Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel is Founder and Executive Director of the Atlanta Ministry with International Students Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born in Kafr Yasif, in the Galilee, of Christian Palestinian parents. He was ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA in 1978 and has served on the mission staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Rev Fahed was instrumental for mission trips to Kenya, Haiti, Brazil, Egypt, Israel, and Palestine. He is former vice chair of the Presbyterian Church’s Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns and a past board member of the Christian Council and Interfaith Coalition of Metropolitan Atlanta. Rev. Fahed has been honored for his life-long dedication to interfaith dialogue and international understanding by many organizations. The National Conference of Christians and Jews honored him with the Clergy of the Year Award, the Arab-American Community with its Georgia Award, and the Greater Atlanta Presbytery with the 1998 Peace Making Award.

Hani Almadhoun is the Director of Philanthropy for UNRWA USA. Born in the Emirates, Hani's family fled to the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. It was tough adjusting to the harsh conditions in Gaza during the First Intifada, but his family was made whole again when his dad got a job at an UNRWA school teaching English to refugees. A child of an educator, Hani was raised with the mantra of school being the top priority, and in this pursuit, he eventually found his way to the United States to pursue his education. He settled in Washington, DC where he fell into the world of fundraising for various causes that spoke to him, including civil rights and social justice groups for Muslim and Arab Americans and charities that serve the Palestinian people and other marginalized communities in the Middle East.

Ali Alsarraf is President of the Muslim Bar Association of Chicago. He is Special Counsel at Jenner & Block LLP, where he represents clients in high stakes domestic and international disputes. Ali is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation, Human Rights & Global Strategy, Government Controversies and Public Policy Litigation, National Security, Sanctions, and Export Controls, and International Arbitration practice groups. Before joining Jenner & Block, Ali served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ann M. Donnelly of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Before clerking, Ali was a litigation associate at a top law firm in New York, where he focused on complex commercial litigation, international arbitration, and securities litigation and investigations. Ali maintains an active pro bono practice involving immigration, civil rights, and prisoner rights matters. Ali is a member of the Associate Board of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, serves on the Next Generation Working Group for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and serves on Jenner & Block’s Associate Board of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Professor Mehrsa Baradaran writes about banking law, financial inclusion, inequality, and the racial wealth gap. Her scholarship includes the books, “How the Other Half Banks” and “The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap,” both published by the Harvard University Press. Prior to joining UCI Law, Professor Baradaran was the Robert Cotten Alston Chair in Corporate Law and Associate Dean for strategic initiatives with a focus on diversity and inclusion efforts and national and international faculty scholarship recognition at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Rania Batrice is founder and president of Batrice & Associates, a strategic policy and public relations firm specializing in making progressive vision a reality. As a daughter of Palestinian immigrants, Rania has blazed a life path as a voice for the voiceless, working on issues ranging from gun violence and climate change to immigration and foreign policy. She has worked as a Democratic operative for nearly twenty years, lending her expertise across political, non-profit, legislative strategy and crisis management. For Bernie Sanders’ 2016 run for president, Rania served as Iowa Communications Director, the National Director of Surrogates and then as Deputy Campaign Manager.

Peter Beinart is Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York. He is also a Contributing Opinion Writer at The New York Times, a CNN Political Commentator, Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack.Com. His first book, The Good Fight, was published by HarperCollins in 2006. His second book, The Icarus Syndrome, was published by HarperCollins in 2010. His third, The Crisis of Zionism, was published by Times Books in 2012.

Maya Berry is Executive Director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a national civil rights advocacy organization. She previously served as Legislative Director for House Minority Whip David Bonior, where she managed the Congressman's legislative strategy and developed policies on international relations, human rights, immigration, civil rights and liberties, and trade. With a deep knowledge of public policy making, she helped expand AAI’s work on combatting hate crime, protecting the rights of securitized communities, strengthening our democracy, and advocating for data equity. Berry serves as the Co-Chair of the Hate Crime Task Force at the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, and on the board of Public Citizen.

Eva Borgwardt is the National Spokesperson for IfNotNow, a movement of American Jews organizing to end U.S. support for Israel's system of apartheid and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis. She has been organizing on Israel/Palestine since 2014, focusing primarily on urging the American Jewish community and Congress to advocate against unconditional U.S. funding for Israel's military, and recently, on AIPAC's role in American Jewish communities and politics. She has given commentary for CNN, The New York Times, Teen Vogue, The Guardian, and others.

Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D., represents New York’s 16th District, which includes the Northern Bronx and parts of Westchester County, including Yonkers, New Rochelle, and Mount Vernon. Rep. Bowman was born and raised in New York City, spending his early years in public housing and rent-controlled apartments. He was raised by his mother, who supported them with her post office worker’s salary. After graduating from the University of New Haven, Rep. Bowman began his career as a crisis intervention teacher in a Bronx public school and went on to earn a master’s degree in guidance counseling from Mercy College and a doctorate in education from Manhattanville College. In 2009, he went on to found Cornerstone Academy for Social Action (CASA), a Bronx middle school focused on unlocking the natural brilliance of all children through a holistic curriculum, where he served as principal for a decade. Bowman lives in Yonkers, New York, with his wife and three beautiful children.

Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant is the pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church located in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Before becoming the church’s pastor in 2018, he served at the Empowerment Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

Congresswoman Cori Bush is a registered nurse, community activist, organizer, single mother, and ordained pastor representing the people of Missouri's First Congressional District. Congresswoman Cori is in her second term in the United States House of Representatives, serving on the House Oversight Committee—including as Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs—and the House Judiciary Committee.

Kina Collins is a lifelong activist and nationally recognized gun violence prevention and health care advocate, born and raised in Austin on the West Side of Chicago. As a national organizer for Medicare For All and founder of the Chicago Neighborhood Alliance, Kina built a track record of policy making, coalition building, and working with communities to improve public health and safety. Kina has spent her life turning activism into legislative action, writing and passing policy, and organizing on a national scale. She is currently running for Congress.

Professor John Dabeet, born in Jerusalem, Palestine, is the President of the U.S. Palestinian Council. Professor Dabeet is the Business Department chair and a distinguished professor of Economics and Statistics at Muscatine Community College, Muscatine, Iowa. He serves on several boards of directors for international, national, and local organizations. Recently, Professor Dabeet was elected to serve on Iowa Democratic Party Central Committee and the chair of the International Affairs platform for Democrats in the State of Iowa. Several International and National awards have been presented to Prof. Dabeet for his work in Politics, Citizen Diplomacy, and Education.

Lara Friedman is the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. Prior to joining FMEP, Lara was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut.

In 2019, U.S. Representative Jesús G. “Chuy” García became the first Mexican American from the Midwest to serve in Congress. Throughout his time in public service he's been a progressive voice fighting to improve conditions for immigrant and working-families through equitable access to quality education, affordable housing, and economic opportunity. Drawing on his history working with Mayor Harold Washington and Rudy Lozano, he is a coalition builder committed to empowering the next generation of progressive leaders. Currently, he serves on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and is Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Alex Globerson is a Chicago based reproductive justice organizer and abortion advocate currently organizing with IfNotNow Chicago. Raised in a reform Jewish community, her work to improve access to comprehensive and identity informed healthcare is deeply informed by the Jewish values of Tikkun Olam and Tzedek. She believes it is essential to draw connections between bodily autonomy, the fundamental right to raise families in safe and thriving ways and all interconnected social justice struggles.

Ariel Gold is the executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA, the country's oldest interfaith peace and justice organization. Prior to 2018, when Israel deported and banned Ariel, she used to travel once or twice a year to work on the ground with Palestinian grassroots nonviolence activists. Ariel wrote contributions to the books Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation, edited by Carolyn Karcher, and Bayard Rustin: A Legacy of Protest and Politics, edited by Michael G. Long. She has been published in The Nation, Forward, Responsible Statescraft, Ms. Magazine, and more.

Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson is a global ecumenical leader whose work has highlighted the intersection of faith with public life. He was legislative assistant to Senator Mark O. Hatfield, Director of Church and Society for the World Council of Churches, and served for 17 years as General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America. He chairs the board of Sojourners, an advocacy ministry linking faith and social justice. He also serves on the boards of Church Innovations Institute and the Global Christian Forum. And this year, he’s dedicating time to Faith2020, connecting people of faith with the values of progressive candidates for the 2020 election.

Zaha Hassan is a human rights lawyer and a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research focus is on Palestine-Israel peace, the use of international legal mechanisms by political movements, and U.S. foreign policy in the region. Previously, she was the coordinator and senior legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during Palestine’s bid for UN membership, and was a member of the Palestinian delegation to Quartet-sponsored exploratory talks between 2011 and 2012. She regularly participates in track II peace efforts and is a contributor to The Hill and Haaretz. Her commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, Al Jazeera English, CNN, and others.

Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III,, the President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is a prophetic pastor, passionate leader, social activist, eloquent orator, and educator engaged in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and fighting against racial injustice. Dr. Haynes is also committed to and has devoted his life to economic justice and empowerment in under-served communities and touching and transforming the lives of the disenfranchised. For the past 40 years, Dr. Haynes has served as a visionary and innovative senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Under his servant leadership, the ministry and membership of the church has grown from less than 100 members in 1983 to over 13,000.

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is one of the leading intellectual voices in the country. He is currently the host of BET News, The Grio, Al Jazeera UpFront, and the Coffee & Books podcast. Dr. Hill is a Presidential Professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Prior to that, he held positions at Morehouse College, Temple University, and Columbia University. He has worked on campaigns to end the death penalty, abolish prisons, and release numerous political prisoners, and in solidarity with human rights movements around the world. Dr. Hill is the author or co-author of eight books, including the award-winning Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life; Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on The Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond; We Still Here: Pandemic, Policing, Protest, and Possibility; Except For Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics; and Schooling Against The Prison.

Congressman Jonathan L. Jackson represents Illinois' First Congressional District. Born to civil rights leaders Rev. Jesse Jackson and Jacqueline Jackson, the fight for underrepresented people runs in Congressman Jackson's blood. He has long been an advocate for marginalized communities using his platform to fight for equity and civil rights. Congressman Jackson's commitment to social justice and equality has been the driving force behind his activism. Congressman Jackson now brings his activism to Congress. He is committed to promoting policies that advance equality and justice, improving access to quality education and healthcare, and protecting the environment. He proudly serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and is dedicated to working with his colleagues to pass meaningful legislation that will benefit the people of IL-01 and the nation as a whole.

Santita Jackson, born in Greensboro, North Carolina and reared in Chicago, known as the “Queen of Talk Radio, she has been blessed with a wide-ranging career. She is Executive Producer/Producer/Host of the top-rated, syndicated radio show, “The SANTITA JACKSON SHOW,” which is based on America’s largest Progressive Talk Radio station, Chicago’s WCPT820. She also serves as the Executive Producer/ Producer/Co-host of the nationally-syndicated radio show, “KEEP HOPE ALIVE with REV. JESSE JACKSON.” Additionally, she is the host of the FREE SPEECH TV television series, “DEMOCRACY ON THE BRINK.” A Political Analyst and Contributor on the FOX News Network, who has given commentary and appeared on PBS, MSNBC, The TODAY SHOW and GOOD MORNING AMERICA. Santita is also a writer who is a founding contributor to MSNBC’s TheGRIO, whose work has most recently been published in ROLLING STONE Magazine.

Skye Alex Jackson is a student at Brown University studying English and Entrepreneurship and the founder of the education based charity, Affinity Spaces for Change. She is passionate about equitable education for all, social activism, screenwriting and spending time with her family.

Vivian Khalaf, a private attorney based in Chicago, Illinois, serves as chairperson of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), the main NGO bringing hundreds of volunteer doctors and nurses from all over the world to treat thousands of children and train local personnel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Khalaf previously served a three-year term as a director at large and is the first woman to be elected chairperson in the organization’s 30-year history.

Tarek Khalil is an attorney and activist. As an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), he was a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine. He has worked with the Illinois Coalition Against Torture, an organization which seeks to end domestic police torture and raise awareness of global torture. Tarek defended the civil rights of the Chicagoland community as a volunteer attorney for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago). He is also a board member with the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP-Chicago). With AMP, Tarek lectures on topics such as modern Palestinian history, Middle East politics, and Palestinian rights under international law.

Born and raised in the Mon Valley, Summer Lee was elected to the US House of Representatives for Pennsylvania’s 12th District in 2022, becoming the first Black woman ever elected to Congress from Western Pennsylvania. is a dedicated organizer, attorney, and progressive state legislator. A proud alum of Woodland Hills public schools, Summer grew up in North Braddock and Swissvale before graduating from Penn State and Howard University School of Law, where she focused on civil rights and social justice advocacy. She worked as labor organizer, joining the Fight for $15 to increase the minimum wage, and lead voter mobilization efforts for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. In 2017, after repeated incidents of violence from police and school administrators against local students, Summer spearheaded a successful write-in initiative that transformed the local school board. In 2018, at the urging of her neighbors, Summer threw her hat in the ring for State House – taking on a 20-year incumbent, doubling voter turnout, and winning with over 67%of the vote. She also made history, becoming the first Black woman from Western Pennsylvania ever elected to the legislature.

A lifelong advocate for progressive social change, Marty founded the Jewish Alliance for Economic Justice. He serves currently as a Coordinating Committee member of the Chicago chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, is a member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. A social worker by training, Marty helped lead the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago for 40 years until he retired in 2016. Since he stepped down, he has consulted and helped build the strength of small, community service organizations from Gary to Waukegan. He was a contributing writer for Nonprofit Quarterly and currently publishes regular opinion pieces on Changecounts.net

A self-proclaimed struggle kid, Tanya Lozano is an organizer, entrepreneur, dancer, and above all mother who wakes up every day ready to save lives. She is the founder of Healthy Hood, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, known to most as a fitness center that offers $5 fitness classes, aiming to serve the underserved and succeeding at doing so. Tanya was raised by activists and organizers. Hers was one of the first families to move to Pilsen, at a time when the now Mexican neighborhood was inhabited by Polish and Czech immigrants. Both of her parents are community organizers and activists.

Dwight McKee is a social scientist with a specialty in Social Policy and Communication. As a teenager, he was a founding board member of SCLC’s (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) Operation Breadbasket and Operation PUSH. He was also the National Youth Director of both organizations. His civil rights involvements also include being chief policy strategist for NAN (National Action Network), the organizational base of Rev. Al Sharpton. His social policy resume includes having led the team that reconstructed Chicago’s minority’s set-a-side program after the Supreme Courts’ decision redefined the criteria that was the basis of the original program. Dwight McKee’s youth initiative, SOY (Save Our Youth), had been responsible for mentoring and training thousands of young people across the country through his affiliation with youth organizations such as Young Life, one of the largest Christian youth organizations in the World.