Crystal Hawkins is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She graduated from Norfolk State University, with a Master’s in Clinical Social Work, where she also received her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology. Her career has included program development, child and adolescent mental health, and trauma-informed practices. She currently works as a dedicated educator with San Francisco Unified School District where she develops and administers all aspects of the Shoestrings Children’s Center. While working in the early childhood setting, Crystal co-founded “Black Girl, Brown Girl Books” with her childhood best friend in order to emphasize the importance of representation of Black and Brown characters in books for children 0-5 years old. Crystal is a co-founder of ROLOC (Removing Obstacles Lingering over Communities of Color), a transdisciplinary team of professionals of color who aim to integrate different areas of expertise in order to improve outcomes for communities of color through advocacy, research, and leadership development. She also provides individual and family therapy services in Oakland, CA. As a Guest Lecturer at both San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley, Crystal Hawkins loves merging real life social work experiences with learning that takes place in the classroom.

Wendy Hernandez is the Supervisor for Preschool and Early Literacy at Central Unified School District in Fresno County. Wendy has been serving children and families at Central Unified throughout her career, first as a special education and kindergarten teacher, then as an instructional coach and principal before becoming a district administrator.