Renee Watson is a writer, educator, and performer. Her work explores social issues through the arts and helps young people cope with trauma. She has worked as a writer in residence teaching poetry and performance to young people and training educators on developing social justice curriculum.

Janine Joseph is the author of Driving Without a License, winner of the Kundiman Poetry Prize. Her commissioned work for the Houston Grand Opera/HGOco includes a libretto, From My Mother's Mother, and a song cycle, On This Muddy Water. She is an assistant professor of English at Weber State University.

Marc McKee is the author of three collections of poems: What Apocalypse?, Fuse, and Bewilderness. His work appears widely in journals like Boston Review, Conduit, Copper Nickel, Crazyhorse, Southern Indiana Review, and others. He teaches at the University of Missouri.

Lacy M. Johnson is the author of The Other Side: A Memoir and Trespasses: A Memoir, and teaches interdisciplinary art at University of Houston.

Renee Daniel Flagler is an author, award-winning journalist, and teaching artist who develops creative writing curriculum for students in K–12. Renee is an advocate for empowering youth by influencing literacy in the United States and abroad and serves as the Board Chair for LEAP Global.