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.

Lee Hawkins is an American investigative journalist and author who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2022. His most recent work documents the lives of Black American descendants of slavery and Jim Crow survivors, exploring the intergenerational impact of racial violence and racism on their families.
His forthcoming book, I Am Nobody’s Slave: How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free(HarperCollins, January 2025), is an introspective journey into his family history, tracing its roots to pre-Revolutionary America. Mr. Hawkins is the Series Creator, Producer, Writer of the 2024 longform podcast series What Happened in Alabama? for American Public Media/Minnesota Public Radio. The series was named a “Best Podcast” by The Guardianand Amazon/Audible and was “Editor’s Choice” among Amazon/Audible’s History genre podcasts.

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. A foremost expert on Black social movements and African American history, he is often called upon to consult on everything from the politics of reparations to the global impact of the Harlem Renaissance. His academic and political commitments have focused on global cities and particularly the diverse and marginalized communities that struggle to maintain sustainable lives in urban locales. Baldwin is the award-winning author of several books. In 2022, Baldwin was named a Freedom Scholar by the Marguerite Casey Foundation for his work in racial and economic justice.

Brando Simeo Starkey is a writer and scholar. A graduate of Harvard Law School and a member of the New York Bar, he taught law at Villanova Law School and wrote for several years for ESPN’s The Undefeated (now Andscape). Born and raised in Cincinnati, he lives in Southern California with his wife and two sons. He has launched a newsletter, The Braveverse, about law, politics, and freedom from caste, at the TheBraveverse.com and a YouTube channel covering the same themes at https://www.youtube.com/@TheBraveverse.

Omkari L. Williams has worked as an actor, political consultant, and coach. 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. As a queer Black woman, she shares her own story of challenging injustice to empower others in making a difference in their communities. She is host of the popular podcast, Stepping into Truth, where she interviews activists from all walks of life. Her book, Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (Without a Bullhorn) is available from Storey Publishing.

“I help journalism remember its democratic roots—not just to report what happened, but to restore what has been lost. The future of this field must be reparative, reflective, and relentlessly human.”

Allissa V. Richardson, PhD is an assistant professor of journalism at USC Annenberg. She researches how African Americans use mobile and social media to produce innovative forms of journalism — especially in times of crisis. Richardson is the author of Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest #Journalism (Oxford University Press, 2020). Richardson’s research is informed by her award-winning work as a journalism innovator. She is considered a pioneer in mobile journalism (MOJO), having launched the world’s first smartphone-only college newsrooms in 2010, in the U.S., Morocco and South Africa.

Born in Harlem to Dominican parents, Raquel is an award-winning journalist, cultural activist, podcaster, and documentary filmmaker who travels widely to speak to diverse audiences about Latina identity, social justice, gentrification and inequality.

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).

Susan Abulhawa speaks widely on the subjects of power, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the power of storytelling, particularly for marginalized communities. Her debut novel, Mornings in Jenin, is a multigenerational family epic spanning five countries and more than sixty years. With an unflinchingly look at the Palestinian question, it was translated into twenty-eight languages and became an international bestseller.

Wendy is a scholar of Middle East politics and author of the critically-acclaimed We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria, a mosaic of first-hand Syrian testimonials that chronicles the Syrian uprising, war and refugee crisis. Wendy lectures around the world.

Andrea Freeman is an author, law professor, and Fulbright scholar. She is a national and international expert on the intersections of race and food policy, health, and consumer credit. Much of her work explores her pioneering theory of food oppression, which examines how food law and policy, influenced by corporate interests, disproportionately harms marginalized communities. Freeman is the author of Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch (Metropolitan 2024), Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History and Winner of the James Beard Media Award in Food Issues and Advocacy, and Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice (Stanford University Press 2019), in addition to book chapters, law review articles, and op-eds.

Jezz Chung is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores personal and collective change through the lens of race, gender, trauma, disability, and neurodivergence. They’ve been recognized internationally by Spain’s El País, Portugal’s Público, Vogue, Teen Vogue, Logo TV, and Made of Millions. You can listen to their podcast with Deem Journal titled Dreaming Different and read their debut collection of poetry, prose, and practices titled This Way to Change: A Gentle Guide to Personal Transformation and Collective Liberation. Jezz has lived in Georgia, Texas, California, and is now based in Brooklyn, New York.

Noah Giansiracusa is an associate professor of mathematics at Bentley University (a business school near Boston), visiting scholar at Harvard, and co-host of the AI in Academia podcast. He is the 2026 recipient of a national communication award for "bringing mathematical ideas and information to nonmathematical audiences," an honor shared by past recipients including Nate Silver, Roger Penrose, and Martin Gardner. Noah has appeared on CNN live and BBC radio and written for Washington Post, Scientific American, TIME, Wired, Boston Globe, and others. His first book explores the algorithms impacting our information ecosystem, while his second book, Robin Hood Math, shows how people of all backgrounds can use math to help navigate life and take back control in a world dominated by algorithms.

Kathryn Hulick is a freelance journalist who covers AI and computing for Science News and Science News Explores. She's also the author of books for young people including The UFO Files (Quarto, 2025) and Welcome To The Future (Quarto, 2021), and Strange But True (Quarto, 2019). All help readers use critical thinking to explore science and our future. Hulick began her career with an adventure. She served two years in the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan, where she taught English and lived without a cell phone or the internet. Her favorite part of writing and speaking about science is getting to speak with researchers in many different fields. Her Substack is called Wow! Tech & Nature.

"We use these technologies thinking they’re democratic. But at the same time that the companies are optimizing for maximum profit, they're telling us that these systems are neutral, that they're reliable information resources. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Safiya U. Noble is am internationally recognized voice in AI ethics. She specializes in the areas of public policy and algorithmic bias, but also addresses how AI will impact our future.