Mychal Threets

Mychal Threets is a librarian, mental health advocate, and the library’s number one fan (according to himself, admittedly). He is the host of the newly relaunched Reading Rainbow, a PBS children's television series that teaches reading skills, habits, and attitudes.  

He was raised in his local library as a home-school kid, and got his first library card at the age of five. He got his first library job as a library-shelver at the library he grew up in and worked his way up to become Supervising Librarian of that very same library. He is very open about his mental health. He talks about it in hopes that it’ll help others in their mental health journey. He is adamant about encouraging people to believe him when he says he’s happy they are here.

He considers it an honor to the library people who raised him that he is a recipient of the 2024 “I Love My Librarian” award from the American Library Association, one of School Library Journal’s 2024 Movers and Shakers, one of TIME Magazine’s 2024 Next Generation Leaders, a 2024 winner of The Webby Awards for social impact, and one of the 2025 TIME Magazine’s inaugural list of 100 creators.

He is the author of I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy, published by Random House Children’s Books and illustrated by Lorraine Nam. He is proud to be Resident Librarian for PBS and PBS Kids.

Nyle DiMarco

Nyle DiMarco is an Emmy Award and Academy Award-nominated producer, an Emmy Award-nominated director, an actor, and a New York Times bestselling author. His directorial debut, DEAF PRESIDENT NOW!, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Apple TV+ in May of 2025. He has since received a Humanitas nomination and two Emmy Award nominations for the film (Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program -- making him the first deaf director ever nominated for an Emmy).

Currently DiMarco is executive producing the Colleen Hoover title, MAYBE, SOMEDAY, at Netflix as a scripted television show, and previously set up scripted shows at NBC with Neil Meron, ABC with Aptaker & Berger and Charter Spectrum with Daniel Dae Kim. DiMarco also previously executive produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary short, AUDIBLE, as well as the documentary series, DEAF U, for Netflix. DiMarco’s book, DEAF UTOPIA: A MEMOIR — AND A LOVE LETTER TO A WAY OF LIFE, instantly was recognized as a New York Times bestseller: the memoir is an inspiring celebration of Deaf culture and an intimate look into the life journey of the global figure we know today. On the acting front, DiMarco most recently appeared on Peacock’s QUEER AS FOLK. His additional acting credits include STATION 19 for ABC, THIS CLOSE for Sundance Channel, DIFFICULT PEOPLE for Hulu and SWITCHED AT BIRTH for Freeform.  Activism and philanthropy also play massive roles in DiMarco's life. He quickly has become a well-recognized champion for not only the Deaf community, but also for disabled people and LQBTQ+ people worldwide.

Through LEAD-K Family Services, he works tirelessly on bilingual education initiatives and aims to improve access to accurate information about early language acquisition. He also is an ally and influencer with the United Nations -- further propelling his advocacy and tackling education and accessibility under their 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. DiMarco also regularly consults on best practices for disability inclusion and authentic representation in media.

Antoine Hunter
Urban Jazz Dance Company

Antoine Hunter is a Bay Area native, Purple Fire Crow also Known as Mx. Antoine Hunter is an award-winning African, Indigenous, Deaf, Disable, Two Spirit producer, choreographer, film/theater actor, dancer, dance instructor, model, poet, speaker, mentor and Deaf advocate, and founder of the Urban Jazz Dance Company. He has performed throughout the Bay Area and the world including Cuba, Rome, Hawaii, Peru and London. Hunter is a faculty member at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Shawl-Anderson, Youth in Arts and Dance-A-Vision.

The Urban Jazz Dance Company (UJDC) was founded in 2007 by Antoine Hunter. The Urban Jazz Dance Company (Deaf Lead Business) consists of a mix of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers. UJDC's mission is to provide opportunities for Deaf and other-abled artists to contribute to the arts and larger society, increasing awareness around Deaf issues via the performing arts. Featuring the syncopation of urban jazz rhythms, the company values the importance of play and performance to connect cultures of all races, ages, abilities, and backgrounds.