Mychal loves stories! He enjoys learning something new every day, and that includes learning why people love their local library. He utilizes social media to share the stories of library kids and library grown-ups that he encounters in library land. He got his first library card at the age of 5 and was hooked on libraries from there. He got his first library job as a library shelver at the library he grew up in and worked his way up to become Supervising Librarian of that very same library. He got his Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Phoenix and his Master’s in Library and Information Science degree from San Jose State University. He is proud to be a 2023 recipient of the American Library Association’s “I Love My Librarian” Award! He is very open about his mental health. He talks about it in hopes that it’ll help others in their mental health journey. He is adamant about encouraging people to believe him when he says he’s happy they are here.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Annabelle Chang has been a passionate reader and book lover for as long as she can remember. As a 16-year-old high school student, Annabelle conceived of and opened Annabelle’s Book Club LA, an independent bookstore focused on young adult literature, a genre that has traditionally been underappreciated. In addition to growing the bookstore, Annabelle has been a committed advocate for community engagement. She has promoted literacy and a love of reading with local schools and provided a platform for historically underrepresented voices. In addition to young adult literature, Annabelle’s passions include tennis, surfing, travel, working with other entrepreneurs, and spending time with her friends, family, and three rescue dogs. Annabelle’s future career plans include publishing, media and entertainment, and their intersection with technology and artificial intelligence. Annabelle is currently enjoying her freshman year at Stanford University.

Sinead Bovell is a strategic foresight advisor and the founder of WAYE, an organization that prepares youth for a future with advanced technologies, with a focus on non-traditional and minority markets. Sinead advises c-suite executives and senior leadership across governments, global business giants and startups alike. She is an 11x United Nations speaker; she has given formal addresses to presidents, royalty and Fortune 500 leaders on topics ranging from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, and currently serves as a strategic advisor to the United Nations International Telecommunication Union on digital inclusion. Sinead is also a regular tech commentator for CNN, NBC, and talk shows on the societal impact of emerging technologies. Prior to founding WAYE, Sinead received her MBA from the University of Toronto and worked as a management consultant for A.T. Kearney.

Elisa began her journey with Teach For America as a 1998 corps member in Phoenix. She joined staff in 2001 to lead the organization’s work in her hometown in the Rio Grande Valley. Four years later, she became chief operating officer, overseeing field operations as Teach For America expanded to more than 300 urban and rural communities and more than tripled its network of leaders while improving student outcomes each year. Today, under her leadership as CEO, Teach For America’s network of over 70,000 corps members, tutors, and alumni are working inside and outside the classroom to ensure that all children have the access and opportunity to learn, lead, and thrive. Elisa sits on the boards of the Holdsworth Center, City Fund, GoGuardian, and Leadership for Educational Equity, and serves as a JOURNEY to Lead Champion and a Founding Partner of Starts With Us. She chairs the U.S. Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council, which provides recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on campus safety and security, strategic research, innovation, career development, partnership opportunities, and other topics. She is nationally recognized as one of the Top 20 Voices in Social Impact by LinkedIn and one of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas by ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals for America). Elisa holds a B.A. in sociology from DePauw University. She lives in Houston with her husband, Jeremy, and their four sons.

Allison leads the Minecraft Education team at Mojang Studios with a mission to build a better world through the power of play. She is invested in cultivating game-changing experiences and partnerships that empower young people with knowledge and skills they need to understand the world’s toughest problems and imagine a better future. A passion for empowering all students with technology drives Allison's focus on sharing how game-based learning impacts motivation, engagement, problem solving and social-emotional skills. She especially enjoys talking to new audiences about the power of Minecraft and other video games to make a positive impact on young people’s lives through meaningful, immersive learning experiences. Allison is a coaching leader who works with people to cultivate a healthy mindset and believes that pairing passion with curiosity is the key to unlocking potential. Prior to joining the Minecraft team, Allison worked in various roles at Microsoft gaining experience in product development and building go-to-market strategies in the fitness, gaming, retail, and device industries. Born and raised in Canada, Allison received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Waterloo before moving to Seattle to begin her 20-year career with Microsoft.

Susanna Pollack is the President of Games for Change, the leading global advocate for the power of games and immersive media as drivers of social impact. As a social entrepreneur and cross-sector leader, Susanna has over 25 years of experience advancing ambitious social impact goals through traditional and interactive media. At Games for Change, Susanna leads a global nonprofit and community dedicated to using games to tackle real-world challenges, from humanitarian conflicts to climate change and education. She has initiated dozens of G4C's world-class events, public arcades, design challenges, and youth programs in partnership with clients like Nobel Peace Center, Minecraft, Bezos Family Foundation, Google, Hasbro. Under her leadership, G4C has been widely recognized for innovative programs and cross-sector impact, receiving a Classy Award, an Anthem Award, a Shorty Impact Award, and an Engage for Good Halo Award. Susanna has been named on the Nonprofit Times Power & Influence Top 50 List and the Worthy 100 List. Prior to Games for Change, Susanna worked across the commercial and public sectors, including a 14-year stint in various SVP positions at BBC Worldwide.

JOSE ANTONIO TIJERINO is president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, a national nonprofit focused on education, workforce, social impact and culture, through the lens of leadership, which he describes as a “malleable mission.” Under Tijerino, HHF has been honored by The White House, US Congress, Fortune 500 companies, other nonprofits, and even the Government of Mexico. Tijerino is also executive producer of the Hispanic Heritage Awards at the Kennedy Center, which are broadcast on PBS. Prior, he was an executive at Fannie Mae Foundation, Nike, Burson Marsteller, and Cohn & Wolfe. Tijerino was honored with the “Ohtli Award,” which is the highest honor by government of Mexico; “Lifetime Achievement Award” by National PTA; Hispanics in Philanthropy “Giver Award;” “Vision Award” by Silicon Valley Latino Leadership; MALDEF “Human Rights Award;” Telemundo’s “Community Service Award;” “Civilian Impact Award” by US Army; “Brillante Award” by NSHMBA; “Digital Hero Award” by MMTC; “Cesar Chavez Award” by NHLI; multiple BRAVO Awards; and by the Greater Washington Hispanic Business Hall of Fame; among others. Tijerino has served and serves on various boards and advisory committees inlcuding Harvard’s Latino Leadership Initiative at the Kennedy School; University System of Maryland Foundation; HHTP (Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership); National Girls Collaborative; America’s Promise Alliance; Games for Change; Ayuda; CSforAll; KID Museum; Notre Dame’s Exoneration Justice Clinic; Nielsen’s Latino Advisory Counsel; Crittenton Services; Equity and Accountability Council for Coca-Cola; Disney’s Community Advisory Committee; and the FCC’s Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC); WhiteBoard Advisors; among others. As a proud immigrant from Nicaragua, Tijerino was recognized by FWD.US for his work with migrant families on the border including his support of the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, TX, and has helped build a center on the Mexico side. He also co-founded the American Project; #WeDreamAmerica campaign; #Masks4Farmworkers, which provided more than 2 million masks for farmworkers during the pandemic; DREAM LEAD for DACA recipients; and supported Imagination Stage’s Theatre For Change featuring the Oyeme! Project portraying the plight migrants; among other efforts. Tijerino co-produced the first, Latinx-themed game with Minecraft and is featured as a Minecraft character; produced an anti-hate tool kit with Nickelodeon; co-founded the Code as a Second Language (CSL) initiative, which has introduced 100,000 youth to coding; co-founded the LOFT (Latinos On Fast Track) Institute; helped found the Hispanic Leaders Alliance (HLA) with the NFL; a “Maker Academy” with the KID Museum for educators to attract minority students into STEM; among other efforts. As host of the Fritanga Podcast, Tijerino presents Latino culture, unitiy, perspective, information, and inspiration with guests ranging from celebrities to policymakers to opinion leaders. He is designated as an “Influencer” on LinkedIn and was selected as “Top Voices on Diversity, Equity & Includsion” on the platform. His blogs and media presensence have made him a national voice on various issues including DEIA, identity, immigration, creativity, and calls to action and tagged the term “Impatient Activism.” Tijerino earned a BS degree from the University of Maryland’s school of journalism, and honored with a Doctorate of Humane Letters from The Chicago School. He is a Salinas Fellow at the Aspen Institute and lives in Washington, DC, with his family.

Ana Homayoun is an academic advisor and early career development expert working at the intersection of executive functioning skills, technology, and personal energy management. She is the author of four books, including her most recent, Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades and College Admission, which focuses on the fundamental skills all students and young adults need to thrive. Her three previous books That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week, The Myth of the Perfect Girl and Social Media Wellness focus on helping students develop executive functioning skills, overcome the culture of perfectionism, and learn how to navigate social media and technology. She has spent over two decades working directly with young people and has worked with schools and consulted with companies around the world. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets including Good Morning America, New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Fast Company, and NPR. She is the founder of Silicon-Valley based Green Ivy Educational Consulting and the executive director of Luminaria Learning Solutions, a non-profit initiative focused on bringing executive functioning skill development to every classroom. She lives in San Francisco.

Jennifer Breheny Wallace is an award-winning journalist and author of the instant New York Times bestselling book Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It. Her forthcoming book Mattering: Building A Life of Value At Home, Work, and in the Larger World is based on five years of research and an original global mattering survey. Wallace is the founder of The Mattering Institute, whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in homes, workplaces, and communities, and co-founder of The Mattering Movement, a nonprofit whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in schools. Wallace is a consultant with The LEGO Group and is a BCG BrightHouse Luminary. She is also a Journalism Fellow at The Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and serves on the Advisory Board for Making Caring Common, a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. After graduating from Harvard College, Wallace was a broadcast producer for CBS “60 Minutes" and part of the team that won The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and frequently appears on national television programs to discuss her work. Wallace serves on the board of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City, where she lives with her husband and their three children.