Joi Barrios teaches Filipino and Philippine literature at the University of California, Berkeley. She previously served as an associate professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman and taught at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies, UCLA, and UCI. She has won fourteen national literary awards and was among the 100 women chosen as Weavers of History for the Philippine Centennial Celebration for her contributions to literature. In 2004, she also received the TOWNS (Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service) Award.

Julia Camagong teaches Filipino at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York, and is the Co-Executive Director of Philippine Forum, a non-profit community organization based in New York City. She is also Vice President for Programs of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), a U.S.-wide alliance of community organizations and institutions working for the rights and welfare of Filipinos.