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Meet Marina Wolf Ahmad, a big woman with an even bigger vision for the future of dance. Marina is the director and founder of Big Moves, one of the only organizations in the world dedicated to getting all body types into the dance studio and onto the stage. By the Spring of 2001, Big Moves had produced it's first show, Bodies in Motion, a modern showcase which featured both original works created for Big Moves and pieces performed by guest artists from other companies. The overall reception of Big Moves in San Francisco was positive, and Marina found that the majority of the dance community understood the need for more size acceptance and diversity. Big Moves continued to expand in California, and when Marina moved to Boston in 2004, she brought Big Moves with her to the east coast. Big Moves hit the ground running in Boston focusing on more popular dance styles such as hip-hop, jazz, musical theater, and belly dance, while also incorporating performance styles such as spoken word and comedy. Their first east coast performance took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts during the spring of 2005.

Paul A. Christian retired as Fire Commissioner/Chief of Department of the Boston Fire Department on February 15, 2006 following a 38-year career. Appointed to the Boston Fire Department in January 1968, Christian has held all ranks in the organization and achieved the rank of Deputy Fire Chief earlier in his career than any member in the department’s history. He was awarded the department’s Roll of Merit and Distinguished Service Award for rescues performed in 1971 and 1972. Christian was appointed Chief of Department in 2000 and Fire Commissioner in 2001. During his administration, he reorganized the department and established the Special Operations Division to deal with technical rescue, hazardous material and terrorist response and emergency management procedures and training. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he oversaw the restructuring of protocols and procedures to address terrorism-related duties of the department. Additionally he directed the department’s action plans for the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the Patriot and Red Sox playoff and victory celebrations. Commissioner Christian is a recognized authority on the history of the Boston Fire Department and is a frequent guest lecturer at area colleges and civic groups. He is vice president of the Boston Fire Historical Society.

Amy Hoffman, a writer and community activist, is currently editor in chief of Womens Review of Books and a faculty member in the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College. Hospital Time, her memoir about taking care of friends with AIDS in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was published by Duke University Press in 1997. It was short listed for the American Library Association Gay Book Award and the New York Publishing Triangle Judy Grahn Award, and was a New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age selection. Her memoir An Army of Ex-Lovers was published by the University of Massachusetts Press in Fall 2007. Amy Hoffman's activism has included working for peace with the Jamaica Plain Action Network and Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine; and volunteering with the Reproductive Rights Network and the Out/Write lesbian and gay writers conference.

E. J. Graff is a freelance writer and author of *What Is Marriage For? The Strange Social History of Our Most Intimate Institution* (Beacon Press, 1999). E.J. Graff, a Women's Studies Research Center resident scholar, directs the Gender & Justice Project at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, where she investigates and reports on injustices facing women and children. Before joining the Institute, she collaborated on former Lt. Governor Evelyn Murphys book *Getting Even: Why Women Still Don't Make As Much As Men--And What To Do So We Will*, published by Simon & Schuster/Touchstone in October 2005. Her work is cited in legal journals, reprinted for use in courses, entered as courtroom exhibits, and quoted by government policymaking bodies. Ms. Graff is a senior correspondent for *The American Prospect* and a contributor to TPMCafe.com. Her work has appeared in such publications as *The New York Times Magazine*, *The Washington Post*, *The Boston Globe*, the *Columbia Journalism Review*, the *Los Angeles Times*, *Ms.*, *The Nation*, *The New Republic*, and more than a dozen anthologies. She has appeared in several documentaries; been interviewed by such media outlets as NPR, BBC, PBS, MTV, satellite radio, and cable news; and spoken or debated in public forums in the U.S. and abroad. She has been a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Schlesinger Library and a liberal arts fellow at Harvard Law School.

Esther Cervantes has worked in independent media, publishing, and non-profits since 1999. Her skills include financial management and planning, non-profit management, fundraising, promotion, research, writing, editing, teaching, and Spanish-to-English translation. She is interested in economic justice, environmental issues, human rights, food, and bicycles. Cervantes wants to apply her skills and expertise to a position dealing with food, transportation, immigration, or labor policy.

Judith Rodin is president of The Rockefeller Foundation, one of the world’s leading philanthropic organizations, and author of the recently published book The Resilience Dividend, PublicAffairs (November 11, 2014). She was previously president of the University of Pennsylvania, and provost of Yale University. She joined the Rockefeller Foundation in 2005. A pioneer and innovator throughout her career, Dr. Rodin was the first woman named to lead an Ivy League Institution and is the first woman to serve as The Rockefeller Foundation's president. A research psychologist by training, she was one of the pioneers of the behavioral medicine and health psychology movements.

Nicholas Negroponte is founder and chairman of the One Laptop Per Child non-profit association. He was co-founder and director of the MIT Media Laboratory, and the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Technology. A graduate of MIT, Negroponte was a pioneer in the field of computer-aided design, and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1966. Conceived in 1980, the Media Laboratory opened its doors in 1985. He is also author of the 1995 best seller, Being Digital, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. In the private sector, Nicholas Negroponte serves as general partner in a venture capital firm specializing in digital technologies for information and entertainment. He has provided start-up funds for more than 40 companies, including *Wired* magazine.