Elaine Weiss, PhD has researched, analyzed, and written about education policy for over twenty years. She is the former National Coordinator of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education at the Economic Policy Institute and co-author, with Paul Reville, of Broader, Bolder Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty (Harvard Education Press, 2019). Having spent her career researching and advocating for a broad range of anti-poverty policies, from early childhood to Social Security and disability programs, she focuses on the myriad interconnections among programs, policies, and communities. A lifelong resident of Montgomery County, Maryland and the mother of two graduates of the district's public schools, she also sees firsthand the benefits of living, learning, and investing in a diverse, welcoming community.

Bruce Levine, JD a resident of the DMV for over 30 years and current DC resident and ANC Commissioner, is a Clinical Professor of Education at Drexel University and Director of the School’s Education Policy program and the Master of Science in Education Improvement and Transformation degree program. His previous professional experience in law, strategy consulting, economic and workforce development, and management inform his teaching and research. In addition to the study of community school and integrated student support strategies, his current research interests include civic education and civic literacy and K-12 schools as civic infrastructure and anchors of community resilience. With colleagues at the international architecture firm Perkins Eastman, he co-led a team that won the 2019 Latrobe Prize from The American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows and did a study of the impacts of school modernization in the Baltimore City and DC school districts.

Kimberly Sterin, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Director of Research Operations for the Justice-Oriented Youth (JoY) Education Lab in the School of Education at Drexel University. She coordinates an intergenerational collective of university-community researchers driven by joy to advance justice through community-driven programs and critical participatory action research in West Philadelphia. Informed by her previous seven years of teaching experience as a public school English teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, Dr. Sterin’s research examines pathways to educational justice for historically marginalized groups through leadership, policies, and practices across the K-12 school finance landscape. Her work highlights school communities using integrated student supports and amplifies leadership dispositions working towards a more just school resource ecosystem.