Nationally Certified School Psychologist; Founder, School Psych AI; Former Director of Innovation and Founder, Lessons in SEL at 7 Mindsets; Former Assistant Director of Redesign, District of Columbia Public Schools, who led a school turnaround initiative that won the 2020 "Whole Child" Award; Recipient of the 2022 "Black SEL Summit" Award and the NASP 2019 "President's Certificate of Achievement" Award; Advocate for Strength-Based Teaching; Co-Author, Hacking Deficit Thinking: 8 Reframes That Will Change the Way You Think About Strength-Based Practices and Equity in Schools (2022)

Owner/Founder of 2E Consults® LLC; Former Professor of Educational Psychology and Neuroscience, George Mason University, and was affiliated with the Department of Pediatrics, George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences; Former Adjunct Professor, Northern New Mexico College; studies and coaches neurodivergence and the relationship among talents, natural skills, and disability, and how the human brain supports ingenuity and problem solving across life; Former Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation Group Brain Dynamics in Learning Project; Member, United States Department of State Committee on Exceptional Children; Author, Teaching to Every Kid's Potential: Simple Neuroscience Lessons to Liberate Learners (2021), “Twice-Exceptional Students: Gifted Students With Learning Disabilities” (2013, Fundamentals of Gifted Education) and "The Neural Plasticity of Giftedness" (2009, International Handbook on Gifted)

Strength-Based Educator; Poet; Artist; Curriculum Developer; Educational Consultant for PreK-12; Founder and Head of School, The Delta School, whose curriculum focuses around strength-based teaching; Author, My West (2023) and Your Child's Strengths: A Guide for Parents and Teachers (2009); Co-Author, The Differentiated Instruction Book of Lists (2011)

Neuroscience & Education MS Candidate from Columbia University; Co-host, Learning & The Brain Podcast, Research Intern at Harvard Human Flourishing Program, Educational Consultant, whose mission is to empower individuals to cultivate intentionality and purpose in their everyday lives; Featured on Business Insider; TEDx and Keynote Speaker, whose long-term vision is to bring self-discovery techniques to schools so that youth are better equipped with techniques for developing self-awareness and making intentional decisions for their future; Author, Beyond the Skin (2021), "Test-focused Education Detrimental to Student Mental Health" (2017, CollegiateTimes)

Autism Self-Advocate; Animal Scientist; Professor of Animal Science, Colorado State University; Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Feature of an HBO Emmy Award winning movie about her life; Author, Autism and Adolescence芒鈧€he Way I See It: What Teens and Adults Need to Know (2024), Autism and Education: The Way I See It: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know (2023), Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions (2023), and Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism (2006, Expanded Edition); Co-Author, Different Kinds of Minds: A Guide to Your Brain (2023), Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals With Autism (2024, 3rd Edition), and The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum (2013)

Founder and Host, The Neurodiversity Project; Producer; Award-Winning Writer; Literary Series Producer, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley; Author, Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed For You (2020), “How to Find Strength in Being Different” (2020, Greater Good Magazine), and “Why Marginalized Students Need Hope to Succeed” (2019, Greater Good Magazine)

Researcher; Principal Investigator, Fung Lab; Director, Stanford Neurodiversity Project; Director, Neurodiversity Clinic; Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University; Author, “Strength-Based Models and Neurodiversity” (2024, Neurodiversity and Work) and “Neurodiversity: From Phenomenology to Neurobiology and Enhancing Technologies” (2021, American Pediatric); Co-Author, "Self-Compassion Changed My Life”: The Self-Compassion Experiences of Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults and Its Relationship With Mental Health and Psychological Wellbeing” (2023, Autism and Developmental Disorders) and “Neurodiversity: An Invisible Strength?” (2022, JOM)

Counseling Psychologist; Professor, Academic Director, Core Faculty, Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University; Review Editor, Positive Psychology and Frontiers in Psychology; Developer, Interactive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) and Positive-Interactive Behavioral Therapy (P-IBT); Author, The Positivity Effect (2023), Learned Hopefulness (2020), Confessions of a Former Child (2008), and Action Methods in Group Psychotherapy (1998); Co-Author, Character Strengths and Abilities Within Disabilities (2023) and Healing Trauma (2005)

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development, Stanford University School of Medicine; Co-Developer, Pivotal Response Treatment; Clinical Director, Koegel Autism PRT, who appeared on ABC's hit show, Supernanny, to work with children with autism; Editor-in-Chief, Autism and Developmental Disorders; Co-Author, Hidden Brilliance: Unlocking the Intelligence of Autism (2023), Pivotal Response Treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders (2018), Overcoming Autism (2014), Growing Up on the Spectrum (2010), and Freedom From Meltdowns (2008)

Educator; Innovative Learning Communities Consultant; Institute for Leadership Development Consultant, Orange County Department of Education; Apple Distinguished Educator; Google for Education Certified Innovator; Contributing Writer, Thrive Global and Edutopia; Author, Evolving With Gratitude: Small Practices in Learning Communities That Make a Big Difference with Kids, Peers, and the World (2022); Co-Author, Evolving Learner: Shifting From Professional Development to Professional Learning From Kids, Peers, and the World (2020); Contributor, Because of a Teacher: Stories of the Past to Inspire the Future of Education (2021)

Professor of Psychology; Director, Berkeley Social Interaction Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley; Co-Director, Greater Good Science Center; Author, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (2023) and Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life (2009); Co-Author, “Awe Sparks Prosociality in Children” (2023, Psychological Science), “The Magic of Hope: Hope Mediates the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement” (2017, Educational Research) and Understanding Emotions (2013); Co-Editor, The Gratitude Project: How the Science of Thankfulness Can Rewire Our Brains for Resilience, Optimism, and the Greater Good (2020) and The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness (2010)

Professor of Psychology; Director, Evolution and Human Behavior Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, whose research is concerned with the evolutionary and cognitive underpinnings of prosocial behaviors and moral sentiments such as forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, and trust; Author, The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code (2020) and Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct (2008); Co-Author, To Forgive is Human (2009) and The Psychology of Gratitude (2004)

Professor, Psychology Department, College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, California State University, Dominguez Hills; Director, “The Youth Gratitude Project,” a part of the Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude Project at the Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley, a research program that develops assessment tools and interventions to promote student success and wellness in primary and secondary schools; Author, Thanks! A Strength-Based Gratitude Curriculum for Tweens and Teens (2018); Co-Author, “Gratitude in School: Benefits to Students and Schools” (2022, Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools), “A Playbook for Character" (2021, Character Lab/McGraw HIll), and Making Grateful Kids: The Science of Building Character (2014)

Associate Research Scientist, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale University; Former Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley; Co-Author, "Gifted and Talented Learned From the Pandemic Educators" (2023, Teaching for High Potential) and "Social and Emotional Learning For the Greater Good: Expanding the Circle of Human Concern” (2023, Social and Emotional Learning)

Professor Emerita of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego; Adjunct Professor, Salk Institute, whose work focuses on morality and the social brain; Winner of the McArthur Prize in 1991 and the Rossi Prize for Neuroscience in 2008; Author, Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition (2019), Touching a Nerve (2013), Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality (2011), Brain-Wise (2002), and The Computational Brain (1994); Co-Author, “Morality and the Brain: The Right Hemisphere and Doing Right” (2020, Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology) and “The Neurobiological Platform for Moral Values” (2014, Behavior)

Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor of Character Education; Co-Director of the Center for Character and Citizenship; President’s Thomas Jefferson Professor, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Founding Co-Editor, Journal for Research in Character Education; Member, Board of Directors, Character.org; Author, PRIMED for Character Education: Six Design Principles for School Improvement (2021) and Parenting for Good (2005); Co-Author, “Changing the Character of Schools: Promoting Servant Leadership Virtues to Solve Internationally Relevant Problems in Education” (2024, The Routledge International Handbook of Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Character Development)

Senior Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Education; Co-Founder and Strategic Advisor, Challenge Success; Co-Host, “School's In” Podcast; Author, “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (2001); Co-Author, “Stressed, Tired, and Yearning for Support” (2025, Kappan Online), “What Students and Teachers Do to Build Positive Reciprocal Relationships: A Study Co-Led by Youth and Adult Researchers” (2023, American Journal of Education), “A Caring Climate That Promotes Belonging and Engagement” (2022, Phi Delta Kappa), and Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids (2015)

Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University; Founder, Intellectual Virtues Academy of Long Beach; Administrator, Educating for Intellectual Virtues; Author, Deep in Thought: A Practical Guide to Teaching for Intellectual Virtues (2021), "Intellectual Virtues, Critical Thinking, and the Aims of Education." (2019, Routledge Handbook of Social Epistemology), "Is Intellectual Character Growth a Realistic Educational Aim?" (2016, Journal of Moral Education), and The Inquiring Mind (2011); Editor, Intellectual Virtues and Education (2015)

Co-Founder, CharacterStrong, which currently serves 10,000 schools across 50 states and 49 countries helping to support the teaching of character and social emotional skills in education; Kindness Advocate, who has been featured on Good Morning America, CNN, Hallmark, and other media on developing a more empathetic, kind world; Curriculum Developer; Author, Be Kind: A 52-Week Journal for Practicing Kindness (2023) and Deep Kindness: A Revolutionary Guide for the Way We Think, Talk, and Act in Kindness (2020)

Director, Social Neuroscience Lab and Psychology One Program; Professor, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Co-Founder, The People’s Science; Author, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness (Forthcoming) and The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World (2019); Co-Author, "A Brief Intervention to Motivate Empathy Among Middle School Students” (2022, Experimental Psychology), “Social Belonging, Compassion, and Kindness: Key Ingredients for Fostering Resilience, Recovery, and Growth From the COVID-19 Pandemic” (2022, Anxiety, Stress & Coping), and “Empathy as a Moral Force” (2018, Atlas of Moral Psychology)

Professor, Anne & Henry Zarrow School of Social Work; Founding Director, The Hope Research Center, University of Oklahoma; Recognized as one of the world's leading hope scholars; Developer of the evidence-based "Hope Centered, Trauma Informed" curriculum; Co-Author, “Hope As a Buffer to Suicide Attempts Among Adolescents With Depression” (2023, School Health), “Hope and Resilience As Distinct Contributors to Psychological Flourishing Among Childhood Trauma Survivors” (2020, Traumatology), and Hope Rising: How The Science of Hope Can Change Your Life (2018)

Founder, The School of Hope LLC; Developer, Building H.O.P.E.© Framework; Strategic Instructional Model Professional Developer, University of Kansas; Main Contributor, George Lucas's Edutopia; Featured Speaker, TED Ed; Collaborator with Thrively on the Global Hope Measurement and Growth; 2023 Recipient of the Virginia ASCD Impact Award for Transforming Schools; Author, The Hopeful Brain: Unlocking Mental Power of Motivation, Success, and Happiness (Forthcoming) and the Best-Selling Corwin book, The School of Hope: The Journey From Trauma and Anxiety to Achievement, Happiness, and Resilience (2022)

Associate Professor of Medical Education; Associate Dean of Student Affairs, School of Medicine, University of Texas at Tyler; Director of Research, The Shine Hope Company; Co-Author, "Social Support and Positive Future Expectations, Hope, and Achievement Among Latinx Students: Implications by Gender and Special Education” (2024, Social and Personal Relationships), "Promoting Hope: Preliminary Investigation Into a College-Level Hope Curriculum" (2024, American College Health), and "A Preliminary Investigation of Collective Teacher Efficacy and Student Hope: Understanding the Role of Student-Teacher Relationships" (2022, Social Psychology of Education)

Founder, The School of Hope LLC; Developer, Building H.O.P.E.© Framework; Strategic Instructional Model Professional Developer, University of Kansas; Main Contributor, George Lucas's Edutopia; Featured Speaker, TED Ed; Collaborator with Thrively on the Global Hope Measurement and Growth; 2023 Recipient of the Virginia ASCD Impact Award for Transforming Schools; Author, The Hopeful Brain: Unlocking Mental Power of Motivation, Success, and Happiness (Forthcoming) and the Best-Selling Corwin book, The School of Hope: The Journey From Trauma and Anxiety to Achievement, Happiness, and Resilience (2022)

Counseling Psychologist; Professor, Academic Director, Core Faculty, Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University; Review Editor, Positive Psychology and Frontiers in Psychology; Developer, Interactive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) and Positive-Interactive Behavioral Therapy (P-IBT); Author, The Positivity Effect (2023), Learned Hopefulness (2020), Confessions of a Former Child (2008), and Action Methods in Group Psychotherapy (1998); Co-Author, Character Strengths and Abilities Within Disabilities (2023) and Healing Trauma (2005)

Founder, The School of Hope LLC; Developer, Building H.O.P.E.© Framework; Strategic Instructional Model Professional Developer, University of Kansas; Main Contributor, George Lucas's Edutopia; Featured Speaker, TED Ed; Collaborator with Thrively on the Global Hope Measurement and Growth; 2023 Recipient of the Virginia ASCD Impact Award for Transforming Schools; Author, The Hopeful Brain: Unlocking Mental Power of Motivation, Success, and Happiness (Forthcoming) and the Best-Selling Corwin book, The School of Hope: The Journey From Trauma and Anxiety to Achievement, Happiness, and Resilience (2022)

Professional Development Consultant; Graduate Course Instructor, State University of New York at New Paltz; Co-Author, Transformative Teaching: Changing Today's Classrooms Culturally, Academically, and Emotionally (2015); Author, Motivating the Unmotivated (2008), Dealing With Difficult Parents: Powerful Strategies for Parent/Teacher Interactions (2005), and Respectful Discipline: Your Guide to Effective Classroom Management (2003)

Master Teacher; CIO, Infinite Horizons; Co-Author, Transformative Teaching: Changing Today's Classrooms Culturally, Academically, and Emotionally (2015), Developing Growth Mindsets in the Inspiring Classroom (2011), Inspiring Elementary Learners (2008), Inspiring Middle and Secondary Learners (2007), and Differentiation for Real Classrooms (2009)

Educator; Innovative Learning Communities Consultant; Institute for Leadership Development Consultant, Orange County Department of Education; Apple Distinguished Educator; Google for Education Certified Innovator; Contributing Writer, Thrive Global and Edutopia; Author, Evolving With Gratitude: Small Practices in Learning Communities That Make a Big Difference with Kids, Peers, and the World (2022); Co-Author, Evolving Learner: Shifting From Professional Development to Professional Learning From Kids, Peers, and the World (2020); Contributor, Because of a Teacher: Stories of the Past to Inspire the Future of Education (2021)

Professor of Language, Literacy & Technology, College of Education, Washington State University; Chair of the Research Committee, Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers; Area Co-Chair, Literacy Research Association Early and Elementary Literacy Processes; Author, Student Agency in the Classroom: Honoring Student Voice in the Curriculum (2021), "What is Student Agency and Why Is It Needed Now More Than Ever: Theoretical Implications for Practice" (2020, Student Agency: Theory Into Practice), Co-Author, Overcoming Reading Challenges: Kindergarten Through Middle School (2024), Accelerating Learning Growth for All Students (2023), and "Making Agency Visible Through Picture Books" (2022, The Reading Teacher)

Chair, Department of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University; Classroom Teacher, Health Sciences High and Middle College; Co-Author, Microlearning in the K–12 Classroom: Short Bursts of Instruction for Breakthrough Understanding (2026), The Engagement by Design Playbook: Creating Learning Environments Where Students Thrive (2026), The Artificial Intelligence Playbook: Time-Saving Tools for Teachers That Make Learning More Engaging (2025, 2nd Edition), Rigor Unveiled (2025), Teaching Students to Drive Their Learning (2023), and Confronting the Crisis in Engagement (2022)

Sociologist; Assistant Professor, Educational Policy Studies, Florida International University; Member, Career and Technical Advisory Council, The NYC Department of Education; TED Resident Speaker with over 6 million views; Author, The Power of Student Agency (2020) and “Making Distance Learning Vibrant: Student Agency is Key” (2020, Education Week); Co-Author, “The Unique Agency of Parenting-Strivers: An Anti-Deficit, Asset-Based Exploration of Black and Latinx Students with Children” (2022, Education for Students Placed at Risk) and "Grit and Agency: A Framework for Helping Students in Poverty to Achieve Academic Success" (2017)

Classroom Teacher; Founder/President of Translate the Brain, a professional development consultancy; Author, The Goldilocks Map: A Classroom Teacher’s Quest to Evaluate ‘Brain-Based’ Teaching Advice (2021), Learning Grows: The Science of Motivation for the Classroom Teacher (2019), and Learning Begins: A Teacher's Guide to the Learning Brain (2017); Blogger, Learning & the Brain Blog