Dr. Nadia Lopez is an award-winning educator, who became a viral sensation after the popular blog Humans of New York featured one of scholars, naming her as the most influential person in his life. Her work of opening a school to close the prison, was evident in Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a STEAM-focused middle school in Brownsville, Brooklyn she founded in 2010 and served as the principal for ten years. Named LinkedIn’s 2019 Top 10 Voices in Education and the recipient of the 2015 Black Girls Rock award–alongside Michelle Obama– she has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Glamour Magazine, PopSugar, MSNBC,CBS, the Ellen Degeneres Show, Good Morning America, and the Today Show. Dr. Lopez was also invited to White House to meet with President Obama and selected as the Varkey Foundation’s Top 50 Global Teacher Prize Finalist in 2016. Her Ted Talk on the Education Revolution has garnered more than a million views and she serves as guest lecturer at the Harvard University’s Graduate School for Education teaching students on the subject matter of Transformative Justice, Education, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.

In 2020, Dr. Lopez ended her tenure as principal to focus on her work as a mental health advocate and wellness enthusiast after developing a stress-related illness that threatened her life. Through her company, The Lopez Effect, she provides workforce training and coaches leaders to build their capacity, improve culture through DEI practices, as well as develop systems to create healthy spaces for professional sustainability. Additionally, she consults with individuals and organizations on their goals and implementation of social responsibility initiatives that target marginalized communities for a positive impact.