Jo Smith, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in education policy and leadership in the University of Auckland's Faculty of Education and Social Work. Her research is situated at the intersection of policy and practice, and examines the structures that both hinder and help schools enact reforms aimed at improving outcomes for all students.

Elisabeth Crowell Kim, PhD is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at California State University, Monterey Bay. Her research uses a mixed-methods approach to explore the links between education policy and educational equity, with a particular focus on how contemporary policies moderate or exacerbate inequities for low-income Latinx and BIPOC students.