Kristen Buras has been an antiracist activist, teacher, and researcher for over three decades. She is the cofounder and director of the New Orleans-based Urban South Grassroots Research Collective, a coalition with African American community groups that melds research and grassroots organizing for racial equity. She is the author of several books, including Charter Schools, Race, and Urban Space: Where the Market Meets Grassroots Resistance. A fellow of the National Education Policy Center, she was granted the Distinguished Scholar Activist Award by Critical Educators for Social Justice of the American Educational Research Association. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.