Aki Murata, Ph.D. is an educator, writer, and speaker who is best known for her research on mathematics teaching and learning and teacher development through lesson study. After obtaining Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 2002, she received a prestigious AERA-IES post-doctoral fellowship for three years, then held a professorship at Stanford University and UC-Berkeley. She has been sought to give plenary keynote speeches at many professional conferences and meetings as an education expert, and published many books and articles in top-level peer-reviewed journals. She has also received a Best Teaching Award and a Best Advising Award while at Stanford University, as recognitions for her personal approaches to mentor next generation of educators. She managed multiple research projects on how mathematics teaching and learning interact and improve in elementary-school classrooms, and the results are now widely found in different textbooks and curriculum materials . She is passionate about helping teachers improve instruction, and facilitates lesson study (collaboration-based teacher professional development) globally, collaborating with educators at different career levels (e.g., preservice, inservice, instructional coaches) and in different subject areas. Originally from Japan, Aki brings a comparative lens to examine how teachers improve teaching by understanding their students’ learning. Being an immigrant female scholar of color, she is committed to improve school experiences of students of color and strive to help educators at different levels and in various contexts.