitehead is an associate professor of communication and African and African American studies at Loyola University Maryland. She is founder and director of The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola and founding executive director of the Emilie Frances Davis Center for Education, Research, and Culture.

Jason Johnson is an associate professor in the School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State University. He is also politics editor at The Root and a contributor to MSNBC. Johnson’s academic research focuses on political communication and campaign strategy.

Claudia Galindo is an associate professor of education policy at the University of Maryland, College Park’s College of Education. She spoke to NPR’s Claudio Sanchez in 2013 about the academic shortcomings of Latino children compared to their white counterparts.