Dr. Missy D. Cosby is an assistant professor in mathematics education in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee. Prior to her work in the academy, Dr. Cosby taught high school mathematics full-time for 15 years and continued part-time as a mathematics teacher throughout her doctoral studies for a total of 21 years in the high school math classroom. Dr. Cosby spent time in K-12 teaching that greatly informed her research interests and understanding about the sociocultural and sociopolitical nature of mathematics teaching and learning in formal and informal settings. Broadly, Dr. Cosby's research interests center on the interaction between social identities and content teaching and learning. Additionally, Dr. Cosby is largely interested in how power related to race and gender are at play. Dr. Cosby engages a range of traditional and novel qualitative methods in conjunction with Black feminist and intersectional frames to study the mathematics and science teaching and learning experiences of Black girls and women.

Frances is an associate professor of STEM (Mathematics) education at the University of Tennessee in the Department of Theory & Practice in Teacher Education. Her research broadly focuses on issues of equity and social justice in mathematics education, teacher education, and family engagement, particularly within urban contexts. She strives to understand parents’, teachers’, and students’ experiences with efforts towards social and racial justice in and through mathematics. Frances has experience teaching high school mathematics in various urban contexts and English at junior high schools near Tokyo, Japan. Frances was also the mathematics and reading instructor at an after-school program, which included over 200 PK-12 students. She has been involved with professional development for mathematics educators in different capacities, and she has lead courses for prospective secondary and elementary mathematics teachers. As a practitioner-researcher, she works to refine her own teaching and partnership work to encourage more nuanced understanding of equity and social justice issues in mathematics. Frances earned her PhD in mathematics education at Michigan State University (2017) and two master’s degrees related to mathematics education, one at Harvard University in Mathematics for Teaching (2011) and the second at Stanford University in Curriculum and Teacher Education (2012).

Gholnecsar (Gholdy) E. Muhammad is currently an Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad is a leader who strives to shape the national conversation for educating youth that have been underserved. Her career also includes having served as a school district curriculum director responsible for K-12 literacy instruction, assessments, and professional development, and as a reading, language arts, and social studies middle school teacher. Having received her PhD in Literacy, Language and Culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, her research interests are situated in the historical foundations of literacy development and the writing practices among Black communities. Additionally, she works with teachers and young people across the United States and South Africa in best practices in equity, anti-racism and culturally and historically responsive instruction. She served as a literacy coach and school board president. She has received numerous national awards and is the author of the best-selling book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Model for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.

Dr. Reeves is a former high school teacher, that quickly recognized that the vast amount of technology resources available for her and her students was not easy to use or implement in the learning experience. She decided to leave the classroom and create technology- centered experiences that enable users to achieve their desired outcomes.

Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz is an award-winning Professor of English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. A sought-after speaker on issues of race, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity, Sealey-Ruiz works with K-12 and higher education school communities to increase their racial literacy knowledge and move toward more equitable school experiences for their Black and Latinx students. Sealey-Ruiz appeared in Spike Lee’s “2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright”, a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou. Her co-authored book [with Dr. Detra Price-Dennis] Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Toward Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces will be published in April 2021. Her first full-length collection of poetry Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (Kalediscope Vibrations LLC) was published in March, 2020, and her sophomore book of poetry, The Peace Chronicles was released in July 2021.