Tamara Butler

Tamara T. Butler is a "maker of good trouble" and thought leader who draws upon lessons learned growing up on Johns Island, South Carolina. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture and Associate Dean of Strategic Planning & Community Engagement for the College of Charleston Libraries.  At the College of Charleston, she is a member of the Executive Committee for African American Studies and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning’s Advisory Board. Beyond campus, Dr. Butler is an editorial board member for Equity & Excellence in Education, a board member for the Coastal Conservation League, and member of the Gibbes Museum of Art’s Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion (DEAI) committee.   She is co-author of Where is the Justice? Engaged Pedagogies in Schools and Communities.

Penny Kittle

Penny Kittle teaches writing at Plymouth State University. She taught in public schools for 34 years and learned two essential things: all students will build independent reading lives of joy, curiosity, and hunger when given agency; and teachers who write with their students generate community and creative power. Penny is the author of nine books, including Micro Mentor Texts, Book Love, and Write Beside Them, which won the James Britton award from NCTE. She co-authored two books with Kelly Gallagher: 4 Essential Studies and 180 Days and co-authored two books with Donald Graves. For six years she was a featured columnist for Voices from the Middle. Penny is the President of the Book Love Foundation where we believe a love of reading is built on engagement, equity, and the power of classroom teachers.

Kelly Gallagher

Kelly Gallagher (@KellyGToGo) taught at Magnolia High School in Anaheim, California for 35 years. He is the coauthor, with Penny Kittle, of Four Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency, as well as the bestselling 180 Days. Kelly is also the author of several other books on adolescent literacy, most notably Readicide and Write Like This. He is the former co-director of the South Basin Writing Project at California State University, Long Beach and the former president of the Secondary Reading Group for the International Literacy Association.

Michele Myers

Michele Myers is an assistant professor in elementary literacy education in the Department of Education at Wake Forest University. As a holistic, social justice educator, Michele has a strong commitment to ensure that all children receive a humanizing education in which their histories, heritages, literacies, languages, cultures, family structures, and communities are recognized as assets for learning. She is the president of the Languages and Literacies for All (LLA) organization and serves on the executive board for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).  She is co-author of Revolutionary Love: Creating a Culturally Inclusive Literacy Classroom and the forthcoming, An Educator's Guide to Building Child and Family Resilience (October 2023).

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