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Kati Marton has combined a career as a reporter and writer with human rights advocacy. She is currently Chair of the International Women's Health Coalition, a non-governmental organization that promotes and protects the rights and health of girls and women worldwide. From 2001 to July 2002, Kati Marton was chief advocate for the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict at the UN. Marton is currently a director and formerly chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists. She also serves on the board of directors of the International Rescue Committee, Human Rights Watch, the New America Foundation, and the Central European University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, P.E.N. International and the Author's Guild. Since 1980, Marton has published five books and contributed as a reporter to *ABC News, Public Broadcasting Services, National Public Radio, The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, The Times of London, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Vanity Fair* and *The New Republic*. Her first book, *WALLENBERG*, a biography of Raoul Wallenberg, was published by Random House in 1982. From 1983 until 1984, she was a columnist for the Sunday Times of London. Her second book, a novel entitled *AMERICAN WOMEN* was published in 1987. Her investigative history, *THE POLK CONSPIRACY Murder and Cover-up in the Case of CBS News Correspondent George Polk*, has been acquired by Mel Gibson for a feature film. Her fourth book, *A DEATH IN JERUSALEM the Assassination by Extremists of the First Middle East Peacemaker*, was published by Pantheon Books/Random House in the fall of 1994. Marton's most recent book, *HIDDEN POWER Presidential Marriages that Shaped History*, was published in September 2001 and was a *New York Times* best seller. From 1995 until 1997, Marton hosted NPR's America and the World, a weekly half-hour broadcast on international affairs. From December 1977 until December 1979, Marton was Bonn Bureau Chief and Foreign Correspondent for ABC News. While based in West Germany, Marton reported from Poland, Hungary, Italy, Holland, Northern Ireland, East Germany, and the Middle East. Marton was a news writer/reporter at WCAU-TV, the CBS-owned-and-operated affiliate in Philadelphia from January 1973 until November 1977. From 1971 until 1973, Marton was a reporter for National Public Radio in Washington. In addition to diplomatic and political assignments, Marton was involved in the development of NPR's program, All Things Considered Marton attended Wells College in Aurora, New York, the Sorbonne, and the Institute des Etudes de Science Politiques in Paris. She earned a BA in Romance Languages and a MA in international relations from the George Washington University.

Richard Florida is author of the global best-seller *The Rise of the Creative Class*. His latest book, *Who's Your City?* also a national and international best seller. His previous books, especially *The Breakthrough Illusion and Beyond Mass Production*, paved the way for his provocative looks at how creativity is revolutionizing the global economy. Florida is a regular correspondent for the *Atlantic Monthly* and a regular columnist for *The Globe and Mail*. He has written for *The New York Times*, *The Wall Street Journa*l, *The Washington Post*, *The Boston Globe*, *The Economist*, and *The Harvard Business Review*. He has been featured as an expert on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, NPR and CBS, to name just a few. Florida is one of the world's leading public intellectuals on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural and technological innovation. International diplomats, government leaders, filmmakers, economic development organizations and leading Fortune 100 businesses have benefited from his global approach to problem-solving and strategy development.

For the majority of his career Paul La Camera worked at WCVB-TV, Boston's ABC affiliate; his career there lasted for 33 years. For nearly half of those years, he worked as the president and general manager. After WCVB-TV, Paul announced his retirement. Thinking his working days were over, the announcement brought in several job offers from various promising companies. Not willing to give up a great opportunity, La Camera accepted a role as general manager of The WBUR group, Boston's National Public Radio news station.

Gerald Gill, an associate professor of history whose teaching and scholarship had a profound impact on Gerald Gill students and colleagues over his more than a quarter of a century at Tufts, died suddenly age 59.

Rev. Caldwell is a founding member of the United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church, and the Black Methodists for Church Renewal. He is also a member of the Board of Preachers and Scholars at the Martin Luther King International Chapel, Morehouse College, and the author of two books and numerous book chapters, newspaper, and magazine articles. Rev. Caldwell received his education at Boston University School of Theology, Harvard Divinity School, and North Carolina A. & T. State University. He is a retired United Methodist Minister who participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964, the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965, and the March on Washington.

Ed Blackman is currently a Senior Process Engineer with Spectrum Health. His professional background also includes work as a Project Leader for Priority Health (insurance), Meijer (retail) and Holland Home (healthcare). Ed is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society for Quality, certified in Labor Standards by HB Maynard, a Lean instructor/facilitator, and has a Masters degree in Organizational Behavior Management (Behavioral Psychology) from Western Michigan University. In addition to working at Spectrum Health, Ed is an Adjunct Professor that has taught courses in Mathematics, Psychology as well as Business.

William Kristol is editor-at-large of The Bulwark, where he’s lead author of the must-read daily newsletter, Morning Shots. Kristol is also founding director of Defending Democracy Together, an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to defending America’s liberal democratic norms, principles, and institutions. Kristol has long been a leading participant in and analyst of American politics. He founded the Weekly Standard in 1995 and edited the influential conservative magazine for over two decades. Before that, he served in senior positions in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations. Prior to coming to Washington in 1985, Mr. Kristol taught politics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. He received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

John Podesta is the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress. Prior to founding the Center in 2003, Podesta served as White House Chief of Staff to President Clinton. He served in the president's cabinet and as a principal on the National Security Council. While in the White House, he also served as both an assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff, as well as staff secretary and a senior policy advisor on government information, privacy, telecommunications security, and regulatory policy. Most recently, Podesta served as co-chair of President Obama's transition, where he coordinated the priorities of the incoming administration's agenda, oversaw the development of its policies, and spearheaded its appointments of major cabinet secretaries and political appointees.

John Claggett "Jack" Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is a former United States ambassador to the United Nations and former Republican United States senator from Missouri. He is an ordained Episcopal priest. Danforth is married to Sally D. Danforth and has five adult children.

Since 1992, the Rev. Barry W. Lynn has served as executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, DC-based organization dedicated to the preservation of the Constitutions religious liberty provisions. In addition to his work as a long-time activist and lawyer in the civil liberties field, Lynn is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, offering him a unique perspective on church-state issues.