Nancy Akhavan is an independent consultant and author. She previously was an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Fresno State University. She has held various positions as teacher, principal, and district office leader. She has led literacy programs for schools, grades K-12, for over 35 years. She currently consults with teachers, as well as district and school leaders, to implement effective reading and writing instruction to close equity gaps and provide support for all students to have all possible opportunities. Nancy is the author of several professional books including Small Group Reading with Multilingual Learners (Corwin, 2023) and The Big Book of Literacy Tasks: 75 Balanced Literacy Activities Students Do (Not You!), Grades K-8 (Corwin, 2018).