Lily Mafela is a Professor of History and History Education at the University of Botswana in the Department of Languages and Social Sciences Education. She joined her department in 1983 as a newly graduated Staff Development Fellow. Following attainment of the MEd (History Teaching) degree from the University of Bristol, she served as head of the department. Between 1987 and 1993, Mafela studied at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, obtaining an MA and PhD in History, with a major in African History and a minor in Latin American History. Her doctoral dissertation, funded by a competitive award from the Rockefeller Foundation of New York, focused on gender analysis of the history of education in pre-colonial and colonial Botswana. She is currently revising that work for publication as a book. Subsequently, she earned an MBA from the De Montfort University in Leicester, UK. Mafela has published in the fields of history and education, with a particular focus on issues of social inclusion in education delivery, and in historical writing. A passionate educator with keen understanding of the multifaceted role of education in overall development, she is one of the pioneers of research that established the disturbing link between teenage pregnancy and lack of girls’ attainment of higher levels of education, subsequent to which ameliorative strategies have been implemented to promote better life chances for girls in Botswana’s education system. Mafela has demonstrated her leadership capabilities in many spheres of activity. She has served in key positions at regional and international levels, such as the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), and the Association for African Historians (AAH), in each of which she served as executive board member. For a little under a decade now, she has also been serving in the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Project on the Pedagogical Use of the General History of Africa Volumes (PUGHA) as Rapporteur. This project aims to promote transformative approaches to the teaching of African history. The project also seeks to promote mutual understanding, interdependence and peaceful coexistence.

Michel Boivin, Ph.D., is the Canada Research Chair in Child Development, professor of Psychology, Director of the Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment at the School of Psychology of Université Laval, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He leads a program of research on the bio-psycho-social determinants of child development, with a special emphasis on early childhood. This research is anchored to large population-based longitudinal studies, including the Quebec Newborn Twin Study and the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Boivin has extensively published in leading international journals in psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics, including three books, 44 book chapters, and 226 articles. He co-leads the Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Development and the web-based and multilingual Encyclopaedia on Early Childhood Development, two international initiatives aimed at knowledge dissemination. He has trained more than 50 Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows.

Anthony Phillips, Ph.D., has expertise in brain function and behavior. He was Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (2009–2017), Founding Director of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Institute of Mental Health, and is currently professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Senior Investigator with the UBC Djavad Mohafhagian Centre for Brain Health. Phillips’ research focuses on the neural bases of learning and memory and has contributed to better treatment of addiction and mental health. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Phillips has received numerous awards including the Heinz Lehmann Award from the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the Bill and Marilynn Weber Lifetime Achievement Award from the UBC Faculty of Medicine. In 2015, he became a member of the Order of Canada.

Jennifer Knox is an educator with over 18 years experience in the United States, Europe, and Asia. As a member of the core Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE) team at Emory University, she has been central to the development of the curriculum since its first steps in 2015. She serves as a SEE Learning education consultant, curriculum designer, teacher training facilitator, and liaison with partner schools. As a certified Cognitive Based Compassion Training (CBCT) instructor, Jen has worked to incorporate CBCT into educational settings, including formal research studies at an International Baccalaureate charter school and at the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has also taught CBCT to students at Emory University and to faculty in Atlanta Public Schools. For 12 years, she has taught visual art at Woodward Academy where she teaches a SEE Learning Course and coordinates with senior administrators, counselors, and faculty to align SEE Learning initiatives academy-wide.

Tara Wilkie, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in cognitive psychology with a special focus on understanding different learning profiles. She has been a researcher, a classroom resource teacher, a special education consultant, a school psychologist, and a university lecturer. Wilkie’s research has focused on the use of computers as cognitive tools and the application of metacognitive learning strategies. Her clinical experience includes working with children and adolescents both in the classroom and in specialized settings.

Since 2015, Wilkie has been the Director of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) at the Peace Grantmakers Network (PGN), a group of philanthropic foundations, individual donors, and partner organizations working collaboratively in applied peace efforts and social harmony initiatives. As the director of SEL at PGN as well as its key resource facilitator, Wilkie has been actively involved in the development of such applied peace initiatives as “Les Grandes Rencontres.” She also helped organize two key symposia for educators: “Creating Caring School Communities: Social Emotional Learning & Bullying Prevention” (February 2014) and “Research Meets Practice: Effective Tools to Prevent Bullying” (November 2014). Wilkie’s current focus is in the area of SEL, bullying prevention, and creating caring school communities.

Wilkie co-developed “Ma Classe Zone de Paix,” a non-violent, communicationbased SEL school program. Since 2009, she has been teaching this program in French two days a week at École Bussonière, a primary school in Montréal. She also offers workshops and training on SEL for teachers, parents, and school boards and maintains a private practice. Wilkie is the co-founder, with Sophie Boyer Langri, of the Institute of Social Emotional Education and the co-author of CS3, a K–8 curriculum. She lives in Montréal with her husband and two daughters.