Lupita Ayón

Location: Seattle, Washington

Lupita Ayón was born in Mexico, where she received her B.A. degree in art and psychology. At the age of 22, she moved to the US. In Seattle, she worked at CASA Latina, and in 2003, she founded Para los Niños, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster academic success for every Latino student through parent and community involvement. Lupita then founded, and currently directs, Latinos for Community Transformation, a non-profit organization that empowers communities from the ground up by training leaders for change. At Latinos for Community Transformation she developed the Leadership Academy, a program to teach Latinos basic community organizing skills, how US government works, how to increase civic participation, and how to advocate for themselves to become part of social change. Her passion is to share her knowledge with others and to ensure a bright future for all youth, including her two children.

Jen Benkovitz

Location: Raleigh, North Carolina

Focus: Local, Hillsborough Elementary School

Now in her ninth year of school administration, Jen Benkovitz is the principal of Hillsborough Elementary School in Orange County, North Carolina. She began her teaching career in 1996 in Charlotte, NC before attending UNC-Chapel Hill, where she earned her Master’s degree in School Administration and Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Having spent most of her career in Title I schools, Jen remains committed to issues of equity and social justice.

Cara Lisa Berg Powers

Location: Worcester, Massachusetts

Cara Lisa Berg Powers is an innovative strategic thinker working across a variety of disciplines to build the capacity of communities to create meaningful and lasting change. Cara is currently the Co-Director of Press Pass TV, a youth advocacy media organization that tells the stories of communities working for change, and is a member of the Adjunct Faculty at Wheelock College. Cara has produced programming for MTV & NBC, and has provided training in media and social change to non-profit leaders like Oxfam and Facing History & Ourselves. Cara is currently a candidate for her EdD in Educational Leadership and Change and her first book By Any Media Necessary is available at byanymedianecessary.com. She is also the Vice-Chair of the Human Rights Commission in her hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, where she currently resides with her husband and their two cats.

Peter Garang Deng

Location: Burlington, Vermont

Peter Garang Deng is the president and founder of New Sudan Jonglei Orphans Foundation, Inc. (NSJOF). In addition, he is the owner and CEO of Peter Eagle Transportation, which is legally registered as Jonglei Express, a small bus company in Kenya. He has over three years of personal research experience in bus transportation in East Africa. He is skilled in managing, customers servicing and marketing, finance and accounting. He earned his B.S from Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and he is currently an MBA student at Plymouth State University. He works as a community organizer for two schools districts in Vermont and is the author of “Lost Generation” The Story of the Sudanese Orphan.

Jayeesha Dutta

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Jayeesha Dutta is a tri-coastal Bengali-American educator, "artivist," writer and travel adventurer. Born in the deep south (Mobile, AL), raised back East (New York, NY), and aged out West (Oakland, CA), she has come full circle to make roots in the dirty dirty (New Orleans, LA). In addition to organizing with IDEA, she is a facilitator and youth organizer at Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools. She is also co-founder of Mind Power Collective, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to building creative community spaces and resources for educators. Jayeesha has worked with KidSmART in New Orleans, the Alameda County Office of Education’s Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership and the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, now known as The National Equity Project. She received a Bachelor of Science in Labor Relations from Cornell University and conducted graduate studies in Equity and Social Justice in Education at San Francisco State University.

Don Ernst

Location: Little Rock, Arkansas

Don Ernst is instructor of education policy at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. He teaches an elective course on education policy and serves as an advisor on student field service projects. He also currently serves as coordinator of the Children and Youth Initiative at the Central Arkansas Library System. Don has extensive experience in both the government and nonprofit sectors. He recently served as director of education policy in the office of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and previously served as a senior consultant to the Coalition of Essential Schools. A former social studies teacher, Don has also worked on education initiatives with the Stuart Foundation in San Francisco, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in Alexandra, Va., and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform in Providence, R.I. He served in the policy offices of former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh and former Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

Corey Gaber

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Corey is an educator, philosophizer, activist, and total lacrosse stud. Having held multiple jobs in Baltimore City and County's public and private schools creating service-learning projects and various external programming, he is now entering his first year as a formal in-the-classroom teacher. He received his Bachelors Degree in Philosophy from Washington and Lee University, and his Masters in Mind, Brain, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is particularly passionate about students discovering who they are, deciding who they want to be in this world, and taking action to fulfill on their new understanding and desires.

Christy Lochary

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Focus: Regional, Region 10: Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico

Christy Lochary serves as the community liaison and teacher at The Patchwork School in Louisville, CO. Having attended public school as a young person, Christy went on to graduate from University of Colorado with a B.A. in Fine Arts and a minor in Sociology. Her desire to be involved with democratic education stems from a passion that all children deserve the opportunity to find an environment that works for them; an environment that supports their development as self-actualized individuals living in community with others. Christy is the administrative assistant for the Colorado office of the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO).

David Loitz

Location: Eugene, Oregon

Focus: Regional, Region 9: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Hawaii

David Loitz is a passionate lover of education, film, basketball, food and life. He is currently working towards his Masters in Holistic Elementary Education at Goddard College. He lives in Eugene, Oregon with his beautiful fiancee, Marta. His goal is to open a human scale school in the near future and help others do the same. He has a wide range of accomplishments in creative endeavors including 10 years as a film maker with a BFA (Film/Video) from California Institute of the Arts. He is an avid blogger with Cooperative Catalyst and can be found on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook and other education sites. He loves Education literature and commentary, from books, to films, to blogs. If you ever want to a suggestion, feel free to ask and he will give you 10.

Dawn Moskowitz

Location: Burlington, Vermont

Dawn Moskowitz is an education organizer facilitating family-school-community partnerships. She currently works as a contractor for Voices for Vermont's Children and the Burlington and Winooski School Districts to help build the capacity of marginalized families and youth to engage in school improvement efforts alongside families and students with power. She deeply believes that transforming our education system and increasing opportunities for all children requires authentic collaboration and community-building. Dawn’s prior experience includes a decade in corporate business planning and analysis in educational publishing and finance. She is also the mom of a soon-to-be middle schooler, a former elementary school Parent Teacher Organization president and an active local volunteer.

Bryant Muldrew

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Focus: Local, Baltimore Algebra Project and youth media, School to Prison Pipeline

Bryant Muldrew is an educational organizer with the Baltimore Algebra Project (BAP) and the co-director of Follow Your Dreams, Inc (FYD). The Baltimore Algebra Project is a non-profit youth led math-based tutoring organization. The BAP’s premise is to help youth gain economic access and exercise full citizenship through math and science literacy. In addition to his work with mathematics, Bryant participates in youth organizing around social issues related to education. He has been employed with the BAP for approximately 7 years and has been an active member of the organizing committee. Currently he is organizing against the construction of a new juvenile jail in Baltimore, MD, and advocates for the diversion of DJS funds to education-based jobs.

Esther Ohito

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Esther Ohito moonlights as a world voyager, a writer, and a wistful movie buff. She spends her days as an induction support coach, an instructor, and a diversity support coordinator at The University of Chicago’s Urban Teacher Education Program. Previously, Esther was an intermediate and middle school language arts teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, and a professional development provider for various education-oriented organizations. Esther received her B.A. from Hampton University, and her M.A. in Teaching from National-Louis University through the Academy for Urban School Leadership. Esther’s work is rooted in her love for children and learning, and a belief that literacy skills crack open the door to knowledge, knowledge is a prerequisite to healing, and healing is synonymous with liberation.

Aaron Regunberg

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

Aaron Regunberg is the co-founder of Hope United, a school-based student organizing group active in Providence whose mission is to help high school students utilize their shared power to improve their schools and push student voice into the city and state's education decisions. Through Hope United, he teaches a political consciousization curriculum and facilitates the organization's youth-led direct action campaigns. Aaron is also active in electoral organizing in Providence and Rhode Island, as well as an ongoing campaign to tax the state's wealthy at higher rates. And he is in his senior year at Brown University, where he studies American Politics.

Diego Negrón Reichard

Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Diego Negrón is a 15-year-old high school sophomore with a desire to make a difference in the world by changing its core, education. He is currently an honor student at the Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola. Thanks to a series of experiences, he has come to the conclusion that helping others through education is his purpose in life. He loves playing tennis and hanging out with his friends. He also wants to teach the world that kids can make a difference and shouldn't have to wait for things to happen, because we all have the power in our hands to change the world into a better one.

Natalia Rosado

Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Natalia is 18 years old and in her first year of college at UPR (University of Puerto Rico), studying sociology. She participated in a summer leadership program directed by Justo Mendez and Ana Yris Guzman for two years. Since then, she has worked on various activities with Nuestra Escuela, Inc. and the Alliance for Alternative Education in Puerto Rico. Consequently, she was president of a youth organization called Juventud Estrella (Youth Star), which is dedicated to community service and social activism. In the not-so-distant future she will start working in Nuestra Escuela. Natalia was also part of the Executive Committee of the IV International Congress of Children and Adolescent's Rights. She is a passionate ballet dancer, movie and book junkie, always seeking spiritual harmony. Most importantly, she has a love for education and social justice that enables students to create their own path towards their own bright future.

Jill Ruchala

Location: Washington, D.C.

Regional, Region 4: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., North Carolina, and South Carolina

Jill Ruchala has taught in the U.S., the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Mexico. She worked with grassroots organizations in Thailand and Burma to strengthen autonomous education in Karen State, then turned her attention back to the U.S., where she now manages a non-profit’s global education program for local students. Jill has an M.A. in International Education from George Washington University and a B.A. in Literature from Yale University.

Hannah Sadtler

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Hannah Sadtler is an educator, organizer and student in New Orleans, LA. After teaching Language Arts at a charter middle school for two years, she is taking a break from the classroom to prioritize her own learning and development. As a part of this process she facilitates The New Teachers’ Roundtable, a group she co-founded to help herself and other new teachers in New Orleans understand the cultural, political and historical context of their work by creating a supportive space to engage in thought-provoking dialogue and reflection and connect with insightful individuals, organizations, and other local resources.

Kate Strom

Location: Montclair, New Jersey

Kate Strom is a doctoral fellow at Montclair State University in the Teacher Education Teacher Development EdD Program, serves as an induction coach for the secondary Science and Math cohort of the Newark-Montclair Urban Teaching Residency, and is a founder of the New Jersey Teacher Activist Group (NJ-TAG). A former urban history teacher, educational fundraiser, and school leader, she currently focuses on teacher activism, supports for novice urban teachers, and critical teacher education. Kate is passionate in her belief that teachers are public professionals with a moral imperative to educate students to be critical democratic citizens, and is dedicated to mobilizing teachers to serve as civic models of democracy-in-action for their students, both inside and outside the classroom. She blogs about activism and education at teachersaschangeagents.wordpress.com.

Albert Sykes

Location: Jackson, Mississippi

Albert Sykes is the Mississippi Lead Organizer for the Young People’s Project and the father of three young sons. Albert, 27, is a 15- year veteran of YPP/ The Algebra Project. In Mississippi, Albert is helping to lead the growth and development of a new statewide cadre of math literacy workers and young political organizers. Albert served as one of the organizers of the Finding Our Folk Tour, YPP’s region-wide effort to document the stories Katrina’s survivors. Albert has participated in many events, such as The Gathering for Justice and The Take Back America Conference. He serves on the advisory committee for the Opportunity Agenda's Opportunity for Black Men and Boys report and has been active in the development of ITVS’ Masculinity Project content. He is proud to have spoken at the SNCC 50th anniversary conference and address the likes of Julian Bond, Marion Barry, and a host of other civil rights warriors on behalf of young people all around the country. Sykes considers his greatest privilege to have been mentored by Bob Moses.

Greg Young

Location: Morrisville, Vermont

Greg Young is an educator with 10+ years of experience in both traditional and non-traditional public high schools. He has worked as a high school science teacher in NH, and also as an advisor at the Met School in Providence, RI. He is currently the VT State Liaison for the New England Secondary Schools Consortium, as well as an instructional coach in Big Picture Learning schools in VT and around the country. Greg holds a masters degree in Ecological Teaching and Learning from Lesley University, and is a ‘small’ paper away from a PhD in Education from the University of Rhode Island.