Kevin Abourezk, an award-winning journalist, plays a dual role in the history, as overall editor and co-writer of the Native American section.
He is managing editor of Indian Country Today and was a reporter and editor for the Lincoln Journal Star for 18 years. A member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Abourezk has spent his career documenting the lives, accomplishments and tragedies of Native American people. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Dakota and master’s in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

J.S. Onésimo Sándoval is a professor of demography and sociology at St. Louis University. He has been conducting research at the intersection of Demography and Computational Spatial Science. His research focuses on geospatial data science methodologies to study socio-economic demographic patterns in American cities. He recently founded two geospatial applied community projects: Demography 4 Democracy and Coding for Spatial Justice. Both projects are designed to empower community members to envision the future they want for their neighborhoods and acquire the resources to make their visions happen. Professor Sándoval is the Acting Associate Director of the Taylor Geospatial Institute, Co-Director of the Ph.D. Public and Social Policy Program and the Director of the MS Sociology Program.

Dr. Emira Ibrahimpašić is an Associate Professor of Practice and Assistant Director of Global Studies in the School of Global Integrative Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  She holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of New Mexico and an M.B.A. from UNL. Outside of teaching and research Dr. Ibrahimpašić is committed to being an active part of her community and she serves as the Commissioner for the City of Lincoln Human Rights Commission. As a refugee to Lincoln from war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina, she is especially passionate about projects such as this one that afford opportunities to engage people in conversations about the importance and impact of immigrants and refugees on Lincoln and the state. “Our voices just like the voices of other ethnic and racial minority groups, are often silenced, minimized, or simply forgotten.” She welcomes this history project as a way to lift up those whose stories are an integral part of what makes today’s Nebraska. Both she and Dr. Julia Reilly are experienced researchers and writers with a passion for human rights and advocacy for marginalized communities.

Crystal M. Dunning completed work on the Roots of Justice bibliography in fall 2022. She is a graduate of Northwestern State University of Louisiana and holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is a board member for the Nebraska Arts Council and the Lincoln Community Playhouse.

Dr. Gabriel Bruguier is an Assistant Professor and Research Specialist Librarian at University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. He is an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe and grew up in Vermillion and Sisseton, South Dakota. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, a B.A. in philosophy from University of Minnesota Morris, and a Licentiate in International Relations from the Universidad de las Americas-Puebla. Bruguier was previously the Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Mid-America Transportation Center at Nebraska, where he oversaw three outreach programs. His efforts have been dedicated to helping Native American students gain a space and be more visible in higher education.

Heather Fryer, Ph.D., is a freelance writer, editor, and social and cultural historian of the 20th century U.S. west who was on the faculty at Creighton University from 2004 to 2022. She is the author of “Perimeters of Democracy: Inverse Utopias and the Wartime Social Landscape in the American West,” the biography of Servant of God Edward J. Flanagan for the dossier for his Cause for Canonization, and the PBS documentary “Shinmachi: Stronger Than a Tsunami.” She is past executive editor of “Peace & Change: A Journal of Peace Research” and currently serves as a writer and a member of the advisory board for the Japanese Hall exhibit at the Legacy of the Plains Museum.

Dr. Julia Reilly is an Assistant Professor of Practice in both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Global Studies Program and in the Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. She holds doctorate and master’s degrees in political science from UNL and a bachelor of arts degree from Colgate University in International Relations and Spanish.

Kathleen Johnson, Emerita Professor of Libraries at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, did extensive research and editing of the Roots of Justice bibliography. During her career, she helped plan the precursor to the UNL Center for Digital Research in the Humanities and helped develop the first version of the Mari Sandoz website. She has extensive experience in teaching students how to use electronic resources and has developed many online subject and course guides. She is the co-author of “A Checklist for Digital Humanities Scholarship”, published in 2015 in Digital Humanities in the Library: Challenges and Opportunities for Subject Specialists.
She is a member of the Roots of Justice Steering Committee.