Take Back The American Dream Speakers

Deven is the Senior Program Associate for Youth & Young Adult Initiatives for The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Deven attended South Carolina State University where he majored in Professional English. He served as President of the Student Government Association, Editor-In-Chief of The Collegian, and Vice-President of the NAACP. In 2007, Deven participated in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Internship, working in the office of Rep. James “Jim” Clyburn. He was also selected to participate in the Congressional Black Caucus Institute Political Bootcamp.

Deven was accepted into the inaugural class of The Center for Community Change’s Generation Change Fellowship and was with Blueprint NC located in Raleigh, NC. After his successful completion of the program, he worked with Common Cause NC. and the United States Student Association. As Senior Program Associate for Youth & Young Adult Initiatives Deven leads The National Coalition’s signature program Black Youth Vote! and its newest youth initiative Youth Policy & Process.

John Bonifaz is the Co-Founder and Director of Free Speech For People, a national campaign pressing for a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution to ensure that people, not corporations, govern in America. Mr. Bonifaz has served as the legal director of Voter Action, and as the executive director and general counsel of the National Voting Rights Institute, which he founded in 1994.

Mr. Bonifaz has waged key voting rights battles in the United States for nearly two decades. Mr. Bonifaz is a 1992 cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1999 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

Robert Borosage is founder and president of the Institute for America’s Future and co-director of its sister, Campaign for America’s Future. He writes regularly on politics and economics. He is a contributing editor of The Nation and a regular blogger on The Huffington Post. Borosage is founder and board chair of Progressive Majority. He is co-founder and board chair of ProgressiveCongress.org, and a member of the board of Working America. He previously founded and directed the Campaign for New Priorities, a non-profit coalition of over 100 organizations calling for post-Cold War reinvestment in America. He served as director of the Institute for Policy Studies where he remains as a board member. He has also served as an issues advisor to progressive political campaigns, including those of Paul Wellstone, Barbara Boxer and Carol Moseley Braun. He was senior issues advisor for the 1988 Jesse Jackson Campaign. Borosage is a graduate of Yale Law School and holds a master’s degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

Heather Boushey is Senior Economist at the Center for American Progress. Her research focuses on employment, social policy, and family economic well-being. Her research has been published in academic journals and has been covered in The Washington Post, Newsweek, and a variety of other media outlets, including The New York Times.

Boushey received her Ph.D. in economics from the New School for Social Research and her B.A. from Hampshire College. She has held an economist position with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and the Economic Policy Institute.

Chris Bowers started out in politics helping to organize a union for graduate student employees at Temple University in Philadelphia. After spending time working with the AFL-CIO, he became an editor at MyDD.com in 2004. In 2007, he co-founded OpenLeft.com.

Some of his online projects have included Use It Or Lose It, Googlebomb the Elections, the Senate public option whip count, new media organizing for the 2010 financial reform bill, and the recent filibuster reform effort. Before coming on board with Daily Kos, he worked as a consultant on a wide variety of campaigns for MoveOn, Media Matters, SEIU, the PCCC, and the New Organizing Institute. From 2006-2010, he served on the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee.

Chris grew up in Syracuse, and spent most of his adult life in Philadelphia. He currently lives in DC with wife, Natasha Chart.

Robin Brand is the deputy executive director at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies, trains and helps elect openly LGBT leaders to public office. As deputy executive director, Brand develops strategies and oversees programs for the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political action committee. Her work in LGBT politics has included raising record-breaking amounts in candidate-specific funds, and helping elect the first openly LGBT legislators in several states.

Prior to working with the Victory Fund, Robin served as the eastern political director for the Democratic National Committee and as the executive director of the Washington State Democratic Party.

Raven Brooks is the executive director of Netroots Nation. Raven was initially drawn into politics during Howard Dean’s presidential campaign and quickly got involved in grassroots politics, including the first Yearly Kos. He’s since led the growth of Netroots Nation from a volunteer run effort to the country’s premier progressive gathering, added an international component, and expanded the programming to include infrastructure and capacity-building programs. Raven is a member of the San Francisco New Leaders Council advisory board and was named one of their Top 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders in 2008. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two cats and is an avid cyclist, hiker and outdoor enthusiast.

Ruby-Beth grew up in a community that taught her a lot about non-violence and how to be an active non-violent citizen even when encountering potentially violent situations. She is from Atlanta, GA and grew up about a 5 minute drive from the home that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in. She participated in many school field trips to his home, the Church he preached in and the streets he marched. She learned about his philosophy of non-violence social change and how he knew that violence only breeds violence. The most important thing that her teachers taught her, however, was not just about Martin Luther King Jr's philosophy. Ruby-Beth’s teachers explained that in order for a non-violent movement to work it takes so many people. It takes people whose names are never widely known and who don't receive as much attention as Martin did. It takes families and communities that are determined to make a difference working together to create change. The other thing that she was told time and again was that it takes young people to build movements.

Darcy Burner, Executive Director, ProgressCongress.org and Progressive Congress Action Fund Darcy plays a key role connecting the progressive movement with Congress. A former candidate for Congress in Washington State, organizer of A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, and hero of the Netroots, she has been featured regularly in the media including appearances on MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. She blogs on OpenLeft, Huffington Post, and DailyKos.

She’s a board member of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Campaign for a Livable World’s PeacePAC, SNAP PAC Advisory Board, and the Progressive Ideas Network Advisory Board.

Jeff is a marketing and communications strategist for nonprofit organizations, many of which are education related. For the past 22 years, he has been an independent consultant, operating out of his home in Chapel Hill, NC, working for such prominent organizations as Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, the National Geographic Society, PBS Video, the Annenberg/CPB Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution. He currently writes about education policy at Campaign for America's Future (ourfuture.org) and is a former front-page blogger at OpenLeft.com where he wrote about education policy under the handle jeffbinnc.

One of Wisconsin's most respected progressive political strategists, Doug Burnett has served as state director of Progressive Majority and as the top aide to the Democratic Majority Leader in the State Senate. As AFSCME's political director in Wisconsin, Burnett was a key strategist in the "Wisconsin workers' rights revolution" of 2011, and in efforts that successfully recalled two Republican state senators and reelected three Democratic senators.

Rev. Jennifer Butler is the founding Executive Director of Faith in Public Life, a strategy center advancing faith in the public square as a positive force for justice, compassion and the common good. Founded in 2005 to transform the American values debate, FPL is a go-to source for journalists, activists and community leaders seeking to connect with progressive faith voices. Butler’s work on religion and politics has been featured in articles in The Nation, Mother Jones, The American Prospect and the Washington Post, and she has published a book exploring the Christian Right’s growing impact on the global women’s movement.

Tim Carpenter, National Director PDA, is a social and political activist who, for more than 35 years, has worked for causes such as nuclear disarmament, death penalty abolition, defending the homeless, single payer health care and campaign finance reform. He was a national delegate and served in key positions in the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson (1988), Jerry Brown (1992), and Dennis Kucinich (2004).

Derrick Crowe is the political director at Brave New Foundation, where he runs the Rethink Afghanistan and War Costs campaigns. He is a five-year veteran of Capitol Hill and a trained “Creating a Culture of Peace” facilitator.

In Washington, D.C., Crowe served as communications director for U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). Prior to working in Smith’s office, he worked in communications for U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-Texas), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and the national office of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Crowe left D.C. in 2008 once it became clear that Democrats were pivoting to support an escalation of the Afghanistan War to shore up their hawkish credentials while pursuing an Iraq War drawdown. He has worked for Brave New Foundation since early 2010, and he and his wife, Laurie, live in Austin, Texas with their two cats, Honey and Fuzz.

David Dayen has been blogging about politics since 2004. He currently writes for the FDL News Desk at news.firedoglake.com; he's also written for The Washington Monthly, The American Prospect, The Washington Independent, Democracy Journal and Capitol Weekly, as well as multiple well-trafficked progressive blogs and websites. His work has been cited by the LA Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and he has been a guest on MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, NPR, Russia Today, Pacifica Radio and Air America Radio. He lives in Los Angeles, where prior to writing about politics he had a 15-year career as a television producer and editor.

Born and raised by first-generation Filipino immigrants, Edil De Los Reyes is the Deputy Political Director for PowerPAC, a national advocacy organization that ran the country’s largest independent expenditure for then-Senator Obama in 2008. Before joining PowerPAC, Edil ran the California Democratic Party 2008 campaign operations in San Bernardino County. In one of the country’s fastest growing counties, Edil developed civic engagement training modules, implemented new media strategies, and attracted and deployed a volunteer team of youth that contacted over 1000 voters per night. Her work helped turn the county “blue” for the first time in modern history. A self-described data-geek, Edil works with PowerPAC’s Dr. Julie Martinez Ortega analyzing numbers about electoral patterns and trends and their interrelationship with the country’s demographic changes. Edil is a proud alumna of American University, holding a BA from the School of Public Affairs. Follow her on Twitter @mari_delosreyes.

Alex DeMots is Legal Counsel at American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, he served as counsel to Chairman Robert D. Lenhard at the Federal Election Commission. Alex also spent two years as an associate with Lichtman, Trister & Ross, PLLC. He is currently Of Counsel at that firm, specializing in election law issues. Alex is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Michigan.

Representative Christopher G. Donovan is Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. He was sworn in as Speaker on January 7, 2009. Representing the 84th Assembly District of Meriden, he was first elected to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1992. Representative Donovan served as House Chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee from 1997-2003, before being elected Majority Leader in November of 2004. He served two terms as Majority Leader.

Megan is a staff attorney at FELN and first began working on voting rights issues as a legal intern with the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. Before joining FELN in May 2010, Megan worked as a legislative advocate for the Center for Reproductive Rights and a contract attorney for The Campaign Legal Center. She has been published in the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law (student note) and Frontera Norte. At FELN, Megan focuses on voter suppression efforts, as well as election administration issues and their impact on third party voter registration and mobilization. Megan has conducted trainings on election administration issues for c3 and c4 organizations in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as well as for national organizations such as the Young Elected Officials Network.

Bob Edgar is a former congressman who has served as president and CEO of Common Cause since 2007. Prior, Bob was general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and president of Claremont School of Theology.

Bob served in Congress from 1975 to 1987. A Democrat, he represented Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district.

Under Bob’s leadership, Common Cause fights for honest, open and accountable government, working in the areas of money and politics, ethics in government and voting and elections.

Bob is a graduate of Lycoming College, and Drew University’s graduate theological school. He holds five honorary doctoral degrees.

Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards represents Maryland’s 4th Congressional District. Elected in 2008 as the first African American women to represent Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Edwards serves on the Committees of Transportation and Infrastructure, Science and Technology, and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. She is a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, and was recently chosen to co-chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” task force. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of New Hampshire School of Law, she has lived in Prince George’s County for more than 25 years and currently resides in Fort Washington. She is the proud mother of a son who recently graduated from university.

Richard is the Campaigns Director for the American Sustainable Business Council, a coalition of business networks and businesses committed to advancing policies that support a vibrant, equitable and sustainable economy. He has worked on sustainable business and policy issues for 25+ years. He is an adjunct faculty at the University of Denver, worked in the renewable energy industry and consulted to the UN Environment Programme. Richard co-directed the Colorado chapter of the Clean Tech for Obama campaign.

Rahna Epting is Member Political Programs Director at SEIU, where she leads the Political Department's team that focuses on member capacity building and leadership development within the context of the union's political work. Epting came on board with SEIU International in 2007 and with her team developed the Member Candidate Program and Retiree Program. In 2010, Epting helped to re-launch SEIU’s Republican Member Engagement work and the national Membership Political Fellowship Program. She serves on the Board of Directors for Emerge America and the Advisory Board to the Oregon Bus Project’s PolitiCorps Program. Rahna is a graduate of Lewis & Clark School of Law and a member of the Oregon State Bar.

Richard (RJ) Eskow is a Senior Fellow with the Campaign For America's Future. He is also a former senior executive (on Wall Street, with AIG, and elsewhere) in healthcare and related financial issues. He is currently a consultant in areas such as health policy, finance, communications, and IT.

Richard is also is a freelance writer for print and other media and an occasional radio host. He writes for The Huffington Post and is a regular contributor to other publications. He is also an (occasionally) working musician.

Rachel Feldman is the Director of Organizing at Progressive Jewish Alliance and Jewish Funds for Justice. In addition to co-founding and now directing the Community Organizing Residency (COR), Rachel leads the organization’s work organizing for the Caring Across Generations Campaign in New York, co-anchoring New York’s Care Council and engaging synagogues and other groups in the campaign. Rachel has also organized congregations in Tampa, FL as part of the Direct Action and Research Training Center (DART).

Joan Fitz-Gerald currently serves as President of America Votes. She was the first woman elected President of the Colorado State Senate, where she helped solve a budget crisis and carried bills that transformed Colorado into a renewable energy center. In 2004, Joan was elected Chair of the DLCC and was able to bring 10 new chambers under Democratic control and gain 350 legislative seats nationally under her leadership. Prior to 2001, Joan served eight years as the first Democrat and first woman County Clerk in Jefferson County, Colorado. She and her husband, John, currently reside on Capitol Hill.

Courtney Foley is the Senior East Coast Political Coordinator for UFCW's Legislative and Political Action Department. In her role, she develops and implements political mobilization programs as well as raising funds for UFCW's PAC. Previously, she was a Union Organizer for UFCW and assisted many workers in successfully organizing in their workplace. Before joining UFCW, she also worked on several political campaigns around the country, including Sherrod Brown's U.S. Senate campaign. Most recently, she served as the State Quality Control Director for Ohio during the petition process for the SB5-repeal, and was a community organizer during the legislative fight before Senate Bill 5 passed.

State Representative Mike Foley (D-Cleveland) of the 14th District was appointed to represent constituents in Brook Park, Parma Heights, and Cleveland Wards 19, 20 and 21 in May of 2006. Voters then formally elected him to continue his work at the Statehouse in November 2006 and in November 2008. Rep. Foley earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Dayton and his law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He has used that education to defend the rights of Ohioans, especially in the area of housing.

Natalie's interested in intersection of organizing, technology and movement-building for social change. She joined Rebuild the Dream, an engine for the 21st century American Dream movement, as CEO and co-founder with Van Jones and Billy Wimsatt. She’s currently based on San Francisco, CA.

Natalie most recently served as New Media Director for Organizing for America and the Democratic National Committee, and was responsible for digital fundraising, email organizing, and social media.

Prior to joining the DNC, Natalie built the first Online Organizing department at the Sierra Club. Natalie also served as the Deputy Organizing Director for MoveOn.org, where she ran actions and helped build a nationwide volunteer-led action network.

Frank began his career in the Massachusetts State House, where he served for eight years before winning a seat in the U.S. Congress in 1980.

Although he is widely-recognized for his work on national issues, Frank has also fought to help New Bedford fishermen, to bring commuter rail to the Southcoast, to provide affordable rental housing, and to support many local organizations and businesses.

Erin Frautschy Barrows is the Candidate Recruitment Manager for Progressive Majority. She works to identify, recruit, and screen potential candidates for local offices across the country. Before coming to Progressive Majority, Erin worked as a small donor fundraiser and event planner for Planned Parenthood. Her background includes various state and federal campaigns in Minnesota, including work with the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and on the GOTV team for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. Her experience includes fundraising, voter contact, targeting, volunteer organizing, and database management.

Judith Freeman is the co-founder and Executive Director of the New Organizing Institute. In 2008 worked on the Obama campaign. Previously, she was the senior political strategist at the AFL-CIO, where she also co-founded the Analyst Institute. During the 2004 presidential election, she worked on the Kerry campaign. She works with political campaigns, unions and non-profit organizations on organizing, targeting, strategy and technology infrastructure. She worked for 5 years in technology at the University of Chicago where she also organized with social justice organizations.

Maria P. Freese is Director of Governmental Relations and Policy at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Since 2003, she has overseen strategic planning and advocacy initiatives on Social Security and Medicare. Freese has 17 years legislative experience in employee benefits, individual income taxes, and retirement security and pensions. She served as Democratic Tax Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee, Legislative Director for Rep. L. F. Payne, D-VA, and Legislative Assistant for Rep. Norm Dicks, D-WA. Maria holds a B.A. from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Kari Fulton is an award winning environmental justice advocate and new media journalist. Recently, Fulton was appointed as the Interim Director of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative. In her previous position as the National Youth Campaign Coordinator for the EJCC, Fulton led EJCC’s partnership with the Energy Action Coalition helping to coordinate national campus campaigns and youth summits such as Power Shift 2009; the largest lobby day and youth summit on Climate Change in United States history.

In April of 2009, Fulton co-founded Checktheweather.TV, a national online community and web platform to amplify the voices of young people of color advocating for environmental justice. Fulton has traveled across the United States, Europe and Latin America reporting on international Climate Change conferences and negotiations. Fulton’s work has been featured in various media including Black Entertainment Television (BET), The Sundance Channel, MSNBC and Glamour Magazine. Most recently, Ebony Magazine listed Fulton in their 2010 Power 100 list.

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy is President of Interfaith Alliance and Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, Louisiana. A prolific writer, Dr. Gaddy hosts the weekly State of Belief radio program, exploring religion and politics. Dr. Gaddy provides regular commentary to the national media; some of his appearances include The Rachel Maddow Show, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, ABC’s World News Tonight, and CNN’s The World Today with Wolf Blitzer. He is a past president of the Alliance of Baptists and a twenty-year member of the Commission of Christian Ethics of the Baptist World Alliance.

Leo W. Gerard is the International President of the USW. With over 850,000 active members in more than 8,000 bargaining units in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, the USW is the largest industrial union in North America, and the dominant union in the paper, forestry products, steel, aluminum, ire and rubber, mining, glass, chemicals, petroleum and other basic resource industries.

Andrew is Director of Youth Leadership Programs. An alumnus of Florida A&M University (FAMU), former president of the Student Government Association, and FAMU's first student member of the Board of Trustees, Gillum became the youngest person ever elected to the four-member Tallahassee City Commission in February 2003. In keeping with his mantra to uplift and build the collective community, Gillum has championed several community initiatives including the Nims Middle School Digital Harmony Pilot Program, the Landlord Tenant Mediation Program; the Code Enforcement Amnesty Program; and the creation of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Park. He founded PFAW Foundation's Young Elected Officials program, which unites elected officials age 35 and under in a network which supports them with leadership and personal development training and public policy support.

George Goehl is the Executive Director of National People’s Action, a network of metropolitan and statewide membership organizations dedicated to advancing economic and racial justice. George has been an organizer and strategist for 17 years, crafting city, state, and federal campaigns on issues ranging from foreclosures, outlawing predatory lending, and advancing immigration reform. Under George’s leadership National People’s Action has helped lead the fight to hold big banks accountable, advance financial reform, and prevent foreclosures. He is a co-founder of the New Bottom Line, a national alignment designed to restructure our relationship with Wall Street and the financial sector and to advance a vision of a more equitable and sustainable economy.

Gan Golan is a New York Times Bestselling author, artist and agitator. A nationally recognized artist, he has designed tour posters and album covers for numerous artists such as Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Henry Rollins, and Willie Nelson. He is also the co-author of the internationally-bestselling humor book, Goodnight Bush, and the critically-acclaimed graphic novel, The Adventures of Unemployed Man.

Gabe Gonzalez is the National Director for the Campaign for Community Values at the Center for Community Change. The Campaign for Community Values brings together hundreds of diverse grassroots groups to win real victories for low-income communities, challenge the "on your own" mentality of the right and build a new politics for the common good.

Before working at the Center, Gonzalez served as the Director of Organizing at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights where he developed the Coalition's New Americans Vote Project. Gabe has worked as a community organizer, lobbyist, and electoral strategist for over 15 years, locally, state-wide, and nationally on such diverse issues as immigration, housing, and education policy. Gonzalez is a graduate of Drew University and lives in Chicago, IL.

When Catherine was nine years old, all students were tested to measure how far each could throw a softball. Catherine took her turn, and threw the ball past the end of the tape measure. Flustered, her teacher led Catherine and the other girls across the field to where the boys were being tested… with a longer tape measure. They finished the class throwing together. Catherine has made a practice of breaking barriers and motivating other girls and women to speak up, move up, and fire up.

Based in Minnesota, Catherine is the Vice President of Political Leadership Programs at The White House Project, an organization dedicated to advancing women’s leadership.

Marissa Graciosa is the Immigration Campaign Coordinator at the Center for Community Change. She directs the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a national coalition of grassroots organizations fighting for just and humane immigration reform. During the Reform Immigration for America Campaign she directed FIRM's field operations, special projects and the online and list-building work that resulted in the largest bi-lingual, political and advocacy text message list in the United States. Prior to working at the Center, she managed a Chicago aldermanic campaign, and worked at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights as the Director of Politics and Communications. She is the daughter of Filipino immigrants and hails from Burlington, Wisconsin.

Adam Green is co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (BoldProgressives.org), an 800,000-member grassroots online organization that helps elect bold progressive members of Congress and advocate on progressive policy issues.

For four years, he worked as Director of Strategic Campaigns and Civic Communications Director for MoveOn.org. Previously, Adam served as the Democratic National Committee’s press secretary in Oregon for the 2004 presidential campaign, communications director for the New Jersey Democratic Party in 2003 and 2004, and press secretary for Sen. Tim Johnson's re-election campaign in South Dakota in 2002.

Adam is a graduate of GWU’s political communication program -- where he’s recently taught a course on Internet & Politics -- and received his law degree from the University of Virginia.

Since his election to Congress in 2002, education, job creation, employee rights and the environment have been among Raúl’s top policy concerns.

As a member of the Committee on Education and The Workforce, Congressman Grijalva makes the reform and full funding of No Child Left Behind his top educational priority. Raúl is also a member of the Committee on Natural Resources, where he is Ranking Member of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee.

As Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), Raúl has championed affordable health care for every American and has pushed for job creation measures that focus on improving America's infrastructure and economic base.

As a long-standing member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus -- where he chairs the Education Task Force -- Raúl has worked for comprehensive immigration reform, standing up to those who want to exploit fear, insecurities and hatred to distract voters from the need to resolve common sense policy objectives.

Sarita Gupta is the Executive Director of Jobs with Justice (JwJ). JwJ is building a strong, progressive labor movement that works in coalition with community, faith, and student organizations to build a broader global movement for economic and social justice. In over 45 communities in 25 states, JwJ local coalitions are organizing to address issues impacting working families. Sarita began organizing as a student on campus and was elected President of the U.S. Student Association (1997-1998). Sarita has 13 years of local, national, and global coalition-building experience.

Katie Halper is a comedian, writer, blogger, and filmmaker born, raised and based in New York. She is a Founder of and Comedian in the political comedy collective, Laughing Liberally. Katie has performed throughout the country appearing at all four Netroots Nation Conferences and in countless TV networks including MSNBC. Her writing and videos can be found on Comedy Central, The Huffington Post, Alternet, Daily Kos, Open Left, Working Life, and Culture Kitchen. She is currently editing her documentary, tentatively titled Another Camp is Possible, on the social justice summer camp she (along with her mother and grandmother) attended, and their "Peace Olympics," the camp's non-violent and socially conscious alternative to color wars.

Karran Harper Royal works as an Education Advocate in New Orleans. She is the Assistant Director of Pyramid Community Parent Resource Center and the former Training Coordinator for the New Orleans Parent Organizing Network. Her work at Pyramid involves providing one to one support to parents of children with disabilities and conducting workshops to help parents understand their rights under federal special education law.

In addition to working with Pyramid Mrs. Harper Royal is a contributor to Research on Reforms and provides a parent voice to the work at Southern Poverty Law Center. She is married with two sons, one of whom is a public school student in New Orleans She blogs at Education Talk New Orleans.

Heidi Hartmann is the President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a scientific research organization she founded in 1987 to meet the need for women-centered, policy-oriented research. Dr. Hartmann’s research focuses on women and the economy, employment, pay equity, and retirement security. She has published numerous articles in journals and books and her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She lectures internationally and frequently testifies before the U.S. Congress. In 1994, Dr. Hartmann was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Dr. Hartmann has a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University.

HThom Hartmann is the four-time Project Censored Award–winning, NY Times bestselling author of more than 22 books in print in 17 languages on five continents and the number one progressive radio talk-show host in the US. Thom does a 3-hour daily radio show on both commercial and non-profit stations & an hour evening Independent TV show - The Big Picture syndicated by FSTV and RT TV and over 200 community TV stations.

Arshad Hasan is Democracy For America’s Executive Director. Before becoming DFA’s Executive Director, Arshad developed and directed the organization’s grassroots training programs, DFA Campaign Academy and DFA Night School. Prior to DFA, Arshad worked with a variety of PACs and non-profits on legislative issue campaigns, corporate accountability campaigns, grassroots fundraising, and electoral campaigns. Arshad will occasionally take leaves of absence to work for progressive campaigns around the country including recently serving as Bill Halter’s GOTV director for his Senate Primary and Runoff campaigns.

In his free time you can catch Arshad doing Bikram Yoga or mixing killer cocktails for friends and strangers alike. Arshad was born and raised in Grand Forks, ND, and went to college at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bob is a longtime labor and social justice activist from Seattle and is completing his third term in the Washington State House of Representatives as a voice for working families, small businesses and disenfranchised communities. As a 32 year Teamster, Bob worked his way up through the ranks from worker, to shop steward, to regional organizer, and ultimately winning election to become the principle executive officer of the largest Teamsters trucking local workers union in the Pacific Northwest (Teamsters Local 174), a position he held for nearly a decade. He is currently a member of the Operating Engineers Union Local 612 and is a heavy construction equipment operator where he says he “loves playing in the dirt with big boy tonka toys.”

Mary Kay Henry serves as International President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the fastest-growing union in North America, with 2.1 million workers in healthcare, public and property services.

Henry was elected to SEIU’s International Executive Board in 1996 and as an International Executive Vice President in 2004, serving as the union’s chief healthcare strategist in efforts to build a stronger voice for workers and to enact historic healthcare reforms.

In 2010, Henry was unanimously elected International President and became the first woman and the first openly gay person to lead SEIU. Under Henry’s leadership, SEIU members are forming historic partnerships in their communities to confront historic income inequality, to shine a light on the wealthy and corporations failure to pay their fair share in taxes, and to hold politicians accountable to working people.

Roger Hickey is Co-Director of the Campaign for America’s Future. He was also one of the founders of Health Care for America Now!, a coalition of over 1,000 national and local organizations united to achieve quality affordable health care for all. He was also one of the leaders of the successful campaign to stop the privatization of Social Security, called Americans United to Protect Social Security. Hickey was a founder and Communications Director of the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank that looks at economics from the point of view of working Americans. He was also a founder of the Public Media Center in San Francisco. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Hickey began his career in the 1960s as an organizer for the Virginia Civil Rights Committee.

Courtney Hight is Co-Director of Energy Action Coalition and Power Shift. This April, Courtney helped bring 10,000 climate activists to participate in the largest grassroots organizing training in history at Power Shift 2011. She continues to mobilize young people to transition the US to 100% renewable energy. Courtney has dedicated her life to building the political power of the Millennial Generation, organizing at the campus, state and national level. Courtney joined the Obama campaign in New Hampshire and ended as the Florida Youth Vote Director. Prior to Energy Action she worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Leo Hindery, Jr. is Managing Partner of InterMedia Partners, a New York-based media industry private equity fund. He was an economic and trade advisor to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, after earlier serving as Senior Economic Policy Advisor for presidential candidate John Edwards. He is currently Chairman of the US Economy/Smart Globalization Initiative at the New America Foundation and a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. From 2005 through 2007, Mr. Hindery was Vice Chairman of the Presidential and Congressional HELP Commission which made recommendations for the reform of U.S. Foreign Assistance. He was previously Chairman and CEO of The YES Network, the nation’s largest regional sports network which he founded in the summer of 2001 as the television home of the New York Yankees; President and CEO of AT&T Broadband; and President of Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) and its affiliated companies.

As the National Program Director for Sierra Club, Sarah oversees the organization's national campaigns and programs including the Beyond Coal, Beyond Oil, and Resilient Habitats campaigns, as well as the Club's outings programs and partnerships with labor, environmental justice groups, and youth. Sarah leads Sierra Club’s teams of federal lobbyists, organizers, and lawyers.

Sarah was Executive Director of Dogwood Alliance, a Southern forest protection organization from 2000-2006. She began her grassroots organizing career in 1993 with Green Corps and also served as Recruitment Director for the group from 1996-2000. Sarah has a BA in Comparative Literature from Indiana University.

Ilyse Hogue is a Senior Advisor at Media Matters and the former Director of Political Advocacy and Communications for MoveOn.org. In both of those roles she has looked at effective strategies in amplifying the voices of real people over corporate interests in Washington. She is a contributor to The Nation magazine where she often writes about the increasing disconnect between national political culture and the experience of many Americans. She's pursuing a project that helps bridge that cultural divide through new organizing models.

Heather recently joined Planned Parenthood Federation of America after two years as VP of Digital at Fenton Communications, where she led the DC office's digital practice. Heather worked to develop and execute social media strategies and multimedia projects across a diverse client base. Prior to Fenton, Heather served for four years as the director of political advocacy for Care2. She worked to connect Care2's millions of members to non-profits doing political work and advocacy campaigns. She led the effort to develop Care2's Election2008 Channel. Heather was also a partner and online organizing director for the Carol/Trevelyan Strategy Group (CTSG), instrumental in developing and growing CTSG's Creative Multimedia department, including serving as executive producer and co-writer for several Pollie-award winning campaigns.

Ashwini Jaisingh is the Domestic Worker Organizer at CASA de Maryland, a member organization of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Prior to joining CASA in 2009, she was active in community, labor and immigrant rights organizing, starting from her time as a student organizer at Georgetown University, where she helped organize a campaign to win the right to unionize for campus janitors and implement a living wage. She is the daughter of Indian immigrants.

Taj James is the founder and Executive Director of the Movement Strategy Center (MSC), a national strategy and design center based in Oakland California that facilitates progressive movement building through the development of strategic alliances. MSC works to support leaders, organization and alliances and foundations that are committed to building more effective and sustainable movements for justice and equity. Taj has written extensively on the topics of movement building, organizational change, and on the role of to young people in social change. A graduate of Stanford University, Taj was a recipient of a Next Generation Leadership fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Saru Jayaraman is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United) and an Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College. Founded by Saru and displaced 9/11 workers, ROC now 8000 members in eight affiliates nationwide. Saru co-edited The New Urban Immigrant Workforce, (ME Sharpe, 2005). Saru is a graduate of Yale Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She was profiled in the New York Times “Public Lives” section in 2005, and was named one of Crain’s “40 Under 40” in 2008, 1010 Wins’ “Newsmaker of the Year,” and one of New York Magazine’s “Influentials” of New York.

Anne Johnson is a Senior Campaign Specialist with NEA's Campaigns and Elections Department where she specializes in member political engagement programs. Anne has worked with NEA's state and local affiliates on political programs and began a Member Candidate Development program, which is now being piloted around the county. Anne has over a decade of experience working on local, state and national campaigns.

Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. He is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs adviser in the Obama White House in 2009.

Timothy Karr is Campaign Director for Free Press, the national, not-for-profit media reform group. At Free Press, Karr oversees all campaigns and online outreach efforts, including SavetheInternet.com, SavetheNews.org and work on public broadcasting, propaganda, and journalism. Before joining Free Press, Karr served as executive director of MediaChannel.org and vice president of the Globalvision News Network. He has also worked extensively as an overseas editor, reporter and photojournalist for Associated Press, Time Inc., New York Times and Australia Consolidated Press. Tim critiques, analyzes and reports on media and media policy for the Huffington Post and on his personal blog, MediaCitizen.

Virginia Kase, Director of Education and Welcome Centers at CASA de Maryland has over sixteen years of non-profit and community development experience. Prior to her tenure at CASA Ms. Kase worked at the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise in Washington, DC where she developed a nationally recognized community grant making and capacity building program for grassroots non-profits. She is the co-founder of a Hartford, CT, community-based non-profit, the Hartford Youth Peace Initiative and has served as an independent consultant to many community and faith-based non-profit organizations providing support in the areas of grant management, organizational development, leadership development, and board development.

Kirin Kennedy is a community organizer and activist with a vested interest in Youth Leadership and Development. Kirin, a native of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, has been an active member of the NAACP and served as President of the Pennsylvania NAACP Youth & College Division. Kirin was truly a leader in her collegiate community of Penn State University. Kirin served as the president of the NAACP College Chapter, Student Co-Chair of the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity and was a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Tuition Coalition. Kirin’s passions extend into global warming and climate change. Currently, Kirin as a Regional Field Fellow for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)..

Michael Kieschnick is president and co-founder of Working Assets, a telecommunications company that donates a portion of its revenues to progressive nonprofit groups and engages its members in civic activism. Under Michael's direction as president, Working Assets has grown dramatically, from $2 million in revenues in 1991 to more than $100 million today. Michael has been a key founder in four companies and three nonprofits.

He has written several books on capital markets and development, most recently Credit Where It's Due (with Julia Parzen), the authoritative study of development banking.

Michael earned bachelor's degrees in biology and economics at Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University. Michael lives outside San Francisco with his wife (who is an Episcopal priest) and has two teenage children.

Eric Kingson, professor of social work at Syracuse University's School of Social Work, is also a Senior Research Associate in the Maxwell School’s Center for Policy Research.

Kingson served as policy advisor to two presidential commissions -- the 1982-1983 National Commission on Social Security Reform and the 1994 Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform.

He received his doctorate from Brandeis University’s Florence Heller School for Social Policy and Management. A founding board member of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), he currently serves as co-chair of the Strengthen Social Security Campaign and co-director of Social Security Works, based in Washington, D.C.

Richard Kirsch was the National Campaign Manager of Health Care for America Now from the Campaign’s founding to its successful conclusion in April 2010. As HCAN’s chief spokesperson, Mr. Kirsch appeared on PBS’s The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, ABC’s World News Tonight and Good Morning America, Fox, CSPAN, and the Colbert Report and was frequently quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and other national newspapers as well as NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Mr. Kirsch will publish Fighting for Our Health, a book that recounts the campaign to win health reform, early in 2012.

Sally Kohn makes the world safe for radical ideas. As a veteran community organizer turned political commentator, Sally is a regular on Fox News (Hannity, O’Reilly Factor, Megyn Kelly) and MSNBC (Ed Show). Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, CNN.com, FoxNews.com, Reuters, The Guardian and the American Prospect among other outlets.

Robert Kuttner is Co-editor of The American Prospect magazine and a Senior Fellow at Dēmos. He was a longtime columnist for BusinessWeek, and continues to write for The Huffington Post and The Boston Globe. He co-founded the Economic Policy Institute and serves on its board.

The latest of Bob’s nine books is A Presidency in Peril. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, Columbia Journalism Review, Harvard Business Review, and The New England Journal of Medicine. He has served as National Staff Writer on The Washington Post, Chief Investigator of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Economics Editor of The New Republic, and assistant to I.F. Stone.

Celinda is a prominent pollster and political strategist for Democrats and progressives. She currently serves as President of Lake Research Partners. Lake’s polling and strategic advice helped candidates such as Jon Tester, Tim Walz , and Gov Bob Wise defeat incumbent Republicans and her expertise guided Senator Mark Begich to victory, making him the first Senate candidate in Alaska to oust the incumbent in 50 years. She has focused on women candidates and women's concerns, having worked for Speaker Pelosi, Governor Janet Napolitano, and Senator Debbie Stabenow. Celinda worked for the largest independent expenditure to take back the House and has been a key player in campaigns launched by progressive groups such as the AFL-CIO, SEIU, Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, HRC, EMILY'S List and more. Lake co-authored the book What Women Really Want with Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway which examines the way women are changing the political landscape in

Ally LaTourelle is the V.P. of Government Affairs for BioAmber Inc., a renewable chemistry company that uses agricultural crops and transforms them into green chemicals that directly substitute for petrochemicals. She is an attorney, consultant, former financial advisor and former sustainable business owner. Prior to founding her own consulting practice, Earthventure Capital, LaTourelle was the lead business generator for a team in private wealth management at UBS Financial Services. LaTourelle assisted the deputy state director in the U.S. Senate office of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She received a J.D. with a concentration in international law from Pace University Law School.

Alex Lawson is the Executive Director of Social Security Works, a principal member of the Strengthen Social Security Campaign— a coalition made up of over 300 national and state organizations representing over 50 million Americans. Lawson was previously the Communications Director for Social Security Works.

He worked for Media Matters for America building a team focused on the intersection between violent rhetoric, extremist violence, and the easy availability of firearms and munitions.

Lawson worked for the Campaign for America’s Future as a health care researcher and policy analyst as part of the Health Care for America Now campaign.

As the national Communications Director for Democracy for America, Levana Layendecker promotes the work of DFA to support Progressive Democrats who stand up for our values. She works with national press and supports local DFA groups in their work on local issues and elections. Ms. Layendecker's career has always centered around holding Members of Congress accountable to voters and influencing the media to have a substantive debate on all issues.

In her spare time, Ms. Layendecker is an avid cook (she makes a wicked eggplant parmigiana). She also is proud to be a former member of the Philly for Change's steering committee, the local DFA group in Philadelphia.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee has represented California’s 9th Congressional District since 1998. She is a forceful and progressive voice in Congress, dedicated to social and economic justice, international peace, and civil and human rights. She has aggressively represented the needs of the underserved and vulnerable people in her district and throughout the U.S., vigorously advocating for a wide range of social and economic concerns and bread and butter issues that affect their daily lives. She is the immediate past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and former co-chair of the Progressive Caucus.

Stephen Lerner is the architect of the SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign, serves on the SEIU's International Executive Board and is a senior advisor to SEIU president Mary Kay Henry.

Abby Levine serves as Legal Director of Advocacy Programs at Alliance for Justice. She provides legal guidance that encourages grantmakers to support advocacy and other nonprofit organizations to participate in policymaking decisions through an understanding of federal tax and election law. Abby’s work includes creating curriculum, teaching workshops, providing technical assistance, writing plain-language legal guides, and describing federal legislative and regulatory developments that impact nonprofits. Abby has a B.A. from American University, and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Bill Lipton is currently Deputy Director of the Working Families Party (WFP), a community-labor coalition party active in New York, Connecticut, and Oregon. WFP is a "fusion" party, and some observers consider it the first sensible progressive third party effort in decades. Bill's work has enabled the WFP to pass state legislation to raise the minimum wage, reform right-wing drug laws, pass 'green jobs' legislation and make the state tax code more progressive.

Bill has a Masters in Political Science from Columbia University, and has won fellowships from Echoing Green, Charles H. Revson and Rockwood.

Tiffany Dena Loftin studied American Studies and Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In the beginning of her sophomore year she served two terms as Vice Chair for the Student Union Assembly and then served as Chair her senior year. A powerful speaker and a charismatic organizer, Tiffany was awarded the Keith Curry Destination Higher Education Scholarship for her service to the African American Community at UCSC and the Oakes College Community Service Award for her leadership and legacy. From leading students in demonstrations on tuition increases to sitting at the table with UC President Mark Yudof, Tiffany is dedicated to working towards social justice for students only because she believes those that came before her paved a very special path for success.

Rudy came to the Center for Community Change from Wellstone Action where he served as National Field Director. Mr. Lopez also was Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's Rhode Island director for GOTV in the November 2006 elections and served as National Field Director of the Chicago-based U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute (2000-2005) overseeing regional offices in Chicago, Kansas City, Orlando and Philadelphia.

Rudy worked on the staff of Congressman Peter Visclosky (D-IN) (1993-95); served as the Midwest Field Director for the Midwest/Northeast Voter Registration and Education Project (1995-98); and was a community organizer with Gamaliel affiliate the Metropolitan Alliance of Congregations in Chicago (1998-99). Rudy co-authored and served as Technical Advisor of the 2002 and 2004 Almanac of Latino Politics and holds B.A. in Political Science from Indiana University (1992).

Mike Lux is the co-founder and CEO of Progressive Strategies. Mike has launched a number of projects, including American Family Voices, an issue advocacy group that works on pocketbook issues for American families, and the Progressive Donor Network, and OpenLeft.com. He is the author of "The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be."

Before joining Change.org as Director of Organizing for Immigrant Rights, Jackie spent four years fighting for humane immigration reform from Chicago to Washington, D.C. After running the online program of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Jackie incubated online strategy for America’s Voice, a national immigration reform communications hub in Washington, DC. Jackie graduated from Brown University with an independent degree in New Media Studies. Her passion for justice is broad, and her heritage spans three continents. At Change.org, Jackie helps anyone, anywhere start and win key victories for immigrant rights on the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change.

Marianne Manilov is the Co-Founder of The Engage Network. Marianne has spent 25 years working at the forefront of grassroots organizing, media organizing and campaign strategy. In 2007, Marianne was part of a team that founded The Engage Network (www.engagenet.org). Engage was formed to help respond to question: How do we build stronger, long-term movements to make real systemic change? Engage does network engagement—building grassroots base more deeply by marrying the best practices in online organizing strategies with a unique, small circle approach to deepen and strengthen the skills of citizen leaders, and to build more connected local and national networks in the progressive movement. Get in touch: marianne.manilov@gmail.com

Eric Marshall, as manager of legal mobilization, is the Lawyers' Committee's chief organizer and is responsible for creating and managing the infrastructure necessary to direct large scale pro bono resources to address modern civil rights issues. Current campaigns include the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network and Election Protection.

In 2008, Marshall was the campaign manager for the Lawyers' Committee's most ambitious Election Protection program to date. He played a key role in all aspects of the program, including: volunteer management, coalition building, online and offline communications, development of the field program, and building the hotline infrastructure.

Before joining PowerPAC.org, Julie served as Research Director for American Rights at Work. Previously, Dr. Martínez Ortega was a Kerr White Visiting Scholar in the Center for Finance, Cost, and Access at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Dr. Martínez Ortega is an editorial board member of the Labor Studies Journal, and has served as a board member of the National Labor and Employment Relations Association and President of its DC Chapter. She is an Independent Labor Rights Expert on the Workers’ Rights Consortium Advisory Council, United Association of Labor Educators, the American Public Health Association, and the Kellogg Foundation Fellows Leadership Alliance. Dr. Martínez Ortega serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Mary’s Center and serves on the board of Progressive Majority.

Allen Mattison, a lawyer at Trister, Ross, Schadler & Gold, PLLC, represents nonprofit organizations on tax law, campaign finance and lobbying laws, employment law and other matters. He has helped numerous organizations establish a social media presence, drawing on his background in political and nonprofit communications. Prior to attending law school, he was Director of Media Relations at the Sierra Club, and served in various communications roles on political campaigns and on Capitol Hill.

Khady Mbaye is currently overseeing the expansion of BISC’s polling research program which includes a focus on conducting research that will help progressives better use initiatives as political tools, finding innovative ways to support collaboration between initiative campaigns around data, and providing strategic support to groups working with initiative data. In addition, Khady provides strategic advice to progressive organizations looking to launch a variety of proactive ballot measures.

Allie is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia and an active organizer with Georgia Students for Public Higher Education (GSPHE), a statewide coalition of students and allies who believe that affordable access to quality higher education is a right. She is involved in the student fight-back against tuition and fee hikes and the neoliberalization of the public university, as well as the fight for equal access to higher education for undocumented students. Allie is a self-identified "cat-lady" and semi-professional karaoke singer.

Carol McDonald is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She has been with the Planned Parenthood family for seven years; as a staff lobbyist in Georgia and running national advocacy and political campaigns in the national office. A former teacher and union organizer, Carol served on the boards of Georgians for Choice and Women's Action for New Directions in Georgia. During the 2008 Presidential primary, Carol was Hillary Clinton's Deputy Political Director in Iowa and a scheduler in Nevada and Ohio.

Patrick McGann, Ph.D. has been involved with Men Can Stop Rape (MCSR) since the organization’s inception in 1997. As Director of Strategy and Planning, Patrick co-authored a sexual assault prevention strategy for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in 2008 and oversaw the development of the HURTS ONE. AFFECTS ALL. public education campaign for DoD in 2010. Dr. McGann oversees MCSR’s other public education campaigns as well - [YMOST] Young Men of Strength, WHERE DO YOU STAND, and MY STRENGTH. He regularly gives presentations across the country on engaging men in the prevention of gender-based violence through healthy masculinity.

As the Director of Demos' Washington office, Heather develops and executes strategy for increasing the organization's impact on federal policy debates in Washington. Previously, she was the Deputy Policy Director, Domestic and Economic Policy, for the John Edwards for President 2008 campaign, and a Program Associate in Demos' Economic Opportunity Program. Her writing and research on debt, financial services regulation, retirement and inequality have appeared in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Detroit Free-Press and CNN. She is the co-author of a chapter on retirement insecurity in the book Inequality Matters: The Growing Economic Divide in America and its Poisonous Consequences (New Press, 2005). She holds a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

Alicia Menendez is a Senior Advisor at NDN. Alicia comes to NDN as a veteran of both Rock the Vote and Democracia USA, successful organizations dedicated to increasing the participation of Millennials and Latinos in the electoral process. This year, Alicia, together with Jake Brewer, Jehmu Greene, and Jose Antonio Vargas, co-founded DefineAmerican, an effort dedicated to elevating the national discourse around immigration. She is also the co-founder with Adriana Maestas of DailyGrito.com, a commentary site for Latinos who speak politics as a second language. Alicia graduated from Harvard College in 2005.

Michelle Miller is a cultural organizer who has been working for over ten years at the intersection of arts and economic justice. Her work with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) brought forth the stories and hopes of 2.2 million union members through video, photography, performance and art. She just joined the women lead digital strategy firm Strategic Productions, LLC where she serves as Creative Projects Director on a variety of progressive campaigns.

A Madison firefighter and union activist, Mitchell took over as head of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin just weeks before the fightback began in Wisconsin. He led firefighters as they marched into the struggle, showing a remarkable level of union solidarity -- as they were not targeted in Governor Scott Walker's anti-labor legislation. Mitchell became the youngest and first African American State President in IAFF history. Serving as a Lieutenant, he has been with the Madison Fire Department for 15 years. His great line: "We have a fire in the house of labor. We're here to put it out."

Julian is an Oakland native and a graduate of San Francisco State University who came to Green For All through his organizing work with The League of Young Voters. Julian works with people around the country who are putting government investment dollars to work on a local level to build the green economy. He trains local leaders to build the green economy from the ground up by serving as the facilitator of the Green For All Academy. Julian works everyday to link local partners, lift those local best practices and models to national prominence, and leverage the success stories for large-scale change. Julian has been featured in The Nation, Wiretap magazine and The San Francisco Xpress, and has been recognized by the California Labor Archives for excellence in writing.

Eddy joined Voto Latino as its National Field Director. Under his leadership, Voto Latino hired and trained a robust field team that registered over 10, 421 new voters in a record-breaking four weeks. Eddy now serves as Voto Latino’s Deputy overseeing the organization’s strategy and its day-to day operations. Eddy broke onto the national stage as the elected President of the U.S. Student Association, the largest, university organization representing millions of students. During his tenure as President, Eddy tripled USSA’s budget, expanded its membership, and led successful issue and voter registration campaigns which resulted in over 198,000 new registered voters. Prior to joining Voto Latino, he served as the Electoral Field Manager for the Center for Community Change. He was charged with managing its $3 million campaign for voter registration. Eddy has also consulted NCLR and managed the organization’s Community Based Organization affiliate outreach for new citizens.

Ben Morris assists the staff in developing and executing communications strategies, as well as monitoring and tracking ballot initiative and referenda activity across the country. Ben is also the point of contact for media inquiries. Before joining BISC, Ben worked in government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project where he managed online advocacy, coordinated grantee and volunteer organizers, and served as a liaison to staff on Capitol Hill.

Michael Moschella currently serves as the Political Director for the Truman National Security Project. In that role he has worked with hundreds of veterans and military families who are leading efforts for progressive change, and has launched a series of training programs for progressive leaders and activists to effectively promote a strong, smart and principled foreign policy agenda. Michael also serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of New Leaders Council and Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Netroots Foundation. He is a native of Boston, MA and a graduate of Cornell University.

Congressman Christopher S. Murphy is currently serving his 3rd term representing Connecticut's 5th District. He serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and its Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and its Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform and Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives Subcommittees.

Prior to his service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Murphy served for eight years in the Connecticut General Assembly.

Congressman Murphy grew up in Connecticut, and attended Williams College in MA. In 2002, he graduated from UConn Law School in Hartford, CT. He practiced real estate and banking law from 2002-2006 with the firm of Ruben, Johnson & Morgan in Hartford.

Peter Murray is the co-founder and president of the Center for Progressive Leadership (CPL), a national training institute dedicated to developing the next generation of progressive political and policy leaders. Since 2004, the CPL has trained over 6,000 promising progressive organizers, staff, and future candidates through six regional training centers. Prior to joining CPL, Peter was the founder and president of the Empowerment Group, an entrepreneurship training organization. He was also co-founder and executive vice president of the I Do Foundation and CEO of Image Contractors.

John Neffinger prepares people for high-stakes communication challenges, from ballroom presentations to broadcast debates. In addition to his client work with KNP Communications, John is a Senior Advisor at Media Matters, working with their Progressive Talent Initiative and Message Matters programs. John has appeared on CBS News, MSNBC and NPR, as well as in The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal. His work with KNP has been profiled in a Harvard Business School case study, and he guest lectures regularly at business and policy schools. John holds honors degrees from Harvard College and Columbia Law School.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz is the founding Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. Ms. Neumann-Ortiz is recognized as a national leader in immigration reform, serving on the IOC Steering Committee of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement and featured in national interviews on NPR, Democracy Now!, CNN, and a contributor to Huffington Post. She also writes a regular column in the monthly Voces de la Frontera newspaper.

Through her leadership, Voces has grown from a small, grass roots worker center to a state and national leader in the immigrant rights movement. Voces is the largest Latinomembership based organization in Wisconsin.

In 2010, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors presented Ms. Neumann-Ortiz with an award for exemplary service to Milwaukee County residents, and recently the Roberto Hernandez Center honored her for Outstanding Service to the Wisconsin Latino Community. On September 22, 2011, Ms. Neumann-Ortiz will receive a Community Change Champion Award for Community Organizing and Leadership from The Center for Community Change.

Darlene Nipper, the Task Force’s Deputy Executive Director, brings nearly 20 years of management and advocacy experience to the organization. She has held leadership positions in the government, corporate and nonprofit sectors, including the city government of Washington, D.C.; Black Entertainment Television (BET) Foundation; the National Mental Health Association; and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), where she served as chief operating officer. Nipper has an extensive background as a health advocate, working with those affected by HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, mental illness and other health issues. From 1994 to 2000, she was the director of community living at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute, a community residential services program for adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

Karen Nussbaum has been fighting for the rights of working men and women for nearly four decades. She was a founder and director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women; president of District 925, SEIU; and the director of the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, the highest seat in the federal government devoted to women’s issues, during the first Clinton Administration.

She is the executive director of Working America, Community Affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Richard Trumka has called her “the best organizer in the country.” Working America has 3 million members and is the fastest growing organization for working people in the country.

Maralyn got her start in politics at the grassroots level, through volunteering on a local campaign in 2002 and has stayed politically engaged since. She joined Wellstone Action's Labor Program in 2009 after a tenure in Washington D.C. working at SEIU International where she was vital in developing two programs for members to run for office and lobby Capitol Hill. Maralyn worked for the Michigan Democratic Party, fundraising and working to increase awareness to key issues facing the state, including work in 2005 to increase the state's minimum wage. She has a breadth of state and federal legislative experience and has worked on campaigns in six states. Maralyn is especially committed to electing progressive candidates at the grassroots level.

Maralyn is a graduate of Albion College and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Urban Planning from Wayne State University. She and her husband Nick, live in Michigan with their two French Bulldogs Claude and Pierre.

Jodeen is the Campaign Director with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and coordinates the Leadership Team of the Caring Across Generations movement. She has been organizing across race, gender and class lines for the past 10 years She is a skilled trainer who has developed and led national leadership development programs, organizer trainings, organizational development and direct action workshops.

The owner of the political consulting firm, Winning Over Washington, Ramona Oliver now works exclusively for MoveOn.org as their representative in Washington. She spent the last decade working in progressive politics and issue-advocacy as communications director for SEIU, as well as EMILY’s List. She led the communications team newly elected Governor Edward G. Rendell, after having served as communications director for the Democratic Governors Association and the 2001 redistricting project of the Democratic National Committee. Before jumping into public affairs, Ramona worked for more than ten years in corporate communications in the private sector.

Chris Owens is the Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project, a research and advocacy organization focused on issues affecting low wage and unemployed workers. Before joining NELP, Chris served as Director of the American Majority Project of the DNC under then-chair Howard Dean, and as the AFL-CIO Public Policy Director. An employment and civil rights lawyer, Chris is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.

Gaby Pacheco is an undocumented student leader from Miami, Florida who aspires to be a musical therapist for people with autism and Down syndrome. She holds an AA in Music Education, an AS in Early Childhood Education, and a BA in Special Education K-12.

In 2010, she and three other students walked 1,500 miles to bring to light the plight of immigrants in this country, and to urge President Obama to stop the separation of families and the deportation of DREAM Act-eligible youth. This walk was dubbed the Trail of DREAMs.

She is currently the Education Not Deportation (END) Project National Coordinator for the United We Dream network. END is a project that seeks to stop the deportation of DREAM Act eligible youth by sharing their stories and galvanizing support from their communities! You can find out more at endourpain.com.

Lenore Palladino is the Field Director at MoveOn.org.

Scott Paul is Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a partnership established by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers. Prior to forming AAM, Mr. Paul worked on the legislative staff of the AFL-CIO. Mr. Paul served on Capitol Hill at various times from 1987 to 2001. He was the chief foreign policy and trade advisor to then-House Democratic Whip David E. Bonior (D-MI). Mr. Paul earned a B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics from Penn State and an M.A. with honors in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Michael A. Peck founded the MAPA Group consultancy in 1994 where he specializes in green economy best practices and jobs-producing economic development. Presently, Mr. Peck serves on the volunteer boards of the Apollo Alliance, Blue-Green Alliance, and Wind Energy Foundation. He advises the American Sustainable Business Council. Michael works closely with the leadership of the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA) to frame green economy economic development opportunities under Michael’s approach of “no energy community left behind.” Mr. Peck was instrumental in bringing the leading global wind turbine manufacturer and developer, Gamesa, to Pennsylvania in 2005 where the company since has invested over $220 million in two factories and hundreds of indirect jobs with local Pennsylvania contractors.

Nick Penniman is the President of Democracy Fund. Previously, he was the executive director of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund; the Washington director of the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy; the publisher of The Washington Monthly; the editor of TomPaine.com; and associate editor of the American Prospect magazine. He was also director of the Alliance for Democracy and editor of the Lincoln Journal. He has served on multiple nonprofit boards, including the Homeless Empowerment Project and the Roosevelt Institution.

Danielle “Dani” Pere has worked with the Alliance for Retired Americans since 2002. She has successfully worked to establish the Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire Alliance for Retired Americans state organizations. In this role, she has directed the development and expansion of the Alliance’s state organizations while managing numerous state and federal legislative, educational, and electoral campaigns.

In 2007, Dani became the Director of the Department of Field Mobilization for the Alliance. She currently manages the growth and development of thirty state Alliance organizations, and the creation and implementation of legislative and electoral campaigns across the nation.

Dani holds a Bachelors degree in Biology and Political Science from Whittier College and a Master Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University.

Carmen Perez is the Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice, an inter-generational, inter-cultural, national social justice, civil rights organization rooted in history, spirituality and nonviolence direct action. Carmen’s work with “the Gathering” allows her the opportunity to provide additional capacity building to the Gathering's focused cities where she bridges the gap between government institutions, emerging leaders, and inner city youth. Carmen's record of accomplishments spans a decade of public service in the areas of national and international organizing, youth development, leadership enhancement, education and training, gender-responsive program development, policy advocacy, and most notably criminal and juvenile justice. Carmen is deeply grounded in various cultural and spiritual practices that create space for healing, relationship building and reconciliation.

Erik Peterson brings 30 years experience as a labor, community and electoral organizer to his role as Wellstone Action’s Director of Strategic Initiatives. He has helped build and lead several labor-community coalitions and has served at all levels of campaign organizing in state and local races, most recently as Lead Consultant for the Australian Labor Party, Tasmania (2010) and MN GOTV Consultant (2008). He has recruited dozens of candidates and has managed or served as General Consultant for three gubernatorial races and over two dozen legislative, mayoral, city council, school board and county commissioner races.

Crystal is a visionary leader with extensive experience directing and consulting for national women’s and public advocacy organizations, including the Ms. Foundation for Women, 21st Century Democrats and Choice USA. She has worked as an organizational development consultant with many national non-profit groups—where she helped with fundraising growth, membership expansion, staff development, and relationship-building with partner organizations. Crystal is a skilled executive, fundraiser, field operative and communications/branding expert.

Mike Podhorzer is the Political Director of the AFL-CIO, a Federation of 56 national and international labor unions representing over 9 million workers. He oversees the Federation’s political campaign targeting, strategic planning and opinion research testing and as well as the execution of membership contact programs across the country. He has been with the political department since 1997 and is the former Deputy Director.

Podhorzer has worked in politics for the last twenty five years. As Associate Director of Citizen Action, he managed the organization's extensive electoral activities, including successful congressional, state and local campaigns. A leader in the field of data driven politics, Podhorzer is a founding Chair of the Analyst Institute, and he serves on the Board of Directors for Catalist.

Ai-jen has been organizing immigrant women workers in New York since 1996. In 2000, she helped start Domestic Workers United, an organization of nannies, housekeepers and elderly caregivers in New York. DWU helped organize the first national meeting of domestic workers organizations in 2007—out of which formed the National Domestic Workers Alliance—and then led the successful campaign to pass the NY State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, the first law in the nation to extend basic labor rights to domestic workers. In April 2010, Ai-jen became Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Ai-jen serves on the Board of Social Justice Leadership, Momsrising and Jobs with Justice.

Mike began his career as a member of AIW Local 182 at Motor Wheel Corporation in Lansing MI. on September 7 1972. He held various offices within the local and became President in 1977. In May of 1984 he accepted a position in the COPE dept. of the Mi AFL-CIO. In Dec. 1988 he accepted a position as Organizer with his International Union the AIW. In 1994 he transferred to WI and continued to organize for the UPIU, in 1998 Mike became a Staff Representative with the UPIU, shortly after PACE merged with the USWA in 2005 Mike assumed the duties of Political Coordinator for USW District 2. Mike and his wife Pat live in Appleton WI.

As the Executive Director of Greenpeace, Phil Radford leads a national team of 500 environmental leaders working on national and international campaigns to protect our planet’s oceans, forests, and climate.

Prior to taking on his current role, Radford worked as Greenpeace’s Grassroots Director for 6 years. Before joining Greenpeace, Radford founded Power Shift, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating clean energy market breakthroughs.

Phil has a degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and a certificate in Non-profit Management from Georgetown University.

Suman has deep experience advancing immigrant rights via grassroots, advocacy, and policy organizations. The daughter of Indian immigrants and the former Interim Executive Director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, where she now serves on the Board of Directors, Suman’s expertise lies in crafting policy platforms and advocacy strategies. She has also developed programs to engage immigrants in the electoral process at the NY Immigration Coalition and OneAmerica, including managing the nation’s largest voter registration project for new citizens. Most recently, Suman was an immigration policy consultant, developing progressive policy agendas for Demos and the Drum Major Institute. Suman holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Master’s in Nonprofit Management from Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy.

As their inaugural Creative Fellow, Betsy brings over twenty years experience in the arts field as a funder, producer, theater artist and advocate to her role at the Opportunity Agenda. Most recently, she served as a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation in Media, Arts and Culture overseeing a national portfolio on Indigenous and place-based arts organizations and cultural communities. Betsy is a faculty member in NYU’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and is the Senior Cultural Advisor to the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.

Rashad Robinson is Executive Director of ColorOfChange, having joined the organization in May 2011. For well over a decade, Robinson has helped to mobilize communities across the country to create more inclusive cultural and political institutions. A recognized expert on how popular culture impacts American attitudes and values, he has served as a thought leader, widely sought-out speaker and strategist on utilizing media to shift public opinion concerning progressive and civil rights issues. He has appeared in hundred of news stories, interviews, and political discussions through outlets such as ABC, BET, CNN, MSNBC, OWN, The New York Times, Fast Company, and NPR. In 2010, Robinson was selected as one of "The Root 100," a list of emerging and influential African Americans. He has previously held leadership roles at GLAAD, the Right to Vote Campaign, and FairVote.

Dr. Maya Rockeymoore leads Global Policy Solutions, a Washington, DC-based policy firm that works to create and advance social change strategies for the world. Dr. Rockeymoore has also served as the Vice President of Research and Programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), Senior Resident Scholar at the National Urban League, Chief Of Staff to Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Professional Staff on the House Ways and Means Committee, and as a CBCF Legislative Fellow in the office of Congressman Melvin Watt (D-NC) among other positions.

Dr. Rockeymoore’s areas of expertise include health, social insurance, income security, education, women’s issues and youth civic participation. She is the author of The Political Action Handbook: A How to Guide for the Hip-Hop Generation and co-editor of Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America among many other articles and chapters. The recipient of many honors, she was named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow in 2004 and is the recipient of Running Start’s 2007 Young Women to Watch Award.

Nicole Rodgers is President and Founder of RoleReboot.org. A former Vice President at Fenton, Rodgers ran the branding and messaging practice for the DC office. Previously, Rodgers was a PhD candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, studying political communication. She received her undergraduate education at Northwestern University, graduating cum laude with a degree in social policy and a concentration in gender studies. Rodgers has guest lectured at the Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School and writes about gender, culture and politics for the HuffPost, Alternet, Hypervocal and the Good Men Project, among others.

Jonathan Rothwell is a senior research analyst at the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. He focuses on urban economics, innovation, and economic opportunity. Since joining Brookings in 2009, he has co-authored reports on international exports from metropolitan areas, the size, location, and characteristics of green jobs, and how mismatches in the supply and demand for worker education affect unemployment. He is a frequent contributor to The Avenue blog at the New Republic, and he has published academic papers in journals such as Urban Affairs Review, Social Science Quarterly, and American Law and Economics Review. He earned a Master’s degree in economics from the New School in Manhattan and a Ph.D. in policy from Princeton University.

Executive Director and Co-Founder of MomsRising, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner has been deeply involved in grassroots engagement and policy analysis for more than two decades, and is also an award-winning author of books and articles on subjects covering women and families, public policy, motherhood, economic security, equality, health, civic engagement, and new feminism. Started in May 2006, MomsRising is an on-the-ground and online organization with over 1 million members, as well as more than a hundred aligned national organizations, working together to increase family economic security and to help ensure all children can thrive. In addition to being a grassroots force, in both 2010 and 2011, Forbes.com named MomsRising's website one of the “Top 100 Websites For Women.”

Justin Ruben is the Executive Director of MoveOn.org. He's been on staff since 2004. Most recently he was MoveOn's Organizing Director, and he supervised the organization's day-to-day online and offline campaign work. He's also the primary architect of MoveOn's field organizing program. Justin helped launch MoveOn's initial organizing efforts in the 2004 elections, and he created MoveOn's network of local member councils. In 2006, he ran MoveOn's "Call for Change", a voter turnout effort that recruited more than 100,000 volunteers to make seven million calls to voters in key House and Senate districts and helped tip Congress to the Democrats.

Melissa Ryan is the New Media Director at The New Organizing Institute where she is living her dream to help build a nation-wide-nerd-force: arming organizers and bloggers with mad new media skillz.

Previously Melissa served as New Media Director for Senator Russ Feingold’s 2010 reelection campaign, as well as his Political Action Committee, The Progressive Patriot’s Fund. She was the Online Outreach Director in the fight against Governor Scott Walker’s union-busting budget bill in Wisconsin. A longtime Netroots activist, Melissa was the Managing Editor for Connecticut Local Politics and a former weekend contributor at MyDD.

Bernie Sanders was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. He is the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history. Sanders has focused on the shrinking middle class and widening income gap in America that is greater than at any time since the Great Depression. Other priorities include reversing global warming, universal health care, fair trade policies, supporting veterans and preserving family farms. He serves on five Senate committees: Budget; Veterans; Energy; Environment; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Rabbi Saperstein represents the Union for Reform Judaism to Congress and the administration. During his 30 year tenure as Director of the Center, Rabbi Saperstein has headed several national religious coalitions. He currently co-chairs the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty, comprised of over 50 national religious denominations and educational organizations, and serves on the boards of numerous national organizations including the NAACP and People For the American Way. In 1999, Rabbi Saperstein was elected as the first Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom created by a unanimous vote of Congress. Also an attorney, Rabbi Saperstein teaches seminars in both First Amendment Church-State Law and in Jewish Law at Georgetown University Law School.

Congresswoman Schakowsky has represented Illinois’ 9th Congressional District since 1998, after serving for 8 years in the Illinois General Assembly. Currently in her 7th term, she serves in the House Democratic leadership. She is also a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence where she is Ranking Democrat on the Oversight Subcommittee. She also serves as the co-chair of the Seniors Task Force.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, she played a leadership role in writing and passing the historic Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. She is a strong advocate for balancing the budget without cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid -- or further burdening struggling families.

Cliff Schecter is an author, pundit and public relations strategist whose firm Libertas, LLC has worked with former Vice-President Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, Media Matters, Thom Hartmann, and the American Association for Justice.

In 2008, Schecter’s first book, The Real McCain, became a non-fiction bestseller. He’s a nationally syndicated columnist and weekly contributor to Al Jazeera English, who's been a regular presence as a television and radio commentator over the past decade.

Schecter worked on President Bill Clinton’s reelection in 1996 and has campaigned for progressive stalwarts such as Ned Lamont, Elliot Spitzer & Chellie Pingree.

Sam Seder Sam Seder is a New York based political talk show host. Seder’s daily podcast, The Majority Report, airs live at www.majority.fm. He is also a host on Ring of Fire, www.RingOfFire.com. Seder regularly appears on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, for whom he has substituted as host.

Seder hosted four different shows for Air America including the Majority Report with co-host Janeane Garofalo, The mid-morning Sam Seder Show, the weekly Seder on Sundays and co-hosted the web only video show Break Room Live with Marc Maron. Seder also served as the Editor in Chief of AirAmerica.com.

Seder co-authored Fubar: America’s Right Wing Nightmare with Stephen Sherrill, blogs at the HuffingtonPost and has a weekly video series entitled “That’s Bullsh*t” at www.samseder.com.

Rinku Sen is the President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and the publisher of Colorlines.com. A leading figure in the racial justice movement, Rinku has positioned ARC as a national home for media, research and activism on these issues. Over the course of her career, she has combined journalism and activism to make social change. Rinku is the author of Stir It Up, a primer on best practices in community organizing, and The Accidental American, a book about Moroccan immigrant Fekkak Mamdouh, who co-founded the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York in the aftermath of September 11. Rinku lives in Queens, New York.

As Executive Director of WAND (Women’s Action for New Directions), Susan Shaer is dedicated to empowering women to act politically to examine excessive military spending versus unmet needs, end the scourge of nuclear weapons and the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. WAND programs have helped elect 49 women to Congress.

Susan co-chairs Win Without War, a national mainstream coalition opposing the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She spoke at the Conference on World Affairs in Boulder, directed the Clearinghouse for Women Candidates at the IOP, K School, Harvard and trained women candidates in Mexico and Guyana, as well as nonprofits in Kosovo.

Damon A. Silvers is the Director of Policy and Special Counsel for the AFL-CIO.

Mr. Silvers serves on a pro bono basis as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the state of New York. Mr. Silvers is also a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Standing Advisory Group and Investor Advisory Group.

Mr. Silvers received his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School. He received his M.B.A. with high honors from Harvard Business School and is a Baker Scholar. Mr. Silvers is a graduate of Harvard College, summa cum laude, and has studied history at Kings College, Cambridge University.

Amalia Stott is the Director of Development at EMILY’s List. She leads the department that raises millions of dollars for EMILY’s List candidates and the political programs that help elect pro-choice Democratic women at the local, state and federal levels.

Tracy Sturdivant is the Executive Director of State Voices, an innovative national network helping grassroots organizations win shared policy and civic engagement victories and build long-term power. Built from the states up, State Voices convenes fifteen "state tables" – networks of 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

Before joining State Voices, Sturdivant served as the Vice President for External Affairs at the Center for Progressive Leadership where she directed national partnership outreach and new state development efforts. Prior to her tenure at CPL, she worked as an Advisor to a philanthropist in Michigan – her home state – to help to build the capacity of the progressive community.

She is currently a Board Member of the Proteus Fund, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Progress Now and the Center for Progressive Leadership.

David Swanson is author of, most recently, "War Is A Lie," and is writing a book about the peace movement of the 1920s. He blogs at http://warisacrime.org and is a campaigner for RootsAction.org as well as being associated with many other groups. For more see http://davidswanson.org.

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed is the national director for Interfaith and Community Alliances at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) in Washington, DC. He previously served for 12 years as ISNA secretary general. Dr. Syeed has also led the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, the Editorial Board of ISNA’s Islamic Horizons magazine, the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, the Association of Muslim Social Scientists, and the Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada.

Aaron Tanaka is the founding Executive Director of the Boston Workers' Alliance (BWA), a grassroots union of under- and unemployed workers based in Boston's low income communities of color. Aaron has helped develop BWA's Worker Center, organizing campaigns and economic development projects, and supervises a 6-person staff. Prior to BWA, Aaron interned as an environmental lobbyist in DC, and as a prison reform advocate with families of prisoners in Cambridge, MA. Aaron grew up in the San Francisco East Bay and is a '05 graduate of Harvard College.

Sujata has two decades of experience developing and directing electoral and issue advocacy campaigns and strategizing for organizations and donors. She is an experienced facilitator and trainer, training political activists, leaders, and candidates. Sujata’s clients have included State Voices, The Atlantic Philanthropies, BISC, Wellstone Action, PPFA, Ohio Democratic Party, Unity ’09, ISSI, 1199 SEIU, UHWE, UN Foundation, NOI, SEIU, EMILY’s List, Human Rights First, GMMB, DNC, Democratic GAIN, LSG Strategies, and The Feldman Group. A first-generation Indian American, Sujata was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, holds a B.A. in International Studies from Vassar College, and currently lives in New York City.

Rebecca is the Director of YP4. A progressive young leader with extensive experience in community organizing and leadership development, Rebecca is passionate about empowering youth to affect change in their communities. Prior to joining YP4, she served as Program Manager for the District of Columbia Youth Advisory Council in the Executive Office of the Mayor, where she provided policy, leadership, and professional development opportunities to the youth council. She has also served as the Legislative Director for the United States Student Association (USSA). Rebecca has provided trainings to students nationwide and has been featured on C-SPAN, in the Washington Post, and the New York Times discussing higher education access and affordability issues. Rebecca comes to YP4 with extensive leadership training including the Women's Campaign School at Yale, the White House Project, and the Center for Progressive Leadership's Michigan Political Leaders Fellowship, among others. Rebecca is originally from Detroit and is a graduate of Northern Michigan University.

Gloria A. Totten is the president of Progressive Majority, which recruits and elects progressive champions at the state and local levels. Since 2004, Progressive Majority has elected 411 progressives to office, and helped flip control of six state legislative chambers, 40 local governments, four statewide positions and one statewide government. Under Gloria’s leadership, Progressive Majority has recruited and elected progressives in Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Gloria served as Political Director for NARAL from 1996-2001, Executive Director for Maryland NARAL from 1993-1996 and has worked as a political and community organizer for many campaigns and organizations in her home state of Minnesota.

Baratunde is a politically-active, technology-loving comedian from the future. He co-founded the black political blog, Jack and Jill Politics and serves as Director of Digital for The Onion. He has written for Vanity Fair and the UK Independent, hosted Popular Science’s Future Of on Discovery Science and appears on cable news regularly to say smart things in funny ways. Then-candidate Barack Obama called him "someone I need to know." Baratunde travels the world speaking and advising and performs standup regularly in NYC. He resides in Brooklyn, lives on Twitter and has over 30 years experience being black. His first book, How To Be Black, will be published in February 2012 by Harper Collins.

Richard L. Trumka is President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, better known as the AFL-CIO. His election in September 2009 as head of the nation’s largest labor federation followed 14 years as secretary-treasurer and caps his rise to prominence in the labor movement from his start as a coal miner in southwest Pennsylvania.

In February 2009, President Barack Obama named Trumka to the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker. In 1995, while serving in his third term as president of the United Mine Workers of America, Trumka became the youngest secretary-treasurer in AFL-CIO when he was elected on a ticket aiming to reinvigorate the American labor movement."

State Senator Nina Turner represents Ohio’s 25th Senate District in the Greater Cleveland area. Turner previously served on Cleveland City Council, where she was an outspoken advocate for the disenfranchised and underrepresented. Beginning her professional career as a legislative aide in the Ohio Senate, she went on to serve in the administration of former Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White and then as the Director of Government Affairs for the Cleveland School District. As a first generation college graduate and professor at Cuyahoga Community College, she believes that if individuals are provided with the means they will craft for themselves their own American dream.

Ricardo Valadez is a longtime labor and community organizer based in Washington, DC. Ricardo has primarily organized in low-income communities of color and immigrant communities, working in Seattle, Denver, and at national office of Jobs with Justice as their Program and Communications Director. Ricardo is currently providing training and support for grassroots organizing groups and campaigns around the country, including the recent effort to provide paid sick days to all workers in the city of Philadelphia.

Tracy Van Slyke is the co-director of The New Bottom Line, a national alignment designed to restructure our relationship with Wall Street and the financial sector and to advance a vision of a more equitable and sustainable economy. Van Slyke is the former director of The Media Consortium, a network of the leading progressive, independent media outlets in the country. She is the co-author of the book, Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (January 2010, The New Press). Van Slyke is also the former publisher of In These Times, a national, an award winning political magazine.

Katrina vanden Heuvel is Editor and Publisher of The Nation.

She is a frequent commentator on American and international politics on ABC, MSNBC, CNN and PBS. Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Foreign Policy magazine and The Boston Globe.

She writes a weekly web column for The Washington Post. Her blog "Editor's Cut" appears at thenation.com.

She is the author of The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in The Age of Obama (Nation Books, 2011). She is also the editor of Meltdown: How Greed and Corruption Shattered Our Financial System and How We Can Recover" and co-editor of Taking Back America--And Taking Down The Radical Right.

Naomi Walker serves as the Deputy Director of the Government Affairs Department for the AFL-CIO, which lobbies on behalf of its 66 affiliated unions representing 9 million members. In addition, she serves as the Director of State Government Relations and works with national unions and state federations of labor to craft a state working families’ agenda.

Before joining the AFL-CIO in 1997, Walker served as the Field Director of the Preamble Center for Public Policy, where she helped coordinate both press and field work on progressive policy issues like corporate accountability and fair trade. From 1993 until 1996, she was the Midwestern Regional Organizer for the Children’s Defense Fund.

Robert Weissman is the President of Public Citizen, www.citizen.org. Public Citizen is a longtime proponent of public financing of public elections and other campaign finance and election reforms. Public Citizen’s Litigation Group served as co-counsel for Senators McCain and Feingold and Representatives Shays and Meehan in the Citizens United case. While supporting other mitigating measures, Public Citizen has called for a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United and clarifying that for-profit corporations do not have First Amendment rights.

Prior to joining Public Citizen, Weissman was Director of the corporate accountability organization Essential Action, and Editor of Multinational Monitor magazine. Weissman is an attorney.

Wendy Wendlandt is the Political Director for The Public Interest Network and President of the Center for Public Interest Research. Wendlandt assists many of the Public Interest Network organizations in building their capacity as well as developing and running campaigns and projects. She has also held leading roles with numerous initiative, registration, and voter mobilization projects starting with successful environmental ballot measures in Washington State in 1986 and 1988, a campaign finance reform ballot measure in California, and later with voter mobilization programs conducted by Moveon.Org in 2004 and 2006.

Drew Westen, Ph.D. is a clinical, personality, and political psychologist and neuroscientist, and Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at Emory University. He is also the founder of Westen Strategies, a strategic messaging firm. Dr. Westen is the author of three books and over 150 articles, including The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation, which has influenced campaigns and elections around the world.

He frequently comments on political and psychological issues on radio, television, and in print, including appearances on Anderson Cooper 360, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, Hardball, Good Morning America, the Charlie Rose Show on PBS, and articles in the Washington Post, Adweek, and the Huffington Post. He has advised a range of candidates and organizations, from presidential campaigns to major nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 companies to the Democratic Caucuses of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Elon James White is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and host of the award-winning web series This Week in Blackness, a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America. White has been a featured commentator on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC and on VH1's Black to the Future & The Great Debate. Praised as "The perfect comedian for the Obama era, talking race while exploding racial stereotypes" by Dr. Harris-Lacewell of Princeton on Politco.com and as "Precise, thought provoking and hilarious" by Daily Show creator Lizz Winstead. White was the recipient of four 2009 Black Weblog Awards. Visit him online at ElonJamesisNotWhite.com

Erica Williams is a Senior Strategist at Citizen Engagement Lab, passionate about engaging the next generation in civic life. Erica was the co-founder of Progress 2050, a project of the Center for American Progress that develops new ideas for an increasingly diverse America. While at CAP, Erica led youth advocacy efforts and supported young Americans in advancing progressive policy on a host of issues. Prior to that she coordinated grassroots activity at Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights. She is a frequent commentator in the national media and in 2011 was named Young Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum.

Joan C. Williams is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. According to The New York Times, “she has something approaching rock-star status“ in her field. Her prize-winning Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do About It is considered a classic. Her most recent book is Reshaping The Work-Family Debate: Men and Class Matter (Harvard Univ. Press, 2010). Follow her on her Huffington Post blog and at www.genderbiasbingo.com.

Dave Woodward was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives at the age of 22. He served three terms in the state house. Afterwards, he was elected to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, and was the first progressive to unseat a conservative incumbent in county history.

He is also the former Chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party, the largest county Party organization in Michigan. Under his six years of leadership, Democrats made unprecedented gains in winning elections including helping win a congressional race that had been held by Republicans for more than 100 years.

Currently, Dave is the Candidate Services and Training Manager for Progressive Majority where he supports the recruitment of progressive candidates across the country and works to insure that they have the training ad campaign support to win and lead progressive political change in their community.

As co-creator and former head writer of The Daily Show and Air America Radio co-founder, Lizz Winstead has helped changed the very landscape of how people get their news.

Known as as one of the top political satirists in America, Winstead is currently touring the country, bringing her razor sharp insights to the stage selling out shows from LA to NYC.

Her talents as a comedian and media visionary have been recognized by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly's 100 most Creative People issue and has brought numerous television appearances, including HBO and Comedy Central. Her weekly segments on The Ed Show on MSNBC and HLN's The Joy Behar Show feature her hilarious spin on breaking news.

When Winstead is not on stage, she is blogging regularly at The Huffington Post and The Top Vlog, as well as working on a book of essays for Riverhead Press due out in 2011.

Axel Woolfolk Caballero was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. He founded, directs and produces Cuéntame, MyCuentame.org and runs the Spanish language opinion site Metaforapolitica.com.

Before, Axel was the Media and Community Relations Director for Peace Education Fund and Peace Action West. He is a graduate in Political Science and International Relations as well as Law and Society and visual arts studies form the University of California in San Diego (UCSD) and received his masters in International Law and Protection of Human Rights from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, is a minister, community activist and one of the most influential people in Hip Hop political life. He works tirelessly to encourage the Hip Hop generation to utilize its political and social voice. Rev Yearwood and the Hip Hop Caucus have registered and mobilized tens of thousands of young voters to the polls through their ‘Respect My Vote!’ campaign in 2008 and 2010. During the 2004 election he was the grassroots and political director for Russell Simmons and co-creator of the ‘Vote Or Die!’ campaign. A national leader within the green movement, Rev Yearwood has been successfully bridging the gap between communities of color and environmental issue advocacy for the past four years. Rev Yearwood is the subject of a Discovery Network Documentary for the Planet Green Channel, ‘Hip Hop Rev’ (www.HipHopRev.com). Rev Yearwood is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer. In the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq he began speaking out against such an invasion. He has since remained a vocal activist in opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.