Russlynn Ali
Vice President, The Education Trust Executive Director, The Education Trust—West Russlynn Ali is the Vice President of the Education Trust and founding director of the Education Trust—West, the west coast partner of the EdTrust. Both organizations work for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, with an emphasis on serving Latino, African American, Native American and low-income students. Ali is a member of the State Bar of California and serves on the boards and advisory committees of a number of education related organizations, including the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee and the California Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence. 
Dr. Tyrone Howard is an experienced educator, presenter, and researcher of multicultural and social studies education. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Howard is also the former Chair of the College University Faculty Assembly and former Associate Editor of Theory and Research in Social Education. Dr. Howard is the recipient of many awards, including most recently the 2007 American Educational Research Association Early Career Scholar Award, and 2007 UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies Distinguished Teaching Award. He has also published numerous articles, book chapters, and book reviews. He holds degrees from the University of Washington; California State University, Dominguez Hills; and University of California, Irvine. Dr. Howard is a valued member of several professional organizations such as National Council for the Social Studies, National Alliance of Black School Educators, and National Association for Multicultural Education.
Marsha R. Dodson and Dr. Darlene V. Willis are Educational Consultants and the Co-Authors of Empowering Parents: A Guide to Taking Control of Your Child’s Educational Journey. They are also the Co-Hosts of the College Bound Educational Radio Program. Both experts are the Co-Founders of Concerned Parents Alliance, Inc and its successful educational component entitled College Bound San Diego. They are also the Co-Writers/Artists of the educational CD including A-G college requirements…parent and student style as well as women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. They have been seen throughout the county, state and country empowering parents, families, administrators, educators and community regarding education, parent/family empowerment and taking control of one’s educational journey.
Rita Kholi is graduating this June with her PhD in Race and Ethnic Studies in Education from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. She has a MA in Sociology of Education from New York University and a BA in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. A former middle school teacher, and a current teacher educator, Ms. Kohli has been working in K-12 schools for the last 10 yars. Her dissertation examines the role of race and racism in the educational experiences and observations of Women of Color Educators. Her research interests include, racial inequity in K-12 schools, teacher education, cross-racial coalition building.
Jamaal Brown is a scholar, leader, lecturer, over-achiever and motivational speaker. At the ripe age of 25, Jamaal has had a unique blend of life experiences, which include enduring heart surgery at the age of 13 (albeit minor), studying in Africa for fifteen days on an educational tour, and speaking in front of thousands...All of these things, and more, make In the year 2000 Jamaal graduated as his high school’s first-ever African American Valedictorian. He was accepted to eight universities (notable ones include: the University of Southern California, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Emory University), received in upwards of $30,000 in scholarships and decided to accept an exclusive four-year academic scholarship to attend California State University, Long Beach where he received his degree in Business Management: Information Systems in 2004.
Today, Jamaal travels and shares the many details of his story and the information that sparked the fire inside of him, in an effort to inspire, uplift and encourage audiences.