Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia. He previously served as the Presidential Chair, Associate Dean, and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. Prior to Oregon, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education.

Yong Zhao has received numerous awards including the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association, Outstanding Public Educator from Horace Mann League of USA, and Distinguished Achievement Award in Professional Development from the Association of Education Publishers. He has been recognized as one of the most influential education scholars.

His works focus on the implications of globalization and technology on education. He has published over 100 articles and 30 books, including An Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How Radical Changes Can Spark Student Excitement and Success (2019) What Works May Hurt: Side Effects in Education (2018), Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for All Children (2018), Counting What Counts: Reframing Education Outcomes (2016), Never Send a Human to Do a Machine’s Job: Correcting Top 5 Ed Tech Mistakes (2015), Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World (2014), Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization (2009) and World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students (2012).

Zhao was born in China’s Sichuan Province. He received his B.A. in English Language Education from Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages in Chongqing, China in 1986. After teaching English in China for six years, he came to Linfield College as a visiting scholar in 1992. He then began his graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993. He received his masters in Education in 1994 and Ph.D. in 1996. He joined the faculty at MSU in 1996 after working as the Language Center Coordinator at Willamette University and a language specialist at Hamilton College.

Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe (St. Peter’s/Little Peguis) and a professor at the University of Manitoba, where he holds the Faculty of Arts Professorship in Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics and is currently Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies. Niigaan is also an award-winning writer, editor and activist who was recently named to the “Power List” by Maclean’s magazine as one of the most influential individuals in Canada. In 2018, he won Canadian columnist of the year at the National Newspaper Awards for his bi-weekly columns in The Winnipeg Free Press and is a featured member of the Friday "Power Panel" on CBC's Power & Politics. A former secondary school teacher, he won the 2019 Peace Educator of the Year from the Peace and Justice Studies Association based at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. 

Anna Pons is project lead of the Global Teaching InSights and the Schools+ Network at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills, two initiatives purported to foster school leaders and teachers’ professional learning across borders around innovative and promising practices. Previously, Anna led a Video Study to advance research on how teaching varies across countries and what practices are most effective for raising student outcomes and co-ordinated in-depth reviews of the effectiveness and equity of nine education systems in Europe, Latin America and Asia. She also co-authored the report Equity and Quality in Education, which identified system and school-level policies and practices for supporting disadvantaged schools and students. Prior to joining the OECD in 2010, Anna gained work experience in the Catalan government, a local government, and the private sector. Anna holds a BA in Economics and a BA in Political Science from University Pompeu Fabra, and a Master in Economics and Public Policy from Sciences Po, ENSAE and École Polytechnique.

Dr. Andrew B. Campbell (DR.ABC) is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in Leadership for Racial Justice in Education in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the University of Toronto – Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). His scholarship and teaching focus on anti-racist pedagogy and diversity in educational leadership. “Dr. ABC” is well known to the OISE community for his leadership on advancing anti-discrimination work in teacher education, and recently received OISE’s 2022 award for Excellence in Initial Teacher Education. He teaches courses in anti-discrimination education, leadership and diversity, educational change, urban education, and Black educators. Dr. ABC previously taught at Queens University, the University of the West Indies, Niagara University, Seneca College, and Durham College, in addition to past experience as a classroom teacher and administrator in Jamaica and the Bahamas. He has presented at numerous conferences and has delivered many presentations as a Keynote speaker, motivational speaker and workshop facilitator. He loves people, food, fashion, travelling and bringing his community together for a good meal.