Melissa Marini Švigelj was an educator in Cleveland (Ohio) public high schools for two decades, and taught high school students at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center four of those years. In the tradition of Brazilian educator and activist, Paulo Freire, she understands neutrality as an educator is not an option. Thus, she remains a community activist and social justice advocate. Her blog msvigeljsmith.blog is part of a national network of education bloggers, and her posts have been featured on other national and state education blog sites. Interviews with Melissa can be found in the archives of the Rick Smith Radio Show, It’s About Justice local Cleveland radio show, on the podcast Quote Unquote, and in news articles in the The Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio’s KQED education blog, Mindshift. She presents at conferences nationwide, and has consulted on education policy locally and nationally related to social and emotional learning and on behalf of students entangled in the juvenile justice system. Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is most grateful for her sons and family dogs.