Erica Machulak, PhD

Author

Erica Machulak (she/her), PhD, is the Founder and Lead Facilitator of Hikma, a social impact startup with a mission to mobilize scholarship for the public good through consulting, capacity building, and storytelling. Over the past two years, Hikma clients have secured $6M+ in research funding, informed new policies, and published their work in media outlets such as Forbes and the CBC.

As a writer, editor, and facilitator, Erica believes that the world needs to hear more from people who resist easy answers. Since completing her dissertation on Arabic influences in medieval English literature, Erica has written articles for Inside Higher Ed, Intellect Ltd, and Humanities, the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the University of Oxford (MSt.), and the University of Notre Dame (PhD).

Headshot credit: Heidi Back

Crystal Marie Moten, PhD

Foreword Author

Crystal Marie Moten, PhD is a public historian, curator, and writer who focuses on the intersection of race, class, and gender to uncover the hidden histories of Black people in the Midwest. Moten holds degrees from Washington University in Saint Louise (BA) and the University of Wisconsin, Madison (MA/PhD). She is the author of the award-winning book, Continually Working: Black Women, Community Intellectualism and Economic Justice in Postwar Milwaukee.

Headshot credit: Maurice L. Bland

Sophia van Hees, PhD

Illustrator

Sophia van Hees is a multi-passionate creative with a background ranging from fine art to cognitive neuroscience. She takes an experimental approach to her business and design work, weaving together threads of ideas to discover new and unpredictable connections along the way. As owner of Brave Snail Designs, she also embraces fearless creativity mixed with slow and meaningful growth. Sophia holds a Bachelor of Speech Pathology and PhD from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Headshot credit: Heidi Back