Alan M. Blankstein is an award-winning author and education leader. In 1987, he founded the Solution Tree, and in 1989, the HOPE Foundation, for which he served as president for 25 years and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

A former “high-risk” youth, Blankstein was first a music teacher before writing the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. He is senior editor, lead contributor, or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera and has written many articles in education publications. He has also worked for Phi Delta Kappa and March of Dimes.

Failure Is Not an Option® is a registered trademark of the HOPE Foundation.

Pedro Noguera is the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education. A leading scholar of urban public education, equity, and school reform, he has published over 250 articles in academic journals, book chapters, research reports, and newspaper editorials.

Lorena Kelly is an assistant principal in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She began her career in education as an elementary teacher. After 9 years of teaching, she became an instructional specialist. Her interest in curriculum, specifically literacy, led to a position as a language arts curriculum coordinator. She used this opportunity to work with colleagues and partners to enhance learning for all students. She continues to follow her dreams by returning to a school as a school-level administrator.