Kayla Skinner-Roy (she/her) is a social worker, artist, and activist committed to educational justice and the creation of liberatory, life-affirming spaces for historically oppressed populations. A first-gen college graduate and neuroqueer wellness practitioner, she integrates expressive arts and critical pedagogy to support collective healing and transformation. Kayla is the founder of You Are Expansive, a liberation-focused arts program at Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti, MI, where creativity and community care meet. Reach her at kayla@riversidearts.org.

Laura Lee Smith (she her), is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan and a research associate at U- M’s Campus Abolition Research Lab. Laura Lee’s research interests include Race & Ethnicity, Race in Education, Critical Whiteness Studies, and Social Justice Education. She also specializes in dialogue facilitation and instructional design

Jarell Skinner-Roy (he/him) is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan and a research associate with the Campus Abolition Research Lab. An educator and skilled facilitator, Jarell’s work centers the voices and experiences of racially minoritized students, with a focus on how they conceptualize safety and security amid racialized policing and surveillance on college campuses. His research and praxis are grounded in a commitment to equity, critical inquiry, and transformative learning environments.

Sara Sadek (she/her), founder of Folkweaver, mother and writer, partner and friend, facilitator and community builder here to co-create a world that radically reimagines the way we are in relationship together. Storytelling, coaching, circle holding and art-making are her vehicles to radically re-imagine our relationship with ourselves, each other, and our planet. She writes weekly at folkweaver.substack.com and holds an M.S. in teaching. She also designed the Inner Child Meditation series used in YAE programming.