Tamara Letter is a passionate educator with more than two decades of experience as an elementary teacher, differentiation specialist, technology integrator, and instructional coach. She received the 2018 R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence and is the author of A Passion for Kindness: Making the World a Better Place to Lead, Love, and Learn. You can connect with Tamara on her website at www.tamaraletter.com or on Twitter or Instagram (@tamaraletter)

As Co-Founder of Labhya Foundation, an India-based nonprofit, Richa's journey has revolved around the question, “What does it take to preserve empathy among children?” Richa has worked as an educator, volunteer, mentor & activist with children from at-risk, refugee & migrant communities across India. She has been a Teach For India fellow & a Teach For All Global Girls’ Education fellow. At 21 years old, Richa founded Labhya with a vision to enable all children to become conscious decision makers. Labhya Foundation enables children from low socio-economic backgrounds with Social & Emotional skills. Today, her program impacts over 2 million children and 110,000 teachers in about 21,000 government schools of India, on a daily basis. Recently, she represented India at the 2019 G(irls)20 Summit Japan, where she helped draft a communiqué to be deliberated on by G20 leaders this year. Follow Richa's work on Twitter: @HappinessDelhi @SEL4India Article - https://www.thehindu.com/society/this-delhi-based-23-year-old-represented-india-at-girls20-japan/article28434791.ece

Diana Patton is a motivational speaker, author, attorney, social justice and integrative health advocate, and creator of the RISE program - a unique approach to helping schools build positive culture through diversity training and insightful communication between educators and students. Diana held a General Counsel/VP/COO position at a Toledo-based non-profit and has had several executive level positions at Fortune 500 companies. She is licensed to practice law in Ohio, has conducted corporate diversity training, and has taught various business courses at Owens Community College. Diana currently serves on the University of Toledo College of Health and Human Services Board, is the UT African American Initiatives Talented Aspiring Women Leaders community liaison, and previously served on the Toledo Public School District’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. Having grown up through many adverse childhood experiences, Diana intimately understands the importance of self-care and emotional intelligence. Diana helps others rise above their circumstances, push past trauma, and exemplify resilience. Her mission is to help people care for and connect with themselves so they can effectively care for and connect with others.

Leigh Kokenes is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist in Raleigh, North Carolina and works at an elementary and middle school in an urban school district. Her early career included work on a birth to age 3 early intervention team and later working with adults who are developmentally disabled. She then found her way to the field of School Psychology. Ms. Kokenes serves on her professional association’s board (North Carolina School Psychology Association) to support advocacy for increased mental health services in schools, recruitment, and retention. In 2019 Ms. Kokenes was awarded the National School Psychologist of the Year award by NASP. She is a member of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and is currently a state liaison for the Government Professional Relations committee. Her goal is to provide comprehensive school psychological services within teams through social emotional learning, consultation to teachers and parents, assessment/evaluations, intervention teams, advocacy for students, and data analysis.  Taking risks to support fragile humans in the world is important to Ms. Kokenes.  In 2017 she was awarded the Practitioner of the Year by NC School Psychology Association and was awarded the School Psychologist of the Year for 2015-2016 by Wake County Public School System.

Amy Heimerl is a wife, mom, grandma, educator, gardener, aspiring artist & author, prayer warrior, worship leader and most importantly, daughter of God. Amy has been an educator for 26 years. Twenty-three of those years have been focused on working with students who have emotional and behavioral struggles and students who learn differently. From 1997-2004 she was a special education teacher at a juvenile correctional facility in Northern Wisconsin. From the moment she began teaching there, Amy knew it was part of her calling. After seven years, Amy made the very difficult decision to leave the youth prison so she could spend summers taking care of her own children. Amy was blessed with the opportunity to teach at her local high school as a special education teacher and employment coach. Amy was also blessed to get involved with Link Crew and as a coach for The Boomerang Project. After thirteen years in public education and her own children graduated, Amy felt the call to return to the youth prison and has been back since July 2017. Amy also is in the process of Reading for Orders in preparation for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church.

Sandi Pinner is a wife, mother of 4 boys, Nani of 2 and has been married to her husband for the past 26 years. Sandi has been in education since 1999 and currently is the Pre-K-12th Grade School Counselor in Chireno ISD a small 1A district in deep East Texas.

Jordan Osborn is in his 10th year of working in education. He started off as a social studies teacher in several different schools in Oregon where he also coached football and basketball. During his 10 years he has spent 7 years as an Athletic Director and 5 years as a vice principal most recently at Chiloquin Jr/Sr High School in Southern Oregon. Jordan is in his first year as Principal at Bonanza High School in South Central Oregon.

Brian Slater is an Assistant Principal at Fred Lynn Middle School. Brian believes in finding the good throughout the school! Finding the good, celebrating it, and sharing it with others sends a message of positivity and good vibes throughout the building and school community. He values each day, each moment and understands the importance of spreading love and kindness! School is and should be a place of fun and laughter, where we should never take ourselves too seriously. Enjoy the moments, do something nice for someone, and always bring the daily good vibes.

As an educator for 19 years, Jen has enjoyed teaching in the classroom, as a gifted intervention specialist, and more recently as an instructional coach. Her recent Amazon #1 New Release, The Happy Teacher’s Handbook, shares strategies for inspiring teachers to find a reason to stay and make their impact on the world, one class at a time. Jen's superpower is getting teachers to smile again. She brings a refreshing perspective that lifts you up when you want to walk out, reminding you of the real reason you became a teacher. She has this amazing ability to shift perspective from the overwhelm of state mandates to the fire within you that keeps you going. Her newest project, The Inspired Teachers Podcast, shares real coaching conversations with dedicated teachers looking to upgrade their craft. Listeners can access chapter 1 of Jen's book for free @ happyteachershandbook.com and can find her on Twitter @TeacherRenegade and on Instagram @renegadeteacher 

We talk with Bethany about the lack of belonging in our schools, ways that we can focus on this work, and she shares about the importance of growing a culture of empathy.

Bethany has been an educator for 21 years and considers herself a teacher who has filled many roles. Her experience includes teaching grades one, two, and three, instructional coaching, literacy trainer for her district, assistant principal, and principal. She is currently the assistant principal at Magness Creek Elementary in Cabot, Arkansas. She is the founder of #JoyfuLeaders, a hashtag that promotes positivity and encouragement among educators, and one of the originators of #EduAR, a Twitter chat focusing on trending topics in education. Her passions include: school culture, adult learning, growing leaders, scientifically based reading instruction, trauma informed practices, and social emotionallearning. You can connect with Bethany on Twitter: @bethhilll2829, Instagram: @bethanyhill1,her website at bethanyshill.com, or her Facebook page, Inspiration for Educators.