Xian Franzinger Barrett teaches mathematics and writing as a special education teacher in a school on the southwest side of Chicago while raising a three-year-old daughter. He previously taught Writing, Sexual Education, Law, History, and Japanese Language and Cultures in Chicago Public Schools across the South and Southwest sides of the city, and has received numerous teaching awards, including being selected as a 2009-2010 U.S. Department of Education Classroom Teaching Ambassador Fellow. He is a founding member of EduColor.