Kelli Kauakanilehua Adams

Kelli Kauakanilehua Adams (she/her) is a ninth grade English teacher at Kealakehe High School in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i. She received a bachelor's degree in English literature and creative writing at the University of Washington and earned her teaching certification in English language arts from Chaminade University of Honolulu.

Geoffrey Carlisle

Geoffrey Carlisle (he/him) is an award-winning eighth grade science teacher at KIPP Austin College Prep with 12 years of teaching experience. Outside of the classroom he facilitates professional development for teachers and is an advocate on education policy issues. He is pursuing a Master's of Public Affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

Deitra Colquitt

Deitra Colquitt (she/her) is currently a co-principal at Pershing Elementary School, completing her second year after embarking on a successful, community-based redesign of the school's leadership model. She is an alumna of the University City school district, graduating in 1998. Upon graduation, she pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Aisha Douglas

Aisha Douglas (she/her) is an Academic Dean at Achievement First Brooklyn High School. After completing a Master of Science in Teaching degree in Adolescent Education from Fordham University, Aisha made her move into the world of charter school education as a middle school teacher. As an Academic Dean, Aisha focuses on teacher development and curriculum adaptation in the humanities. She is a mom of two who spends her spare time wondering if she will ever nap again.

César Martín Moreno

César Martín Moreno (they/them) is a first-year biology and chemistry teacher at San Francisco International High School. They completed their master’s in education from Stanford University and have bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and neuroscience from the University of Notre Dame. Moreno is interested in developing curriculum that centers holistic science pedagogy, engages students in science, and emphasizes its practices as a transformative agent.

Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas (she/her) is a Hunkpapa Lakota educator who works as a professional learning specialist for the Office of Indian Education in Arizona. She is a former Title VI Native American Student Achievement Teacher for an urban public school district in Arizona. She has a Bachelor of Arts in economics, education and public policy from Dartmouth College and a Master’s in elementary education from the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.

Jennifer Yoo-Brannon

Jennifer Yoo-Brannon (she/her) is a professional learning leader devoted to developing collective teacher efficacy as an instructional coach in El Monte, Calif. With a passion for serving culturally and linguistically diverse students, Jennifer works with teachers and educators to build learning communities of competence, care and compassion.

This project is made publicly available with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. All stories are editorially independent. (Read our ethics statement here.) This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.