Joseph Kahne
Professor and Dean of the School of Education, Mills College
Mr. Kahne studies the democratic purposes of education and urban school reform. He is currently conducting a statewide study of the civic/democratic commitments, capacities, and activities of high school students in California and of the distribution and impact of school-based opportunities that aim to develop citizens for democratic citizenship. He is also conducting a longitudinal study of the civic implications of young people's use of the internet and other forms of digital media. He is just completing (co-directed with John Easton of the Consortium on Chicago School Reform) a three-year study of Chicago's high schools and the small school reform effort in particular.

Karen DeMoss
Director of the Institute for Urban Education and Associate Professor in Education Studies at The New School
Ms. DeMoss focuses on education policy and reform.  She served as National Director for Research and Knowledge Development for New Leaders for New School, building organizational learning capacities, documenting adults’ learning, and assessing student outcomes.  She also piloted university-school partnerships at The University of New Mexico.  Her research interests lie in the intersection of how institutions, policies, and pedagogy ultimately impact learning and lives.  Her Ph.D. is from the University of Chicago, where she also worked for 7 years at the Consortium on Chicago School Research.  She has worked on many research and evaluation projects, from the impact of arts on student learning to effects of large-scale policy reforms. 

Dr. Rob Semper
Executive Associate Director of the Exploratorium
Dr. Semper is responsible for leading the institution's work in developing programs of teaching and learning using exhibits, media and Internet resources. Dr. Semper and his staff are pioneers and experts in active, mission-based learning – especially when it comes to doing science in the real world.

Christopher McCall
Visual Literacy Consultant
Mr. McCall taught photography, film and visual literacy at the Urban School of San Francisco. He has lectured around the country about visual literacy, and the impact of images & new technology on culture. Currently, he is the Executive Director of Pier 24 Photography, the largest exhibition space in the world dedicated to photography. His understanding of pedagogy, teenagers and how they perceive has been instrumental in developing the look, graphics, and lay out of the Nuvana platform.

David Winton
Filmmaker
David Winton is the founding partner of Winton duPont Films, a film and television production company with offices in New York and San Francisco. His company produces programs for leading broadcast and cable networks, including PBS, The History Channel, National Geographic, and TechTV, as well as Fortune 100 companies, advertising agencies, and public interest groups. He is on the board of trustees of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Breakthrough Collaborative. He is also on the board of the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy Andover, as well as a member of the executive committee of the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers. He is a graduate of Harvard College and lives in San Francisco with his wife, Charlotte Vaughan.

Ken Ellis
George Lucas Educational Foundation
The George Lucas Foundation and Edutopia are pioneering research and tools that provide innovative, interactive learning for kids to succeed in the 21st century. The goal is to change education for the better with project-based learning.

Dina Wright
SFUSD “Teacher of the Year”, Lincoln High School, San Francisco
Ms. Wright teaches AP U.S. history in San Francisco, and is known for her innovative and highly effective teaching practices. She has been instrumental in devising missions for FLASHBACK that adhere to district standards.