Erika Bass, Co-Chair
Erika Bass is assistant professor of English education at University of Northern Iowa. Her research is focused on preservice teacher education, rural education, and literacies; often those three areas intersect. She truly believes place and identity are deeply connected.
​Michael Young, Co-Chair
Michael Young is an assistant professor of elementary literacy education at Illinois State University. He is a former elementary teacher, middle school instructional coach, and K-12 curriculum leader. Michael’s research examines pursuits of equity and justice in literacy teaching and learning by considering intersections of reading and writing development, critical literacy, education policy, identity, and antiracist pedagogies in schools and communities.
Monica Roe
Monica Roe is a Whippoorwill Award-winning author, physical therapist, beekeeper, and researcher/advocate for the social model of disability and inclusive rural health. A first-generation graduate, Monica studies public health and disability-inclusive disaster preparedness at the University of Alaska and spent over a decade as a pediatric physical therapy consultant for remote, off-road communities in northwestern Alaska. She and her family divide their time between Alaska and their apiary in rural South Carolina.
Jacqueline Yahn
Jacqueline Yahn is associate professor of teacher education at Ohio University, a generational Appalachian, and a lifelong resident of the Ohio Valley. Her research focuses on rural school and community viability and and she teaches several classes in middle childhood education including language arts and social studies methods, children’s literature, and middle childhood literature.
Erin Schulz
After growing up on a sheep and wheat farm in a town of 500 people, Erin Schulz taught Language Arts to middle school students in the Yakima Valley  for 5 years. Although now living and teaching in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, rural stories and representation are always on Erin's mind. 
Allyssa Graham
Allyssa Graham is an educator and literacy advocate with over a decade of experience. Having taught students in rural schools across North Carolina and Central New York, she values literature that reflects the realities, challenges, and beauty of rural life. She currently teaches high school English in Newfield, NY, and believes that authentic literature has the power to connect readers to their communities and affirm their identities.
Brianna Johnson
Brianna Johnson is a high school librarian in the beautiful mountains of Alleghany County, VA, where she is a lifelong resident. She has worked in education since 2018 and firmly believes in the transformational power of reading. Her main focus in the library is to ensure that all patrons can see themselves reflected in the pages of a book. 
A. J. Eversole