Christine M’Lot is an Anishinaabe educator, editor, and Associate Publisher at Portage & Main / HighWater Press. A proud member of Swan Lake First Nation, she is based in Winnipeg and is committed to amplifying Indigenous voices through story and education. Christine is the editor of Resurgence: Engaging with Indigenous Narratives and Cultural Expressions In and Beyond the Classroom andRenewal: Indigenous Perspectives on Land-Based Education In and Beyond the Classroom. She also authored numerous teacher guides including the official educator resource guide forWilliam, a virtual reality residential school experience created by Nish Media. Her work centers on Indigenous resurgence and transformative storytelling.

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author and anthologist of more than 20 books for young readers. She was named a 2025 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Candidate, the NSK Neustadt Laureate, Texas Literary Hall of Fame inductee, and winner of the Southern Miss Medallion for Outstanding Contributions in Children’s Literature. Cynthia has been named to deliver the 2026 ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books, and served as the Katherine Paterson Inaugural Chair for the children’s-YA writing MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Texas.

Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson is an enrolled Inupiaq from Barrow, Alaska (now Utqiaġvik) and was raised in Point Hope, her mother’s community. She now resides in Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska. Rainey earned a BA in Studio Art from Humboldt State University in Northern California and also studied Philosophy, Marine Biology, and Education. She has held many roles in her career, including teaching middle and high school art.

Her work focuses on Indigenous creativity, traditional knowledge, and cultural reclamation. Her writing has appeared in Rural Voices, Tasting Light, and Boundless. Her debut novel, Eagle Drums, shares a powerful story rooted in Inupiaq culture. She is also the illustrator of Welcome to Inupiat Nunat: The Story of the Real People of the Arctic by Debby Dahl Edwardson and Saġġan George Edwardson, forthcoming in 2026.

Alongside her artistic and literary work, Rainey also runs a small seasonal Arctic agriculture business.