Danielle Allen is James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. She is also Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn, a research lab focused on civic education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy as well as a seasoned nonprofit leader, democracy advocate, tech ethicist, distinguished author, and mom. She is a contributing columnist at The Atlantic Magazine and was the 2020 winner of the Library of Congress' Kluge Prize, which recognizes scholarly achievement in the disciplines not covered by the Nobel Prize. She received the Prize "for her internationally recognized scholarship in political theory and her commitment to improving democratic practice and civics education." Her many books also include the widely acclaimed Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality; Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.; Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus; and Justice by Means of Democracy.

Paul Carrese is Director of the ASU Center for American Civics, and professor in the School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, serving as the school’s founding director 2016 to 2023. Formerly he was a professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy, co-founding its honors program blending liberal arts and leadership education. He teaches and publishes on the American founding, American constitutional and political thought, civic education, and American grand strategy. His forthcoming book is Teaching America: Reflective Patriotism in Schools, College, and Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2026). He has held fellowships at Oxford (Rhodes Scholar); Harvard; University of Delhi (Fulbright); and the James Madison Program, Princeton. He served on the advisory board of the Program on Public Discourse at UNC Chapel Hill; co-led a national study, Educating for American Democracy, on history and civics in K-12 schools with partners from Harvard, Tufts, and iCivics (2021); is a fellow of the Civitas Institute, UT Austin; serves on the Academic Council of the Jack Miller Center for America’s Founding Principles and History; and serves on the executive Council of the American Political Science Association as well as the APSA’s Civic Education Committee. He is a Senior Fellow for Civic Thought and Leadership with the Jack Miller Center, and in 2025 was a Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, to support the Alliance for Civics in the Academy and Stanford Civics Initiative.

Kelley Brown is a government teacher, instructional coach and professional development coordinator at Easthampton High School in Massachusetts, where she has taught for the last 25 years. Her We the People class is the pride of the school and community. Her team enjoys continued success in the Massachusetts Center for Civic Education’s We the People State Competitions and won the 2020 National We the People Competition. Since 2006, she has led K-12 teacher professional development across the country, including for the MA Juvenile Justice System, Teaching American History Programs, the Center for Civic Education, and the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources. Kelley has taught twelve different graduate level courses for educators focused on teaching with primary sources. She co-designed History’s Mysteries– a K-5 primary source historical inquiry curriculum– which is now iCivics’ Private i History Detectives. Kelley was a 2006 Disney Teacher, the 2010 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year, a 2021 American Lawyers’ Alliance Law-Related Education National Teacher of the Year, the 2022 DAR National Outstanding Teacher of American History and a recipient of the 2025 Edward M. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Civics Education. Kelley contributed to several books about teaching students with diverse needs and trauma.