Bianca Casanova Anderson, educator, nonprofit leader, and social justice practitioner, with expertise in interpersonal communication, racial equity facilitation, and human development. As an educator for almost a decade, Ms. Anderson found her passion for human-centered change in the classroom. She built a unique background by cultivating inclusive learning environments that center relationships, uplift marginalized voices, and disrupt racism. As the founding Director for the Dallas-Fort Worth site of the Center for Racial Justice in Education, she trained and advised over 3,000 community leaders and educators around the nation in effective racial equity policies, practices, and procedures.

In 2021, Bianca was promoted to Co-CEO, where she supports nonprofit organizations and foundations by leading a portfolio of training programs and services that center race equity and leadership development.

Most importantly, Bianca loves people. She lives and leads through a lens of radical love, deep inquiry, and transformative justice. She is committed to creating spaces where every person feels safe, smart, and significant.

LaShawn Routé Chatmon is the founding Executive Director of the National Equity Project, leading the organization’s transition from the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES). Under her leadership, the National Equity Project has become one of the leading voices in a movement to change the conversation and approach used to achieve racial equity in education. She previously served as director of the high school redesign initiative, where her team pioneered new school design processes, principal network development and site coaching that transformed educational experiences and outcomes for teachers and students in Oakland, CA. LaShawn earned a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley; a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Brown University; and an Administrative Credential from California State University, Sacramento’s Urban Leadership Program.

Marco A. Davis is President and CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to developing the next generation of Latino leaders.

CHCI provides leadership, public service, and policy experiences to outstanding Latino/a/x students and young professionals, and convenes Members of Congress, other public officials, corporate executives, nonprofit advocates, and thought leaders to discuss issues facing the nation and the Hispanic community.

Prior to joining CHCI, Davis was a partner at New Profit, a national nonprofit venture philanthropy. He served in the Obama Administration as Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and as Director of Public Engagement for the Corporation for National and Community Service (now AmeriCorps). Previously, he was Director of Global Fellowship and Regional Manager for Latin America at Ashoka’s Youth Venture, and Director of Leadership Development at UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza), where he created the Líderes Initiative.

Davis has more than 25 years of experience in leadership development, educational achievement, community advocacy, and civic engagement, and is a frequent speaker on the Latino community and leadership. He has been named an Ambassadors for Health Equity Fellow, a Pahara-Aspen Fellow, and a Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) Lideres Fellow. In June 2021, he was appointed by President Biden to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Davis serves on the board of directors of Hispanics in Philanthropy and represents CHCI on the executive committees of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR). He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and holds a B.A. in History and Latin American Studies from Yale University. Originally from the New York City area, he lives in the District of Columbia with his wife and daughter.

Chong-Hao Fu is a career educator who is working toward an education system that affirms the strengths in all young people. He has served as the CEO of Leading Educators since 2018, leading national efforts to reimagine teacher support so that all students have the opportunity to learn to great heights.

Chong-Hao is a national thought leader on education equity, teacher leadership, and professional learning. He has presented to the Council of Chief State School Officers, the American Federation of Teachers, the Aspen Institute, and the Department of Education.

In his previous role as Chief Learning Officer, Chong-Hao led Leading Educators’ partnership, thought leadership, and district consulting teams. Before his time at Leading Educators, Chong-Hao was the founding principal at KIPP Sharpstown in Houston, Texas and a middle and high school math teacher in Houston and Greenville, Mississippi. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and a M.Ed. from National Louis University.

Christopher Goins stands at the forefront of educational activism, nationally recognized as an equity-focused educator. He has devoted his career to expanding opportunities for students; particularly, Black and Brown children from under-served communities. Throughout nearly 20 years in education, Christopher has empowered minority students to be the leaders of the next generation and beyond.

Prior to his appointment as the 19th President of Girard College, Goins most recently served as Chief Equity Officer for Thrive Chicago where he built the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance for the Obama Foundation where he singlehandedly led the launch of the MBK Chicago Action Team, Christopher led a coalition of nearly 90 grassroots leaders from 60 organizations who collectively designed strategies to create sustainable change for boys and young men of color.

Prior to Thrive Chicago and throughout his 7-year tenure at Butler College Prep, Christopher served as the Founding Principal. He oversaw the design of the school’s academic model, created a unique culture centered around identity, helped raise impressive private funding support and recruited top-tier staff members focused on improving academic outcomes for students. Butler has been recognized by Chicago and Illinois as the highest performing non-selective high school in the city and has maintained a solid reputation as a school for all children, especially black students from disinvested neighborhoods.

Christopher attributes his success largely to his support network including NC A&T State University in Greensboro, NC (Bachelor's Degree in History and Secondary Education), the University of Cincinnati (Master's Degree In Urban Educational Leadership), Noble Schools in Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, the Surge Institute and his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, and of course his family, friends, and former colleagues.

Dr. William Jackson is the founder and “Chief Dreamer” of Village of Wisdom (VOW) founded in Durham, North Carolina. Rooted deep in local context and community transformation, Will with his amazing VOW team have developed a dynamic platform and approach to power building with parents where they engage them in community-driven research, convening, and art. VOW’s work systematically addresses the negative cognitive implications of racial bias on Black learners. A former teacher and current parent, Will has a PhD in educational psychology with a research focus on how Black parents make decisions related to their child’s racial identity and education. Through the work of VOW, he has built a reputation as a local catalyst and emerging national waymaker. He has led his organization on a mission to identify culturally affirming instructional strategies validated by the wisdom of Black Parents. For his efforts, he has been awarded numerous international and national awards and fellowships including Ashoka, Echoing Green, The 1954 Project’s Luminary Award, and Camelback Ventures.

Miho Kubagawa is the founding Chief of Staff at Stepmojo, a new venture that aims to radically expand student access to high-quality courses and great teachers. Stepmojo currently serves 3,500 students in 22 districts and charter management organizations across the country. Prior to this role, she was a Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, leading a $74M portfolio focused on the design and launch of new and innovative public school models that will serve 71,000 students at scale. In 2013, she co-founded the local affiliate of Breakthrough Collaborative in her hometown of Birmingham, AL, and she began her career as the founding 7th grade math teacher of KIPP Infinity Middle School in Harlem.

Miho is a connector of people, ideas and resources, and she currently serves on the boards of Breakthrough Collaborative, CommunityShare and New Schools for Alabama. She received her Doctor in Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) from Harvard University, her B.S. in Economics from Duke University and her M.S.T. in Adolescent Education from Pace University. In her free time, she enjoys watching sports, writing, decorating her home in Birmingham, and pitching the random ideas in her head to anyone who will listen.

A native of Columbia, South Carolina affectionately known as the Metro, Audrey KS Lane is a founding partner and Executive Director of E3 Foundation(Educate, Empower, and Elevate).

E3’s mission is to ensure those most impacted by inequities are educated, empowered, and elevated to exercise their collective agency in the South. Further, E3 envisions a community that embodies a healthy environment for racial and economic justice for Black and Brown people and embraces the brilliance of our people to solve their problems and co-create their future.

Prior to launching E3, Audrey served as the Chief of Access & Equity for the SC Public Charter School District (SCPCSD). In this role, she was focused on ensuring academic success for ALL children of the Charter School District by removing unintentional or intentional barriers that prevent every child from receiving an equitable, fair public-school education. Before joining the SCPCSD, Audrey was the Deputy for Human Capital Development for the Charleston County School District (CCSD). She worked to link the performance of the organization and its dedicated workforce to the student outcomes of Charleston County’s more than 46,000 students. During her career at CCSD, Audrey’s portfolio included the Offices of School Choice,

Teacher Quality & Recruitment, Employee Relations, Grants/Development, and Strategy/Communications; additionally, Audrey was instrumental in laying the foundation of the district’s diversity, equity, and inclusion work. Her father’s commitment to educating ALL children regardless of race or zip code lives within her every day and is what ultimately led her back to SC as CCSD’s first Broad Resident for Urban Education. She also began her non-profit leadership experience serving as the Executive Director of the Royal Foundation, the 501(c)3 affiliate of the Royal Missionary Baptist Church of North Charleston.

Before relocating to Charleston, Audrey was a Business Development & Commercial Coordinator within the U.S. Pipelines and Logistics Organization of BP North America, a Product Development Leader with International Paper, and launched her career as a Mechanical Engineer with Xerox in a technical leadership program for women of color.

Audrey has extensive expertise in the areas of non-profit leadership, strategy, leadership development, talent pipeline development, and project management with a focus on understanding and implementing solutions that lead with equity, diversity, and inclusion. She was recognized by the Greater Charleston YWCA as the 2022 Education Leader for What Women Bring and was highlighted by Teach for America SC during their 10th Year Anniversary as an Impact Leader. A proud Mechanical Engineering graduate of Florida A&M University, Audrey also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.

Although she is extremely dedicated and focused on the work that she’s been blessed to do-her greatest joy comes from being a wife, partner, and friend to Martin and the mother of Moses and Micah.

Michelle Molitor is an advocate, an activist, a disruptor and a community builder. Racial equity and social justice have been central to Michelle's personal and professional journey from the start, and abolitionist and liberatory work are her passion and life's purpose.

Michelle is the founder and Executive Director of The Equity Lab. Prior to founding The Equity Lab, Ms. Molitor was a founding administrator and principal of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, DC, taught 4th and 5th grades as well as 7th grade science, and was crew and a shipboard educator on The Freedom Schooner Amistad. She has been both a Pahara and Billions Institute fellow, and has been faculty for Billions, the Surge Institute, and partners with many other like minded/spirited organizations to further a more humane and just society. She holds Bachelor’s of Science in Education and Master’s of Administration degrees and uses all of her powers for good.

Tulaine Montgomery is Co-CEO at New Profit, one of the first venture philanthropy organizations founded in 1998. Montgomery was a key architect of New Profit’s proximity strategy, and a driver of the $100M Proximate Capital Fund. Montgomery previously led initiatives at New Profit focused on strengthening pathways to opportunity for underserved youth, driving resources and support to entrepreneurs impacted by the American legal system, and building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization and philanthropic sector. Montgomery serves as the board chair for GirlTrek and on the boards of Beyond 12, College for Social Innovation, and Jitegemee. Her writing has been featured in Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Root, Worth Media, and more. She has a master’s in public policy from Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree from Smith College.

Mary Moran is a national leader on issues organizing and Black and Brown coalition building. Mary’s ultimate commitment is to the freedom of Black and brown people. She is the co-founder of, and currently leads, Our Voice Nuestra Voz (OVNV), a nation-building organization, anchoring ancestry while building Black and brown solidarity in New Orleans.

As a political strategist and organizer, she has led campaigns that won the first ever living wage campaign in the state of Louisiana–and the entire South, won statewide legislation that keep school districts transparent and accountable, and fought for numerous policies that protect undocumented students, such as securing a sanctuary school district in Orleans Parish. She worked with New Orleans city council president Helena Moreno to make Indigenous People’s Day an official holiday. Mary and OVNV launched the Community Defense Fund which has distributed $320,000 in emergency relief for families and community members who suffered financial strain as a result of COVID-19 and Hurricane Ida.

Mary was a fall 2016 Pahara Next-Gen fellow. In that same year, she founded the #BlackandBrownGetDown, a movement created to build coalition, create a Black and brown agenda, and win on shared issues. Mary also served on the leadership teams of key New Orleans progressive elected officials. She was the political director for New Orleans district attorney Jason Williams, the first progressive Black DA from New Orleans. After he won, she continued to shape strategy by serving as a member of the leadership team on the DA transition team. She also served as the deputy camp manager for congress member Troy Carter.

Edgar J. Palacios is the Founder of the Latinx Education Collaborative (LEC) and Revolucion Educativa, nonprofits cohesively working together to increase the representation of Latinos in education.

Edgar is an MBA graduate of Rockhurst University. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Education at Kansas State University.

Edgar currently is a cohort member of the Deeper Learning and Equity Fellowship and the City Leadership Fellowship. Additionally, he was a 2020 LeanLab Education Fellow, a 2019 Surge Institute Academy Fellow, and a 2017 Visiting Fellow with Education Pioneers. Passionate about his community, Edgar has served as president of both Young Latino Professionals (YLP) of Greater Kansas City and the Kansas City chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. He currently serves as a proud Board President of Scuola Vita Nuova Charter School, one of the highest-performing charter schools in Kansas City, Missouri. Edgar sits on the national Latino Educator Advisory Council. Edgar is a trained community organizer through the Gamaliel National Leadership Training program.

Meaningful Awards and recognition include Kauffman Scholars' 2015 Volunteer of the Year; Guadalupe Centers' 2014 I. Pat Rios Award for ‘outstanding contribution by an individual to the Latino community of Kansas City; and 2014’s KC Chamber’s Ace Award.

Edgar shares his life with his wife, Laura, and their three children, JoJo, Ella, and Isabel, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Angela N. Romans has spent 25 years as a leader in nonprofit and public sector organizations, focused on the education ecosystem. She currently serves as founding Executive Director of Innovation For Equity, a network of Black changemakers across the education ecosystem focused on improving life outcomes for Black learners by connecting and cultivating leaders and scaling innovative solutions. In her roles, Angela has provided capacity-building and coaching to organizations and senior leaders in areas of collaborative action, racial equity/diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), strategy, higher education access and success, adaptive leadership, leadership development, talent management, and governance; and has managed multiple, complex systems-change projects at the intersection of research, policy, and practice. Angela is recognized for her facilitative leadership style and systems thinking.

Angela began her career teaching high school math and science in small, alternative public schools in Boston and New York. She holds degrees in biomedical engineering and secondary math education, both from Harvard University. She was a 2019 IFE Leadership Fellow, is an Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellow, and serves on the Executive Committee of the National Civic League and on the advisory committee of StreetWise DC.

Byron Sanders is President and CEO of Big Thought, an impact, youth-aligned organization closing the opportunity gap by equipping youth with skills to create. His work across many sectors have all centered on the belief that people are born great – our responsibility is to create systems of opportunity for their greatness to shine. Byron and his team’s work builds programs and learning systems empowering youth with the skills to thrive in their authentic voice and recognize their own power. By building 21st century skills, a youth becomes a creator and can forge their path ahead. He’s recognized as 2022 Dallas Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO, the CASEL O’Brien Award for Excellence in Expanding the Evidence-Based Practice of Social and Emotional Learning and to be named a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar. Byron believes with youth as co-designers of the world around us, we become the best version of us all.

Ify Walker (she/her) is a proud product of Nigerian parents, Wisconsin, and Head Start. A fierce believer in the power of equitable culture and talent practices, Ify’s experience sits at the intersection of law, fundraising, and talent cultivation. She is a steady and courageous advisor whose firm has helped over 200 companies hire top executives from Offor’s talent network of over 10,000 leaders. As the Founder and CEO of Offor, Ify leads with her values: she believes that when people’s needs are prioritized, everyone can do their best work. As such, Offor invests in a paid certified financial planner and mandatory paid six weeks off for all of its employees. When she is not leading a growing national firm and debunking the meritocracy myth, Ify is running Mom's School of Excellence with her husband—the most important decision she has ever made.

Melissa Wu is the CEO of Education Pioneers (EP) and previously served as their Chief Program Officer. Prior to EP, Melissa worked as a partner at TNTP and as a strategy consultant for The Boston Consulting Group. She started her career at The TEAK Fellowship and was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in Los Angeles. Melissa has spent much of her career advocating on issues of teacher retention, school and system improvement, and performance management. Melissa has an MBA from Harvard Business School and earned her bachelor’s in Sociology from Princeton University. She currently serves as a University Trustee. Melissa also serves as a WEPC Advisory Board Member for Boston University Wheelock College of Education.