Afroman
Rapper and First Amendment Champion
Rachel Canter
Director of Education Policy, Progressive Policy Institute; Founder and Former Executive Director, Mississippi First
Simon Cohen
Chief of Compassion, Muhammad Ali Center; Lead, Muhammad Ali Index
Anand Giriharadas
Author, Columnist, Correspondent and Publisher
Dr. Mona Hanna
Pediatrician and Associate Dean of Public Health, Michigan State University; Founder and Director, Rx Kids
Joseph Henry
Chief of Arts and Culture, City of Boston
Ramon Perez
Executive Director, Digital Democracy Project
Gloria Umanah
Founder and Executive Director, The Ex-Nihilo Collective; Founder and CEO, Hope Booth
Ali Velshi
Host of "The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi" and Chief Data Reporter, MS NOW
Dr. Alexander Vindman
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel
Jacob Weisberg
Author; former Editor, Slate; Co-founder, Pushkin Industries; Chair, The Committee to Protect Journalists
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Afroman
Rapper and First Amendment Champion
Born Joseph Edgar Foreman in Los Angeles, California, Afroman is a hip-hop artist known for original works of satire and real-life commentary. His 2001 hit “Because I Got High” made him a household name. More than two decades later, his video for “Lemon Pound Cake,” featuring security footage of his Ohio home being raided by seven Adams County sheriff’s deputies, resulted in a defamation lawsuit, which Afroman won the suit on First Amendment grounds, while wearing a U.S. flag suit.
Rachel Canter
Director of Education Policy, Progressive Policy Institute; Founder and Former Executive Director, Mississippi First
Rachel Canter, the founder and former Executive Director of Mississippi First, was the lead advocate of multiple watershed public education initiatives in Mississippi, including the adoption of new state education standards and assessments as well as the state’s pre-K law, the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment program, the 2022 historic teacher pay raise, and the 2024 student-centered public school funding formula. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Simon Cohen
Chief of Compassion, Muhammad Ali Center; Lead, Muhammad Ali Index
Simon Cohen is Chief of Compassion at the Muhammad Ali Center and leads the Muhammad Ali Index, measuring and strengthening compassion worldwide. He founded and later gave away Global Tolerance, working with the Dalai Lama, King Charles III and Jedi Knights. He is a lifeguard, Buddhist and father of three daughters.
Anand Giriharadas
Author, Columnist, Correspondent and Publisher
Anand Giriharadas is the New York Times bestselling author of Man in the Mirror, The Persuaders, Winners Take All, The True American, and India Calling. A foreign correspondent and columnist for The New York Times for more than a decade, he has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Time. He also publishes the newsletter The.Ink, and serves as an on-air political analyst for MS NOW. He has received the Radcliffe Fellowship, the Porchlight Business Book of the Year Award, Harvard University’s Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award for Humanism in Culture, and the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Dr. Mona Hanna
Pediatrician and Associate Dean of Public Health, Michigan State University; Founder and Director, Rx Kids
Dr. Mona Hanna, MD, MPH, is a pediatrician and the C.S. Mott Endowed Professor and Associate Dean for Public Health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She leads the Flint-based Pediatric Public Health Initiative, where she helped expose the Flint water crisis and lead recovery efforts, and is the founder and director of Rx Kids, the nation’s first-ever, community-wide maternal and infant cash prescription program. Dr. Mona holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, a medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
Joseph Henry
Chief of Arts and Culture, City of Boston
Joseph Henry is a designer, urbanist and cultural leader working across public service, curation and academia. In his role as Chief of Arts & Culture for the City of Boston, Henry focuses on culture as public infrastructure and on building the conditions for artists, cultural workers and communities to shape the future of the city. Henry previously worked for the Mayor of London’s Culture & Creative Industries Unit and co-curated Dancing Before the Moon, the British Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. In Spring 2027, he will return to Harvard GSD to teach a seminar exploring the cultural and spatial practices through which publics are formed.
Ramon Perez
Executive Director, Digital Democracy Project
An AI technology executive and military veteran, Ramon Perez founded the Digital Democracy Project to address systemic problems in our electoral system that result in hyper–partisanship and widespread voter alienation. He believes that to achieve better outcomes, we must use technology to give greater control directly to voters.
Gloria Umanah
Founder and Executive Director, The Ex-Nihilo Collective; Founder and CEO, Hope Booth
Gloria Umanah is visionary behind Hope Booth, free, 24/7 interactive mental health and wellness kiosks housed inside a reimagined, retro telephone booth. A first-generation Nigerian American born in Atlanta, Umanah overcame homelessness, fatherlessness, depression, and suicidal ideation to create a free, communication resources with street corner, school, and other public locations in more than three dozen cities, 18 states and three countries that have been used by 4 million. Awards for her work include 2024 Young Innovator in Behavioral Health by Melinda Gates, a 2025 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth. In her spare time, she’s a spoken word artist.
Ali Velshi
Host of "The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi" and Chief Data Reporter, MS NOW
Ali Velshi is an award-winning journalist, anchor of “The 11 Hour with Ali Velshi” and Chief Data Reporter for MS NOW, and a weekly economics contributor to NPR’s “Here And Now.” He has covered multiple U.S. midterm and presidential elections and significant news stories around the globe, including extensive reporting on the war with Israel and Hamas, Ukraine, and across Central and Eastern Europe during the Russian invasion, the Syrian refugee crisis from Turkey and Jordan, and the Iran Nuclear Deal in Tehran. Velshi hosts the “Velshi Banned Book Club” on MS NOW, the “Velshi Banned Book Club” podcast, and the ongoing series, Velshi Across America. He previously worked as an anchor and correspondent for Al Jazeera America and CNN.
Dr. Alexander Vindman
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel
Dr. Alexander Vindman is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and former director for European Affairs on the National Security Council. Dr. Vindman leads the Here Right Matters Foundation and is the author of the Substack “Why It Matters” and the New York Times bestselling books Here, Right Matters and The Folly of Realism.
Jacob Weisberg
Author; former Editor, Slate; Co-founder, Pushkin Industries; Chair, The Committee to Protect Journalists
Jacob Weisberg is the author of books including Ronald Reagan , The Bush Tragedy, and In an Uncertain World, co-written with former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin. A native of Chicago, he is the former longtime editor of Slate and the co-founder of the podcast company Pushkin Industries. He serves as Chair of The Committee to Protect Journalists and is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books.
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Michael Nutter served as Philadelphia’s mayor from 2008 to 2016. Prior to that he served for 15 years on City Council. Since leaving public service on January 4, 2016, Mayor Nutter has remained active in public policy, government, and civic life. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Kasim Reed served as the Mayor of Atlanta for two terms, from 2010 to 2018. Reed was credited with increasing core city services while reducing Atlanta’s spending during the worst recession in 80 years. He also hired more than 900 police officers, creating the largest police force in his city’s history, oversaw a 37 percent drop in crime, improved fire rescue response times and re-opened all the city’s recreation centers as safe havens for young people. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.
Afroman
Rapper and First Amendment Champion
Rachel Canter
Director of Education Policy, Progressive Policy Institute; Founder and Former Executive Director, Mississippi First
Simon Cohen
Chief of Compassion, Muhammad Ali Center; Lead, Muhammad Ali Index
Anand Giriharadas
Author, Columnist, Correspondent and Publisher
Dr. Mona Hanna
Pediatrician and Associate Dean of Public Health, Michigan State University; Founder and Director, Rx Kids
Joseph Henry
Chief of Arts and Culture, City of Boston
Ramon Perez
Executive Director, Digital Democracy Project
Gloria Umanah
Founder and Executive Director, The Ex-Nihilo Collective; Founder and CEO, Hope Booth
Ali Velshi
Host of "The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi" and Chief Data Reporter, MS NOW
Dr. Alexander Vindman
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel
Jacob Weisberg
Author; former Editor, Slate; Co-founder, Pushkin Industries; Chair, The Committee to Protect Journalists
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Afroman
Rapper and First Amendment Champion
Born Joseph Edgar Foreman in Los Angeles, California, Afroman is a hip-hop artist known for original works of satire and real-life commentary. His 2001 hit “Because I Got High” made him a household name. More than two decades later, his video for “Lemon Pound Cake,” featuring security footage of his Ohio home being raided by seven Adams County sheriff’s deputies, resulted in a defamation lawsuit, which Afroman won the suit on First Amendment grounds, while wearing a U.S. flag suit.
Rachel Canter
Director of Education Policy, Progressive Policy Institute; Founder and Former Executive Director, Mississippi First
Rachel Canter, the founder and former Executive Director of Mississippi First, was the lead advocate of multiple watershed public education initiatives in Mississippi, including the adoption of new state education standards and assessments as well as the state’s pre-K law, the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment program, the 2022 historic teacher pay raise, and the 2024 student-centered public school funding formula. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Simon Cohen
Chief of Compassion, Muhammad Ali Center; Lead, Muhammad Ali Index
Simon Cohen is Chief of Compassion at the Muhammad Ali Center and leads the Muhammad Ali Index, measuring and strengthening compassion worldwide. He founded and later gave away Global Tolerance, working with the Dalai Lama, King Charles III and Jedi Knights. He is a lifeguard, Buddhist and father of three daughters.
Anand Giriharadas
Author, Columnist, Correspondent and Publisher
Anand Giriharadas is the New York Times bestselling author of Man in the Mirror, The Persuaders, Winners Take All, The True American, and India Calling. A foreign correspondent and columnist for The New York Times for more than a decade, he has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Time. He also publishes the newsletter The.Ink, and serves as an on-air political analyst for MS NOW. He has received the Radcliffe Fellowship, the Porchlight Business Book of the Year Award, Harvard University’s Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award for Humanism in Culture, and the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Dr. Mona Hanna
Pediatrician and Associate Dean of Public Health, Michigan State University; Founder and Director, Rx Kids
Dr. Mona Hanna, MD, MPH, is a pediatrician and the C.S. Mott Endowed Professor and Associate Dean for Public Health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She leads the Flint-based Pediatric Public Health Initiative, where she helped expose the Flint water crisis and lead recovery efforts, and is the founder and director of Rx Kids, the nation’s first-ever, community-wide maternal and infant cash prescription program. Dr. Mona holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, a medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
Joseph Henry
Chief of Arts and Culture, City of Boston
Joseph Henry is a designer, urbanist and cultural leader working across public service, curation and academia. In his role as Chief of Arts & Culture for the City of Boston, Henry focuses on culture as public infrastructure and on building the conditions for artists, cultural workers and communities to shape the future of the city. Henry previously worked for the Mayor of London’s Culture & Creative Industries Unit and co-curated Dancing Before the Moon, the British Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. In Spring 2027, he will return to Harvard GSD to teach a seminar exploring the cultural and spatial practices through which publics are formed.
Ramon Perez
Executive Director, Digital Democracy Project
An AI technology executive and military veteran, Ramon Perez founded the Digital Democracy Project to address systemic problems in our electoral system that result in hyper–partisanship and widespread voter alienation. He believes that to achieve better outcomes, we must use technology to give greater control directly to voters.
Gloria Umanah
Founder and Executive Director, The Ex-Nihilo Collective; Founder and CEO, Hope Booth
Gloria Umanah is visionary behind Hope Booth, free, 24/7 interactive mental health and wellness kiosks housed inside a reimagined, retro telephone booth. A first-generation Nigerian American born in Atlanta, Umanah overcame homelessness, fatherlessness, depression, and suicidal ideation to create a free, communication resources with street corner, school, and other public locations in more than three dozen cities, 18 states and three countries that have been used by 4 million. Awards for her work include 2024 Young Innovator in Behavioral Health by Melinda Gates, a 2025 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth. In her spare time, she’s a spoken word artist.
Ali Velshi
Host of "The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi" and Chief Data Reporter, MS NOW
Ali Velshi is an award-winning journalist, anchor of “The 11 Hour with Ali Velshi” and Chief Data Reporter for MS NOW, and a weekly economics contributor to NPR’s “Here And Now.” He has covered multiple U.S. midterm and presidential elections and significant news stories around the globe, including extensive reporting on the war with Israel and Hamas, Ukraine, and across Central and Eastern Europe during the Russian invasion, the Syrian refugee crisis from Turkey and Jordan, and the Iran Nuclear Deal in Tehran. Velshi hosts the “Velshi Banned Book Club” on MS NOW, the “Velshi Banned Book Club” podcast, and the ongoing series, Velshi Across America. He previously worked as an anchor and correspondent for Al Jazeera America and CNN.
Dr. Alexander Vindman
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel
Dr. Alexander Vindman is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and former director for European Affairs on the National Security Council. Dr. Vindman leads the Here Right Matters Foundation and is the author of the Substack “Why It Matters” and the New York Times bestselling books Here, Right Matters and The Folly of Realism.
Jacob Weisberg
Author; former Editor, Slate; Co-founder, Pushkin Industries; Chair, The Committee to Protect Journalists
Jacob Weisberg is the author of books including Ronald Reagan , The Bush Tragedy, and In an Uncertain World, co-written with former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin. A native of Chicago, he is the former longtime editor of Slate and the co-founder of the podcast company Pushkin Industries. He serves as Chair of The Committee to Protect Journalists and is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books.
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Michael Nutter served as Philadelphia’s mayor from 2008 to 2016. Prior to that he served for 15 years on City Council. Since leaving public service on January 4, 2016, Mayor Nutter has remained active in public policy, government, and civic life. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Kasim Reed served as the Mayor of Atlanta for two terms, from 2010 to 2018. Reed was credited with increasing core city services while reducing Atlanta’s spending during the worst recession in 80 years. He also hired more than 900 police officers, creating the largest police force in his city’s history, oversaw a 37 percent drop in crime, improved fire rescue response times and re-opened all the city’s recreation centers as safe havens for young people. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.
