Jen Bailey is the Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, bringing her deep experience in community-based leadership, philanthropy, and movement-building to the organization.

Jen is the Founder of Faith Matters Network, a national Womanist-led organization accompanying spiritually-grounded leaders on their journey to heal themselves and their communities. Since its inception, Faith Matters Network has served over 25,000 leaders through its programs and initiatives. She is Co-Founder of The People’s Supper, a global initiative that has hosted over 2,000 gatherings in 135 communities to foster conversation and collective healing across lines of difference.

Committed to advancing social change through philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Jen serves on the boards of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Fetzer Institute, and The Healing Trust, where she is the Board Chair.

An Ashoka Fellow, New Pluralist Field Builder, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow, and Truman Scholar, Jen holds degrees from Tufts University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School, where she was awarded the Wilbur F. Tillett Prize for accomplishments in the study of theology. Her work has been featured by On Being with Krista Tippett, CBS This Morning, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more. She is also the author of To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss, and Radical Hope (Chalice Press, 2021).

David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times and a contributor to The Atlantic. He is a commentator on The PBS Newshour. He founded Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute to tackle the problem of broken social trust that has left Americans lonely, isolated, and divided.

His latest book is How To Know A Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. His previous three books were The Second Mountain, The Road to Character, and The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, all #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Mr. Brooks has taught at Yale and Duke and now teaches at the University of Chicago. He has received over 30 honorary degrees from American universities and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Follow him on X @nytdavidbrooks.

Carla Canales has won acclaim on leading stages around the world as a performer while also being recognized as an academic, advocate, and entrepreneur. Carla recently served the Biden Administration in a newly created role as Senior Advisor and Envoy for Cultural Exchange at the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Carla teaches at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and she is also a Visiting Professor at the Korbel School of International Studies.  She leads the Artists for Understanding Initiative through The Canales Project.  Carla has served as a U.S. State Department Arts Envoy since 2005.

Carla has been a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities Turnaround Arts Program, was selected by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of its 100 Leading Global Thinkers and won the Medal of Excellence from the Sphinx Organization, which was presented to her at the Supreme Court by Justice Sotomayor. Carla was also named one of Musical America’s 30 Movers and Shapers of 2018. In each case, she was the first opera singer ever to receive the honor.

As a classical singer, Carla has been in demand for her portrayal of Bizet’s Carmen, a role she has performed over eighty times in twelve countries.Carla is the founder of The Canales Project, a non-profit arts and advocacy organization through which she created Hear Her Song, a musical celebration of distinguished female leaders. Carla has been a guest speaker/lecturer at the United Nations, the White House, Oxford University, Aspen Institute, and TED and has been a guest writer for the New York Times. She is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, German, and English and is currently studying Mandarin.

Shamichael Hallman is a civic innovator, author, and thought leader dedicated to strengthening communities through libraries, public engagement, and faith-based initiatives. As Director of Civic Health and Economic Opportunity at the Urban Libraries Council, he advocates for public libraries as vital civic infrastructure. His book, Meet Me at the Library, explores how libraries foster democracy and bridge-building.

A 2025 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, Shamichael is a sought-after speaker who has presented at top universities and library associations, with his insights featured by Sightline Institute, America Trends Podcast, and Jefferson Public Radio. He is the co-creator of the Bridge-Building Resource Hub, a national initiative hosted by WebJunction that equips libraries with tools to foster community connections. The initiative recently secured a second round of funding to expand its impact and continue its work.

Previously, Shamichael championed the multi-million-dollar renovation of the historic Cossitt Library in Memphis, contributing to Memphis Public Libraries earning the 2021 National Medal for Museum and Library Science. Holding a master’s in nonprofit leadership from the University of Pennsylvania and a 2023 Loeb Fellowship, he continues to innovate at the intersection of community, faith, and democracy.

Richard C. Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, is an innovator, author, and speaker. For 35+ years, he has devoted his career to revitalizing the nation’s hardest-hit communities, transforming the world’s largest organizations, and reconnecting institutions to society. He has been recruited to solve some of the most difficult problems of our time, including being called into Newtown, CT, after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He has appeared in numerous national media outlets and has written scores of articles, groundbreaking reports, and nine books. In 2025, Rich and the Institute are doubling down on the success of last year’s “Enough. Time to Build.” Campaign with the Campaign for the New Civic Path, anchored by Rich’s manifesto, The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation.

Steve Hotz is a U.S. Army veteran who proudly served with the 82nd Airborne Division, where he developed the resilience, precision, and grit that now define his work as both a bladesmith and a champion for the veteran and first responder community. After his military service, Steve discovered his passion for blacksmithing during a class that would change the trajectory of his life. Inspired by the healing power of forging steel in community, he founded Black Horse Forge in 2018 — an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization based in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The forge is dedicated to teaching veterans, active-duty service members, first responders, law enforcement, and their families, the timeless skills of blacksmithing and bladesmithing. To date, over 22,000 individuals have come through the program — with zero suicides. Black Horse Forge stands as a testament to the power of purpose, community, and craftsmanship in combating the silent wounds of service.

Michael McCarter oversees Opinion for Gannett, the leading news media publisher in the U.S. in terms of circulation with the largest digital audience in the News and Information category, including USA TODAY and 200+ media outlets across the United States.

McCarter previously served as the managing editor of standards, ethics and inclusion at USA TODAY, executive editor of Evansville Courier & Press of the USA TODAY Network. Prior to his time in Evansville, McCarter worked for 10 years at the Cincinnati Enquirer, where he served as senior news director and director of photography before that. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, McCarter took an unconventional path into journalism through an elective photography class. Eventually, he scored a photo internship at the Pensacola (Florida) News Journal and began his career as a photographer at The Shreveport (Louisiana) Times while pursuing a master’s in psychology at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. Later, he moved to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he served as photo editor. He oversaw historic photo coverage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and a special section commemorating the life and death of Coretta Scott King.

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton is professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Childhood experiences living in Mexico, the U.S., Ivory Coast, and Thailand cemented an early interest in cultural differences and intergroup relations. He received his BA from Yale University and his PhD from Columbia University. Mendoza-Denton’s professional work covers stereotyping and prejudice from the perspective of both target and perceiver, intergroup relations, as well as how these processes influence educational outcomes. He is the recipient of the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence, the University-wide Distinguished Teaching Award, as well as the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professorship in the Social Sciences. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022.

LB is a passionate community advocate, grassroots organizer, and storyteller dedicated to fostering belonging in her Appalachian home. After returning to her hometown she sought transformative justice through deep and loving community-building. In 2023, LB and her partners opened Merle’s, a craft cocktail bar on Main Street, creating a welcoming space and community hub. Merle’s quickly earned accolades, winning the North Carolina Cocktail Competition and Small Business of the Year in its first year. A participant in Weave: The Social Fabric Project, and a Civil Society Fellow, LB is best known as a doting dog mom and aggressive friend.

Frederick Riley’s hometown was once voted one of the worst places to live in the U.S. His childhood memories include food insecurity, evictions, and poverty. Yet there were always people at home, school, church, and in the neighborhood who showed him love and the power of community. He spent much of his career lifting up young adults through community programs at YMCAs around the country. Now he leads the Aspen Institute’s Weave: The Social Fabric Project, which connects and supports people weaving a new, inclusive social fabric.

Loretta J. Ross is an activist, professor, and public intellectual. In her five decades in the human rights movement, she’s deprogramed white supremacists, taught convicted rapists the principles of feminism, and, as National Co-Director, organized the second-largest march on Washington (in April 25, 2004, March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C., surpassed in size only by the 2017 Women’s March).

A cofounder of the National Center for Human Rights Education and the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, her many accolades and honors include a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship and a 2024 induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Today, Ross is an associate professor at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is the founder of LoRossta Consulting, with which she runs “Calling In” training sessions online and for organizations around the country.

Mike Rowe is a writer, narrator, producer, recording artist, Emmy-Award winning TV Host, New York Times bestselling author, and the CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation. As the creator and host of the iconic TV series Dirty Jobs, Mike is best-known as “the dirtiest man on TV,” but his true calling is storytelling. From Somebody’s Gotta Do It to Returning the Favor, The Story Behind the Story, Six Degrees, and The Way I Heard It, Mike continues to tap the country on the shoulder and say, “These are people you should know.” In his role as a perpetual apprentice, Mike has highlighted hundreds of workers in dozens of essential industries. His foundation has awarded millions of dollars in work ethic scholarships, and his commitment to reinvigorate the skilled trades is unrivaled.

Executive Vice President, Executive Director, Belfer Center & Office of Strategic Planning

Rebekah Shrestha is Executive Director of the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), where she oversees groundbreaking programming that addresses today’s “Crisis of Community.” Since its founding, the Belfer Center has launched more than 20 initiatives—collectively reaching over 100 million people—including Share Our America, a national initiative to rebuild trust and reduce polarization. In addition to her work at the Belfer Center, Rebekah leads 92NY’s Office of Strategic Planning, driving strategic rigor and growth-focused models across the organization’s innovative programs. Her 20-year career spans strategy consulting, movement building, and communications, with leadership roles at McKinsey & Company, Purpose, and Obama for America.

Michael D. Smith is a nationally recognized leader driving impact at the intersection of civic engagement, social justice, and equity.

Appointed by two U.S. presidents, Smith most recently was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency charged with strengthening communities and improving lives through service. Smith served in this position until the end of the Biden-Harris administration.

Previously, Smith served in President Obama’s White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Cabinet Affairs, leading the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. He later served as Executive Director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and Director of Youth Opportunity Programs at the Obama Foundation.

Prior to joining the White House, Michael was director of the Social Innovation Fund and Senior Vice President of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation.

Smith is a TimeClimate 100 and ForbesBlack 50 honoree, Senior Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, and a Boys & Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame inductee, the highest honor bestowed by the organization. Smith is also a graduate of Marymount University and has been awarded honorary doctorates from University of New Hampshire and American International College.

Niobe Way is Professor of Developmental Psychology at NYU, the founder of the Project for the Advancement of Our Common Humanity (PACH; pach.org), co-founder of agapi, the PI on the Listening with Curiosity Project, the Science of Human Connection Lab (https://niobewaylab.squarespace.com), and the PI on a 20-year longitudinal study of 1200 Chinese families. She was President of the Society for Research on Adolescence, received her B.A. from U.C. Berkeley, her doctoral degree from Harvard, and was an NIMH postdoctoral fellow at Yale in the psychology department.

Her mixed method and longitudinal research examines the social and emotional development among children and adolescents and how macro ideologies shape families and child development in the U.S. and China. She served on the Aspen Digital group on humanizing AI; was a consultant for Tiktok; and is a member of the New Pluralists.

Her team created the Listening with Curiosity Project (LCP) to address the crisis of connection in schools by teaching the skills of relational intelligence necessary for human connection. The LCP has been integrated into classrooms across NYC and has been empirically proven to foster social and emotional wellbeing, human connection, and a sense of a common humanity. She has also developed courses in “The Science of Human Connection,” and “Transformative Interviewing.”

Her latest sole authored book is Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, and Our Culture (niobe-way.com). Her latest co-edited book is The Crisis of Connection: Its Roots, Consequences, and Solution (NYU Press). She has authored or co-authored over a hundred journal articles and 7 books, including Deep Secrets: Boys’ Friendships and the Crisis of Connection (Harvard University Press), which was the inspiration for Close, a movie that was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film and won the Grand Prix Award. Her research with boys and young men has helped to change the guidelines for division 51 of the American Psychological Association. Her book in progress is: Our Social Nature in an Anti-Social Culture: A Five Part Story (Harvard University Press).

Her research is regularly cited in the media and she has been profiled in The New Yorker and The New York Times.

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/769538697
https://www.tedmed.com/talks/show?id=730069
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-yvSyVHXM8 (Daily Show podcast)
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/developmental-psychologist-dr-niobe-society-raise-boys-111868624

Rainn Wilson is an Emmy nominaed and SAG award-winning actor best known for playing the inimitable “Dwight Schrute” for nine seasons on NBC’s, The Office. His diverse career includes television, movies, unscripted series, animation, and podcasts. In addition, he is also a NYT Bestselling author, having written The Bassoon King, SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions and his latest book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. Rainn founded a digital media company SoulPancake and is co-founder of Lide Haiti, an arts and education non-profit in rural Haiti. He is the cofounder of Climate Basecamp and has worked to increase communication around the dangers of climate change to young audiences by speaking “science to culture.”

Richard Young is a civic entrepreneur and institution builder based in Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky. He is the Founder and Executive Director of CivicLex, a nationally recognized nonprofit that strengthens civic health in Lexington. Under his leadership, CivicLex has reshaped public meetings, boards and commissions, and planning processes, developed a K-12 civics program, launched a newsroom covering local civic life, and established Kentucky’s first Civic Artist in Residence program. He is also a founding Steering Committee member of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange. Richard is an Ashoka Fellow, and his work has been featured in Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and more. A performing artist, Richardholds a degree in Double Bass Performance from the University of Cincinnati.

Sarah Yourgrau is a 2x Emmy Award-winning producer, social anthropologist, and narrative strategist. She is the founder of Common Ground Studios, a creative company producing purpose-driven content for a mainstream audience. She hosts Say It Again — a podcast about the stories we inherit, outgrow, and ultimately rewrite — and co-hosts People You Should Know, a feel-good travel series with Mike Rowe that highlights everyday individuals making extraordinary contributions to their communities.

With over 15 years of experience shaping narratives for platforms like Netflix, the United Nations, and TEDx, Sarah helps visionary leaders, brands, and communities clarify their message, reclaim their voice, and use story as a catalyst for cultural and personal transformation.

Whether leading narrative workshops, producing films, or hosting shows, Sarah’s work invites people not just to see their stories — but to own them, be empowered by them, and use them to reimagine what’s possible for themselves and the world around them.