Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Author and Professor
Ali Velshi
MSNBC Chief Correspondent
Debra Winger
Actor, Board Member, American Promise
Jeff Clements
CEO, American Promise
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Author, Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women
The Honorable Patrick J. Murphy
Former PA Congressman and 32nd Army Under Secretary
Andre Perry
Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institute
Marek Gootman
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute
Jon Grinspan
Author of The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought To Fix Their Democracy
Kathy E. Hollinger
CEO, Greater Washington Partnership
Gilbert Campbell
Founder and CEO, Volt Energy Utility
Stacy Hawkins
Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
Devin H. Cotten
Founder, Universal Basic Employment
Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor
The New Yorker writer, Princeton professor and MacArthur “genius”
Jonathan Eig
Pulitzer-winning Author and Journalist
Sonja Trauss
Executive Director, Yes In My Back Yard
Dr. Amy Castro
Co-Director of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research, University of Pennsylvania
Joe Winston
Producer and Director, Punch 9 for Harold Washington
Garrett Langley
Founder and CEO, Flock Safety
Laurin Leonard
Executive Director, Mission: Launch and CEO, R3 Score Technologies
Piper Stege Nelson
Executive Director, I Live Here I Give Here
Anne Caprara
Chief of Staff, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Trymaine Lee
Journalist and MSNBC Correspondent
Kathryn Wylde
President and CEO, Partnership for New York City
Dr. Fareeda Griffith
Managing Director of the Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity
Mark Ethridge
Ascent Housing Principal and Housing Impact Fund Board Member
Michael Forman
Chairman and CEO, FS Investments
Dalila Wilson-Scott
EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation
Bret Perkins
Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs, Comcast Corporation
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Bruce Katz
Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Author and Professor
Michael Eric Dyson has authored more than 20 acclaimed books and is a widely celebrated professor, prominent public intellectual, ordained Baptist minister, and noted political analyst. The two-time NAACP Image Award winner also won the American Book Award for Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. Dyson’s book The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America was a Kirkus Prize finalist, and he co-authored Unequal: A Story of America and Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote with Marc Favreau. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ali Velshi
MSNBC Chief Correspondent
Ali Velshi is the host of Velshi and Chief Correspondent for MSNBC and a weekly economics contributor to NPR’s Here And Now. He has covered multiple U.S. midterm and presidential elections and global news, including extensive reporting from Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe during the Russian invasion. Velshi hosts the Velshi Banned Book Club on MSNBC and is known for interactive discussions with small groups in his series Velshi Across America. He previously worked as an anchor and correspondent for Al Jazeera America and CNN.
Debra Winger
Actor, Board Member, American Promise
Debra Winger began a career in TV and film and on stage in the mid 70’s. Her work includes Terms of Endearment, Officer and a Gentleman, Urban Cowboy, Big Bad Love, The Sheltering Sky and most recently The Lovers and Patriot. Raising 3 sons, writing the book Undiscovered, teaching a fellowship for Dr. Robert Coles’ noted course “The Literature of Social Reflection” and producing several documentaries including the Academy Award nominated film Gasland, about the oil and gas industry, led her to take note of how her own industry has been changed by corporations; how this not only affected the way business was done and films were made and released, but the livelihood of artists as well. Her support for and involvement with American Promise has been unwavering since its inception.
Jeff Clements
CEO, American Promise
Jeff is CEO of American Promise, the non-partisan organization uniting Americans to secure a constitutional solution to out-of-control money in politics and systemic corruption. He practiced law in federal and state courts for 25 years and has authored a book and numerous articles on the First Amendment and American self-government. He also served as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Public Protection Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. He is the author of Corporations Are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy from Big Money & Global Corporations. Jeff co-founded American Promise in 2016 to help Americans unite to complete the task of amending the Constitution to enable the people, States and Congress to enact effective rules about the power of money in elections.
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Author, Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women
Batya Ungar-Sargon is the opinion editor of Newsweek and co-host of Free Press Live. She is the author of Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy and Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women.
The Honorable Patrick J. Murphy
Former PA Congressman and 32nd Army Under Secretary
Secretary Patrick Murphy is a historic enterprise-level leader passionate about instilling a ‘growth mentality’ culture, inclusive talent management, and world-class communication. In 2007, Murphy, a decorated combat veteran, became the nation’s first Iraq War veteran elected to Congress, representing Pennsylvania’s 1st district. He authored several groundbreaking pieces of legislation that became law, including the 21st Century GI Bill, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and went on to serve as the 32nd Army Under Secretary.
Andre Perry
Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institute
Andre M. Perry is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institution and is also a professor of practice of economics at Washington University of St. Louis and a scholar-in-residence at American University. Perry is the author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities and the forthcoming book Black Power Scorecard Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It (April 2025).
Marek Gootman
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute
Marek Gootman is a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro. Gootman was previously a fellow and director of strategic partnerships and global initiatives. Gootman’s focus is on bridging think tank perspective with real world action to increase the vitality of cities and metropolitan areas. Gootman also leads the Global Cities Initiative, a project launched in 2011 aimed at helping U.S. and international metro areas strengthen their global economic connections and competitiveness. Gootman earned a law degree from Georgetown University; a master of government administration at the Fels Institute, University of Pennsylvania; and a business degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Gootman is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland bars, and serves on the boards of several national and local organizations.
Jon Grinspan
Author of The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought To Fix Their Democracy
JON GRINSPAN is the Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He explores the deep history – and fraught present – of American democracy in award-winning books, op-ed in the New York Times, and by collecting objects for the Smithsonian from political events, elections, and protests.
Kathy E. Hollinger
CEO, Greater Washington Partnership
Kathy Hollinger serves as CEO of Greater Washington Partnership, a first-of-its-kind alliance uniting leading employers across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC to collaborate in building a vibrant, economically competitive and prosperous place to live, work and build a business. Previously, Kathy led a regional food service trade organization for over a decade and earlier in her career served as external affairs lead for Comcast in Washington, DC.
Gilbert Campbell
Founder and CEO, Volt Energy Utility
Gilbert Campbell is founder and CEO of Volt Energy Utility, a national renewable energy firm that finances and develops utility-scale solar and energy storage projects. Under Gilbert’s leadership, Volt Energy Utility executed the first Environmental Justice Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Microsoft, representing the first utility-scale solar power purchase agreement with an African American energy solar development firm and Fortune 500 Company. Gilbert also co-founded Volt Energy, a national distributed generation solar development company. Gilbert serves on the Board of Directors at The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), The Clean Energy Buyers Alliance (CEBA), The American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE), and The Sharing the Power Foundation.
Stacy Hawkins
Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
Stacy Hawkins is the former Vice Dean of Rutgers Law School in Camden, where she currently teaches Constitutional Law, Employment Law and an original seminar on Diversity and the Law. She’s won numerous awards for leadership in DEI, social justice and the classroom. Hawkins has testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, been interviewed and quoted in global media outlets, advises and trains public and private sector clients, and serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement, the Advisory Board of the Public Interest Law Center, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association Diversity Team.
Devin H. Cotten
Founder, Universal Basic Employment
Devin Cotten is a community and economic development professional who has spent the majority of his career serving Cleveland, Ohio’s most disinvested communities. He has held positions on regional policy coalitions, resident-led task force, and spearheaded work that bridged the gap between community and institutions to drive systems change.
Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor
The New Yorker writer, Princeton professor and MacArthur “genius”
Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor is the author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership, which was a semi-finalist for the 2019 National Book Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2020, and From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, which won the Lannan Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book in 2016. Taylor is a professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, a contributing writer at The New Yorker, and she was awarded a 2021 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
Jonathan Eig
Pulitzer-winning Author and Journalist
Jonathan Eig won the Pulitzer Prize for King: A Life and authored five other books, including four bestsellers. Eig’s works have been translated into 20 languages and received numerous awards. His biography of Muhammad Ali inspired a Ken Burns PBS documentary, with Eig serving as a producer on the film. He is currently working on a biography of George Soros.
Sonja Trauss
Executive Director, Yes In My Back Yard
Sonja Trauss is the founder of Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) Law and, according to some, of today’s YIMBY movement. Originally from Philadelphia, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011 after receiving a masters in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Amy Castro
Co-Director of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Castro’s research explores how economic and social policies contribute to existing disparities, particularly within housing and lending markets. She was awarded the GADE Research Award, the Society for Social Work and Research Outstanding Dissertation Award, and the Nina Fortin Memorial Award for her work on women and risky lending markets in the subprime foreclosure crisis. Dr. Castro also has more than a decade of non-profit experience and sits on the leadership team of the SPARK Movement, an interdisciplinary organization pioneering new methods of systems level social change in a digital age.
Joe Winston
Producer and Director, Punch 9 for Harold Washington
Winston has been working in documentary film and television since 1990. He produced and directed What’s The Matter With Kansas? which Roger Ebert named as one of the “10 Best Documentaries of 2009.” He edited Flannery which aired on American Masters in 2021 and was adapted into Ethan Hawke’s biopic Wildcat earlier this year. In 2013, he field-produced Citizen Koch which was nominated for a Grand Jury prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He produced and directed Punch 9 for Harold Washington which chronicles the captivating rise, surprising reign, and enduring legacy of Chicago’s first Black Mayor.
Garrett Langley
Founder and CEO, Flock Safety
Garrett Langley is a technology entrepreneur and co-founder of the community security platform Flock Safety. His previous roles were at Clutch, a monthly car subscription service, and Experience, a mobile-first fan upgrade platform, where he oversaw engineering, design, product, data science and customer support. The Georgia Institute of Technology grad works to inspire future engineers to build technology that serves as a force for good and serves on multiple tech boards, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the High Museum. He lives in Atlanta, GA.
Laurin Leonard
Executive Director, Mission: Launch and CEO, R3 Score Technologies
Laurin Leonard is CEO of R3 Score Technologies, pioneering the future of workforce development and background checks. Leading a venture-backed company in a $200 billion market, Laurin drives cross-sector partnerships to create business value and social impact. She’s a thought leader on double bottom-line models.
Piper Stege Nelson
Executive Director, I Live Here I Give Here
Piper joyously serves as the Executive Director of I Live Here I Give Here, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging giving in Central Texas. Her previous roles include Chief Strategy Officer at a large NGO, school board candidate, magazine publisher, and middle school teacher.
Anne Caprara
Chief of Staff, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Anne Caprara has managed and consulted with Democratic candidates and elected officials at every level of state and federal government for the past 24 years. She currently serves as the Chief of Staff for Illinois governor, JB Pritzker. Anne was born and raised in the Philadelphia area and is an avid surfer and a tortured Eagles fan. She is well versed in the Illinois economic development progress, and has been the architect of its development during her tenure for seven years as the Governor’s Chief.
Trymaine Lee
Journalist and MSNBC Correspondent
Trymaine Lee is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning journalist and correspondent for MSNBC. As host of the Into America podcast, he explores the intersection of race, politics and justice through the lens of the Black experience in America. Lee is contributing author of The 1619 Project, has reported for The New York Times, HuffPost, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and The Philadelphia Tribune, appeared on Ebony’s “Power 100” and The Root’s “Root 100.” He is currently writing a book on race, trauma and gun violence in America.
Kathryn Wylde
President and CEO, Partnership for New York City
Kathryn Wylde is President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization and is the primary liaison between New York City business and local government, providing private sector expertise and resources to public agencies and programs. Areas of focus include education, transportation, infrastructure, public safety and economic opportunity. Prior to taking over as Partnership CEO in 2000, Wylde led the organization’s citywide affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization and business investment programs. She is an urban policy expert and a frequent spokesperson for the New York business community.
Dr. Fareeda Griffith
Managing Director of the Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity
Dr. Fareeda Griffith is Managing Director of the Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity (CEO) Initiative at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, leading with the creation of the CEO Lab. A trained sociologist and demographer, Griffith received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and worked for the last 13 years at Denison University as an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology and Director of Global Health.
Mark Ethridge
Ascent Housing Principal and Housing Impact Fund Board Member
Mark Ethridge is the Managing Principal of Ascent Housing. Ascent has been a leader in Charlotte’s response to the affordable housing crisis, leveraging over $275 million to preserve nearly 2,000 units of naturally-occurring affordable housing (NOAH) since 2019. Ascent helped create and serves as the operating partner for Housing Impact Fund, which has raised $125 million of social impact capital from the private sector for NOAH preservation. Prior to joining Ascent, Mark was a Vice President at Bellwether Enterprise. Mark is a Charlotte native and graduated from Princeton University in 2010.
Michael Forman
Chairman and CEO, FS Investments
Michael founded FS Investments, a Philadelphia-based alternative investments asset manager, in 2007 after a successful career as both a corporate and securities lawyer and a serial entrepreneur. The firm is an outgrowth of Michael’s simple vision: help investors access alternative investments historically available only to large institutions and the wealthiest individuals.
In 2019, Michael co-founded Fitler Club, a diverse and civically engaged private lifestyle club located in Center City, Philadelphia. Then in 2021, he co-founded the Forman Arts Initiative (FAI) with his wife, Jennifer Rice, to connect and support artists and cultural organizations in Philadelphia. He also serves as the Founding Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Equity Alliance. A native of northern New Jersey, Michael attended the University of Rhode Island and went on to earn a JD from Rutgers Law School.
Dalila Wilson-Scott
EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation
Dalila Wilson-Scott is Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. In these roles, she oversees diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and philanthropic strategy for the corporation, focusing on advancing digital equity and economic mobility through Project UP. Wilson-Scott leads Comcast’s community impact initiatives and oversees efforts to bring greater attention to the company’s philanthropic partners. Before joining Comcast, she was Head of Global Philanthropy and President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
Bret Perkins
Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs, Comcast Corporation
Bret Perkins is Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs for Comcast Corporation, where he’s integral in developing and launching Internet Essentials, the company’s Internet adoption program for low-income Americans. Prior to joining Comcast, he worked in leadership roles for health systems. The recipient of National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s Vanguard Award for Young Leadership, one of the cable industry’s highest honors for its next generation of leaders, also serves as a Trustee of Temple University, and a board member of: Temple University Health System, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Citizen, among other organizations.
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Michael A. Nutter was two-term mayor of Philadelphia and 15-year veteran of Philadelphia City Council. Since leaving public office in 2016, he has remained active in public policy, government and civic life. Nutter is the inaugural David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and holds fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. 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.
Bruce Katz
Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University
Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Previously he served as inaugural Centennial Scholar at Brookings Institution and as vice president and director of Brooking’s Metropolitan Policy Program for 20 years. He is a Visiting Professor in Practice at London School of Economics, and previously served as chief of staff to the secretary of Housing and Urban Development and staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. Katz co-led the Obama administration’s housing and urban transition team. He is coauthor of The Metropolitan Revolution and The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism, editor or coeditor of several books on urban and metropolitan issues, and a frequent media commentator.
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Author and Professor
Ali Velshi
MSNBC Chief Correspondent
Debra Winger
Actor, Board Member, American Promise
Jeff Clements
CEO, American Promise
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Author, Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women
The Honorable Patrick J. Murphy
Former PA Congressman and 32nd Army Under Secretary
Andre Perry
Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institute
Marek Gootman
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute
Jon Grinspan
Author of The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought To Fix Their Democracy
Kathy E. Hollinger
CEO, Greater Washington Partnership
Gilbert Campbell
Founder and CEO, Volt Energy Utility
Stacy Hawkins
Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
Devin H. Cotten
Founder, Universal Basic Employment
Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor
The New Yorker writer, Princeton professor and MacArthur “genius”
Jonathan Eig
Pulitzer-winning Author and Journalist
Sonja Trauss
Executive Director, Yes In My Back Yard
Dr. Amy Castro
Co-Director of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research, University of Pennsylvania
Joe Winston
Producer and Director, Punch 9 for Harold Washington
Garrett Langley
Founder and CEO, Flock Safety
Laurin Leonard
Executive Director, Mission: Launch and CEO, R3 Score Technologies
Piper Stege Nelson
Executive Director, I Live Here I Give Here
Anne Caprara
Chief of Staff, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Trymaine Lee
Journalist and MSNBC Correspondent
Kathryn Wylde
President and CEO, Partnership for New York City
Dr. Fareeda Griffith
Managing Director of the Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity
Mark Ethridge
Ascent Housing Principal and Housing Impact Fund Board Member
Michael Forman
Chairman and CEO, FS Investments
Dalila Wilson-Scott
EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation
Bret Perkins
Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs, Comcast Corporation
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Bruce Katz
Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Author and Professor
Michael Eric Dyson has authored more than 20 acclaimed books and is a widely celebrated professor, prominent public intellectual, ordained Baptist minister, and noted political analyst. The two-time NAACP Image Award winner also won the American Book Award for Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. Dyson’s book The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America was a Kirkus Prize finalist, and he co-authored Unequal: A Story of America and Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote with Marc Favreau. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ali Velshi
MSNBC Chief Correspondent
Ali Velshi is the host of Velshi and Chief Correspondent for MSNBC and a weekly economics contributor to NPR’s Here And Now. He has covered multiple U.S. midterm and presidential elections and global news, including extensive reporting from Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe during the Russian invasion. Velshi hosts the Velshi Banned Book Club on MSNBC and is known for interactive discussions with small groups in his series Velshi Across America. He previously worked as an anchor and correspondent for Al Jazeera America and CNN.
Debra Winger
Actor, Board Member, American Promise
Debra Winger began a career in TV and film and on stage in the mid 70’s. Her work includes Terms of Endearment, Officer and a Gentleman, Urban Cowboy, Big Bad Love, The Sheltering Sky and most recently The Lovers and Patriot. Raising 3 sons, writing the book Undiscovered, teaching a fellowship for Dr. Robert Coles’ noted course “The Literature of Social Reflection” and producing several documentaries including the Academy Award nominated film Gasland, about the oil and gas industry, led her to take note of how her own industry has been changed by corporations; how this not only affected the way business was done and films were made and released, but the livelihood of artists as well. Her support for and involvement with American Promise has been unwavering since its inception.
Jeff Clements
CEO, American Promise
Jeff is CEO of American Promise, the non-partisan organization uniting Americans to secure a constitutional solution to out-of-control money in politics and systemic corruption. He practiced law in federal and state courts for 25 years and has authored a book and numerous articles on the First Amendment and American self-government. He also served as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Public Protection Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. He is the author of Corporations Are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy from Big Money & Global Corporations. Jeff co-founded American Promise in 2016 to help Americans unite to complete the task of amending the Constitution to enable the people, States and Congress to enact effective rules about the power of money in elections.
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Author, Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women
Batya Ungar-Sargon is the opinion editor of Newsweek and co-host of Free Press Live. She is the author of Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy and Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women.
The Honorable Patrick J. Murphy
Former PA Congressman and 32nd Army Under Secretary
Secretary Patrick Murphy is a historic enterprise-level leader passionate about instilling a ‘growth mentality’ culture, inclusive talent management, and world-class communication. In 2007, Murphy, a decorated combat veteran, became the nation’s first Iraq War veteran elected to Congress, representing Pennsylvania’s 1st district. He authored several groundbreaking pieces of legislation that became law, including the 21st Century GI Bill, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and went on to serve as the 32nd Army Under Secretary.
Andre Perry
Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institute
Andre M. Perry is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institution and is also a professor of practice of economics at Washington University of St. Louis and a scholar-in-residence at American University. Perry is the author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities and the forthcoming book Black Power Scorecard Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It (April 2025).
Marek Gootman
Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute
Marek Gootman is a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro. Gootman was previously a fellow and director of strategic partnerships and global initiatives. Gootman’s focus is on bridging think tank perspective with real world action to increase the vitality of cities and metropolitan areas. Gootman also leads the Global Cities Initiative, a project launched in 2011 aimed at helping U.S. and international metro areas strengthen their global economic connections and competitiveness. Gootman earned a law degree from Georgetown University; a master of government administration at the Fels Institute, University of Pennsylvania; and a business degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Gootman is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland bars, and serves on the boards of several national and local organizations.
Jon Grinspan
Author of The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought To Fix Their Democracy
JON GRINSPAN is the Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He explores the deep history – and fraught present – of American democracy in award-winning books, op-ed in the New York Times, and by collecting objects for the Smithsonian from political events, elections, and protests.
Kathy E. Hollinger
CEO, Greater Washington Partnership
Kathy Hollinger serves as CEO of Greater Washington Partnership, a first-of-its-kind alliance uniting leading employers across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC to collaborate in building a vibrant, economically competitive and prosperous place to live, work and build a business. Previously, Kathy led a regional food service trade organization for over a decade and earlier in her career served as external affairs lead for Comcast in Washington, DC.
Gilbert Campbell
Founder and CEO, Volt Energy Utility
Gilbert Campbell is founder and CEO of Volt Energy Utility, a national renewable energy firm that finances and develops utility-scale solar and energy storage projects. Under Gilbert’s leadership, Volt Energy Utility executed the first Environmental Justice Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Microsoft, representing the first utility-scale solar power purchase agreement with an African American energy solar development firm and Fortune 500 Company. Gilbert also co-founded Volt Energy, a national distributed generation solar development company. Gilbert serves on the Board of Directors at The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), The Clean Energy Buyers Alliance (CEBA), The American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE), and The Sharing the Power Foundation.
Stacy Hawkins
Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
Stacy Hawkins is the former Vice Dean of Rutgers Law School in Camden, where she currently teaches Constitutional Law, Employment Law and an original seminar on Diversity and the Law. She’s won numerous awards for leadership in DEI, social justice and the classroom. Hawkins has testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, been interviewed and quoted in global media outlets, advises and trains public and private sector clients, and serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement, the Advisory Board of the Public Interest Law Center, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association Diversity Team.
Devin H. Cotten
Founder, Universal Basic Employment
Devin Cotten is a community and economic development professional who has spent the majority of his career serving Cleveland, Ohio’s most disinvested communities. He has held positions on regional policy coalitions, resident-led task force, and spearheaded work that bridged the gap between community and institutions to drive systems change.
Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor
The New Yorker writer, Princeton professor and MacArthur “genius”
Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor is the author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership, which was a semi-finalist for the 2019 National Book Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2020, and From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, which won the Lannan Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book in 2016. Taylor is a professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, a contributing writer at The New Yorker, and she was awarded a 2021 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
Jonathan Eig
Pulitzer-winning Author and Journalist
Jonathan Eig won the Pulitzer Prize for King: A Life and authored five other books, including four bestsellers. Eig’s works have been translated into 20 languages and received numerous awards. His biography of Muhammad Ali inspired a Ken Burns PBS documentary, with Eig serving as a producer on the film. He is currently working on a biography of George Soros.
Sonja Trauss
Executive Director, Yes In My Back Yard
Sonja Trauss is the founder of Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) Law and, according to some, of today’s YIMBY movement. Originally from Philadelphia, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011 after receiving a masters in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Amy Castro
Co-Director of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Castro’s research explores how economic and social policies contribute to existing disparities, particularly within housing and lending markets. She was awarded the GADE Research Award, the Society for Social Work and Research Outstanding Dissertation Award, and the Nina Fortin Memorial Award for her work on women and risky lending markets in the subprime foreclosure crisis. Dr. Castro also has more than a decade of non-profit experience and sits on the leadership team of the SPARK Movement, an interdisciplinary organization pioneering new methods of systems level social change in a digital age.
Joe Winston
Producer and Director, Punch 9 for Harold Washington
Winston has been working in documentary film and television since 1990. He produced and directed What’s The Matter With Kansas? which Roger Ebert named as one of the “10 Best Documentaries of 2009.” He edited Flannery which aired on American Masters in 2021 and was adapted into Ethan Hawke’s biopic Wildcat earlier this year. In 2013, he field-produced Citizen Koch which was nominated for a Grand Jury prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He produced and directed Punch 9 for Harold Washington which chronicles the captivating rise, surprising reign, and enduring legacy of Chicago’s first Black Mayor.
Garrett Langley
Founder and CEO, Flock Safety
Garrett Langley is a technology entrepreneur and co-founder of the community security platform Flock Safety. His previous roles were at Clutch, a monthly car subscription service, and Experience, a mobile-first fan upgrade platform, where he oversaw engineering, design, product, data science and customer support. The Georgia Institute of Technology grad works to inspire future engineers to build technology that serves as a force for good and serves on multiple tech boards, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the High Museum. He lives in Atlanta, GA.
Laurin Leonard
Executive Director, Mission: Launch and CEO, R3 Score Technologies
Laurin Leonard is CEO of R3 Score Technologies, pioneering the future of workforce development and background checks. Leading a venture-backed company in a $200 billion market, Laurin drives cross-sector partnerships to create business value and social impact. She’s a thought leader on double bottom-line models.
Piper Stege Nelson
Executive Director, I Live Here I Give Here
Piper joyously serves as the Executive Director of I Live Here I Give Here, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging giving in Central Texas. Her previous roles include Chief Strategy Officer at a large NGO, school board candidate, magazine publisher, and middle school teacher.
Anne Caprara
Chief of Staff, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Anne Caprara has managed and consulted with Democratic candidates and elected officials at every level of state and federal government for the past 24 years. She currently serves as the Chief of Staff for Illinois governor, JB Pritzker. Anne was born and raised in the Philadelphia area and is an avid surfer and a tortured Eagles fan. She is well versed in the Illinois economic development progress, and has been the architect of its development during her tenure for seven years as the Governor’s Chief.
Trymaine Lee
Journalist and MSNBC Correspondent
Trymaine Lee is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning journalist and correspondent for MSNBC. As host of the Into America podcast, he explores the intersection of race, politics and justice through the lens of the Black experience in America. Lee is contributing author of The 1619 Project, has reported for The New York Times, HuffPost, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and The Philadelphia Tribune, appeared on Ebony’s “Power 100” and The Root’s “Root 100.” He is currently writing a book on race, trauma and gun violence in America.
Kathryn Wylde
President and CEO, Partnership for New York City
Kathryn Wylde is President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization and is the primary liaison between New York City business and local government, providing private sector expertise and resources to public agencies and programs. Areas of focus include education, transportation, infrastructure, public safety and economic opportunity. Prior to taking over as Partnership CEO in 2000, Wylde led the organization’s citywide affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization and business investment programs. She is an urban policy expert and a frequent spokesperson for the New York business community.
Dr. Fareeda Griffith
Managing Director of the Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity
Dr. Fareeda Griffith is Managing Director of the Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity (CEO) Initiative at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, leading with the creation of the CEO Lab. A trained sociologist and demographer, Griffith received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and worked for the last 13 years at Denison University as an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology and Director of Global Health.
Mark Ethridge
Ascent Housing Principal and Housing Impact Fund Board Member
Mark Ethridge is the Managing Principal of Ascent Housing. Ascent has been a leader in Charlotte’s response to the affordable housing crisis, leveraging over $275 million to preserve nearly 2,000 units of naturally-occurring affordable housing (NOAH) since 2019. Ascent helped create and serves as the operating partner for Housing Impact Fund, which has raised $125 million of social impact capital from the private sector for NOAH preservation. Prior to joining Ascent, Mark was a Vice President at Bellwether Enterprise. Mark is a Charlotte native and graduated from Princeton University in 2010.
Michael Forman
Chairman and CEO, FS Investments
Michael founded FS Investments, a Philadelphia-based alternative investments asset manager, in 2007 after a successful career as both a corporate and securities lawyer and a serial entrepreneur. The firm is an outgrowth of Michael’s simple vision: help investors access alternative investments historically available only to large institutions and the wealthiest individuals.
In 2019, Michael co-founded Fitler Club, a diverse and civically engaged private lifestyle club located in Center City, Philadelphia. Then in 2021, he co-founded the Forman Arts Initiative (FAI) with his wife, Jennifer Rice, to connect and support artists and cultural organizations in Philadelphia. He also serves as the Founding Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Equity Alliance. A native of northern New Jersey, Michael attended the University of Rhode Island and went on to earn a JD from Rutgers Law School.
Dalila Wilson-Scott
EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation
Dalila Wilson-Scott is Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. In these roles, she oversees diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and philanthropic strategy for the corporation, focusing on advancing digital equity and economic mobility through Project UP. Wilson-Scott leads Comcast’s community impact initiatives and oversees efforts to bring greater attention to the company’s philanthropic partners. Before joining Comcast, she was Head of Global Philanthropy and President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
Bret Perkins
Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs, Comcast Corporation
Bret Perkins is Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs for Comcast Corporation, where he’s integral in developing and launching Internet Essentials, the company’s Internet adoption program for low-income Americans. Prior to joining Comcast, he worked in leadership roles for health systems. The recipient of National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s Vanguard Award for Young Leadership, one of the cable industry’s highest honors for its next generation of leaders, also serves as a Trustee of Temple University, and a board member of: Temple University Health System, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Citizen, among other organizations.
Michael A. Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Michael A. Nutter was two-term mayor of Philadelphia and 15-year veteran of Philadelphia City Council. Since leaving public office in 2016, he has remained active in public policy, government and civic life. Nutter is the inaugural David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and holds fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. 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.
Bruce Katz
Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University
Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Previously he served as inaugural Centennial Scholar at Brookings Institution and as vice president and director of Brooking’s Metropolitan Policy Program for 20 years. He is a Visiting Professor in Practice at London School of Economics, and previously served as chief of staff to the secretary of Housing and Urban Development and staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. Katz co-led the Obama administration’s housing and urban transition team. He is coauthor of The Metropolitan Revolution and The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism, editor or coeditor of several books on urban and metropolitan issues, and a frequent media commentator.
