Theme: Superpowers

In this time of accelerated history and unprecedented change, each of us possesses unique insights and talents – their true impact often not yet discovered. Whether through incredible leaps in science or in simple grace amid great trials, all of us together will overcome today’s challenges to forge a surprising future. Perhaps unfamiliar, it will still be recognizable: fair, kind, human… even super-human. Join us, as we discover SUPERPOWERS both known and waiting to be discovered, through stories of individual triumph and global interconnectedness; this future is one we will enthusiastically embrace.
===
FROM THE CURATORS

The past year has been challenging for everyone inhabiting planet Earth. We have been visited by geopolitical chaos, natural disasters, and societal acrimony that only seems to get more intense with each passing day. These are objectively trying times.

Fortunately, there are so many people who are doing good, interesting, and important work all around the world. They are uncovering the lasting truths that will make a di erence for our shared future. Pioneers in science, art, philosophy, and technology are making real headlines. They’re uncovering the ideas that will inexorably shape our future.

These bold explorers are using unique talents and incredible insights — their superpowers — to advance important causes. And all of us have superpowers as well. We just need to nd them. These superpowers are where the real news — the stu that matters in this world — really come from.

So in a world awash in “fake news,” and where geopolitical super- powers are in increasing con ict, let’s take a breath — and celebrate the heroes who will help us shape tomorrow.

Together, we can build a future worth fighting for.

Dave Troy + Nate Mook
TEDxMidAtlantic Curators
October 2017

Sidney Harman Hall
610 F Street Northwest
Washington, District of Columbia
United States

Andy Suzuki + The Method

Band

Brooklyn’s Andy Suzuki and Kozza Olatunji-Babumba (of future pop/ r&b group Andy Suzuki & The Method) have been making music together for nearly a decade, but now with their third full-length album, ‘The Glass Hour’ a creative friendship has flowered into a formidable musical force. The half-Japanese, half-Jewish Suzuki and hand-percussionist Kozza (grandson of percussion legend Babtunde Olatunji) first garnered wider attention with their buoyant, organic folk-pop album, Born out of Mischief, and soon found themselves opening for names as large as Ringo Starr, Eric Hutchinson, Joshua Radin, Marc Broussard, and Delta Rae. Andy and Kozza enlisted the production talents of LA-based Juny Mag to scale their music up to stadium-sized dimensions, and also brought in big guns Dominic Fallacaro, Will Hensley, Chris Gehringer— all Grammy winners— for recording, mixing and mastering ‘The Glass Hour’.

Symphony Number One

Orchestra

Award-winning conductor Jordan Randall Smith is the music Music Director of Symphony Number One and Music Director at Govans Presbyterian Church. Smith was formerly Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Dallas Festival of Modern Music and Assistant Conductor of the Peabody Opera Theater. Currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in conducting at the Peabody Conservatory, Smith is a student of Gustav Meier, Markand Thakar, and Marin Alsop. In 2016, Jordan was named a Baltimore Social Innovation Fellowship and received a prestigious Bruno Walter Fellowship at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2010 where he studied with Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, and Jennifer Higdon and conducted the festival orchestra in concert. He has mentored hundreds of young musicians in ensembles across the country including the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Cross Timbers Youth Orchestra.

Adam Foss

Criminal Justice Reformer

Adam J. Foss is a former Assistant District Attorney in the Juvenile Division of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office (SCDAO) in Boston, MA, and a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform and the importance of the role of the prosecutor in ending mass incarceration. Mr. Foss believes that the profession of prosecution is ripe for reinvention requiring better incentives and more measurable metrics for success beyond, simply, “cases won” leading him to co-found Prosecutor Impact – a non-profit developing training and curriculum for prosecutors to reframe their role in the criminal justice system.

Amanda Rivkin

Journalist

Amanda Rivkin is a photographer and writer focused on gender, security, political and military issues in Eastern Europe and the United States. Currently she is at work on a long-term project documenting in portraits and oral histories the victims of Chicago municipal police torture under former Commander Jon Burge. For this work, she has received a grant from the International Women’s Media Foundation Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists and support from The Invisible Institute, a non- profit journalism outfit focusing on issues of policing in Chicago. In February 2017, she founded Trumpistan Watch, a free weekday e-mail subscription and blog media monitoring Western and Russian media news sources concerning Trump and Russia, with a particular focus on geopolitical security, media and authoritarianism.

Bart Paulhamus

Intelligent Systems Expert

Bart Paulhamus currently runs the Intelligent Systems & Physical Sciences Branch within the Research and Exploratory Development Department at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL). One of the goals of the branch is to tackle the challenges underlying intelligent systems through a multidisciplinary approach that combines machine learning, neuroscience, and robotics. His technical background is in machine learning, and he has over 15 years of experience applying advanced analytics to technical challenges within the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of Homeland Security. In 2016, he co-led the establishment of JHU/APL’s new Intelligent Systems Center. He joined JHU/APL in 2000 after receiving M.S. and B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from Penn State University. On the weekends, you can find Bart exploring the outdoors with his wife and four adventurous kids.

Bernard Olayo

Public Health Specialist

Bernard Olayo is a public health specialist and entrepreneur from Kenya. He is the founder of the Center for Public Health and Development, a nonprofit that has designed and developed two social enterprises: MediQuip Global, which offers biomedical equipment repair and maintenance solutions, and Hewa Tele, a public-private venture delivering affordable oxygen in remote areas. Olayo has over 14 years of experience managing complex public health programs in resource-limited settings in 15 countries across the globe. He is also a technical team member on several World Bank projects, primarily as a technical advisor to a number of ministries of health.

Carla Dirlikov-Canales

Opera Singer & Educator

Versatile mezzo-soprano Carla Dirlikov Canales has been acclaimed by Opera Magazine for possessing a voice that “grabs the heartstrings with its dramatic force and musicality.” Ms. Canales is a passionate humanitarian who for the past 10 years has served as a U.S. Department of State Cultural Arts Envoy promoting American culture overseas, giving master classes and teaching music to orphans and poverty-stricken youth.

Chris Ullman

Communicator + Whistler

Chris Ullman is a communications professional with 30 years of experience across the private, public, non-profit and advocacy sectors. Since 2001 he has served as Director of Global Communications at The Carlyle Group, an investment firm based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he served as Director of Communications at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Public Affairs Director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Director of Communications for the Budget Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Chris earned his B.A. in political science from Binghamton University. He is a four-time national and international whistling champion and author of Find Your Whistle: Simple Gifts Touch Hearts and Change Lives, published by Mascot Books in 2017. Chris and his wife Kristen have three children and live in Alexandria, VA.

Dale Beran

Author + Educator

Dale Beran is a writer and comic artist living in Baltimore, MD. He’s done work for McSweeney’s, Quartz, The Huffington Post, The Nib, Cartoon Network, Super Deluxe, and The Baltimore City Paper. His work has been discussed in New York Magazine, The Guardian, Vice Motherboard, and Mother Jones, and been translated into Portuguese, Japanese, German, and Swedish for various foreign publications. Despite this, he still agonizes over spending like two dollars on a cup of coffee. He is currently working on a book about the internet and politics due out on St. Martin’s Press in 2018.

David and Sarah Trustman

Memory Artists

David and Sarah Trustman discovered the memory arts while studying stage magic. They frequently conduct seminars for magicians and laymen alike about their work on visual approaches to aid memorization for education, performances, and everyday life. They believe passionately in the role of effective memory in learning and are advocates for improvements in how memory is incorporated in school curriculum. David divides his time between berry farming and writing and illustrating well-known comics, and has been featured in galleries for his watercolor comic art. Sarah’s varied background spans early- childhood education, music, and theater. She spends her free time as an advocate for children’s education. The duo regularly performs feats of memory involving the first 500 digits of pi, multiple shuffled and memorized decks of cards, and long lists of randomly called out objects.

Destiny Watford

Environmentalist

At 17 Destiny Watford, 2016 Goldman Prize Environmental Prize winner for North America, inspired residents of a Baltimore neighborhood to defeat plans to build the nation’s largest trash- burning incinerator less than a mile away from her high school. Now, Watford and allies in the neighborhood are working toward developing a community land trust, so that her community can have control over the decisions that affect them.

Erricka Bridgeford

Peacemaker

Erricka Bridgeford was trained as a mediator in September of 2001. By 2005, she became the Director of Training for Community Mediation Maryland. In this capacity, she continues to provide training to the 18 community mediation centers in Maryland, as well as to state agencies and organizations, and for national conferences. Because of her continuous commitment to healing violence, in 2015, Erricka was one of two people in Maryland to be given the award for Outstanding Volunteer Contribution to Victim’s Services, by the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention. In 2017, she co-organized the Baltimore Ceasefire.

F.K. Day

Cyclist/Humanitarian

Frederick (F.K.) Day is a long- time Chicago businessman, entrepreneur and humanitarian. In 1987, Day, his brother Stan and some friends founded leading bicycle component supplier, SRAM Corporation. In 2005, immediately following the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Day and his wife Leah, with support from SRAM Corp and the Bicycle Industry, founded international non-profit World Bicycle Relief. Their first program delivered over 24,000 new bicycles to men, women and children in to Tsunami impacted Sri Lanka.

Glen Henry

Glen Henry is a father changing the world. With prior success in music, he left the industry because he realized the biggest “stage” he’d ever perform on would be in his living room and his biggest fans would be his family. In 2015, he started his fast-growing YouTube channel called Beleaf In Fatherhood by welcoming us into his home to show the fun and real misadventures of parenting. Growing up in Baltimore, he saw few examples of healthy family dynamics. Now he hopes to Equip Fathers, Give Hope to Mothers and Inspire Children with every upload.

Glen "Beleaf" Henry

YouTube Storyteller

Glen Henry is a father changing the world. With prior success in music, he left the industry because he realized the biggest “stage” he’d ever perform on would be in his living room and his biggest fans would be his family. In 2015, he started his fast-growing YouTube channel called Beleaf In Fatherhood by welcoming us into his home to show the fun and real mis-adventures of parenting. Growing up in Baltimore, he saw few examples of healthy family dynamics. Now he hopes to Equip Fathers, Give Hope to Mothers and Inspire Children with every upload.

Gulrez Shah Azhar

Heatwave Expert

Håkan Lidbo

Musician + Technologist

Håkan Lidbo is an inexhaustible artist who has made hundreds of records, a great number of art projects, interactive installations, films, radio, events, books, games, apps, books and robots. His vast creative output have led him to explore the very nature of imagination. Mr Lidbo creates tools for training you imagination - just like an athlete – and believes that most people have only explored a fraction of their potential imagination.

Hans Taparia

Food Entrepreneur

Hans Taparia is a serial entrepreneur and professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. He co-founded one of America’s leading health food brands, called Tasty Bite, and helped build it for twenty years, after which it was acquired. Hans is involved in food from a variety of lenses. He is an entrepreneur, a professor at NYU, where he teaches food entrepreneurship and social impact, a board director at Hunger Free America, a leading hunger advocacy organization, and he writes frequently on the topic. He also co-founded one of the world’s leading optical networking technology companies, Tejas Networks, which also went public earlier this year. His articles have appeared in leading publications including the Huffington Post and the New York Times. Hans has a Bachelors of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Hasini Jayatilaka

Cancer Fighter

Hasini Jayatilaka is a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University and is currently conducting research on understanding the complex pathways that govern metastasis, the spread of cancer, which is responsible for 90% of cancer related deaths. Hasini recently discovered a new signaling pathway that controls metastasis and showed that by blocking the pathway the spread of cancer can be slowed down.

Jackie Savitz

Ocean Advocate

Jacqueline Savitz is Oceana’s Chief Policy Officer, North America. Her background and training in marine biology and environmental toxicology combined with more than two decades of policy advocacy experience provides Oceana with a combination of sound science, strategic environmental vision and successful leadership. In addition to overseeing all campaigns for U.S. Oceans, Jackie leads Oceana’s involvement in Global Fishing Watch, a partnership of Oceana, SkyTruth and Google that has made the tracks of the global commercial fishing fleet available to everyone in the world with an internet connection, in near real time, for free. Global Fishing Watch sheds light on commercial fishing behavior worldwide. Jackie earned her master’s degree in environmental science with an emphasis in toxicology from the University of Maryland, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, where her work focused on the effects of contaminants on aquatic life.

John Werner

John is Vice President at Meta, an augmented reality Technology Pioneer company that was a y-combinator startup, based in Silicon Valley. John is passionate about connecting entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors to drive social and cultural transformation. He was a founding member of Citizen Schools and the Head of Innovation and New Ventures at the MIT Media Lab Camera Culture group where he integrated imaging, machine learning, and computer vision with social transformation. He then served as a Managing Director of Emerging Worlds SIG, where he lead the launch of collaborative innovation centers in Mumbai, Nashik & Hyderabad.

Jordan Randall Smith

Conductor

Award-winning conductor Jordan Randall Smith is the music Music Director of Symphony Number One and Music Director at Govans Presbyterian Church. Smith was formerly Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Dallas Festival of Modern Music and Assistant Conductor of the Peabody Opera Theater. Currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in conducting at the Peabody Conservatory, Smith is a student of Gustav Meier, Markand Thakar, and Marin Alsop.

José Andrés

Named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018, and awarded “Outstanding Chef” and “Humanitarian of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation, José Andrés is an internationally-recognized culinary innovator, New York Times bestselling author, educator, television personality, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup. A pioneer of Spanish tapas in the United States, he is also known for his groundbreaking avant-garde cuisine and his award-winning group of 31 restaurants located throughout the country and beyond, ranging in a variety of culinary experiences from a food truck to his multi-location vegetable-focused fast casual Beefsteak, to world-class tasting menus like the Michelin-starred minibar by José Andrés. Andrés is the only chef globally that has both a two-star Michelin restaurant and four Bib Gourmands. As a naturalized citizen originally from Spain, Andrés has been a tireless advocate for immigration reform.

Julien Xuereb

Musician

Innovative French guitarist and composer Julien Xuereb strives to make every performance a unique experience. His compositional style ingeniously blends elements of Classical, Jazz, and Middle Eastern music. Tim Smith, critic of the Baltimore Sun, described his works as “Subtly nuanced compositions.” Julien’s recent appearances on stage include performances throughout France, New York City, Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC. Julien has been featured by media outlets such as PBS, the Baltimore Sun, WBAL-TV, and Maryland Public Television (MPT) for his involvement in community outreach. Under the guidance of Maestro Julian Gray, Julien Xuereb graduated from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with a Master of Music degree specializing in Guitar Performance and Pedagogy in 2015, and a Graduate Performance Diploma in 2017.

Kyle DeCarlo

Healthcare Entrepreneur

Kyle DeCarlo is a TED Global Fellow and is a founder of the Deaf Health Initiative, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization bringing together organizations, policy makers, and world renowned researchers to address social and health issues which negatively impact the Deaf community. Through advocacy, policy, and the creation of new technologies, DHI works to forge coalitions and campaigns that improve the public health and wellbeing of the Deaf community. This past year, Kyle was named a TED Global Fellow as part of the TED organization’s “Builders. Truth-Tellers. Catalysts.” cohort. Kyle is a graduate of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dept. Health Policy & Management, where he earned his graduate degree in public policy.

Leanne Pittsford

Tech Equality Fighter

Leanne Pittsford is an entrepreneur who is changing the face of technology by increasing economic opportunity for all Americans. Leanne is the CEO and Founder of Lesbians Who Tech, the largest LGBTQ community of technologists in the world. Now over 25,000 queer women and allies strong, Lesbians Who Tech is increasing visibility and improving representation among women and gender non conforming individuals in the tech sector on a global scale. She recently launched include.io and the Tech Jobs Tour to improve job mobility and fight bias in technology.

Lyn Slater

Fashion Icon

Lyn Slater is a professor of social work, a cultural influencer, a model, a writer, partner, mother and grandmother. She started her blog, Accidental Icon, in September 2014 because she could not find a fashion blog or magazine that offered an urban, modern, intellectual aesthetic and also spoke to people who live “interesting but ordinary lives” in cities. People (like Lyn) who are not famous or celebrities but are smart, creative, thoughtful, engaged, socially responsible and most importantly clear and comfortable with who they are and reflect this in how they dress. At the age when many people retire, Lyn Slater has reinvented herself as an influencer of popular culture, fashion model, and global icon. Lyn’s rejection of age as a variable to be considered in how one dresses has resonated and her blog has fans from around the world. Her Instagram has over 250,000 followers, most of whom are young.

Mindy Fullilove

Psychiatrist to Cities

Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, is a professor of urban policy and health at The New School, having moved there in 2016 after 26 years at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University. Her research examines the mental health effects of environmental processes such as violence, segregation, and urban renewal. In 2004, she worked with colleagues in Upper Manhattan to start the CLIMB project, which has advocated for re-investment in the area’s cliffside parks. In 2007, she helped found the University of Orange in her hometown of Orange, NJ. The UofO is a collective offering free courses in urban culture so that students can become more active in determining the future of their city. In 2016, author Dr. Fullilove was named an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects for “advancing architecture and urban planning through her expansive knowledge of cities and the relationship between the built environment and the wellness of society.”

Molly Joyce

Composer & Performer

Active as a composer and performer, Molly Joyce’s music has been described as “impassioned” (The Washington Post), written to “superb effect” (The Wire), and “vibrant, inventive music that communicates straight from the heart” (Prufrock’s Dilemma). Her works have been commissioned and performed by several distinguished ensembles including the New World Symphony, New York Youth Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the New Juilliard, Decoda, and Contemporaneous ensembles. As a performer, Molly often plays on her vintage Magnus toy organ

Monty Hoffman

Wharf DC Developer

Monty Hoffman formed PN Hoffman in 1993 with a single townhouse conversion, and over the past 24 years has built the company into a market leader of real estate development in the Washington, D.C., metro area. PN Hoffman is known for its longstanding track record of successful projects that enhance communities. A design-forward vision, a strong community commitment and a long-term quality perspective have earned PN Hoffman a sterling reputation. The results have revitalized entire neighborhoods and brought new life to communities. Today, PN Hoffman is developing several mixed use projects throughout the region including The Wharf, a $2.5 billion world-class waterfront and the largest transformative development in Washington, D.C.

Paul Shapiro

Animal Rights Advocate

Paul Shapiro serves as the vice president of policy for The Humane Society of the United States, the world’s largest animal protection organization. In 1995, Shapiro founded Compassion Over Killing as a high school club, building it into a national organization over the next decade. An inductee into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame, Shapiro has published dozens of articles about animal welfare in publications ranging from daily newspapers to academic journals. He’s also the author of a forthcoming book on the clean meat movement.

Rachel Wurzman

Neuroscientist

Dr. Rachel Wurzman is a Fellow with the Center for Neuroscience and Society, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neurology with the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation at the University of Pennsylvania. Rachel also currently serves as Director of Science on the Board of Directors for SeekHealing, a non-profit whose mission is to reduce addiction relapse cycles. Rachel is the author of over 20 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters on various topics in developmental, cognitive, and systems neuroscience, neuroethics, and science policy. Previously, Rachel served as an Intern in the Science Division of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a Neuroscience Scholar Program Fellow with the Society for Neuroscience, and a Researcher in Residence in the Neuroethics Studies Program of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University.

Randi Gloss

Activist

Randi Gloss is a DC-raised social entrepreneur, activist & writer. Her brand GLOSSRAGS, is committed to conscious consumerism through critically crafted designs that are a catalyst for social activism & discourse. GLOSSRAGS’ signature “And Counting” Collection of apparel does the necessary work of memorializing black men and women who’ve lost their lives at the hands of police and trigger- happy citizens. In May 2017, Randi was recognized as one of ESSENCE Magazine’s Woke 100. Randi engages academic and professional communities around the topics of privilege, courageous conversations, and productive through workshops, seminars and lectures. Randi is working to produce meaningful media focused on telling critical, unheard narratives of Black Americans. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, Complex, The Fader, ESSENCE, Nylon Magazine and other publications.

Sarah Trustman

Memory artist

David and Sarah Trustman discovered the memory arts while studying stage magic. They frequently conduct seminars for magicians and laymen alike about their work on visual approaches to aid memorization for education, performances, and everyday life. They believe passionately in the role of effective memory in learning and are advocates for improvements in how memory is incorporated in school curriculum. David divides his time between berry farming and writing and illustrating well-known comics, and has been featured in galleries for his watercolor comic art. Sarah’s varied background spans early- childhood education, music, and theater. She spends her free time as an advocate for children’s education. The duo regularly performs feats of memory involving the first 500 digits of pi, multiple shuffled and memorized decks of cards, and long lists of randomly called out objects.

Shawn Martinbrough

Comic Artist

Shawn Martinbrough is the author of “How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling”, published by Random House and reprinted in several languages. He is a critically acclaimed creator/ artist whose DC, Marvel and Dark Horse Comics projects include “Batman: Detective Comics”, “Luke Cage Noir”, “Captain America”, “The Black Panther” and “Hellboy: Secret Nature”. Shawn has co-created characters featured in the blockbuster 20th Century Fox feature film, “Deadpool”, the “Batman: Gotham Knights” animated DVD and the FOX television series, “GOTHAM” and “THE GIFTED”. Shawn is the artist of “Thief of Thieves”, the acclaimed graphic novel crime series written by Robert Kirkman, the creator of the hit AMC television series, “The Walking Dead” and award winning author Andy Diggle.

Stephanie Hill

Accidental Engineer

Stephanie C. Hill is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development at Lockheed Martin. In this role, Ms. Hill is responsible for global strategies and new business capture, and leads the Lockheed Martin business development organization. She also serves as chair of the Greater Baltimore Committee and sits on the Board of Directors for Project Lead the Way, the nation’s leading provider of K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs, and also serves on the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Since joining Lockheed Martin in 1987 as a software engineer, Ms. Hill has held positions of increasing responsibility including: Vice President & General Manager of Information Systems & Global Solutions Civil business; Vice President of Corporate Internal Audit; and Vice President & General Manager of the Electronic Systems Mission Systems & Sensors business.

Steven Shafarman

Basic Income Advocate

Susan Shaw

Environmental Scientist

Dr. Susan D. Shaw is an environ- mental health scientist, explorer, author, and ocean advocate. She is Founder/Director of the Marine & Environmental Research Institute, and Professor, School of Public Health, SUNY-Albany. Shaw is a globally recognized expert on the health effects of environmental chemical exposure. Over three decades, her game- changing research has fueled protective public policy nationally and globally. Her 1983 book, OverExposure, written with landscape photographer Ansel Adams, exposed the health hazards of photographic chemicals. An outspoken voice on ocean pollution, Shaw dove into the 2010 BP oil spill and influenced the national debate on the dangers of dispersant chemicals. Currently, she leads an international team addressing the compound threat of climate change and pollution across three oceans.

Tim Kaine

US Senator

Tim Kaine has helped people throughout his life as a missionary, civil rights lawyer, teacher and elected official. He is one of 30 people in American history to have served as a Mayor, Governor and United States Senator. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, Tim serves on the Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees. He is Ranking Member of the Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee and the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism. Tim grew up working in his father’s ironworking shop in Kansas City. He was educated at the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School and started his public service career by taking a year off from Harvard to run a technical school founded by Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. He practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in the representation of people who had been denied housing due to their race or disability.

Topeka K. Sam

Incarceration Fighter

Topeka K. Sam is a founding member and national organizer of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women whose mission is to end the incarceration of women and girls. She is also the founder and executive director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries – The LOHM – whose mission is to help disenfranchised and marginalized women and girls transition back into society through spiritual empowerment, education, entrepreneurship and advocacy. She has most recently founded HOPE HOUSE – a safe housing space for women and girls. Topeka serves on the board of directors for Grassroots Leadership. She is pursuing her Certificate in Christian Ministry at New York Theological Seminary. She is a Beyond the Bars 2015 Fellow and a 2016 Justice-In-Education Scholar at Columbia University. She is also a 2017 Soros Justice Advocacy Fellow. All of which has been accomplished since her recent release from prison in May 2015.

Travis Rieder

Bioethicist

Travis Rieder, PhD, is the Assistant Director for Education Initiatives, Director of the Master of Bioethics degree program and Research Scholar at the Berman Institute of Bioethics. Travis’ work tends to fall into one of two, quite distinct research programs. The first concerns ethical and policy questions about sustainability and planetary limits. Much of this research has been on issues in climate change ethics and procreative ethics with a particular focus on the intersection of the two – that is, on the question of responsible procreation in the era of climate change. The second research program concerns ethical and policy issues surrounding America’s opioid epidemic. In addition to his more scholarly writing, Travis is firmly committed to doing bioethics with the public. He writes regularly for The Conversation and blogs occasionally at The Huffington Post and the Berman Institute Bioethics Bulletin.

Walter Woods

Modern Elder

Walter’s passion is in inspiring others to inspire themselves. He has over 20 years of social development experience working both with and for younger and older adults in America. Prior to assuming the CEO role of the Humana Foundation, Walter served as President of the Good Samaritan Foundation, Vice President – Strategic Programs for the AARP Foundation, a consultant to The World Bank Group, Chief Development Officer for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and Managing Director – Commercial Markets for the American Gas Association. Walter has a MBA from Northwestern University – J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Evanston, IL, 1989; BBA, cum laude, from Howard University, Washington, DC, 1987; and completed the Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, Palo Alto, California, 2013, Leadership Greater Washington, 2003 and Leadership South Dakota, 2016.