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  • Peter Goldmark currently directs the Climate and Air program for Environmental Defense. Previously, he was the Chairman and CEO of the *International Herald Tribune*. Peter has had exceptional careers in the public and private sectors, including serving as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and NJ. Peter also served as budget director for the State of New York during New York City's financial crisis and was an architect of its rescue. He served as President of the Rockefeller Foundation, encouraging involvement in environmental issues, particularly as they related to energy.
  • Scott Harshbarger is the former attorney general of Massachusetts, and a past president and chief executive officer of Common Cause. He is currently senior counsel at Proskauer Rose, in Boston.
  • John Buehrens has served as the Minister of the First Parish in Needham since 2002. From 1993 to 2001 he was the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Ordained in 1973, he served congregations in Tennessee, Texas, and New York City prior to his election to that office. A graduate of Harvard College and of Harvard Divinity School, he is co-author of *A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism* (1989, 1996) and author of *Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals* (2002). Cited as a scholar, organizer, but above all, pastor, John has been awarded three honorary doctorates. He has taught seminary courses in history, theology, preaching, and the practice of ministry. Long a leader in interfaith cooperation for peace and justice, he currently serves as national co-chair for Freedom to Marry, as Senior Advisor to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, as a member of the Needham Human Rights Committee, as past president of the Needham Clergy Association, and as past President of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association for the Mass Bay District. He has been married since 1972 to the Rev. Gwen Langdoc Buehrens, a priest in the Episcopal Church. They are the parents of two young adult daughters.
  • Barbara McClintock is an American illustrator and author of children's books. McClintock was born in Flemington, NJ on May 6, 1955 and spent her early childhood in Clinton, NJ. She moved to North Dakota with her mother and sister when she was nine years old. After attending Jamestown College in Jamestown, North Dakota, she moved to New York City a week following her 20th birthday on the recommendation of Maurice Sendak, whom she called to ask advice about how to become a children's book illustrator. McClintock studied briefly at The Art Students League of New York. She worked for Jim Henson, illustrating books for his Fraggle Rock cable television series early in her career. Her books have won numerous awards, including four New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Books, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor award, two Time Magazine Best Books, eight NY Public Library 100 Recommended Books, a Golden Kite award, two Parents Choice, an ALA Notable Book, a NEBA, starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, SLJ, Kirkus and Horn Book. The Minneapolis Children's Theatre made a ballet/opera of her book *Animal Fables From Aesop*.
  • Born in 1938, in Suffolk, England, Helen Oxenbury attended Ipswich School of Art and Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. Oxenbury is best known for her work as a writer and illustrator of children's books. She has also worked as a stage designer in Colchester, England, 1960 and a television designer in London. Her many honors include the Kate Greenaway Award, British Library Association (BLA), 1969, for *The Quangle-Wangle's Hat*; the Baby Book Award, Sainsbury's, 1999, for *Tickle, Tickle*; the Kurt Maschler Award, 1999, and Kate Greenaway Award, BLA, 2000, both for *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*; Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Award, 2003, for *Big Momma Makes the World*.
  • John Abele is the co-founder and a director of Boston Scientific since 1979. Mr. Abele was the treasurer from 1979 to 1992, co-chairman from 1979 to 1995 and vice chairman and founder, Office of the Chairman from February 1995 to March 1996. Mr. Abele is also the owner of The Kingbridge Centre and Institute, a 120-room conference center in Ontario that provides special services and research to businesses, academia and government. He was President of Medi-tech, Inc. from 1970 to 1983, and prior to that served in sales, technical and general management positions for Advanced Instruments, Inc. Mr. Abele is the chairman of the board of the F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Foundation and is also a member of numerous not-for-profit boards. He is a member of the President's Council of Olin College and Trustee Emeritus of Amherst College. Mr. Abele received a B.A. degree from Amherst College.
  • An immigrant from El Salvador, Edwin came to the U. S. in the 1980s. He joined East Boston Ecumenical Community Counsel in 1998 as an Immigration Counselor. Edwin is a well-known activist involved in many issues in the East Boston neighborhood and in the Greater Boston Latino community over the past 10 years.
  • Rev. Cheng Imm Tan is one of Chinatown's multi-tasking crusaders. Blending spirituality with her experiences as an immigrant and Asian woman, she has built her career by encouraging others to realize their inner strengths and potential. Tan is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, yet she speaks from a much larger pulpit. It was Tans tireless work in Boston's Asian community which led to her appointment the as Director of the Mayor's Office of New Bostonians. For the past seven years, the Malaysian-born Tan has assisted immigrants in becoming full participants of the Boston community by providing a variety of resources and information. Tan began her career working in a battered women's shelter. She realized many Asian women were reluctant to leave abusive relationships because language barriers prevented them from getting the necessary help. In 1987, she founded ATASK. The Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence remains New England's only multilingual emergency shelter and center for Asian victims of domestic abuse.
  • Marie P. St. Fleur is a former Massachusetts State Representative who represented the Fifth Suffolk district from 1999-2011. Her district consisted of parts of the Boston neighborhoods Dorchester and Roxbury. St. Fleur joined non-profit research and advocacy organization Bessie Tartt Wilson Initiative for Children in November 2013. Ms. St. Fleur comes to her new position after a long career in public service, where she was known as a tireless advocate on behalf of children and families. Her new role allows her to use her experience as an attorney, legislator, and senior leader in municipal government to support grassroots research on early education and the care system, advocate for change, and expand outreach and engagement of families, providers, policymakers, and government agencies and the public in support of this sector. Ms. St. Fleur was appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino on June 13, 2010, as the Chief of Advocacy and Strategic Investment for the City of Boston. In that capacity, Ms. St. Fleur led the Mayor Menino Circle of Promise Initiative and oversaw the Department of Intergovernmental Relations, The Office of New Bostonians, The Small and Local Business/Boston Jobs For Boston Residents Policy, and his Diversity and Reentry Initiatives.