Currently the director of the FORWARD initiative at the Public Business and Education Coalition and founder of The Third Mile Group, Anthes was recently Commissioner of Education in Colorado from 2016- 2023. Dr. Katy Anthes is widely respected for her commitment to listen to diverse perspectives and develop solutions that are founded on productive middle ground. Keeping students’ best interests as her top priority, she focused on providing high quality expertise and support to policymakers, districts and educators working to enhance student achievement. As Commissioner, Anthes worked with the Colorado State Board of Education, the Legislature and the Governor to craft and implement a vision of education for Colorado.

Anthes has worked with numerous national education organizations such as the Council for Chief State School Officers, the National Governor’s Association, The National Commission for Teaching and America’s Future, American Institutes for Research, and many more. Prior to founding the Third Mile Group, she had seven years of research, policy work and leadership experience at the Education Commission of the States focusing on school and district leader effectiveness. Anthes holds a Ph.D. in public policy and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Colorado Denver. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Oregon.

Lynsey Burkins is a proud educator who has worked for children for the past 20 years. She works towards creating anti-racist spaces where children feel free, have agency, and know they are loved. She believes books are primary vehicles to help children become more free. Lynsey received her Masters Degree from The Ohio State University in Language, Literacy, and Culture. She currently serves third grade students and presents on topics that include using literature to help students make sense of their world and literature as a vehicle to nurture the spirit and minds of students. Lynsey is a past National Chair of NCTE’s Build Your Stack, an initiative that works to build teacher’s expertise in knowing and using quality literature in the classroom. Lynsey is the co-author of Classroom Design for Student Agency with Franki Sibberson published by NCTE. Lynsey and Franki also have an upcoming book published with Stenhouse summer of 2024, In Community With Readers: Transforming Reading Instruction with Read-Alouds and Minilessons. You can find Lynsey at @lburkins on Twitter.

Lauren Castillo is the author and illustrator of the 2015 Caldecott Honor winning book Nana in the City, as well as the new illustrated chapter book series Our Friend Hedgehog. She is the illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed picture books, including This is a Story by John Schu, The Ramble Shamble Children by Christina Soontornvat, Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley, Yard Sale by Eve Bunting, City Cat by Kate Banks, and Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera.

Lauren has been drawing and creating art ever since she was a little girl. As a child, she and her brother would pause their VHS Disney movies and draw the characters from the television. In high school, Lauren was inspired by her art teacher — the first illustrator she ever met — and went on to study illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Then she earned her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. While a student at SVA, Lauren took advantage of her proximity to the big publishing houses and met with numerous editors and art directors. The industry legend, Frances Foster, signed up her first picture book, What appens on Wednesdays, and the rest, as they say, is history.

These days, Lauren draws and dreams in Harrisburg, PA where she lives with her wife.

Travis Crowder is an 8th grade English teacher in western North Carolina. His educational background includes a bachelor's degree in literature and language, a master's degree in instructional technology, and currently, he is a doctoral candidate at UNC-Wilmington. Additionally, he is a National Board Certified Teacher. His published works include Reflective Readers: The Power of Readers Notebooks and Sparks in the Dark (a co-authored project).

Ralph Fletcher has written many poetry collections, books for young writers, and books for writing teachers. His most recent picture book is The World’s Loneliest Elephant, illustrated by Naoko Stoop. HarperCollins recently released and a new edition of his bestselling book A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You. Other popular books include Fig Pudding, Flying Solo, and Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid. Ralph visits schools and speaks at educational conferences around the US and abroad, helping teachers find wiser ways of teaching writing. He also has a passion for nature photography.

"Dr. Towanda Harris brings over twenty years of experience to the education world. Towanda is the author of The Right Tools: A Guide to Selecting, Evaluating, and Implementing Classroom Resources and Practices. She has a passion for empowering educators to support young minds, build strong relationships, and create spaces for students to be their authentic selves freely and joyfully. Educators around the country rely on her wisdom about finding resources that meet their teaching goals, connect with students, and foster agency. As an Assistant Professor, she uses her experience in education to help teacher candidates create lessons that blend best practices and skills to help all students reach their full potential. Dr. Harris’ workshops have been featured at the Virginia State Literacy Association Conference, Wisconsin State Reading Association Conference, National Reading Recovery Conference, Indiana State Reading Conference, and National Council of Teachers of English. Teachers turn to her to learn how to employ those resources, blend them with best practices, and help all students reach their full potential.

In addition, Dr. Harris’ passion for elevating teachers’ voices through her podcast, “My Two Cents,” provides a space for a community of educators to share their personal stories with each other. Towanda is active in the education community and serves as a board member of Elevate Atlanta, a member of The Educator Collaborative, and a 2023-2024 Georgia Education Policy Fellow. Dr. Harris sees great value in engaging in meaningful dialogue that challenges education and centers students in the process with educational professionals. She believes that once educators stop learning, it’s time to stop teaching."

Katie Kelly is a professor at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. As a former teacher and literacy coach, Katie’s teaching and research interests include engaging children in meaningful literacy experiences and practices to foster lifelong literacy, equity, and justice.

She is widely published in various peer-reviewed journals including The Reading Teacher and Voices from the Middle. She has co-authored four books: Critical Comprehension: Lessons for Guiding Students to Deeper Meaning (Corwin); Reading To Make a Difference: Using Literature to Help Students Think Deeply Speak Freely and Take Action (Heinemann); From Pencils to Podcasts: Digital Tools to Transform K-12 Literacy Practices (Solution Tree); and Smuggling Writing: Strategies that Get Students to Write Every Day, in Every Content Area (3-12) (Corwin). She can be contacted by email at ktkelly24@gmail.com.

Whitney La Rocca, co-author of Patterns of Power (Grades 1-5), Patterns of Wonder (PreK-1), and Patterns of Revision (3-5), has been a teacher, a literacy coach, and a consultant, working with children and teachers across grade levels, schools, and districts. With a deep knowledge of content, standards, and student-centered instructional practices, Whitney enjoys delivering professional development and coaching teachers to support children as they develop their identities in the world of literacy. She continues to learn from children each day.

For nearly two decades, Travis Leech has excelled in various roles in the world of education, from middle school language arts teacher to district instructional coach and curriculum designer. He has co-authored two books in the Patterns of Power series and three books in the Patterns of Revision series with Jeff Anderson. A sought-after presenter at local, state, and national levels, Travis has a passion for sharing practical and engaging literacy practices with other educators. He currently lives in San Antonio with his wife and two dogs.

Gretchen Schroeder is a high school English teacher with over twenty years experience. She is a contributor to Choice Literacy and is currently a doctoral student at The Ohio State University focusing on Children's and Young Adult Literature. Her research interests involve using young adult literature in the classroom and rural education. She has been published in The English Journal and Study and Scrutiny.

P. L. Thomas, Professor of Education (Furman University, Greenville SC), taught high school English in rural South Carolina before moving to teacher education. He is a former column editor for English Journal (National Council of Teachers of English) and author of How to End the Reading War and Serve the Literacy Needs of All Students: A Primer for Parents, Policy Makers, and People Who Care 2nd ed. (IAP, 2022), NEPC review: Teacher prep review: Strengthening elementary reading instruction (2023), and The Science of Reading movement: The never-ending debate and the need for a different approach to reading instruction (NEPC, 2022). NCTE named Thomas the 2013 George Orwell Award winner. He co-edited the award-winning (Divergent Book Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies Research) volume Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post-Truth America (Brill, 2018). Follow his work @plthomasEdD on X/Twitter and his blog (https://radicalscholarship.com/).

Cris Tovani is an internationally known consultant who focuses on issues of disciplinary reading, assessment strategies, and writing instruction. She was awarded the 2017 Thought Leader award from the International Literacy Association. Cris has been an adjunct professor at several Colorado universities. She is the author of five books. Her most recent from Stenhouse is, Why do I Have to Read This? Literacy Strategies to Engage Our Most Reluctant Students. Other books by Cris are: No More Telling as Teaching- Less Lecture-More Engaged Learning, I Read it but I Don’t Get It, Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? and So, What do They Really Know? For 38 years, Cris taught students from grades one to twelve. She continues to study the “knowing-doing gap” by investigating how best practice research can be practically applied to meet a variety learners’ needs. Cris’s Literacy Lab Project enables her to provide demonstration teaching lessons in districts around the US. Embracing a growth mindset, she loves sharing her successes and failures with colleagues as they work to serve students.

Andrea Wang is an acclaimed author of children’s books. Her picture book Watercress was awarded the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, among other accolades. Her other books, Summer at Squee, The Many Meanings of Meilan, Luli and the Language of Tea, Magic Ramen, and The Nian Monster, have also received awards and starred reviews. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She lives in Centennial with her family. For more information about Andrea and her books, visit www.andreaywang.com.