Forum Network

As vice president in the O'Neill and Associates communications practice, Cosmo Macero Jr. offers insight on the worlds of media, business and government gleaned from his 17 years in the newspaper business as a reporter, columnist and editor. His strategic counsel helps position and prepare clients to make powerful and lasting impressions on community leaders, the media and the public at large. Prior to joining O'Neill and Associates, Cosmo led the *Boston Herald's Business Today* section to earn top national awards for breaking news coverage and general excellence from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 2006. In just under 18 months, as assistant managing editor for business, Cosmo turned the *Herald*'s business section into a daily must-read for the regions corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and savvy consumers. A veteran political, financial and public policy journalist, Cosmo was named Bostons Best Business Columnist in 2002 and 2003 by the *Improper Bostonian* magazine. In 2003, *Boston* magazine recognized him for his unique insights into the states political scene as viewed through the prism of business and the economy. In 1999 *Boston* magazine named Cosmo the best print reporter in Boston. Prior to joining the *Herald* in 1997, he worked as a reporter for the *Union-News/Sunday Republican* and the *Daily Hampshire Gazette*. Cosmo is also a regular contributor to the *Fox 25 Morning News*.

Joan Vennochi writes regularly about national and local politics, and also covers issues relating to business, law and culture. Before joining the op-ed page, she wrote a column on* the Globe*'s business page. Vennochi was City Hall bureau chief, State House bureau chief, and covered national politics for *the Globe*. She began her career at the paper as a researcher on the Spotlight Team, the newspaper's investigative unit. She shared in a Pulitzer Prize awarded to the team for local investigative reporting. Vennochi is a graduate of Boston University and Suffolk Law School.

Christopher Hutton is a baritone with the Boston Lyric Opera. He recently performed the title role in Gianni Schicchi with Lyric Opera Theater at Arizona State University, and Marullo in Verdis Rigoletto with the Arizona Opera.

Charles G. Cogan is a Senior Research Associate at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He spent 37 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, lastly as CIA Chief in Paris. After leaving the CIA, he earned a doctorate in public administration at Harvard. He is currently working on a book for the United States Institute of Peace in its Cross-Cultural Negotiations series, entitled *French Negotiating Behavior: Dealing with "La Grande Nation."*

Kenneth A. Sweder graduated from New York University School of Law as an Editor of *the Law Review* in 1968. After serving as the Assistant to the President of Brandeis University and Special Counsel of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, he began practicing law in Boston in 1971. Since that time he has had wide experience and success in handling a variety of complex business litigation matters. Ken was the Chairman of the Litigation Department of the Boston office of a major New York firm before Sweder & Ross was established. When Sweder & Ross was founded, the Boston Business Journal did a Profile on Ken describing him as tackling the "City's high-profile cases" as a "business-savvy litigator." Ken was named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Ken's many community activities include his service as the Founding Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur. He was also the President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Boston and in 2006 was the recipient of the prestigious Community of Excellence Award presented at a dinner of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies attended by over 650 lawyers and accountants.