Sam Chaltain (@samchaltain) is a writer, filmmaker and global design consultant dedicated to advancing people’s understanding of the future of learning — and what it requires.

Sam’s writings about his work have appeared in both magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today. A former speechwriter for each of President Obama’s U.S. Secretaries of Education, Sam has also written for Oscar and Grammy Award winning artists. A periodic contributor to CNN, Sam is the author or co-author of seven books; a co-producer of the PBS documentary film, 180 Days: Hartsville; and co-creator of the 10-part online film series, A Year at Mission Hill.

Deanna Ramirez, Chief Chaos Coordinator, is an education and mental health professional committed to helping teams and individuals grow through conflict so they feel more connected, cared for and whole in their lives and at work. With over 13 years of experience in the higher education, non-profit, and corporate worlds she worked with organizations and teams to elevate the global professional standard and realized that conflict continues to cause anxiety, pain, and dysfunction because people avoid it, get defensive, and just “don’t like confrontation.”

Seeing a need to help people function better together, to lean into the discomfort of conflict, she launched Wholeworx Initiative, a professional training and coaching business delivering transformative learning programs that invite work teams to identify areas of growth and opportunity and motivate them to initiate the changes needed to grow to greatness through conflict. Conflict is the content of our lives and it continues to be a painful reminder of our common humanity that people struggle to work through. It does not have to be avoided and can, in fact, be the path to peace.