Sam Steen, PhD, LSC, is an Associate Professor, licensed Professional School Counselor, and Director of the Diversity Research and Action Consortium, who specializes in school counseling, group work and cultivating Black students’ academic identity development. Dr. Steen was a school counselor for 10 years and these practitioner experiences shape his research agenda, approach to teaching, and service. Currently, two objectives guide his scholarship: 1) to further develop creative and culturally sustaining school-based counseling interventions that improve student achievement; including The Achieving Success Everyday Group Model (ASE Group Model) designed to promote social emotional and academic development for students of color and 2) to explore issues related to the training and preparation of pre-service counselors and school counselors in the local, regional, and national community. Dr. Steen is a Fellow for the Association for Specialists in Group Work, a division of the American Counseling Association. Recently, Dr. Steen received the Al Dye Research Award and the Professional Advancement Award both from ASGW recognizing his outstanding efforts advancing the field of group work through research and development of new and innovative strategies for schools, families, and underrepresented communities.

Rachel Vannatta, PhD, NCC, LCPC, has been in the counseling/counselor education field since 2010. She frequently tells students that she had no interest in Group counseling when she started her first master’s course, and that she walked out of that same course knowing that group work would be a huge part of her professional life. Since then, she has engaged in numerous writing projects around group work, teaching in counselor education, and teaching group work. Rachel has been actively involved in the Association for Specialists in Group Work for a number of years and considers this to be her professional home in the counselor education world. Presently, Rachel is a Senior Training Specialist at the Institute for Innovation and Implementation at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she engages in workforce development to support socio emotional learning and to promote positive mental health outcomes in children and families.

Kara Ieva, NCC, NCSC (she/hers), holds many identities. In addition to being a wife, mom, school counseling advocate, and co-conspirator in working to dismantle oppressive educational practices, policies, and systems, she is an Associate Professor in the Counseling in Educational Settings program at Rowan University. Her educational career spans over 22 years as a former Spanish teacher, administrator, and professional school counselor, and counselor educator. Kara uses her research for advocacy by using asset-based approaches to empower student agency while promoting equity and wellness (academic and mental health). Her specific interests include social emotional development (with students, in classrooms, embedded in content, educator SEL, and systemic tiered interventions centered on promoting healthy identities), group counseling, and post-secondary/career development (First Gen & STEAM). She consults and delivers professional development nationally to PK-12 school counselors, teachers, and administrators on strategies for cultivating a safe, equitable, and inclusive mental health and neurodiverse culture in schools.