Derek Fenner is an artist, educator, and researcher living on Ohlone land in Oakland, California. He earned his MFA in writing and poetics from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. He has an MA in educational leadership from Mills College. After a decade of experience as an art educator and administrator in the Massachusetts juvenile justice system, he is completing his Doctorate in education at Mills College. His research interests include, youth participatory action research as pedagogy, juvenile justice education, decolonizing methodologies, and arts based research. He is the arts learning program manager for the Alameda County Office of Education, where he also serves as a faculty member for the Integrated Learning Specialist Program.