Dr. Steven Bickmore is an Emeritus Professor of English Education at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the Founding Director of the YAL Summit. He also started YA Wednesday, a blog focused on Young Adult Literature. 

Jessica Wiley is an ALE Educator and Dyslexia Interventionist for the South Conway County School District in Morrilton, Arkansas. She serves as a board member for Arkansas Hands & Voices and volunteers as a Parent Mentor with Community Connections, two organizations that help improve the lives of children with disabilities.

Dr. Amy Piotrowski is an associate professor of English education at Utah State University.  She teaches undergraduate courses in English education and secondary education as well as graduate courses in literacy education.  Her scholarly interests focus on digital literacies, young adult literature, and teacher education.

Dr. Leilya Pitre is an associate professor and English education coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana University where she teaches methods courses for preservice teachers, literary analysis, American and Young Adult Literature courses. Her research interests include teacher preparation, secondary school teaching, and teaching and research of YA and multicultural literature.

Dr. Melanie Hundley is a Professor in the Practice of English Education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College; her research examines how digital and multimodal composition informs the development of pre-service teachers’ writing pedagogy.  Additionally, she explores the use of digital media, poetry, and canonical texts in young adult literature. 

Dr. Brady Nash is a former English teacher and a current assistant professor of English Educaiton and the University of Flordiay. He studies critical and culturally sustaining approaches to education, with a focus on secondary language arts and digital literacies. His current work is focused on critically analyzing AI, video games, social media, and the ways that diverse arrays of people construct and understand reality in digital spaces.

Dr. Jinan El Sabbagh is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English Education at Oklahoma State University. She works primarily with Secondary English education students and previously taught high school English and reading at various grade levels. Her research focuses on (transformative) SEL efforts, and is also interested in fostering and exploring how preservice teachers engage in equity-centered educational advocacy.

Sidra Zaheer is a PhD student in Language, Literacy, and Culture at Oklahoma State University. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, she teaches the undergraduate course “American Stories: Diverse Peoples in YA Literature.” Her research interests focus on innovative English language instruction, technology integration, and diversity in young adult literature.