Araceli Esparza, M.F.A., is a Latinx poet, writer and teacher based in Madison with strong migrant farmer roots. She co-edited a poetry anthology with Flying Ketchup Press, “The Very Edge Poems,” that can be found at local bookstores and Amazon. She earned her master’s degree from Hamline University and was named one of Wisconsin’s Most Influential Latina Leaders by Madison365. Esparza is the owner of Wisconsin Mujer, a social engagement company, and co-hosted the podcast “Midwest Mujeres.” On being a writer, Esparza says, “To me, being a Latinx writer means to be able to catch fires, to bring forth something from labor and sweat, to have enough when there’s not a lot.”

Yorel Lashley, Ph.D., is the director of programs for UW’s PLACE (Professional Learning and Community Education) and the director of student empowerment for the Center for Arts Education and Social and Emotional Learning. He is a developmental psychologist interested in self-efficacy and social-emotional learning in arts, academics and integrated environments. He founded and is the director of Drum Power, which helps young people develop and practice social-emotional skills, discipline, community and leadership using West African, Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Cuban percussion. Dr. Lashley created the Relationships First framework for building and maintaining healthy classroom culture, fully integrating academic content with social-emotional learning. Dr. Lashley is also a professional musician who trained with the Kankouran West African Dance Company in Washington, D.C., and the Harbor Conservatory for the performing arts in Spanish Harlem and led bands in New York City.

Helen Lee, M.F.A., is an artist, designer and educator. She earned her M.F.A. in glass from the Rhode Island School of Design and a bachelor of science in art and design in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work is in the collections of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio and the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art. Her work has been shown in New Glass Now at Corning Museum of Glass and the Burke Prize 2019 exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design. Lee has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, California College of Art, Pilchuck Glass School, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Ox-Bow School of Art, China Academy of Art, Toyama City Institute of Glass Art and the MIT Glass Lab. She is an associate professor and head of glass in the Art Department and faculty director of The Studio, a residential learning community that houses more than 60 student residents from all majors in a co-ed living environment.

Sofía Snow is the director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) at UW–Madison, which administers the First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Scholarship Program. An alumna of the inaugural cohort to graduate from the First Wave program, Snow is an interdisciplinary performing artist who is passionate about developing talented artists in higher education. Before returning to UW, she served as executive director of Urban Word NYC, one of the oldest and most comprehensive youth literary arts organizations in the U.S. First Wave is a nationally recognized program known for pushing the boundaries of poetry, dance, theater and art — the first and only program of its type in the country. First Wave scholars pursue their creative potential through a focus on three pillars: academics, activism and art. In addition to First Wave, OMAI houses a suite of innovative programs, including the Hip Hop in the Heartland educator training series, the annual Passing the Mic and Line Breaks festivals, and Madison’s longest-running all-age open mic event, Just Bust!

Chris Walker, M.F.A., is the director of the Division of the Arts at UW, a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Dance and founding artistic director of First Wave, a nationally prominent scholarship program known for pushing the boundaries of poetry, dance, theater and art. Walker is a multi-hyphenate contemporary dance and performance artist. Rooted in “Resistance Aesthetics,” Walker’s work draws upon the danced rituals, mas traditions, and embodied performance history of the African diaspora. His research intersects dance choreography for the concert stage with collaborations with visual and performance artists for museum, alternate spaces, professional theatre, and film.