Joel M. Freedman is a 13-year veteran English instructor for the LAUSD. He currently teaches at the Fairfax Magnet Center for Visual Arts and is an adjunct writing instructor for Los Angeles Southwest College. As a UCLA-Writing Project fellow, he presents frequently at local, state, and national conferences for educators. His story "A Good Day" is featured in One Teacher in 10: Second Edition (Alyson Books, 2005), Kevin Jennings, ed., an anthology of personal stories by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender educators.

Lonée Lona is currently an English teacher at the Humanitas Academy of Art and Technology, a new LAUSD pilot school in East Los Angeles. Previously, she taught English in the Humanitas Acacdemy at Roosevelt High School for four years, Crenshaw HS for three years, and spent the first three years of her teaching career in Tempe, AZ.  Her most significant professional development experiences began at Crenshaw, where she was a member of District 3 Literacy Cadre.  This experience lead to her participation in the UCLA Writing Project Summer Invitational, which in turn lead to her joining the UCLA WP study group on homophobia, of which she has been a member of for three years.  She has also participated in Facing History and Ourselves Holocaust and Human Behavior Institute, as well as various Humanitas teacher institutes through the Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP).  She has presented at various UCLA conferences as well as the CATE Conference and the NCTE National Convention.  As a teacher in the Humanitas Academy, she has worked on 2 interdisciplinary teams developing and teaching a thematic, writing-based curriculum. 

Deborah Lowe is currently a Lead Teacher and English teacher at the Humanitas Academy of Art and Technology, a new LAUSD pilot school in East Los Angeles.  Previously, she taught English in the Roosevelt High School Humanitas Academy for eleven years.  She earned her M.Ed. at UCLA TeachLA/TEP and National Board Certification. Significant learning experiences have been the UCLA Writing Project Summer Invitational, the Facing History Summer Institute, and the Advanced Placement Institute.  Meeting with the Strategic Literacy Network at LAEP and the UCLA Writing Project study group on homophobia taught her that ongoing relationships with teachers interested in the same issues is the best way to advance practice.  She works on two interdisciplinary teams (one lasting ten years), developing and teaching thematic, writing-based curricula. Deborah has taught other teachers in a number of settings: UCLA Teach LA courses, strategic literacy workshops, Humanitas Teacher Training Centers, and workshops at schools on teaching independent reading, the CAHSEE, and student-led conferencing. She has presented workshops at NCTE, the NWP Annual Meeting, CATE, and the UCLA Chancellor's Conference.

Kelly Maloney first began teaching in the Chicago public schools. To expand his educational impact and practice, Kelly co-designed and served as the founding faculty in a Costa Rican elementary school in the country's capital, San Jose. Determined to make it to the golden state, Kelly completed a Master's Degree through the Teacher Eduction Program at UCLA.  Since making Los Angeles his home, Kelly has taught at John C Fremont High School in South LA.  During his time at Fremont, Kelly has taught 10-12th grade English, both AP English courses and most recently began an AP Psychology program for the school. Aside from teaching, Kelly co-designed one of the Small Learning Communities the school will be implementing, "Communications, Media and Technology." This upcoming school year, Kelly will be overseeing the transition of his academy becoming an "SLC," and will be working with faculty to create inter-disciplinary, project and technology based learning. 

Paulina Martinez first began teaching in Griffith Middle School in 2007, her former middle school in East Los Angeles where she taught ESL to 7th and 8th grade students.  She transferred to Roosevelt High School in 2008 to teach 9^th and 11^th grade English in the Humanitas Academy, which required training to teach an interdisciplinary curricula. She's now completing her 3rd year teaching 9^th and 11^th grade English and AVID at Bravo Medical Magnet High School.  In the summer of 2009, she participated in the UCLA Writing Project, a 4-week summer invitational for teachers to share best practices relating to teaching writing in the classroom.  She also holds a M.Ed. from UCLA, TEP, and she's co-presented workshops at the UCLA's With Different Eyes Conference, UCLA's Writing Project Summer Invitational, and CATE. 

Paulina believes that her work with the WP Study Group on Homophobia has a significant impact on student learning.   She sees her collaboration with the Study Group as an opportunity to work with like-minded educators on an issue they believe is important.  Although the focus of the Study Group has been on designing lesson plans and enabling other teachers to design a more inclusive curriculum, the heart of this work is rooted in their efforts to help make students feel safe, welcomed and accepted in our schools.