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Brooks Baca is the managing director of human resources for Frisco ISD in Texas, where he provides dedicated support to campus and district personnel. Brooks possesses a deep passion for cultivating a culture of high expectations for all students, implementing strategies that effectively address the achievement gap, and developing processes for shared leadership, which enable collaborative teams to thrive.

Emily McClain lived and led the work of professional learning communities as an elementary school teacher, school and district instructional coach, and district literacy specialist. She continues her passion by supporting districts and schools across the nation as a coach, presenter, and author.

Heather Bell-Williams is principal of Milltown Elementary School in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada. She has been in education since 1988 and has served as a classroom teacher, resource teacher, vice principal, district coordinator, and elementary principal.

Liza A. Talusan, PhD, is a strategic partner in areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. She is currently a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she teaches courses on anti-racist leadership and identity-conscious leadership skills.

Lori Cooper, PhD, serves as the assistant superintendent of student achievement in the Fountain–Fort Carson School District in Colorado. She has served in public education for 30 years.

Amy Cockcroft has more than 30 years of experience in education. She has served as a math teacher; principal; director of professional learning; executive director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and assistant superintendent.

Heather Carter is the current secondary instructional support specialist for the Bartow County School System in Georgia. She specializes in cultivating and sustaining a PLC culture by providing support to teacher collaborative teams, leadership teams, and district stakeholders.

Elizabeth Ferguson is a former teacher, district trainer, and campus administrator with experience in establishing and growing professional learning communities (PLC) to ultimately become Model PLC at Work® schools, primarily through her work with special populations and challenging demographics.

Students do not put up walls to avoid relationships, but to see who cares enough to break the walls down. Research shows that building relationships with students increases engagement, motivation, test scores, and grade point averages while decreasing absenteeism, dropout rates, and discipline issues.

Anthony Grazzini, EdD, is the director of grants and accountability with Cicero School District 99. Over more than 20 years in education, his experiences have allowed him to collaborate with diverse people to meet all students’ needs.