Isabel Araiza is an associate professor of sociology at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, where she teaches in the Mexican American and women and gender studies programs. She’s an expert on sociology and its intersections with education, social class and inequality.  Araiza spoke up against the university’s plans for in-person classes in fall 2020.

Joris M. Ray is the superintendent of Shelby County Schools in Tennessee and an expert in K-12 education. Ray grew up in Memphis and attended Shelby County Schools, graduating from Whitehaven High School. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Memphis.

Neena K. Chaudhry is general counsel and senior advisor for education at the National Women’s Law Center. Her focus is on girls who experience sexual harassment and violence, are denied athletic opportunities, face unfair discipline, or are discriminated against because they are pregnant.

Muhammad Khalifa is a professor of educational administration and executive director for urban education initiatives at the Ohio State University. He is the president and CEO of the Culturally Responsive School Leadership Academy, and has worked as a public school teacher and administrator in Detroit.

Eve L. Ewing is a sociologist of education, an assistant professor in the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, and a writer of nonfiction, poetry, comics, children’s books and plays.

Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician and pianist based in Chicago. She is the scientist in residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Previously, she was a professor of pure mathematics at the University of Sheffield in the U.K.

Donna Y. Ford is a distinguished professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology the Ohio State University. Her research focuses on, among other subjects, the achievement gap; recruiting and retaining culturally different students in gifted education; multicultural curriculum and instruction, and African American family involvement.

Constance Iloh is an assistant professor of higher education at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on educational inequities and opportunity; institutional and organizational culture; college access and choice; social context; and student experiences. She is known for the Iloh Model of College-Going Decisions and Trajectories.

Deborah A. Santiago is the cofounder and CEO at Excelencia in Education, an organization that aims to improve Latino access in higher education. Santiago’s work concentrates on state and federal policy, financial aid, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and the evaluation of effective institutional practices. She was recently appointed to the California Higher Education Recovery with Equity Taskforce.

Tina Trujillo is an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. She is an expert on education inequality, federal educational policymaking and test-based educational reforms.

Stella Flores is associate dean for faculty development and diversity and an associate professor of higher education at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University.

David A. Thomas is the 12th president of Morehouse College. He is an expert in organizational change, and spent decades researching and writing about diversity in business leadership. Under his guidance, Morehouse has innovated in STEM education and expanded its online class offerings.

Pedro Noguera is a sociologist and dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. He researches ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts.

Dr. Julio Frenk is the president of the University of Miami. He was previously the dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Minister of Health of Mexico. He has written extensively about universal health coverage and health equity.

Tressie McMillan Cottom is an associate professor in the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; a senior research fellow at the Center for Information, Technology and Public Life (UNC); associate faculty at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center; and 2020 MacArthur Fellow.

Patricia Gándara is a research professor of education and co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. Her research interests include the impact of migration on Mexican origin students in the U.S. and those returning to Mexico, as well as pathways to educational attainment for Mexican students and U.S. students of Mexican origin.

Dana Thompson Dorsey is the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Endowed Chair in Education Innovation at the University of South Florida. Her research examines education laws, policies and practices, and how they shape educational equity, access and opportunities for minoritized and underserved populations.

Maite Arce (Mai-tay Ahr-say) is a leading voice in creating access and enhancing opportunities for Latino communities to connect with information, partners and resources they need for a better life. She is the founder and president/CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation, a D.C.-based national nonprofit known for its network of community-based partners.

Caroline Hoxby is the Scott and Donya Bommer Professor in Economics at Stanford University. She is also the director of the Economics of Education Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Rwany Sibaja (see-bah-ha) is an assistant professor of history and director of the History Education Program at Appalachian State University. His research focuses broadly on the impact of sports and leisure on identity across the Americas in the 20th century, and specifically on the role of fútbol (soccer) on popular culture in Argentina.

Rosario Ceballo is associate dean of social sciences and a professor of psychology and women’s and gender studies at the University of Michigan. A clinical and developmental psychologist, her research investigates the effects of living in poverty on child and adolescent development.

Anthony Abraham Jack is an assistant professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and holds the Shutzer Assistant Professorship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. His research examines diversity among lower-income undergraduates, both those who enter college from local public high schools and those from boarding, day or prep schools.

Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher is executive director of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges and a professor of higher education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on marginalized student populations in marginalized institutional contexts, particularly how underrepresented and underserved students navigate open systems of admissions to further education and/or gainful employment.

Nalini Nadkarni is a professor of biology at the University of Utah. Her forest ecology research focuses on how biodiversity, forests and the stability of world climate interact, with an emphasis on the forest canopy. Her field sites are in Monteverde, Costa Rica, and on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

Valerie Lundy-Wagner is assistant vice chancellor of research and data at California Community Colleges. Her interests include postsecondary access and completion, community colleges, and comprehensive regional four-year institutions, with specific attention to minority-serving institutions, the STEM fields, and the role of race, class and gender.

Manley Begay is a professor in the Applied Indigenous Studies department and the department of politics and international affairs at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Northern Arizona University. He is also director of the Tribal Leadership Initiative in the Office of Native American Initiative at NAU.

Ainissa Ramirez is a science evangelist. Her latest book is The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another, which looks at eight inventions and how they shaped human experience. She also wrote Save Our Science: How to Inspire a New Generation of Scientists and co-authored Newton’s Football: The Science Behind America’s Game.

Shaun R. Harper is a professor in the Rossier School of Education and Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

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.

Armando Fox is a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. His focus is at the intersection of digital learning, programming systems, and software engineering, and he co-designed and co-taught Berkeley’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on engineering software as a service, which has certified more than 10,000 students.

Nate Easley is an education strategy consultant who advises nonprofits, college access and success organizations, foundations, and school districts. He sits on the Colorado State University System’s board of governors.

Walter Kimbrough is president of Dillard University in New Orleans. Previously, he was president of Philander Smith College and held several student affairs positions. Kimbrough is known for his research on HBCUs and African American men in college.

Lisa García Bedolla is an education professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also the school’s vice provost for graduate studies and dean of the graduate division. She studies the causes and consequences of political inequalities in the United States.

Maria Marta Ferreyra (fuh-RAY-ruh) is a senior economist at the Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Bank. She was previously a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University. At the World Bank she is co-leading a comprehensive study on higher education in Latin America.

Amir Muhsin Abo-Shaeer is an American teacher and mechanical engineer. In 2001, during his first year of teaching, he established the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA) on the Dos Pueblos High School campus. In addition to being the director of the DPEA, he teaches physics, engineering, robotics, machining and manufacturing.

Mark Hugo Lopez is the director of global migration and demography research at Pew Research Center. He leads planning of the center’s research agenda on international demographic trends, international migration, U.S. immigration trends and the U.S. Latino community. He is an expert on immigration globally and in the U.S., world demography, U.S.

Rey Junco is a senior researcher at Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a research institute at Tufts University that focuses on the civic and political engagement of young Americans. Junco applies his extensive experience in quantitative social science research to study various aspects of youth civic and political engagement.

Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco was named chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, in 2021. Previously, he was dean and professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Before that, he taught globalization and education at New York University and human development and psychology at Harvard University.

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.

Beverly Tatum is a psychologist, a leader in higher education and an expert on the psychology of racism. Tatum is president emerita of Spelman College, a historically black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta.

Fatima Goss Graves is the president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, where she “works to promote the rights of women and girls at school and in the workplace.” Previously, she worked as an appellate and trial litigator at Mayer Brown LLP and as a law clerk for Judge Diane P.

Marc Lamont Hill is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities and Solutions at Temple University. He is the host of BET News and has appeared on Fox, CNN and MSNBC as a political and cultural commentator.

Juliet Garcia is a professor of communications at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, and the senior advisor to the chancellor for community, national and global engagement for the University of Texas system. Previously, she served as president of the University of Texas, Brownsville, a position she held for 22 years.