Edward Avinger

Deirdre Azzopardi, OTD, is a pediatric occupational therapist with 25+ years of experience working with children with disabilities in both private and public school settings. She has both a bachelor’s degree and a doctoral degree in occupational therapy as well as a...

Maya Coleman, PhD, is the program director of Hand in Hand Parenting, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families with young children and providing professional growth opportunities for early childhood educators. Prior to this, Maya worked as a clinical...

Channa Cook-Harvey, PhD, is the executive director of district and school support at the Sacramento County Office of Education where she leads the team providing technical assistance, professional development, and other customized support to school districts. Prior to...

Amanda Darrow, MA, (she/her) is the director of programs at the Utah Pride Center. She holds a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in clinical and counseling psychology, both from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. Amanda is passionate about...

Mai Xi Lee, MA, is the social-emotional learning director at California’s Sacramento County Office of Education. A veteran educator, she has served the Sacramento region for 25 years as a bilingual paraprofessional, teacher, counselor, school administrator, and...

Steve Messier is an administrator, curriculum developer, former school board commissioner, and certified A.L.I.C.E school-safety instructor. With nearly 20 years of experience working directly with students who exhibit a variety of challenging behaviors, Steve has...

Bennison “BB” Ntsakey, MEd, is the director of academics at Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools. Previously, he served as school director at Brooklyn LAB and the principal of Community Charter School of Paterson. He was an instructional leader at Uncommon Schools, a...

Shamby Polychronis, PhD, is a passionate disability rights advocate with 20+ years of experience in the field. She has served on multiple grant projects, co-authored several articles, and presented at state and national conferences on a variety of her scholarly...

Angela Sillers, MEd, PhD, is an assistant professor at Castleton University where she specializes in early childhood and special education. Angela taught for five years at a California preschool that focused on a humanistic approach to early education and family...

Ahava Vogelstein, MA, is an early childhood education consultant in Baltimore, Maryland, who partners with educators, school leaders, families, and nannies to support the body, heart, mind, and spirit of young children and their grownups. Ahava began this work as a...