Dr. Bettina L. Love holds the esteemed William F. Russell Professorship at Teachers College, Columbia University and is the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller "Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal." This groundbreaking work garnered the prestigious Stowe Prize for Literary Activism and was a finalist for the LA Times Book Award. Recognized by the Kennedy Center in 2022 as one of the Next 50 Leaders dedicated to fostering inspiration, inclusivity and compassion, Dr. Love's impact extends far beyond academia. In 2024, she received the Truth Award for Excellence in Education from Better Brothers Los Angeles and The Diva Foundation.

Dr. Love actively contributes to its mission of nurturing and empowering educators and parents committed to combating injustice within their educational institutions and communities. Additionally, Dr. Love played a pivotal role as a founding member of the task force behind the groundbreaking program "In Her Hands," a significant guaranteed income pilot initiative disbursing more than $13 million to support Black women in Georgia.

Renowned as a highly sought-after public speaker, Dr. Love covers a wide range of compelling topics in her engagements, including abolitionist teaching, anti-racism, Hip Hop education, Black girlhood, queer youth, educational reparations and the use of art-based education to foster youth civic engagement. Her profound insights and expertise have earned her recognition in various news outlets, including NPR, PBS, The Daily Beast, Time, Education Week, The Guardian and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In 2018, the Georgia House of Representatives honored Dr. Love with a resolution for her impactful contributions to the field of education. Her bestseller "We Want To Do More Than Survive" has sold close to 200,000 copies and has become a staple in classrooms around the country. She is a leading voice in the field of education.

Roberto Rivera Ph.D, is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CADRE LLC based out of Chicago, IL. Roberto is a global leader in culturally sustaining efforts focused on nurturing the healing, wellbeing and social and emotional wellness of school communities. In addition to Roberto’s scholarship on these subjects, he has spent over 25 years conducting community-based youth development and education work with school communities internationally.

Labeled an “at-risk student” with learning disabilities as a teen, Rivera overcame those labels to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Change, Youth Culture and the Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Masters degree in Youth Development and a Ph.D in Educatonal Psychology, both from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He served as a research collaborator for CASEL and as a predoctoral fellow with the Social and Emotional Learning Research Group at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Named one of the “Top Young Change Agents in America” by Search for Common Ground Coalition, he strives toward revolutionizing the way organizations, from schools to corporations, can benefit through the use of more critically conscious, culturally sustaining and socially just praxis (combining theory and practice).

Roberto was named 2018 Forward Under 40 Award Recipient by University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work is part of a permanent exhibit in the Illinois Holocaust Museum under their “Upstander” Exhibit, along with other education and civil rights leaders. He is a loving husband and proud father of three boys: Phoenix, Justice and Lorenzo.

Meena Srinivasan is a contemplative leader, celebrated speaker, accomplished author and visionary edupreneur with over two decades of experience at the intersection of education, equity and wellbeing. A lifelong educator-activist, Meena is known for weaving together mindfulness, social and emotional Learning (SEL), and belonging to support leadership development and systemic transformation grounded in compassion.

She is the Founding Executive Director of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL), a fellowship that cultivates equity-driven, heart-centered school and system leaders through a transformative blend of inner work and outer impact. Meena also leads Karuna Consulting, LLC.

Her TEDx talk on Tenderness, viewed over 2 million times and one of the most popular TEDx talks of 2024, has sparked a growing body of original research in partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Meena is a peer-reviewed author in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Social and Emotional Learning (IJSEL) and a author of key articles in the field on Beloved Community and ecological perspectives on SEL. She also serves on the Editorial Board of the SEL Journal, the world’s leading academic publication advancing SEL research, policy and practice.

A National Board Certified Teacher with a Clear Administrative Services Credential in California, Meena has taught in public, private, urban and international schools. She has been part of the development team and taught graduate-level SEL courses at UC Berkeley and has supported schools and districts nationwide with implementing systemic SEL initiatives.

She is the author of two widely respected books:

• Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom

• SEL Every Day: Integrating SEL with Instruction in Secondary Classrooms, recognized as a Favorite Book for Educators by the Greater Good Science Center.

In 2022, Mindful Magazine named Meena one of the Ten Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement. A dedicated practitioner of yoga and meditation for over 25 years, she is an ordained Buddhist Teacher in the tradition of Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh. Meena serves on the Board of the Thích Nhất Hạnh Foundation and is a co-founder of the Thích Nhất Hạnh School of Interbeing, a new educational initiative rooted in spiritual practice, sacred service and beloved community.

Meena lives with her family in an intentional community nestled in the foothills of Deer Park Monastery in North County San Diego, where daily life is infused with mindfulness, intergenerational care and a commitment to living in harmony with the Earth.