Nam Van Pham has been a community activist for more than 20 years. He has traveled to many states and countries to inform the American and international public about human right abuses in Vietnam by the current Vietnamese government. In 2002 he co-founded the Massachusetts Commission for Human Rights in Vietnam, a coalition of Vietnamese American organizations and leading activists to advocate for respect of religious freedom and other individual rights for Vietnam. He has established the Next Vietnam Foundation, whose goal is to advocate for a democratic Vietnamese society.

Liz Cheng is WGBH’s General Manager for Television, overseeing local channels WGBH 2, WGBX 44, ’GBH Kids, Create, and Boston Kids & Family TV as well as the national public television multicast channel World. She joined WGBH in December 2011 to serve as General Manager for World, a 24/7 service offering original content from independent filmmakers and emerging producers complemented by public television’s signature nonfiction documentary, science, and news programming. With a focus on new and diverse voices, emerging technology, and social media, World offers unique programs such as Global Voices, AfroPop, Pacific Heartbeat, and the co-produced documentary series America ReFramed and Local, USA.

Eddinger immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong at the age of 11 and grew up in Miami, Florida. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from Barnard College in New York City, and earned both her master’s degree and a doctorate in Modern Japanese Literature at Columbia University. From 2002 to 2005, she served as an administrator at MassBay Community College first as vice president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty (2002-2004), then as executive vice president (2004-2005). At MassBay, she successfully led the college’s 10-year accreditation self-study, chaired the college’s strategic planning committee, and secured a $2 million legislative earmark for capital improvement. She reorganized the college’s three academic institutes, raised enrollment in the division of continuing education by 13 percent, increased revenue by $2 million, and expanded the automotive technology center with partners GM Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Toyota and BMW. In 2005, she began her tenure at Moorpark College, a 15,000-student, comprehensive community college, serving as executive vice president from 2005 to 2008, before being tapped to serve as college president. Eddinger proved to be a leader in institutional effectiveness and long-term planning and strategy. At Moorpark, she led the college’s development of the 2009-2019 educational master plan as well as other planning initiatives. She spearheaded the identification of core academic curricula, launched a web-based student planning and development initiative, guided expansion of distance learning, and committed sustainable resources for the creation of a student success center.