Kelly D. Holstine

Kelly D. Holstine, MAE (she/her) is the owner of WordHaven BookHouse, a bookstore and writing center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She is an Equity 2.0 Consultant, an educator, a speaker, and a writer. She is the 2018/2019 Minnesota State Teacher of the Year, the 2018 Honoree for Minnesota Women Breaking Barriers, the 2019 Minnesota Lynx Women’s Spotlight Selection for Leader and Innovator in Arts and Education, and the 2019 Minnesota Women’s Press Favorite Leader in Education. Holstine’s co-written chapter, “Impact of Trauma on Our Youth,” is published in the book, Flip the System: How Teachers Can Transform Education and Save Democracy. Her monologue, “A Butch’s Guide to Excavating Femininity,” is published in the play Naked I: Insides Out. She is a columnist for Education Post and a contributing writer for The Progressive. She has also published articles in The Independent, Minnesota Women’s Press, NEA Today, AFT Voices, and Icon Newspaper.

Holstine’s TED-Ed Talk on how educators need to be more than just allies was released in January of 2020. She has taught high school English, instructed undergraduate and graduate level Education courses at Augsburg University, and trained thousands of adults on Equity 2.0. Holstine helped to design, open, and run Tokata Learning Center in Shakopee, MN, from 2012–2019. She identifies as a gender nonconforming, lesbian and created the Rainbow Educator Network in 2019 to support folks in her community. Holstine holds a BA in communication from the University of Massachusetts, a communication arts and literature teaching license from Augsburg University, and a MA in education from Augsburg University. She has worked and volunteered in the fields of education, media, team building, social services, animal rescue, and theatre. Holstine lives in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, with her family of rescued cats and dogs.