Joe.Hale@emkinstitute.org
857-271-3331

Prior to joining EMKI, Hale was President of The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.  He led a campaign to reimagine the IMS Museum, raising $200MM to completely renovate the Museum, creating a new 60,000sf Restoration Facility, and added $100MM to the IMS Museum’s endowment (imsmuseum.org).

Previously, Hale was Executive Director of The Dreamland, Nantucket’s year-round cultural center, where he reversed annual operating deficits, increased programming, and began a campaign to provide an endowment for the organization.

Hale also served as Founder and President of The Global BrightLight Foundation, the largest NGO in the world at the time providing solar lanterns to off grid families in developing areas in a dozen countries.    Prior to creating The Global BrightLight Foundation, Hale served as Vice President & Chief Communications Officer of Cinergy Corp. (now Duke Energy), and as President of Cinergy Foundation. He also served as President of Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company.

Hale has worked in commercial real estate development and headed an architectural firm with offices in the Midwest.  Prior to entering the private sector, Mr. Hale had extensive experience in arts management – with the Indiana Arts Commission, as a high school teacher of theatre in Germany, with Historic New Harmony, Inc. and as executive director of the Metropolitan Arts Council of Indianapolis.

He has been a Trustee (and frequently Chairman) of numerous organizations.  Hale graduated from Hanover College, and is a graduate of the Harvard University’s Institute in Arts Administration. He holds honorary degrees from the Columbus (OH) College of Art and Design and from Hanover College.

Hale has served on the boards of The National March of Dimes, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The Eiteljorg Museum, The Indiana Repertory Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, The Sconset Trust, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center, The Community Foundation for Nantucket, Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, Fifth Third Funds, Hanover College, and several not-for-profit boards in Cincinnati and on Nantucket.

Hale and his wife, Linda, have raised over $250MM for various nonprofits, including chairing the campaign to build Cincinnati’s Contemporary Art Center, designed by Zaha Hadid.  He also raised over $300K for the March of Dimes by running 7 marathons in 7 months on 7 continents. They have three children and six grandchildren.

857-271-3362
Liam.King@emkinstitute.org

Tara.Rendon@emkinstitute.org

Olivia is a strategic communications leader with over two decades of experience working in corporate capacities in the non-profit and public media space. Prior to joining the Kennedy, Wong worked in content and institutional promotion at American Public Television and public media flagship stations GBH and WETA Washington, D.C., working on strategic brand and communications efforts for local and national TV and radio including Masterpiece, Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., NOVA, and American Experience. She also launched social media initiatives for the Masterpiece brand and hallmark programs including Downton Abbey and Sherlock. A graduate of Brown University, Wong is the co-recipient of a 2012 PR News Digital PR Award for Downton Abbey’s Digital PR Campaign, and has participated as a speaker at PromaxBDA and SXSW Interactive. She also currently serves on the board of South Cove Manor at Quincy Point Rehabilitation Center; as Secretary of the Mines Advisory Group U.S. board; and as Vice President of the Brown Club of Boston.

Sarah.Yezzi@emkinstitute.org

Patrick Dorton, CEO of Rational 360, is one of Washington’s foremost public affairs campaign and crisis managers, a White House veteran, and spokesperson/media expert who has been quoted in thousands of news stories.

Patrick has managed high-profile media firestorms nationally and internationally for Fortune 500 companies and organizations in the pharma, food, energy, defense, technology, health care, and financial sectors. He is a go-to Washington communications chief for congressional investigations and corporate crises, and has been named a key Washington insider by the National Journal and Politico.

Patrick was Special Assistant to President Clinton and Communications Director for the White House National Economic Council. He served on the staffs of U.S. Senators Tom Harkin and Richard Shelby, and for former U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio.

Patrick attended Middlebury College ‘90, and has been active as an independent school board trustee, including as the Chair of the Board for the Frederick Gunn School in Washington, CT.

A former Congressman, US Special Envoy, legal aid volunteer, and assistant district attorney, Joe Kennedy has dedicated his career to social and economic justice.

Joe is currently the President of Citizens Energy, a diversified renewable energy non-profit dedicated to making clean energy more accessible and affordable. Since 1979, Citizens has helped low-income families and disadvantaged communities meet their basic needs, including utility bills. It has provided over $600 million in charitable benefits since its founding.

He is also the founder of Groundwork Project, a political advocacy organization dedicated to supporting local community organizing efforts in historically under-resourced and disenfranchised regions of the country.

Most recently, Joe was U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs for President Joe Biden, a diplomatic post through which he focused on the long-standing U.S. commitment to peace, prosperity, and stability throughout the region.

Joe served as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts 4th congressional district from 2013-2021, where he focused on civil rights and economic justice. Before his election to Congress, he worked as an assistant district attorney and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic.

Joe was born in Boston and graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School. He is married to Lauren Birchfield Kennedy and they have two young children, Eleanor and James.

Stephanie Cutter is the managing partner of Precision, an award-winning global strategy and marketing agency she founded more than a decade ago.

At Precision, Stephanie has revolutionized the integration of data-driven communications with campaign-style organizing to create a new model for managing reputations, breaking through and connecting with audiences, and mobilizing people to action in the digital age. Stephanie has worked with a wide range of clients, from Fortune 50 companies and leading financial institutions to news networks, movie studios and sports legends, to seize opportunities, overcome challenges, and shape narratives in service of strategic goals. 

Before starting Precision, Stephanie served in top government and political roles, rising to become one of the most seasoned, accomplished and forward-leaning strategists of her generation. Described as “one of the most prominent voices in the [Democratic] party, and one of its top strategists and crisis managers” by Politico, Stephanie has crafted high-level communications, reputation and crisis-management strategies for two U.S. Presidents, U.S. Senate leaders, and every Democratic presidential nominee since 2004.  Throughout, she revolutionized how leaders communicate with target audiences and unify disparate groups around a shared mission or cause. The New York Times called her “the polished, sometimes scarily organized strategist who gets things done” who “has a long and favorable reputation with some of the most influential journalists and opinion makers in Washington.” GQ named her one of “the 50 most powerful people in Washington.”

Most recently, Stephanie was the chief architect of the widely acclaimed 2024 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. For the 2024 convention, she served as Executive Producer, shepherding it from conception to production in just three weeks.  In 2020, she was the Chief Program Executive for the first-ever virtual convention, which the Washington Post stated was worthy of “Emmy consideration,” and a “production that knew exactly what story it wanted to tell and how to use the tools of electronic persuasion to tell it.”  Stephanie also served as the Executive Producer of the 2021 Presidential Inauguration, earning an Emmy nomination for her production of the primetime special “Celebrating America” at the Lincoln Memorial.  

A veteran of the historic 2008 Obama campaign, Stephanie joined the administration as counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and worked extensively with First Lady Michelle Obama, including creating the “Let’s Move” campaign to end childhood obesity. She served as a Senior Advisor to President Obama for message strategy and was Deputy Campaign Manager for his 2012 re-election campaign, a game changer that broke traditional political barriers and resulted in the largest-ever vote total for a presidential re-election.  Prior to her Obama years, Stephanie served as Deputy Communications Director for President Clinton and as a longtime senior aide to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. 

A Massachusetts native, Stephanie lives in Washington, DC with her son, and is a graduate of Smith College and Georgetown University Law Center.  She sits on the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Equality Health, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate, and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.  She is a former co-host of CNN’s Crossfire show and a former contributor to ABC News. 

An Air Force veteran and four-term Congressman from South Dakota, Tom Daschle won election to the Senate in 1986 and was elected Democratic Leader by his colleagues in 1996. Daschle held that leadership position for eight years, becoming the first Democrat to serve as both Majority Leader and Minority Leader on two separate occasions.

Former United States Senator Chris Dodd represented Connecticut in the United States Congress for 36 years – six years in the House of Representatives and thirty years in the Senate. 

Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1982-1988) and Co-Chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates (1987-Present).

Former State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry is a widely respected leader in government, business and philanthropy. The Boston-born daughter of Haitian immigrants, Forry served from 2005 until 2018 with several terms in the House of Representatives and five years in the Massachusetts State Senate.

Forry assumed leadership posts in the Senate and was appointed Assistant Majority Whip and Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing. She also served as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs & Export Development, and as member of the Joint Committees on Transportation, Marijuana Policy, and Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. In the House of Representatives, Forry led and served on numerous legislative committees including: Telecommunications, Utilities & Energy; Vice Chair of Public Service, and Chair of the Joint Committee on Small Business and Community Development. As Chair, Forry led a statewide listening tour that generated new legislation and laws to support and elevate entrepreneurs and small businesses across the Commonwealth.

Forry won acclaim for her bipartisan approach to lawmaking and problem solving. As the Senator representing the 1st Suffolk District, Forry organized and hosted South Boston’s traditional St. Patrick’s Breakfast. She co-produced the television broadcast of the special event which reached millions of viewers across New England.

After leaving public office, Forry ascended into senior business roles including becoming a trustee of Eversource Energy and serving on committees for Finance and GESRC (Governance, Environmental and Social Responsibility Committee). As a former executive at Suffolk Construction, Forry led and created the company’s first Diversity and Inclusion department and developed company strategy and programming for employees, managed finances and the implementation.

Forry is the Principal of LDF Holdings LLC, a Massachusetts company, community development consultancy firm that offers multi-tier services from real estate consulting, DEI strategy and community relations. Forry is co-publisher of the Dorchester Reporter, an award-winning, family-owned community news organization. She is a trustee of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate and a founding member of the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund (NCF). Linda lives in Dorchester, MA with her husband and four children.

Cody Keenan wrote alongside President Obama for 14 years, rising from a campaign intern in Chicago to become Obama’s chief speechwriter at the White House and post-presidential collaborator. He discovered his passion for public service during his first job in Washington – as a young aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Today, Cody is a partner at leading speechwriting firm Fenway Strategies, teaches a popular course on speechwriting at his alma mater Northwestern University, and in 2022, his first book Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America became an instant New York Times Bestseller. He lives in New York City with his wife Kristen and their daughter Gracie.

During his time in Congress, Patrick J. Kennedy co-authored the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Federal Parity Law), which requires insurers to cover treatment for mental health and substance use disorders no more restrictively than treatment for illnesses of the body, such as diabetes and cancer. In 2013, he founded The Kennedy Forum, a nonprofit that unites advocates, business leaders, and government agencies to advance evidence-based practices, policies, and programming in mental health and addiction. In 2015, Kennedy co-authored the New York Times Bestseller, “A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction,” which details a bold plan for the future of mental health care in America. In 2017, he was appointed to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. Kennedy is also the founder of DontDenyMe.org, an educational campaign that empowers consumers and providers to understand parity rights and connects them to essential appeals
guidance and resources; co-founder of One Mind, an organization that pushes for greater global investment in brain research; co-founder of Psych Hub, the most comprehensive online learning platform on mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention topics in the world; co-chair of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Mental Health & Suicide Prevention National Response to COVID-19 (National Response); and co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Behavioral Health Integration Task Force.

Jack Oliver is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Finback Investment Partners (“Finback”), a
private equity fund with Governor Jeb Bush. Mr. Oliver served for 13 years as a Senior Advisor
to Barclays and Lehman Brothers, providing counsel for top clients across investment banking
and capital markets. Additionally, he serves as a senior advisor to companies including 8VC;
Palantir Technologies; OpenAI; and Addepar. Mr. Oliver serves on the Board of LeadsOnline;
Longevity Holdings; MGT; OMNIA Partners; OnCourse; ReliaQuest; and is a Board Observer of
Equality Health and Ensemble Health Partners.

Mr. Oliver served for two years as Co-Chairman of the ONE Campaign, an organization founded
by U2’s Bono and supported by the Gates Foundation with the mission to raise public awareness
about global poverty and disease in developing countries.

Mr. Oliver served as National Finance Vice-Chairman for Bush-Cheney ‘04 managing the
campaign’s national operations. Prior to that, Mr. Oliver served as Deputy Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of the Republican National Committee where he oversaw all day-to-day
operations during the 2002 National election cycles, which resulted in historic Republican gains
in both the House and Senate. In 2000, Mr. Oliver served as National Finance Director for
George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign and managed a fundraising effort that shattered all
previous presidential fundraising records. In 2016, Mr. Oliver was the National Co-Chair of
Governor Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Robert Shrum is the Director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at USC Dornsife. A legendary political strategist, he was once described as “the most sought-after consultant in the Democratic Party,” by The Atlantic Monthly. After a storied career working for clients like Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Senator Barbara Mikulski, and the presidential campaigns of Vice President Al Gore and Senator John Kerry, Shrum was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) in 2015. As a journalist, Shrum’s work has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek, and The Huffington Post. Now he enjoys instructing the next generation of leaders at USC, with a prior academic career that includes teaching at New York University, time as a Silliman Fellow at Yale, and serving as a Kennedy Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard. Shrum is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Harvard Law School.

David J. Urban is a Managing Director at BGR Group. He has more than three decades of experience in the military, law, business, politics and public service sectors. Prior to joining BGR, David served as Executive Vice President of North American Corporate Affairs for ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. As President of the American Continental Group he provided high stakes counsel to key clients including the CEO of Zoom during the early tumultuous days of the COVID-19 pandemic and the CEO of 7-Eleven to help the company adapt to a rapidly changing regulatory environment. Before joining ACG, David served as Chief of Staff to the former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania for five years. In this role, David was the Senator’s senior advisor on all legislative, political, media and administrative matters in Pennsylvania and Washington. David Urban joined the Trump 2020 campaign in its early days working as an advisor in the Pennsylvania and Indiana primaries.

A graduate of West Point, David served as an artillery officer in the 101st Airborne Division where he was awarded the Bronze Star for his service during Operation Desert Storm. He earned a law degree from Temple University and a Master’s in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Victoria Reggie Kennedy is the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Austria. Prior to her appointment, Ambassador Kennedy was an attorney based in the Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. offices of the global law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Ambassador Kennedy has been an active leader in the business community of Boston and the greater New England region. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, where she advocated for public policies that contribute to economic success and generate economic opportunity for people and businesses in the region. Ambassador Kennedy has also been a champion for the arts. She was a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where she chaired the Education Committee for more than a decade. She also served for many years on the Board of Overseers of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

Ambassador Kennedy is a leading voice for the empowerment of women and girls and has championed diversity, inclusion, and equity in the workplace. She has been a strong proponent for gun violence prevention, serving on the Board of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence for ten years and co-founding a non-profit organization, Common Sense About Kids and Guns. She advocated for expanding medical research and access to health care to all Americans and was actively involved in the passage of the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Ambassador Kennedy earned a B.A. in English from Newcomb College and a J.D. from Tulane Law School, both in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the recipient of numerous civic awards and honors, including eight honorary degrees.

Barbara Boxer served as California’s United States Senator from 1993 to 2017. She previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives for five terms after serving as a Marin County Supervisor for six years. She is also known as a consistent advocate for women, children, families, workers, the environment, and equal rights for all. 

Andrew H. Card, Jr. served as Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world, from January 2018 to January 2021. Card has also held numerous senior government positions under three Presidents, including Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, Deputy Chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation. He also served in President Ronald Reagan’s Administration.

Card was President of Franklin Pierce University (2015 – 2016), served as Executive Director of the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M (2013 – 2014), and was Acting Dean of The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M. Card serves on the Board of Directors of Union Pacific, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, the Board of Directors of Draganfly, the Business Advisory Board of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, Energy Security Partners, and Go Electric. He and his wife, The Reverend Kathleene Card, are from Holbrook, MA, have three children and six grandchildren.

Former Senator Saxby Chambliss served in the U.S. Senate for two terms and, before that, served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Senator William “Mo” Cowan was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2013 to serve as interim U.S. Senator. From 2009-2013, Mo held senior leadership roles in Governor Patrick’s administration. He is Chief Legal and External Affairs Officer for Devoted Health. Previously, Mo led global government affairs and global litigation for General Electric. Earlier in his career, Mo was a partner at Mintz Levin and was President and CEO of ML Strategies.

Lee Fentress coordinated Senator Kennedy’s Oral History Project with the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. A Louisiana native who came to know Robert F. Kennedy while serving as an Assistant United States Attorney, Fentress served on the staff of RFK’s historic 1968 Presidential campaign. Following Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s death, Fentress and his law partners formed ProServ, which is often credited with pioneering the modern sports marketing and management industry and led to the creation of Octagon, a global leader in sports, music, and entertainment marketing that recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Senator Cory Gardner is a fifth-generation Coloradan, who was born and raised in Yuma where his family owned a farm equipment dealership for more than a century. He began serving in the Colorado House of Representatives in 2005 where he spent time as the Minority Whip. Cory was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Judd Gregg served as a United States Senator from 1993 to 2011. He was Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and also Chairman and ranking member of the Help, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee. Gregg chaired or was the ranking member of the Appropriation’s subcommittees on Foreign Operations; Homeland Security; and Commerce, State and Justice. He was also a member of the Senate Banking Committee. Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Judd Gregg served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1989 to 1993 and as U.S. Representative from 1981 to 1989. Senator Gregg was appointed as Dartmouth College’s first Distinguished Fellow and where he lectures on national governance and history issues. Gregg serves as a director of Honeywell Corporation.

James Karam is president and founder of First Bristol Corporation and provides the leadership and direction of this 38-year-old New England Real Estate Development and Management Company. Founded in 1975, First Bristol’s focus has been the development of major retail shopping centers, first-class office buildings, and hotels throughout Southern New England. Mr. Karam’s commitment to excellence is evidenced by the broad scope of the company’s varied developments and his recognition for being in the forefront of this ever-changing industry. He also is co-owner of WSAR and WHTB radio stations, serving the Massachusetts Southcoast region. Mr. Karam’s current and past professional and civic affiliations are extensive, including as former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the largest New England community health care system, Caritas Christi Health Care System, 10 years as a Trustee and former Chair of the Board for the University of Massachusetts five (5) campus system, and currently as a Board member of the Boston-based Steward Health Care System.

As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III serves as an ambassador of his parent’s legacy of nonviolent social change. A graduate of his father’s Alma mater, Morehouse College, Mr. King has devoted his life to working in the non-profit sector to promote civil rights and global human rights and to eradicate the “triple evils” of racism, militarism and poverty his father identified as the scourges of humankind. As a high school student, he served as a Page to Senator Edward Kennedy, and continued his public service, supporting social change movements through speaking engagements, appearances and his writing.

As the elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the organization co-founded by his father, Mr. King reinvigorated SCLC by stabilizing the governance, program and development components. A former President and CEO of the Atlanta-based King Center, Mr. King remains a member of its Board of Directors. In addition, Mr. King has conducted nearly 40 Poverty Study Tours in a groundbreaking initiative, which has sparked public debate and law enforcement advocacy on the issue of poverty. In conjunction with Ambassador Andrew Young and other partners, Mr. King co-founded Bounce TV, the first independently owned and operated TV network featuring African-Americans. The network’s content includes movies, sports, documentaries and original programming. The recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, Mr. King is married to Arndrea Waters King and the father of a daughter, Yolanda Rene named in honor of his late sister Yolanda Denise King.

Senator Trent Lott represented the people of Mississippi in Congress for 35 years and is one of the very few elected officials in our nation’s history to have held elected leadership posts in both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Lott served as the House Minority Whip, the 2nd ranking Republican in the House, from 1981 to 1989 and as Senate Majority Leader from 1996 to 2002. He was also elected by his colleagues to serve as Senate Republican Whip in 2006, and is the only person to have held that position in both the House and Senate. Senator Lott currently serves as Senior Counsel at Patton Boggs LLP. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and the author of Herding Cats: A Life in Politics.

A highly accomplished trial attorney and civic leader with more than 30 years of private and public sector experience, Ralph Martin currently serves as a Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Northeastern University. Martin made history while serving as the first African American District Attorney in Suffolk County, where his prosecutorial work won acclaim from former President Bill Clinton and former Attorney General Janet Reno. He is the previous chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on a number of boards, including the Board of Directors of Boston Children’s Hospital and BlueCross and BlueShield of Massachusetts.

Senator Mel Martinez practiced law until 1998, when he was elected as the Mayor of Orange County, Florida. He served until 2001 when he was confirmed as the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in the George W. Bush Administration.  In 2004, at the request of President Bush, he returned to Florida to run for an open seat in the United States Senate. In 2005, Martinez was confirmed as the first Cuban American to be elected to the United States Senate.

Marty Meehan, the first undergraduate alumnus to lead the five-campus
University of Massachusetts system, has served as president
since 2015, following eight years as Chancellor of UMass
Lowell. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2007.

With an abiding belief in public higher education’s power to
transform lives, President Meehan has called the University of Massachusetts
“the most important institution in Massachusetts in the critical areas of social
mobility and economic growth.” Under his leadership, every campus has
achieved national rankings, the university’s enrollment has grown to nearly
75,000 students, institutional financial aid has grown by 67 percent to $395
million per year, and the research enterprise has grown to $813 million in
annual investment. A system-wide efficiency and effectiveness initiative has
generated more than $100 million in savings over the last two years. The
university recently received its three largest philanthropic gifts in its history,
totaling nearly $250 million.

Representing the 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House, President
Meehan served on the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees and
established a national reputation for his legislative leadership. He earned
recognition for efforts to protect the public from the health risks of tobacco
and pass the 2002 bi-partisan campaign reform law, known as the McCain-
Feingold Bill in the Senate and the Shays-Meehan Bill in the House.

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, President Meehan was one of seven children in
a family where the importance of education was emphasized. A first-
generation college student, he attended Lowell public schools and graduated
cum laude from UMass Lowell in 1978 with a degree in education and political
science. He earned a master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk
University in 1981 and a juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School in
1986.

Barry Mills has served as interim chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston since July 1, 2017. He previously was president of Bowdoin College, from 2001-2015, and was deputy presiding partner of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City, one of the nation’s preeminent international law firms. He joined the firm in 1979 and became a partner in 1986. His work at Debevoise concentrated on corporate law, real estate, and corporate finance.

J. Keith Motley served as the 8th Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston, an institution with nearly 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students, a faculty of more than 1,000, and a $323 million annual budget. With more than 20 years of experience in higher education administration, Dr. Motley is also a founder of the Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts, and the Paul Robeson Institute for Positive Self-Development. Dr. Motley serves on numerous boards of community organizations with local, regional, and national reach, and he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northeastern University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Boston College.

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco is Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Prior to his return to the Commonwealth, he served as the inaugural UCLA Wasserman Dean and Distinguished Professor of Education. Dr. Suárez-Orozco’s research focuses on conceptual and empirical problems in the areas of cultural psychology and psychological anthropology with a focus on the study of mass migration, globalization and education. He is the author of numerous scholarly essays, award-winning books and edited volumes published by Harvard University Press, Stanford University Press, University of California Press, Cambridge University Press, Columbia University Press and others. His scholarly papers are published in a range of disciplines and languages in international journals. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, W. T. Grant, Spencer, Rockefeller, Hewlett, Ford and Carnegie, and multiple others. He has also served as the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Education and as Member of the Inaugural Executive Committee of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. At NYU, he served as the inaugural Courtney Sale Ross University Professor.
Dr. Suárez-Orozco earned his A.B. in psychology, M.A. in anthropology, and Ph.D. in  anthropology at UC Berkeley. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife, the eminent psychologist of immigration, Carola Suárez-Orozco. Carola and Marcelo’s hobbies include taking Lilly – their Papillon, for long walks in Boston Harbor and, whenever possible, biking in the woods of Western Massachusetts.

Senator John Sununu served for three terms in the House of Representatives (1997-2003) and for six years as the youngest member of the United States Senate (2003-2009). Before entering public service, Sununu worked for emerging high-tech firms as an engineer, strategy consultant, and a Chief Financial Officer. 

Louis B. Susman was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s on July 29, 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He took up his duties in London on August 17, 2009 and retired on April 3, 2013. A banker and a lawyer with extensive experience, Ambassador Susman was the Vice Chairman of Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking. He is also a former member of the Citigroup International Advisory Board. Prior to joining Salomon Brothers, Inc. in June 1989, Mr. Susman practiced law in the City of St. Louis for 27 years and was a senior partner at the St. Louis based law firm of Thompson & Mitchell. Ambassador Susman is presently the Non-Executive Chairman of Edelman, Special Advisor to BDT Capital Partners and Special Advisor to Henry Crown & Co. In addition, Ambassador Susman is a member of the Board of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Fred Seigel is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Beacon Capital Partners, a Boston-based private real estate investment firm with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC, London, Luxembourg, and Paris. Prior to joining Beacon Capital, Mr. Seigel served as Managing Director of Latona Associates, a private merchant bank, and as Founder, President & Director of Energy Capital Partners, which specialized in financing energy projects across the United States. Mr. Seigel is a member of The Real Estate Roundtable and also serves on the Board of Directors for the Greenprint Foundation and the Citi Performing Arts Center.

Barbara Souliotis is the only staff person to work for Senator Edward M. Kennedy for the entirety of his nearly 47-year Senate career. She first began working with Senator Kennedy while he served in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in the early 1960’s. For the last 23 years of Senator Kennedy’s Senate service, Barbara ran his Boston office as Senator Kennedy’s State Director, a role she would reprise for his successor, interim U.S. Senator Paul G. Kirk, Jr. Barbara currently serves on the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s New Frontier Award Committee, and was honored with the 2003 Congressman John Joseph Moakley Exemplary Public Service Award.

Henry M. Thomas III serves as President Emeritus of the Urban League of Springfield, Inc / Camp Atwater which is the oldest African American overnight youth camp in the United States. Mr. Thomas has served in the Urban League movement for fifity-two years and co-founded New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, Massachusetts, served as previous past Vice President for Youth Development of the National Urban League in New York and is a former chair of the Springfield Fire Commission and Springfield Police Commission. Mr. Thomas has been recognized with several awards and honors including honorary degrees from UMAS Medical School,Westfield State University and Bath Path University, Distinguished Service Awards from the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus, and the President’s Medallion from one of his alma maters Western New England University.

Ranny Cooper was the President of Weber Shandwick’s public affairs practice and oversaw the firm’s research and advocacy advertising divisions. Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, she served as Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s Chief of Staff with responsibility for the Senator’s legislative and political activities. A frequent speaker on political issues, Ranny was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Partnership for Women & Families, EMILY’s List, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. She also served as a member of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was honored with the prestigious Women in Communications Matrix Award in 2000.

From 1989 through 1997, Nick Littlefield served as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where he worked under Senator Kennedy’s direction to pass landmark legislation including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Ryan White AIDS Care Act, the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, the Family & Medical Leave Act, and the Safe Medical Devices Act. As a partner at Foley Hoag, LLP, Nick chaired the firm’s Government Strategies Group starting in 1998, and taught frequently at Harvard Law School, Northeastern University, and The Heller School for Social Policy and Management. From 1972 to 1976, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

David W. Burke was an American news executive and political administrator. He was Vice President ABC News, where he worked with Peter Jennings and Barbara Walters, among others. President of CBS News (1988–90).  He was the executive secretary of the Advisory Committee on Labor-Management Policy under President Kennedy. In 1965, Mr. Burke joined Senator Kennedy’s staff as a legislative assistant. Within three weeks he was shepherding legislation to abolish the poll tax and liberalize immigration. The next year, he became administrative assistant, the top job in a Senate office.  Mr. Burke served as a Founding Director of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

John M. Connors is a founding partner and Chairman Emeritus of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Inc., a full-service marketing communications company. Under his leadership, Hill, Holliday evolved from a one-room shop in 1968 to one of the nation’s top 20 advertising firms, and counts some of the most well-known brands in the world – including Dunkin’ Donuts, Bank of America, CVS/Pharmacy and Liberty Mutual – among its clients. A Trustee of Boston College, Mr. Connors is known for his extensive involvement in Boston’s civic life and deep commitment to philanthropy, including his support of Camp Harbor View, The Campaign for Catholic Schools and dozens of other charitable organizations. He served for 16 years as Chairman of the Partners HealthCare System Board and served on the Board of Fellows at Harvard Medical School.

Kara Kennedy gave her time to Sibley Hospital, and to the women of the N Street Village in Washington, D.C. She served as a board member of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate where she co-produced a film about the Institute that was shown at its inaugural groundbreaking event. Kennedy was a reading tutor and was preparing to join the Board of Reading Partners at the time of her death.

Kennedy was on the National Advisory Board of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS).

Henry M. Thomas III served as President Emeritus of the Urban League of Springfield, Inc / Camp Atwater which is the oldest African American overnight youth camp in the United States. Mr. Thomas had served in the Urban League movement for fifty-two years and co-founded New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, Massachusetts, served as previous past Vice President for Youth Development of the National Urban League in New York and was a former chair of the Springfield Fire Commission and Springfield Police Commission. Mr. Thomas was recognized with several awards and honors including honorary degrees from UMass Medical School, Westfield State University and Bay Path University, Distinguished Service Awards from the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus, and the President’s Medallion from one of his alma maters Western New England University.