Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum (she/her), president emerita of Spelman College, is a clinical psychologist widely known for her expertise on race relations and as a thought leader in higher education. Her 13 years as the president of Spelman College (2002—2015) were marked by innovation and growth, and her visionary leadership was recognized in 2013 with the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award. The author of several books including the best-selling “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race” (now in a new 2017 20th anniversary edition) and “Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation” (2007), Tatum is a sought-after speaker on the topics of racial identity development, the impact of race in the classroom, strategies for creating inclusive campus environments and higher education leadership. In 2005 Dr. Tatum was awarded the prestigious Brock International Prize in Education for her innovative leadership in the field. A fellow of the American Psychological Association, she was the 2014 recipient of the APA Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology.

A civic leader in the Atlanta community, Dr. Tatum is engaged in educational initiatives designed to expand educational opportunity for underserved students and their families, as well as to connect communities across lines of difference. Locally she serves on the governing boards of the Westside Future Fund, Achieve Atlanta, and Morehouse College as well as the Georgia Power Board of Directors. Her national service includes her membership on the boards of Smith College, the Educational Testing Service, and TIAA Charitable.

Dr. Tatum holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Wesleyan University, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in religious studies from Hartford Seminary. She has served as a faculty member at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Westfield State University and Mount Holyoke College. Before her 2002 appointment as president of Spelman, she served as dean and acting president at Mount Holyoke College. In spring 2017 she was the Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor at Stanford University. Most recently, she served as interim president at Mount Holyoke College during academic year 2022-23. 

Dr. Ximena Zúñiga (she/ella), Professor, Department of Student Development – Social Justice Education concentration – University of Massachusetts Amherst, is an engaged scholar in social justice education and critical approaches to dialogue across differences in higher education. She is co-editor of Multicultural Teaching in the University (Praeger, 1993), Readings for Diversity and Social Justice (Routledge, 2001; 2010; 2013, 2018, and forthcoming) and Engaging Identity, Difference and Social Justice (Routledge, 2014), and co-author of Intergroup dialogue in higher education: Meaningful learning about social justice (2007) and Dialogues across Differences (Russell Sage, 2013). Beyond her various book chapters, she published articles in the Journal of Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Journal of Equity and Excellence in Education, Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice among others. She teaches foundations and practice courses in social justice education and intergroup dialogue pedagogy. Her current research examines the impact of engaging in intergroup dialogue and transformative racial justice practices on higher education faculty and staff professional and action roles. She currently serves as American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Senior Scholar, and Chancellor Leadership Fellow at The University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has co-led several intergroup dialogue and racial justice initiatives in higher education, nationally and internationally, with the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, W.T. Grant Foundation, Ford Foundation, Obama-Singh Higher Education Initiative, the Massachusetts Department of Higher of Education. She received the ACPA Lifetime Achievement Award in March of 2020, and the ACPA Outstanding Social Justice Collaboration in March 2022 for the Building Capacity for Transformative Racial Justice Practices initiative at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is binational and lives and works in the unceded homelands of the Pocumtuc Nation on the land of the Norwottuck community.