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Benjamin Hedin's fiction, essays, and interviews have been published by a number of publications, including \_The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Slate, The Nation, The Chicago Tribune, Poets and Writers, Salmagundi, The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review,\_ and \_Radio Silence\_. He is also the producer and author of a forthcoming documentary titled **The Blues House**[Your text to link here...](http://blueshouse.com/ ""). This movie tells the story of the search for two forgotten blues singers, carried out in Mississippi in June of 1964, during some of the most violent days of the civil rights movement. Hedin's new book is titled \_[In Search of the Movement: The Struggle for Civil Rights Then and Now](http://www.blogcitylights.com/2015/04/21/excerpts-from-in-search-of-the-movement-the-struggle-for-civil-rights-then-and-now/ "").\_ Follow this author on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/benjaminhedin "").

**Prof. Bjorn Stevens** is a director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology where he leads the Atmosphere in the Earth System Department and is a professor (§17) at the University of Hamburg. Prior to moving to Hamburg Dr. Stevens was a full professor of Dynamic Meteorology at the University of California of Los Angeles. He received a PhD in Atmospheric Science in 1996 from the Colorado State University in Ft Collins CO, and holds a Bachelor and Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University. Professor Stevens' research blends modeling, theory and field work to help articulate the role of aerosols, clouds and atmospheric convection in the climate system. He has made pioneering contributions to both understanding and modelling of mixing and microphysical processes and their impact on the structure and organization of clouds. Likewise his contribution to an understanding of how clouds respond to warming, and how radiative forcing responds to aerosol perturbations, has proven fundamental to our present comprehension of the susceptibility of Earth's climate to perturbations. Prof. Stevens serves on a number of international advisory boards, has served as editor of leading journals in his field and has been honored by a number of awards, including the Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award of the American Meteorological Society, as well as fellowships from the Advanced Study Program of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the Alexander von Humboldt Society.

**Roger Dunn**, Professor Emeritus, Bridgewater State University

Ruka Yaro De-Liman is an entrepreneur with a passion to influence change in her community through advocacy and mentoring. She is currently the President of Camfed Alumni (CAMA) and serves as a Business Trainer for Camfed Ghana and served as a 2014 Washington Mandela Fellow. Read more about Ruka's time as a fellow in the article, [Sharing My Experiences: Mandela Washington Fellow Ruka De-Liman.](https://youngafricanleaders.state.gov/sharing-my-experiences-mandela-washington-fellow-ruka-de-liman/ "")

Mellissa Fung has reported for CBC-TV News in Vancouver, has served as a national reporter for CBC Television, working out of Toronto and Regina, and served as a national correspondent she has covered numerous topics on both Canadian and world affairs, including the Robert Pickton trial, the 2003 SARS outbreak in Canada, the trial of Mike Danton, the 2007 Saskatchewan provincial election, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and uncovering Canada's international sales of toxic asbestos. In 2007 and 2008 she was sent on assignment to Afghanistan to cover the Canadian military presence there.

Reshma Saujani is an Indian-American lawyer and politician. She is the founder of the tech organization Girls Who Code. She was previously the Deputy Public Advocate at the Office of the New York City Public Advocate.Saujani lost the 2010 Democratic primary (19%-81%) for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 14th congressional district against incumbent Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney.Saujani was the first Indian-American woman (and the first South Asian American woman) to run for Congress. She ran as a Democratic candidate for New York City Public Advocate in 2013, coming third in the primary.

**Maria Margaret Klawe** is a computer scientist and the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College (since July 1, 2006).Although born in Toronto in 1951, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009. She was previously Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University. Klawe has been heavily involved with increasing the representation of women in STEM fields.In 1991, together with Nancy Leveson, she founded The Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research and served as its first co-chair.

**Dr. Zorica Pantić** became the president of Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the first female engineer to lead a higher-education institution of technology in the United States, in 2005. Under her leadership, Wentworth became a master’s degree granting institution by starting four graduate programs (architecture, construction management, facility management, and technology management), and it is on its way to achieving university status. The Institute earns annual recognition in national and regional rankings by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, and has been ranked by PayScale among the top 10% U.S. schools in terms of return on investment. Dr. Zorica Pantić serves on various boards and professional organizations, including the Board of Directors for the World Association for Co-operative Education, American Association for Presidents of Independent Universities and Colleges, New England Association for Schools and Colleges, Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board as well as the Presidents Council for the NCAA Division III. Before joining Wentworth, Dr. Pantić was the founding dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio; director of the School of Engineering at San Francisco State University; Fulbright fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; and associate professor at the University of Niš, Serbia. She has received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Niš.

Donald Gibbons interprets spoken word into American Sign Language.

The Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the nation’s leading political voice on mental illness, addiction, and other brain diseases. During his 16-year career representing Rhode Island in Congress, he fought a national battle to end medical and societal discrimination against these illnesses, highlighted by his lead sponsorship of the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act of 2008—and his brave openness about his own health challenges. The son of Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, he decided to leave Congress not long after his father’s death to devote his career to advocacy for brain diseases and to create a new, healthier life and start a family. He has since founded the Kennedy Forum, which unites the community of mental health, and co-founded One Mind for Research, which sponsors brain research and open science collaboration. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and their three (soon to be four) children.

**Blythe Robertson** most recently executive produced \_Love Is Strange\_, Ira Sach’s highly acclaimed film starring John Lithgow, Alfred Molina and Marisa Tomei, which premiered at Sundance 2014, was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards. She also co- produced the revival of Broadway’s \_Side Show\_ directed by Bill Condon. Previously, Robertson produced \_About Sunny\_, starring Lauren Ambrose, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination and was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Boston IFF 2012. Blythe was line producer on the PBS series, \_God In America\_, an American Experience/FRONTLINE co-production. Other projects include \_The People v. Leo Frank\_, winner of the Special Jury Award at History Makers 2010 and The History Channel’s Emmy-nominated, \_Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower\_. Robertson is currently developing writer/director Emily Abt’s next feature \_Audrey’s Run\_ starring Paula Patton and Mike Epps which will shoot in Boston in 2016. Blythe is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America and the Massachusetts Production Coalition.

Ben is a Creative Director on the Art, Copy & Code team at Google whose focus is to explore the future of advertising through innovative projects with brands and their agencies. His work takes him inside virtually all of the major US advertisers and the top advertising agencies, helping shape them for this digital / mobile age. He came from Hill Holliday, where he worked on Dunkin Donuts, Johnson and Johnson and Major League Baseball. Prior to that, he was at Digitas, where he ran global loyalty for IHG, and led campaigns for Holiday Inn, Samsung, and SAP, among many others, including providing the voice of the Aflac Duck in social media. His past life includes being the Dean of Admissions at Bennington College, building a network of early stage venture funds with Village Ventures, and publishing The Rope Eater, a novel, with Doubleday.