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Ellen Smith is Lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program and the associate director of its Gralla Fellows Program for Religion Journalists. She is also principal of Museumsmith, a firm specializing in museum exhibitions and historic site interpretations throughout the nation. Trained as an academic historian and a museum curator, Smith has published more than three dozen books, articles and catalogs including *The Jews of Boston*, co-edited with Jonathan D. Sarna. Among her recent work are publications and exhibitions *The Jews of Rhode Island*, *Seattle Jewish Women* (Museum of History and Industry, Seattle); *Jewish New Year Postcards*; *American Yiddish Theater *(Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York City); *Colonial American Jewish Portraits* (Jewish Museum, New York City); historic immigrant synagogues; and three exhibitions on the Jews of Boston. Smith was also the Chief Historical Consultant to the Emmy Award-winning WGBH *The Jews of Boston *television production. She was one of twelve nationally selected scholars participating in "The Visual Culture of American Religions" project (1996-2000) funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Lilly Endowment. Smith is the former Curator of the American Jewish Historical Society and the National Museum of American Jewish History, and has taught courses in American Jewish Women's History, American Jewish Material Culture, and American Jewish History at Brandeis and Northeastern Universities. In 2005 she toured the country as one of the United Jewish Community's key speakers during the 350th anniversary celebration of Jews in America.

Bob Blumenthal began his career as a jazz critic in 1969 for *Boston After Dark*, later known as *The Boston Phoeni*x, while in college, and continued to contribute to that paper through 1989. After serving as guest critic for *The Boston Globe* during its jazz festival for a decade, he became a regular Globe contributor in 1990 and a weekly columnist in 1993, and continued in both roles until 2002. Throughout these years, during which he worked as an attorney, primarily for the Massachusetts Department of Education, Blumenthal was also contributing to such publications as *The Atlantic Monthly*, *Rolling Stone*, *The Village Voice*, *Down Beat* and *JazzTimes*, and writing numerous album notes. He also provided radio and television commentary and served as a panelist for the National Jazz Service Organization, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and the Jazz Composers Alliance. He also received Grammy awards for best album notes in 1999 for *Coltrane: The Classic Quartet/Complete Impulse!*.

Edward B. Fiske is an internationally known education writer and editor who has written informatively on topics ranging from American higher education to primary school reform in Southeast Asia, New Zealand and South Africa. Formerly the education editor of the *New York Times*, Mr. Fiske is well known as the author of the best-selling *Fiske Guide to Colleges* (Sourcebooks), an annual publication that has been a standard part of college admissions literature for two decades. He is a regular contributor to the *International Herald-Tribune*. In addition to the *New York Times* his articles and book reviews have appears in *American Prospect*, *Atlantic Monthly*, *The New Republic*, *Readers Digest* and other national publications. He has received numerous awards for education reporting and serves on a number of boards of non-profit organizations, including the Foundation for Excellent Schools in Vermont, the Center for International Understanding in Raleigh, NC, and the Central Park School, a charter school in Durham, NC.

Helen F. Ladd is the Edgar Thompson Professor of Public Policy Studies and professor of economics at Duke University. Prior to 1986, she taught at Dartmouth College, Wellesley College, and at Harvard University, first in the City and Regional Planning Program and then in the Kennedy School of Government. She graduated with a BA degree from Wellesley College in 1967, received a master's degree from the London School of Economics in 1968, and earned her PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1974. Most of her current research focuses on education policy. Most recently, she has co-edited *The Handbook of Research in Education Finance and Policy (2008)*, and co-authored (with Edward Fiske) *Elusive Equity: Education Reform in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Brookings Institution, 2004 and HSRC Press in paperback, 2005*). She is also the editor of *Holding Schools Accountable: Performance-Based Reform in Education (Brookings Institution, 1996)* and the coauthor (with Edward Fiske) of *When Schools Compete: A Cautionary Tale (Brookings Institution, 2000)* which draws lessons for the US from New Zealand.

**Governor Charlie Baker** was sworn in for a second term as the 72nd Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on January 3, 2019, after a first term focused on moving Massachusetts forward through bipartisan, results-driven leadership. Since taking office, Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito have assembled a diverse team and put forth a ‘get stuff done’ approach to build a state government that is as thrifty, hard-working and creative as the people of Massachusetts. Raised in Needham, Governor Baker attended Massachusetts public schools and is a graduate of Harvard College. He went on to earn a Master's of Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, where he met his wife Lauren. The Bakers reside in Swampscott, have been heavily involved in numerous civic and charitable endeavors, and are the proud parents of their three children, Charlie, AJ, and Caroline.

Richard C. Lord is President and Chief Executive Officer of Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM). AIM. is an employer service organization of more than 5,400 member companies. He joined AIM in 1991 and served as Executive Vice President for Legislative Policy where he was responsible for AIM.'s public policy analysis and legislative efforts on health care, economic development, taxation, worker's compensation, and other areas of special interest to employers in the Commonwealth. Prior to joining AIM, he served as Chief of Staff for the Committee on Ways and Means of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The Committee is responsible for all legislation involving state funds and revenues, including the Commonwealth's annual budget and all tax related matters. The Committee employed gun for six years, where he served as the Budget Director before being promoted to the Chief of Staff position. He is a native of North Adams, Massachusetts and a 1977 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Psychology.

Richard Marlin is the Legislative Director for the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, representing thousands of workers in the construction trades across the Commonwealth. He previously served as the Legislative Director for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO for 14 years, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

John E. McDonough is the executive director of Health Care For All, a Massachusetts consumer health advocacy organization. While completing this project, he was an associate professor at the Heller School at Brandeis University. Prior to that, he served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives between 1985 and 1997. He holds a doctorate in public health from the University of Michigan and a master in public administration from Harvard University.