Community Building and Belonging

Gloria is a Colombian American writer, translator, and advocate for multilingual literacy. She is the author of This is the Year, Your Biome Has Found You, and Danzirly, which won the Ambroggio Prize and the Gold Medal Florida Book Award. Her other honors include an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellowship, Hedgebrook Fellowship, being a Macondista, Highlights Foundation’s Diverse Verse Fellowship, Lumina’s Multilingual Writing Award, and a part of Las Musas. She is proud to be St. Pete's first Latina poet laureate. 

Omkari Williams is the author of Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (Without a Bullhorn). Though she has an affinity for supporting activists who identify as introverted or highly sensitive, as she does, she welcomes all people into the world of micro activism, a sustainable path to changemaking.

“More often than not conversations about autism are led by people who parent autistic children or care for an autistic person in their life. While these are important pathways to collective understanding, autistic people themselves can no longer afford to be left out of the discourse.”

Jezz Chung is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores personal and collective change through the lens of race, gender, trauma, disability, and neurodivergence.

Anthony R. Keith, Jr., Ph.D. (Tony) is a Black, gay spoken word artist, poet, and Hip-Hop educator. His debut, How the Boogeyman Became a Poet, is a powerful YA memoir in verse, tracing his journey from being a closeted gay Black teen battling poverty, racism, and homophobia to becoming an openly gay first-generation college student who finds freedom in poetry.

Jamilah Pitts is an author, educator, social entrepreneur, and wellness guide whose work centers the liberation, healing and holistic development of communities of the Global Majority. Jamilah has worked and served in various roles and spaces to promote racial justice and healing. Jamilah has served as a teacher, coach, dean, and as an Assistant Principal. She has worked in domestic and international educational spaces. Jamilah partners with schools, communities, universities and organizations to advance the work of racial, social and intersectional justice.

Myisha Cherry is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. She is also the Director of the Emotion and Society Lab. She speaks widely on the topics of emotions and race. Cherry’s books include UnMuted: Conversations on Prejudice, Oppression, and Social Justice, The Case for Rage: Why Anger is Essential to Anti-racist Struggle, and Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better (released on September 19, 2023).

Tiffany Jewell is a Black biracial writer, twin sister, first generation American, cisgender mama, anti-bias antiracist (ABAR) educator, and consultant. She is the author of the #1 New York Times and #1 Indie Bestseller, This Book Is Anti-Racist, a book for young folks and everyone to wake up, take action, and do the work of becoming antiracist.

Dr. Davarian L. Baldwin (he/him) is an internationally recognized scholar, historian, and public advocate. He is the Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Founding Director of the Smart Cities Research Lab at Trinity College. In 2022, Baldwin was named a Freedom Scholar by the Marguerite Casey Foundation for his work in racial and economic justice.

Britt Hawthorne (they/she) is the author of the highly-anticipated, New York Times Bestseller, Raising Antiracist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide (Simon Element, 2022). Britt is also an antiracist educator, teacher, speaker, visionary, and advocate committed to raising a generation of antiracist children by centering families of the global majority and fostering equitable learning environments for students and children of all ages and backgrounds.