Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she serves as co-director of the School Redesign Network and the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute. Among her more than 300 publications are the award-winning books, The Right to Learn, Powerful Learning, Powerful Teacher Education, Teaching as the Learning Profession, and Preparing Teachers for a Changing World.

Debra Meyerson is an associate professor at Stanford University's School of Education and co-founder and director of Stanford's Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and its program on Private Initiatives and Public Education. She is the author of Tempered Radicals.

Michelle LaPointe has over fifteen years of experience evaluating programs for children and analyzing educational polices. While a research analyst at the U.S. Department of Education (ED), she co-authored the 2004 Report to Congress on the Implementation and Impact of the Comprehensive School Reform Program, and contributed to the 2001 Title I report High Standards for All Students.

Margaret Terry Orr is on the faculty of the Bank Street College of Education where she directs the Future School Leaders Academy and other partnership leadership preparation programs. She is co-author of Developing Effective Principals Through Collaborative Inquiry.