Valerie Kinloch, Ph.D.

University of Pittsburgh

Valerie Kinloch is the Renée and Richard Goldman Dean of the School of Education and Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Her scholarship examines the literacies and community engagements of youth and adults inside and outside schools. Author of publications on race, place, literacy, and equity, her books include: Still Seeking an Attitude: Critical Reflections on the Work of June Jordan (2004), June Jordan: Her Life and Letters (2006), Harlem On Our Minds: Place, Race, and the Literacies of Urban Youth (2010), Urban Literacies: Critical Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Community (2011), Crossing Boundaries: Teaching and Learning with Urban Youth (2012), and Service-Learning in Literacy Education: Possibilities for Teaching and Learning (2015). In 2012, her book, Harlem On Our Minds, received the Outstanding Book of the Year Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In 2014, her book titled, Crossing Boundaries: Teaching and Learning with Urban Youth, was a staff pick for professional development by the Teaching Tolerance Education Magazine. Born and raised in Charleston, SC, Valerie completed her K-12 education in public schools there. Then, she went on to receive her undergraduate degree from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC, and her graduate degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She has worked in public school contexts and at various universities including, the University of Houston-Downtown, Teachers College-Columbia University, and Ohio State University.

Sunanna Chand

Remake Learning

Sunanna T. Chand is Director of Remake Learning. She identifies and nurtures multi-sector collaborative opportunities that provide remarkable learning experiences for youth in southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Remake Learning, active since 2007, is a network of 500 organizations igniting engaging, relevant, equitable learning in support of young people navigating rapid technological and societal change. Learn more at remakelearning.org/about. Prior to Remake Learning, Sunanna served in the Mayor-President’s office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, leading a network of cross-sector organizations working to collectively impact public health outcomes. She began her career teaching 1st and 2nd grade. Sunanna earned an M.Ed from Vanderbilt University in International Education Policy & Management, and holds Bachelors Degrees in English and Political Science from the University of Illinois.

Michelle King

Learning Instigator, Love Activist, & Transformer

Michelle King is a learner first and foremost and as well as an instigator of learning. Professionally, she is a middle school teacher and has taught over 22 years in public schools in Southwestern Pennsylvania. She learned and honed her craft in Mt. Lebanon with a fantastic crew of educators and students for over 16 years. In her quest to instigate courageous conversations about learning and children, she ventured to The Environmental Charter School and their principles (Catalyst. Character. Collaboration. Commitment.) She co-taught Cultural Literacy, an integrated social sciences and English/Language Arts course. She is constantly seeking to create dynamic learning experiences and opportunities that inspire wonder, discovery, contradictions, frustrations, and joy. In making connections locally and globally, Michelle pushes the envelope and boundaries of where learning should occur for all students. Her current interests are in game based learning, design, restorative justice, equity, social justice, the environment and teacher empowerment. Through her partnerships with the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, Center for Urban Education, UrbanKind Institute, Green Building Alliance, SocialVR, Carnegie Science Center FAB Lab, Girl Up, CREATE Lab, Carnegie Museum of Art, the Remake Learning ecosystem, ThinkZone Games and other provocateurs; Michelle is helping to create equitable, empathetic, learning experiences for all Pittburghers. Current Conundrums: What do humans need to learn now? How might we create empathetic institutions that remind us of our humanity? How might we re-design for equity and social justice in and out of school learning? How might we design learning institutions to build connections? How might we allow those connections help us re-see the worlds we inhabit? How might we embrace silence in our lives? How might we integrate our inner and outer environments as humans?

Erica Halverson

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Erica Halverson is a trained theater artist and professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In that role, she teaches a range of courses to undergraduates and graduate students, including future teachers. She is an expert in qualitative research methods and teaches a suite of courses including Introduction to Qualitative Methods, as well as field methods courses that focus on Qualitative Data Collection and Data Analysis. Erica also works with students producing a range of art forms and reflecting on how those art forms are connected to big ideas in teaching and learning. Classes include: Representing Self Through Media: A Personal Journey Through This American Life; Digital Media and Literacy; Mentorship in Participatory Cultures; and Arts Integration for Teaching and Learning. She is also the co-editor of Makeology — two volumes featuring research on the Maker Movement and its connection to interest-driven learning. Erica has been the Principal Investigator on five different federal grants, with funds totaling $2.5 million. Erica is also co-founder of two theater organizations: Barrel of Monkeys (in Chicago) and Whoopensocker (in Madison). She continues to lead Whoopensocker, an artist-in-residence program working in public schools in Madison, that has served over 500 students in residency and thousands more in performance. A seasoned singer, actor, and dancer, Erica also performs regularly, working with the Children’s Theater of Madison, Four Seasons Theatre, Music Theatre of Madison, and the Are We Delicious? Favorite roles include the Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”

Jessica Mele

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Jessica Mele is a Program Officer in Performing Arts at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She manages a diverse portfolio of grants, with a particular focus on arts education policy and advocacy. Previously, Jessica was executive director at Performing Arts Workshop, an arts education organization in San Francisco. Jessica holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and French studies from Smith College and a master’s degree in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also writes, directs and produces sketch comedy as part of Chardonnay, one of two in-house sketch comedy groups at San Francisco’s Pianofight Theater Company.

Marc Chun

Overdeck Family Foundation

Marc Chun has done lots of writing. He wrote tuition checks for a BS and three MAs and a PhD; he wrote letters home to Mom to keep paying all those tuition checks; he wrote a column for the Stanford University student newspaper; he wrote a doctoral dissertation; he wrote curricula when he was teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University, The New School University, Stanford University, and Vanderbilt University; he wrote research reports when he worked at the RAND Corporation; he wrote plays that were produced in NY and LA and Hong Kong; and he wrote checks as a grant-maker at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and currently at the Overdeck Family Foundation. He wrote materials for this “24-Hour Playwriting Challenge” when it was previously offered (at the Deeper Learning Conference at High Tech High, at Grantmakers for Education, and at SXSW EDU). Most recently, he wrote this bio.