Karen L. Mapp, Ed.D., is a senior lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the faculty director of the Education Policy and Management Master's Program. Over the past twenty years, Mapp's research and practice has been on the cultivation of partnerships among families, community members and educators that support student achievement and school improvement. She is co-author of several books including the seminal Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family/School Partnerships.

Ilene Carver has been a teacher in the Boston Public Schools for the past 20 years. Ilene was a co-chair of the Family and Community Education sub- committee for the Knowledge and Skills of Professional Teaching project that contributed to the development of the standards for family engagement in Massachusetts public schools.

Jessica Lander is a teacher and writer living in Cambridge. She studied anthropology at Princeton University and recently received a master's degree in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.