Award-winning political analyst, New York Times bestselling author, and former MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) national correspondent Joy-Ann Reid was the longtime host of MS NOW’s beloved The ReidOut. Reid made history with her namesake show as the first Black woman to host a primetime cable news program. And during her time at Comcast/Universal, she helped launch and cohosted a number of special programs including  MSNBC’s The Culture Is. Prior to The ReidOut, she hosted the hit weekend morning news show AM Joy. Reid is the author of Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide, We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama, which she co-edited, and two New York Times bestsellers: The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story and the #1 New York Times Bestseller, Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Changed America. Reid hosts two podcasts: The Joy Reid Show, a three times weekly news and interviews podcast that has featured such guests as former Vice President Kamala Harris, former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre, and mayors, governors and celebrities; and Reid This, Reid That, with Emmy-winning journalist Jacque Reid. Her Substack: Joy’s House, is one of the fastest growing on the platform, featuring original articles and breaking news. A sought-after keynote speaker, Reid is celebrated for her no-nonsense commentary and insights, taking audiences beyond the headlines in impactful engagements.

Reid has been featured in Washington Post, Forbes, The New York Times, Vogue, Black Enterprise, Fast Company, Ms., among many others, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Miami Herald, New York Magazine, and The Daily Beast. She was a 2025 NAACP Image Award winner for The ReidOut and for Medgar & Myrlie. a 2022 NAACP Image Award winner for The ReidOut, 2003 Knight Center for Advanced Journalism fellow, and has received awards from the Women’s Media Center, the National Action Network, the National Association of Black Journalists, and been nominated for two Emmy Awards, a GLAAD Media Award, and two prior NAACP Image Awards. Reid formerly taught at Syracuse University and was a Hearst Visiting Professor at Howard University, teaching a course on the impact of race and gender on political coverage. Drawing on her decades-long experience in politics and passion for addressing the intersections of race, justice, and culture, Reid offers in-demand analysis on today’s most important issues.

Award-winning journalist and critically acclaimed author Elaine Weiss is a trusted expert on women’s history and political activism, voting rights, and civic engagement. With warmth, humor, and inspiring clarity, Weiss connects with any group, making historical events relevant to today’s most controversial issues. Weiss is the author of The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote (Viking/Penguin), hailed as a “riveting, nail-biting political thriller” with powerful parallels to today’s political environment. An insightful and entertaining work of narrative history, The Woman’s Hour was a GoodReads Readers’ Choice Award winner, was short-listed for the 2019 Chautauqua Prize, and received the American Bar Association’s highest honor, the 2019 Silver Gavel Award. It has also been adapted for young readers and used in schools and libraries nationwide. Her latest book, Spell Freedom, is already gathering critical acclaim, being longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-Fiction.

Weiss is a frequent media commentator, appearing on CBS Sunday Morning, PBS, NPR’s All Things Considered, and C-Span, and many public radio stations. She has also been featured as an expert analyst in several major documentaries, and has published op-eds and essays in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and other publications, offering a historical perspective on timely topics. Weiss also served as a historical advisor to the NYC Public Theater’s production of the historical musical SUFFS.

In presentations that are enlightening, empowering, and eye-opening, Weiss inspires audiences with conversations about what it takes to make social and political change, the power of civic engagement, and the origins of the ongoing struggle over women’s rights and voting rights.

Rave reviews include “Elaine did an amazing job of bringing the history to life and connecting it with our organization today” (Women's League of Voters) and “In this crazy world we live in, we need more people like [Elaine] inspiring others to be good people!” (The Tennessee Municipal League)

Columnist, New York Times bestselling author, and political commentator Charles Blow fearlessly tackles today’s most pressing issues with depth, nuance, and tremendous insight. Now an Op-Ed columnist at The New York Times, Mr. Blow previously served as the paper’s Graphics Director, leading The Times to significant awards. He has also worked as the Art Director of National Geographic Magazine and for The Detroit News. Blow is the New York Times bestselling author of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, which won a Lambda Literary Award, the Sperber Prize, and appeared on numerous “best of” lists. A memoir, the book was called “searing and unforgettable” by People Magazine and was adapted into a critically-acclaimed opera with a groundbreaking run at The Metropolitan Opera – the first performance of an opera there by a Black composer. His second book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, draws on both his personal experience and observations of society to call for an end to systemic racism. He is also a contributor to the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Blow is a prolific and insightful commentator on politics, public opinion, and social justice, often challenging those in power with clarity and candor.

Heralded for his forward-thinking coverage of American politics and society, as well as his skill in graphic design to create powerful narratives with compelling visuals, Mr. Blow is also an in-demand speaker and gifted moderator. He is a consultant for the MacArthur Foundation and Press Forward, a half-billion-dollar philanthropic effort to help maintain and restore local news. Mr. Blow hosts “Ideas at Ford with Charles Blow,” a lecture series at the Ford Foundation, and he is a consultant for the MacArthur Foundation and Press Forward, a half-billion-dollar philanthropic effort to help maintain and restore local news. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, SalonTV, CBS News, and regularly as an analyst on MSNBC, and has been featured in The Washington Post, The Ringer, Oprah Daily, and more about his highly acclaimed work. An advocate for social justice and racial equity, Mr. Blow speaks about income inequality, xenophobia, and mental health, generating impactful conversations that resonate with audiences of all kinds.

Political commentator, bestselling author, and gay rights activist Margaret Hoover is the host of PBS’ Firing Line with Margaret Hoover – a smart, civil, and engaging contest of ideas. Firing Line is a public affairs, multi-platform program that engages in long-form interviews and a rigorous exchange of ideas with the guiding principle that civil discourse is a civic responsibility. Ms. Hoover has served in The White House under President George W. Bush, in the Department of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill and on two presidential campaigns. A gifted analyst and moderator, Ms. Hoover connects with a broad audience to amplify bipartisan solutions to the pressing challenges facing American businesses and individuals.

Ms. Hoover is the bestselling author of American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, and FoxNews.com. She is the President of American Unity Fund – a political organization focused on achieving full freedom and equality for LGBT Americans. Ms. Hoover serves on the boards of Stanford University's Hoover Institution, the Hoover Presidential Foundation, the Belgian American Educational Foundation, The Markle Foundation, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. A persuasive and impassioned speaker, Ms. Hoover brings a unique perspective to topics including individualism, the future of politics, and more.

Political leader, business owner, and bestselling author Stacey Abrams is heralded for her candid insights on politics, leadership, entrepreneurship, social justice, and being a true force for change. A tax attorney by training, Abrams served eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as Minority Leader, and became the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018 and 2022. She has launched multiple nonprofit organizations devoted to democracy protection, national and local voter engagement, tackling social issues, and building a more equitable future in the South.

An incomparable entrepreneur, Abrams has built a remarkably broad portfolio across nonprofit, political, and business sectors. She co-founded financial services firm NOWaccount Corp., Nourish, Inc. – a beverage company with a focus on infants and toddlers, and Insomnia Consulting to specialize in development, investment, and consulting for complex infrastructure projects, including transportation, waste-by-rail transfer, energy, facilities, and water. Abrams and her business partner published Level Up – a guidebook for entrepreneurs.

Abrams is also the CEO of Sage Works Productions, Inc., an entertainment production company. She conceptualized and produced the Academy Awards-shortlisted documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy and wrote the New York Times bestselling books Our Time is Now and Lead from the Outside. She is also the author of the political thrillers While Justice Sleeps and Rogue Justice, two children's books, and several romantic suspense novels, three of which are under development. She has been nominated for an Emmy and received the NAACP Image Award in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Sought-out to speak everywhere from TED, where her talk has almost 7M views and counting, to college campuses, to corporate board rooms, to the Commonwealth Club and Chatham House, Abrams is a powerful and passionate speaker. As TIME wrote of her, "People tend to remember the first time they heard Stacey Abrams speak, and it’s easy to see why."

Iconic campaign strategist Karl Rove is one of the most sought-after political pundits of our time, widely respected for his robust knowledge of major political issues. Rove served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush overseeing the Offices of Political Affairs, Public Liaison, Intergovernmental Relations, Strategic Initiatives and as Deputy Chief, the White House Policy process. Before the White House, he ran Rove + Co., a public affairs firm that consulted on over 75 GOP campaigns for Senator, Governor, Congress, and statewide office. Rove writes a weekly op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, appears frequently on Fox News, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller Courage and Consequence and The Triumph of William McKinley. Conservative editor and columnist Fred Barnes called him “the greatest political mind of his and probably of any generation.”

From major international conferences and association meetings to college campuses and corporate events, Rove's shrewd analysis resonates with audiences. Diverse organizations including the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Sinai Health System, Cigna, Yahoo!, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and more have sought out Rove as a speaker. Sponsors hosting Rove have reported his remarks "were extremely insightful and very helpful to our industry leaders"(Edison Electric Institute) and "provocative, lively and thoughtful" (Nomura) with audiences" often erupting in applause" (Wabash College) and for presentations praised as "one of the highest-rated" (The TriZetto Group). 

Pulitzer Prize-winner Stacy Schiff is the author of multiple award-winning bestsellers and an acclaimed historian. The Wall Street Journal called her “perhaps the most seductive writer of nonfiction prose in America in our time.” Her book The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem was hailed by The New York Times as “an almost novelistic, thriller-like narrative.” Joseph Ellis deemed Schiff’s the finest account to date of the witch trials; David McCullough declared the book “brilliant from start to finish.” Schiff’s #1 bestseller Cleopatra: A Life was published to great acclaim – it appeared on numerous year-end “Best Book” lists, including The New York Times “Top Ten Books of 2010,” has been translated into more than 30 languages, and won the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography. She is the author of Pulitzer Prize-winner Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), Pulitzer Prize finalist Saint-Exupéry: A Biography, and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, winner of the George Washington Book Prize. All New York Times Notable Books. Apple TV produced a TV series based on A Great Improvisation starring Michael Douglas. In engaging moderated conversations Schiff captivates audiences with her power as a storyteller, drawing connections between the past and the most important issues today.

Schiff has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and was a Director’s Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. Among other honors, she was named a 2011 Library Lion by the New York Public Library, a Boston Public Library Literary Light in 2016, and in 2017 received the Lifetime Achievement Award in History and Biography from the New England Historic Genealogical Society. She received the 2019 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. In 2018 she was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. Awarded a 2006 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she was inducted into the Academy in 2019. Schiff has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Los Angeles Times, among many other publications. Her most recent book, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, is already a bestselling revelatory biography, and Ron Chernow has hailed it as “a glorious book that is as entertaining as it is vitally important” and The Wall Street Journal declared it a "tour de force."

Steve Inskeep: A Voice of Clarity in a Fast-Paced World

Steve Inskeep is a trusted and seasoned journalist, best known as the host of NPR’s Morning Edition and the morning news podcast Up First. With a career spanning decades, Inskeep has built a reputation for bringing depth, nuance, and clarity to the news, guiding millions of listeners through the most pressing events of our time.

While he has conducted in-depth interviews with presidents and congressional leaders, Inskeep is equally dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday Americans—from Pennsylvania truck drivers and Kentucky coal miners to Yemeni refugees and California firefighters. His reporting is not just about power, but about the people affected by it, giving listeners a more complete and humanized understanding of the world.

Inskeep is a firm believer in “slowing down the news”—cutting through the noise of a relentless media cycle to offer thoughtful analysis and historical context. This philosophy was powerfully demonstrated in the 2008 presidential campaign when he and NPR’s Michele Norris launched The York Project, a groundbreaking series of conversations about race in America, which earned high praise and industry recognition. During the 2008 financial crisis, when panic and uncertainty dominated the news, Inskeep made it a priority to not only inform but also offer perspective, humor, and resilience. “Laughter is a sign that you're not defeated,” he reflected in an interview with Nuvo magazine.

A journalist with a global perspective, Inskeep has reported from Iran, Pakistan, and the U.S.-Mexico border, delving into the intersection of geopolitics, human migration, and economic shifts. His investigative work has earned numerous accolades, including a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for his reporting on conflict in Nigeria and multiple Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Batons for excellence in broadcast journalism. He has also authored four critically acclaimed books, including Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi, which explores the rapid urbanization of one of the world’s most volatile megacities, and Jacksonland, an intricate history of Andrew Jackson’s conflict with Cherokee Chief John Ross during the 1830s.

Beyond radio, Inskeep is a frequent guest on television programs including Meet the Press, This Week, and PBS NewsHour, and has contributed to leading publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. With his signature blend of insightful journalism, deep curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to thoughtful storytelling, he continues to help audiences make sense of a complex and rapidly changing world.

Award-winning community organizer, political strategist, and jazz singer LaTosha Brown is a trusted expert and resource in political strategy, rural development, and special programming for philanthropies. Brown is the co-Founder of Black Voters Matter Fund and Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute – a power-building southern-based civic engagement organization – leveraging over two decades of experience as a revered institution-builder in non-profit and philanthropy sectors. A renowned philanthropic consultant, she has served as an advisor for groups such as the Ford Foundation, Friends of New Orleans, and the Clinton Global Initiative for over 25 years, and is the principle owner of TruthSpeaks Consulting, Inc. Brown is the Visionary, Founder, and Co-Anchor of the Southern Black Girls & Women’s Consortium, a $100M, 10-year initiative to invest in organizations that serve Black women and girls. Beyond her regular media appearances on MSNBC, CBS, ABC, BET, Fox Soul, CNN, NPR, PBS, Brown was recently featured in three documentaries, including "Finding Justice " "Battleground Georgia," and "Vigilantes." She has launched and served countless organizations with her nationally recognized expertise in issues related to social justice, economic and leadership development, wealth creation, and civil rights.

Brown has served as an American Democracy Fellow with the Charles Warren Center at Harvard University, and is a Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School. She was named to Forbes' "50 Over 50" list. She serves on the board of the National Coalition on Black Civic Engagement (NCBCP), the Southern Documentary Fund, and is an active member of several national and international organizations. She and her work have received numerous awards, including the Beloved Community Award from The King Center, Forbes "50 Over 50 Impact List," the Dove Crown Award, Ms. Foundation's "Woman of the Year," the Humanitarian Choral Arts Award at the Kennedy Center, and many more.

In recent years, Brown has delivered over 50 keynote addresses, spoken at more than 20 colleges and universities, and served as commencement speaker for Harvard Black Students graduation and Pitzer College. Sought after for her uplifting keynote speeches, Brown shares message of hope and shared humanity, inviting audiences to envision a future and a democracy we deserve.

Former high school government and law teacher Sharon McMahon is on a mission to curate facts, fun, and inspiration by educating Americans on democracy, politics, and history. After years of serving as a high school government and law teacher, Sharon took her passion for education to Instagram with a mission to combat political misinformation with non-partisan facts. Sharon has earned a reputation as “America’s Government Teacher'' and quickly amassed over a million social media followers, affectionately known as “Governerds.” Sharon is also the host of the award-winning podcast, Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, where, each week, she provides entertaining yet factual accounts of America’s most fascinating moments and people. Her debut book, The Small and the Mighty, has been celebrated as one of the year’s top reads by Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Goodreads, highlighting the unsung heroes who shaped America.

In a time where flashy headlines and false information often take the spotlight, Sharon is a reliable source for truth and logic. She has shared her knowledge with CNN, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Good Morning America, and has been featured in The Atlantic. She has received PRWeek’s Communicator of the Year Award as well as the noteworthy Jefferson Award.

In all that she does, Sharon encourages others to be world-changing humans. She has led her community in various philanthropic initiatives that have raised more than $7M for teachers, domestic violence survivors, terminally ill children, medical debt forgiveness programs, Ukrainian refugees, and more.

Bestselling author, journalist, and broadcaster Simon Winchester has worked as a foreign correspondent for most of his career and lectures widely at universities, geological and historical societies, and libraries. His new book Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic looks at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds.

The author of 30 books, Winchester specializes in eccentric, obsessive geniuses. In The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World, Winchester traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement—precision—in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future. The New York Times bestseller The Man Who Loved China, is the remarkable story of Joseph Needham, the eccentric and adventurous scientist who fell in love with China and whose own work there unveils the epic story of that magisterial country.

Simon Winchester's many books include Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World, Pacific, The Men Who United the States, and Atlantic, as well as the New York Times bestsellers The Professor and the Madman, an account of the men behind the Oxford English Dictionary, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906, and The Map that Changed the World, about the nineteenth century geologist William Smith. Winchester has also penned books for young adults, The Alice Behind Wonderland and When the Earth Shakes. He is praised for his skills as a masterful and riveting storyteller both on the page and in lectures.

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, historian, and journalist Kai Bird is the co-author of American Prometheus, the exhilarating biography that inspired Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-sweeping Oppenheimer. Released in 2005, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer received enormous acclaim – the New York Times called it “exhaustive and exhilarating” and The Boston Globe called it “an achievement not likely to be surpassed or equaled.” Bird and his work have received tremendous accolades – in addition to the Pulitzer, he won the National Books Critics Circle Award, the Duff Cooper Prize for History, and is an elected member of the prestigious Society of American Historians. Bird is both a relentless chronicler of history and a consummate storyteller – elevating lessons from the past to undeniable relevance for audiences of today.

Bird is the New York Times bestselling author of The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames, and biographies of Jimmy Carter, John J. McCloy, McGeorge Bundy, and William Bundy. He chronicled his childhood in the Middle East in his memoir, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis. He is the Executive Director and Distinguished Lecturer of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Bird’s work includes critical writings on the Vietnam War, Hiroshima, nuclear weapons, the Cold War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the CIA. His current project is a biography of Roy Cohn, to be published by Scribner.

University of Toronto historian of Nazism and communism Timothy Snyder was described by the New York Times as a "public intellectual unafraid to make bold connections between the past and present." His book On Tyranny was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List more than two years after its publication, thanks to Snyder’s unique ability to distill practical guidance for action from the darkest chapters of history. It has been used around the world in defense of democracy.  

His newest book Our Malady is a short, urgent examination of healthcare as a human right which begins from Snyder's recent and nearly fatal illness. From his hospital bed, he rethinks the connections between the health we lack and the freedom we need. In a time of authoritarianism and pandemic, the timeliness of this book cannot be overstated. Both a cri de coeur and a data-driven argument, it shows the way towards an America that is both healthy and free.   

Snyder is also well known internationally for the prize-winning Bloodlands, which explains the most murderous events of the time of Hitler and Stalin in Europe. In his book Black Earth, Snyder explains the Jewish Holocaust in ways that help us to better understand the basic predicaments of our own time. In The Road to Unfreedom, Snyder charts the path from democracy to tyranny (and back). All five of these books were or are New York Times bestsellers.

A masterful presenter, Snyder is sought out by groups around the world to understand the direct line between big ideas of the past and our lives today.

A pioneering force of innovation in politics, technology, and grassroots leadership, David Plouffe has distinguished himself as a proven field general and idea generator. He served as Campaign Manager of Barack Obama's historic victory in 2008 and then as Senior Advisor to President Obama in the White House, where he stood at the center of the debate on key issues now facing our country, particularly in the technology and healthcare sectors. Combining his pathbreaking work at Uber, strategic advisory board roles at Binance Global and Alchemy Pay, and policy and advocacy efforts at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Plouffe is a transcending force at the intersection the private and public sectors. He now consults for leading companies in the consumer, social media, crypto, and technology sectors. Plouffe delivers unprecedented insights on disruptive innovation, from the front lines of momentous shifts in both politics and business.

Plouffe is known for thinking beyond the conventional. With his tenacious, methodical, and proven methods, he knows the essential ingredients to crafting a team built for success. He is the author of two New York Times bestsellers including The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama’s Historic Victory and is a political analyst for NBC News. Plouffe’s array of accomplishments demonstrate his profound ability to bridge the gap between dreaming and achieving.

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner has spent his political career working towards a smaller, less costly, and more accountable federal government. He took the gavel as Speaker of the House following a historic election in which Congressional Republicans, under Speaker Boehner’s leadership, picked up 63 seats in the U.S. House. Speaker Boehner represented the Eighth Congressional District of Ohio in the U.S. House for over two decades, serving as Chairman of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, House Minority Leader, and House Majority Leader during his tenure. Boehner led the government through many pivotal historical moments, giving him a holistic view of politics, leadership, and decision-making.

For insight into what is happening behind closed doors in the current political landscape, turn to Speaker Boehner's firsthand perspective. His book, On the House: A Washington Memoir, recalls Boehner’s five years as Speaker of the House. Hosts such as Stanford University, Edison Electric Institute, the National Restaurant Association Public Affairs Conference, BMO Financial Group have sought his expert remarks.

Symone Sanders Townsend: Strategic Communicator | Leadership Catalyst | Advocate for Change

Symone Sanders Townsend is a powerhouse communicator and thought leader whose TED Talk Stop asking permission! challenges audiences to lead with courage, authenticity, and conviction. A dynamic voice on leadership, resilience, and social change, Sanders Townsend has built a career at the intersection of strategy, communication, and equity—advising leaders and organizations on how to navigate high-stakes challenges with clarity and purpose.

Sanders Townsend made history as the youngest national press secretary for a U.S. presidential campaign, working with Senator Bernie Sanders. She later served as a senior advisor for President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and as a senior member of the Biden-Harris administration. She went on to become a prominent political commentator for CNN and currently serves as host of SYMONE on MSNBC, in addition to anchoring and hosting for MSNBC’s streaming platform, The Choice.

The author of No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America, Sanders Townsend shares her take-no-prisoners approach to leadership and career success, inspiring a new generation to embrace authenticity and drive meaningful change. She has delivered energizing keynotes at SXSW, Politico’s Women Rule Summit, the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, and beyond. As principal of the 360 Group, she has also advised corporations, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations on messaging, strategy, and social impact initiatives.

With humor, insight, and unshakable authenticity, Sanders Townsend delivers transformative talks on leadership, communication, diversity, and navigating change—empowering audiences across industries to stop asking for permission and start making their mark.

Amna Nawaz is the Co-Anchor of the PBS NewsHour. At the NewsHour, Nawaz has reported on politics, foreign affairs, education, climate change, culture and sports. In 2020, she made history as the first Asian American and first Muslim journalist to moderate a U.S. presidential debate. Nawaz joined NewsHour in 2018 as a correspondent and later served as Senior National Correspondent and Primary Substitute Anchor before being named Co-Anchor in January 2023, alongside Geoff Bennett.

Prior to joining the NewsHour, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s digital coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Earlier, at NBC News, her work appeared on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Dateline NBC, and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC). She was NBC’s Islamabad Bureau Chief and Correspondent for several years. Nawaz began her career as a Nightline Fellow at ABC News. When the Sept. 11 attacks happened just weeks into her first job, Nawaz was given the opportunity to work on one of the most important news events in recent times, which set the precedent for the rest of her career. In addition to a Peabody Award for the NewsHour’s “The Plastic Problem,” Nawaz was also honored with an Emmy Award for the NBC News Special “Inside the Obama White House,” a Society for Features Journalism Award, and was a recipient of the International Reporting Project fellowship in 2009. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she captained the varsity field hockey team, and later earned her master's degree from the London School of Economics.

White House Correspondent and political analyst Laura Barrón-López is an expert on current U.S. politics. She is the White House Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, where she covers the Biden administration for the nightly news broadcast. She is also a political analyst on CNN. Her expertise in U.S. government affairs reflects over a decade of covering breaking news in politics. Previously, Barrón-López was a White House reporter for POLITICO, where she covered the national Presidential election. She has led the Washington Examiner’s coverage of the Democratic Party, coverage of Congress for HuffPost, and coverage of environmental policy for The Hill. Barrón-López’s sharp analysis, compelling storytelling, and engaging presentation style captivate audiences globally.

Barrón-López is an expert on the hottest political issues on voters’ minds today. Her voice has been sought by UVA’s Miller Center, the Texas Tribune Festival, the Atlantic Festival, the Professional Women in Advocacy Conference, and more. Pairing personal stories from her time as a reporter with her in-depth knowledge of current events, Barrón-López leaves audiences feeling inspired and informed.

Famed conservative political media consultant Mike Murphy is a widely quoted pundit, longtime analyst and frequent guest on NBC News, CNN and MSNBC, and co-host of the popular Hacks on Tap podcast. One of the Republican party’s most successful consultants, he has served as a top campaign advisor to John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with dozens of other GOP Senators, Governors, and Members of Congress. Murphy has spoken for groups including the Council of State Restaurant Associations, Simpson College, Friess Associates of Delaware, the California Chamber of Commerce, America’s Health Insurance Plans Association, Goldman Sachs, NY Life, and John Hancock, among many others.

Murphy advises several Fortune 500 corporations, as well as Hedge Funds and Trade Associations. He has written columns and op-ed pieces for TIME, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Bulwark, and the LA Times. He is currently co-director the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future and served as a longtime senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, focusing on the intersection of domestic politics and national security decision making.

Dr. Jessica B. Harris is one of the ranking authorities on the culture, cuisine, and community of the African Diaspora. Her New York Times bestselling cookbook, High on the Hog, winner of 2 NAACP Image Awards, was the basis for the acclaimed Peabody Award-winning Netflix series of the same name. Dr. Harris led the Culinary Institute of America’s African Diaspora Foodways Initiative, conceptualized the award-winning cafeteria of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, and served as lead curator for the exhibit African/American: Making the Nation’s Table presented by New York’s Museum of Food and Drink. Dr. Harris was a professor at Queens College/CUNY in New York for five decades and is currently professor emerita at that institution while consulting internationally. Dr. Harris’s unique depth of expertise and brilliant intellect inspire every audience member’s thirst for knowledge. 

Dr. Harris’s work has been honored with the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award, and her books were inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame. She was named to the TIME Most Influential People list and is the winner of the 2023 IACP Award for Culinary History. As a speaker, Dr. Harris has been sought by Sysco, Rutgers University, Adobe, and more.

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins is a journalist who covers the most important domestic and global news stories. On her primetime program, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, she has interviewed major global figures like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukranian President Volodymr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Trump Employee 5, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, Bill Barr, Mitt Romney, Bernie Sanders, former Attorney General William Barr, GOP presidential candidates, and more. Previously, Collins was the co-anchor and chief correspondent of CNN This Morning. Prior to the launch of the morning show, she served as CNN's Chief White House Correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Collins is lauded as a balanced and incisive voice in political conversations.

In recognition of her journalistic work, Collins has been included in Mediaite's annual list of the “Most Influential People in News Media.” She was named to Crain's NewsPro's “12 to Watch in TV News,” as well as one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Media.” In 2023, she was named to Variety’s “New Power of New York” list and The Hill’s “Changemakers” list. Also in 2023, she received an Emmy Award for her part in CNN's coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Collins provides perspectives on U.S. government, politics, and foreign affairs in addition to lending her on-air interviewing experience to hosting and moderation.

New York Times bestselling author, sociologist, and advocate Anna Malaika Tubbs holds a Ph.D in Sociology and a Masters in Multidisciplinary Gender Studies from the University of Cambridge, in addition to a Bachelors in Anthropology from Stanford University. Her research, writing, and talks are centered on gender and race issues in the U.S., especially as these relate to the erasure of Black women. Tubbs is the author of The New York Times bestseller The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation, a New York Times Editors’ Choice and an Amazon Editor’s Choice book, among many other accolades. She is currently working on her first fiction, and recently sold her next two non-fiction books. Tubbs’ TED Talk How Moms Shape the World has already garnered over 1.4M views, and she is highly sought-after for her focus on feminism, intersectionality, and inclusion, offering profound insights that make an impact with audiences of all kinds.

Tubbs has been published in TIME, New York Magazine, The Guardian, CNN, and Motherly, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, and more. She has appeared on MS NOW, CBS, C-Span, and NPR, among others. Tubbs previously served as the First Partner of Stockton, CA, and co-authored the first ever “Report on the Status of Women in Stockton” to help guide policy decisions with the experiences of diverse women in mind. As a result of her work while in Stockton, she was named one of six pivotal powerbrokers in the Bay Area by San Francisco Magazine in 2019. Tubbs has given compelling keynotes for groups including Cisco, Wells Fargo, Proctor & Gamble, Blavity, Yale University, Goldman Sachs, Google, and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and many more.

Alexis Coe is a renowned historian, primarily known for her work on U.S. history and historical figures. Her critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling biography of George Washington, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, made very major "Best Books" list during its release year (TIME, NPR, and more). Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis was praised by the New Yorker as having “the liveliness of a novel.” Coe has been sought-after for speaking engagements at Columbia, HistoryCon, NYHS, West Point, and many others, and has given public talks sponsored by Hulu, Chanel, and Madewell. Coe's passion for history and ability to relate complex historical topics to a broad audience make her an approachable and inspiring speaker, seamlessly bridging the gap between academic rigor and accessible conversation.

Coe’s experience with podcasts, interviews, and public appearances makes her a polished communicator, capable of engaging diverse audiences. Coe regularly contributes to the New York Times, the New Yorker, the New Republic, Paris Review, Elle, and many others. She has appeared on CNN, the History Channel, C-SPAN, and CBS. Coe served as a consulting producer on the History Channel’s three-part series on Washington, hosted The Wing’s award-winning podcast No Man’s Land, and co-hosted Audible’s Presidents Are People Too! podcast. Coe is a recognized public figure who can captivate listeners, making her a strong choice for events that aim to inspire or educate. 

Known for her engaging, informative, and charismatic delivery, Coe consistently receives rave reviews: "Alexis was a delight, and gave us important context for today's events at both of her talks” (Enoch Pratt Free Library) and "We had a terrific event.  Alexis Coe was amazing.” (Muskingum County Library System).

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Born and raised in Nebraska, Kurt Andersen lives in New York City and rural Connecticut. His fifth novel, The Breakup, will be published in the U.S. in August.

His most recent books are Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America, A Recent History, a companion volume to Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, A 500-Year History, both of which were New York Times bestsellers. He’s also the author of the acclaimed bestselling novels You Can’t Spell America Without Me, True Believers, Heyday, and Turn of the Century. He appears regularly as a commentator on MSNOW, and contributes to The Atlantic and New York Times. He co-created and hosted the weekly public radio program Studio 360 for twenty years, co-founded Spy magazine, edited New York, and was a columnist and critic for The New Yorker and Time.

Andersen graduated from Harvard College. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Rhode Island School of Design and Pratt Institute, and taught at both the Art Center College of Design (as Visionary in Residence) and the School of Visual Arts. 

Kahlil Greene uses his unique leadership experiences and Gen-Z perspective to provide a youthful, forward-looking, and much-needed intervention to commonplace and antiquated DE&I strategies. He has authored op-eds about organizational equity in the LA Times and Washington Post; and his article “Dear CEO’s: A Gen Zer’s Open Letter to His Future Employers” was published in the Harvard Business Review. As a junior in college, Greene completed a summer internship with McKinsey and Company and later earned a Hall of Fame designation from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington for his fundraising and support of the nonprofit.

Prior to this, Kahlil Greene was elected the first Black student body president in Yale's 318-year history. At the end of his year and a half-long term--which lasted through the COVID-19 pandemic--his administration’s successes included grassroots fundraising over $57,000 for racial justice organizations in one week; launching six affinity networks to increase racial, socioeconomic, and gender representation on the Council; and kickstarting a walk-in mental health counseling program for students. Greene stayed true to his campaign promises to be direct in critiques of Yale’s administration and actively supportive of student-led movements and protests--a hallmark of his presidency.

Today, Greene is also a New York Times featured social media influencer who is verified on Instagram and has over 440k followers and 12mm views on TikTok. Both Instagram and Facebook, Inc. have collaborated with and sponsored Greene’s work directly. He often engages in political discourse with social media influencers and users from all backgrounds, and now uses his influence to generate awareness around social issues as they arise in real-time.

Ron Klain was the longest serving first Chief of Staff for any Democratic President (2021-2023). As Chief of Staff to President Biden, Mr. Klain oversaw the Biden-Harris White House staff and served as a member of the Cabinet. President Biden called Ron Klain “a once-in-a-generation talent with fierce intellect and heart.” Mr. Klain has been praised for his bipartisan legislative achievements, a historic focus on judicial nominations, and guiding the White House to an unexpected victory in the midterm elections. A frequent guest on TV news shows, Mr. Klain was a well-known spokesperson for the administration. Mr. Klain was selected for the TIME 100 list of global leaders while serving as Chief of Staff.

Mr. Klain held senior posts in private law practice and spent more than a decade as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Revolution LLC, an investment firm launched by AOL Co-Founder Steve Case in 2005. He is now a partner in global legal giant O'Melveny's Litigation Department and serves on the firm's Executive Committee. In addition, Mr. Klain has devoted many years to public service. He has served as on the Executive Council of TechNet, the Democracy Forward Foundation, and a member of the external advisory boards of the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Security Project and the Ending Pandemics Project. Mr. Klain has worked on eight Presidential campaigns, serving as a top debate preparation advisor to Presidents Biden, Obama and Clinton, and Democratic Presidential nominees Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton.

New York Times bestselling author, activist, educator, and consultant Kate Schatz has been talking, writing, and teaching about race, gender, social justice, and equity for many years. Her “Rad Women” books – Rad American Women A-Z, Rad Women Worldwide, and Rad American History A-Z – have sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into four languages, and her book Rid of Me: A Story is part of the cult-favorite 33 1/3 series. Schatz is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, with W. Kamau Bell, the comedian and Emmy-winning host of CNN’s United Shades of America. An accessible and engaging keynote speaker, Schatz has given talks at hundreds of events including: ComicCon, United Nation’s GirlUp! Summit, the American Library Association, Facebook, Spotify, Pixar, and more.

Schatz’s writing has been featured in Buzzfeed, LENNY, Oxford American, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and she has appeared on Conan, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), NPR, WNYC, WBUR, and Minnesota Public Radio, and on podcasts like Nerdette, Sibling Revelry, Inflection Point, and Politically Reactive. She co-led Solidarity Sundays, a nationwide network of 200+ feminist activist groups aimed at empowering women to become effective political activists. In all she does, Schatz is committed to sharing radical histories that shine light on the marginalized people who've truly made America great, making a major impact on audiences of all kinds.

Organizational leader, political strategist, and senior advisor Stephanie Schriock is a strategic, adaptive leader with a 20-year record of success in both startups and mature organizations. An inspirational visionary, Stephanie’s strengths in management, strategy, and media relations are underpinned by her down-to-earth ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and views. From 2010 through 2021, Stephanie was President of EMILY’s List – a national organization dedicated to electing women to office. During her tenure, she tripled its income to $120M, quadrupled its staff to 120, built an online community of over 5M, and trained more than 14K women to run for office. She is the author of Run to Win: A Leadership Guide to Women Who Want to Change the World, an Amazon Editor’s Pick in Best Nonfiction. Stephanie has been sought-after to speak for groups including Yale University, George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, the Harvard Women in Law Program, America Votes, and more.

Before joining EMILY’s List, Stephanie managed the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Jon Tester in Montana, building a campaign organization from scratch and defeating an 18-year incumbent. She served as Senator Tester’s Chief of Staff until 2010. Stephanie also managed Al Franken’s Senate campaign in Minnesota and was the national finance director for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, where she pioneered the digital techniques that have since transformed political campaigning and fundraising. She serves on the boards of the Goldman School’s Center on Security in Politics at UC-Berkeley, Priorities USA, and Democracy Docket, and is currently consulting for Precision Strategies, FrontRow, and the Strategic Victory Fund. With expertise spanning leadership, politics, business, and more, Stephanie is an uplifting speaker who offers actionable strategies for growth and empowerment.

Steve Roberts has been a journalist for almost 50 years, covering some of the major events of his time, from the antiwar movement and student revolts of the 60s and 70s to President Reagan's historic trip to Moscow in 1988 and twelve presidential election campaigns. 

A well-known commentator on many Washington-based TV shows, Roberts also appears regularly as a political analyst on the ABC radio network. 

Called “the really indispensable Cheney” by columnist George Will, Lynne Cheney enlivens audiences and lights up TV screens while arguing for the need to teach America’s story fully and fairly. As chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and second lady, she brought this message to audiences across the country. 

With a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Cheney also speaks forcefully on the importance of nurturing a diversity of viewpoints on college campuses, as well as in the mainstream media. Through speeches and appearances on radio and television - including a stint as co-host on Crossfire Sunday - she has established her identity as an incisive commentator on culture and politics.

Dr. Cheney's 12th and newest book, The Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation, adds to her oeuvre on American history.  In a recent profile by the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Cheney said she hopes that by studying America's origins we can understand and reassert the 'civic glue that has held us together.' 

Michael LaRosa was Special Assistant to the President and Chief Spokesperson for the First Lady of the United States from January 2021 through August of 2022. He joined the White House on day one of the Biden-Harris Administration, where he served as a trusted aide and adviser, counseling the First Lady on media relations and strategic communications. LaRosa oversaw the media strategy and press planning for the First Lady’s surprise and unannounced visit to war-torn Ukraine for a historic meeting with Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, in May of 2022. Since 2019, LaRosa has traveled to over 75 cities, 40 states, and 10 countries with the President and the First Lady. He has spent more than 15 years at the intersection of government, politics, policy, and media.

Having recently departed the White House, he brings fresh perspective and insight from his relationship with the First Family and the key players inside the Biden White House. He offers analysis of the conversations taking place in the news of the day based on his time in the White House, on the Biden campaign, and on Capitol Hill.

Bob Woodward gained international attention when he and Carl Bernstein uncovered the Watergate scandal in 1973. Since then, he’s worked to shine a light on the inner-workings of secret government. Woodward’s factual, non-partisan revelations to readers and speech audiences provide a view of Washington they’ll never get elsewhere. Woodward has written about the last ten U.S. presidents and chronicled how the power of the presidency has evolved. He is author of 23 bestselling books – 17 went to #1 – more than any contemporary nonfiction writer.

In his speeches, Woodward looks at the expanding powers of the presidency and the important lessons that can be learned from the presidents he’s covered. He can also assess the role of the media and how well it is (or isn’t) doing its job. Audiences will be awe-struck by insights from this living journalistic legend. Currently associate editor for The Washington Post where he’s worked since 1971, Bob Woodward has won nearly every American journalism award including two Pulitzers.

#1 New York Times bestselling political thriller novelist, TV show creator, and comic book author Brad Meltzer is a dynamic speaker with the powerful belief that ordinary people change the world.

Named to The Hollywood Reporter's "25 Most Powerful Authors," Meltzer is behind many bestselling books including, The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy―and Why It Failed (an instant NYT Bestseller), The Inner Circle, The Book of Fate, The Tenth Justice, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The President’s Shadow, and The Viper. He is also the author of books of advice, Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter; Children’s Books, I Am Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln; and even a comic book, Justice League of America, for which he won the prestigious Eisner Award.

Meltzer is the the host of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History on H2, in which he hunts down artifacts, and famously found the missing 9/11 flag the firefighters raised at Ground Zero. He's also the host of Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel, in which he searches for answers to some of history's most provocative, perplexing mysteries.

Beyond his work in media, Meltzer supports many worthy causes including putting mentors in underserved public schools with City Year, fighting breast cancer with Sharsheret, and serving on the Board of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation.

In recognition of his work, Meltzer has been selected to join America250 to help commemorate America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, and will be serving on the Arts & Culture Advisory Council.

Sought-out to speak everywhere from TED to the Library of Congress, Meltzer provides bold inspiration for us all to dream big and work hard in order to leave our mark, shares lessons on heroism and leadership drawn from his work, and shares a fascinating look into some of the most perplexing and important moments in history. 

Ken Burns has been making documentary films for almost fifty years. Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The Statue of Liberty; Huey Long; Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery; Frank Lloyd Wright; Mark Twain; Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson; The War; The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea; The Roosevelts:  An Intimate History; Jackie Robinson; Defying the Nazis:  The Sharps’ War; The Vietnam War, and, most recently, The Mayo Clinic:  Faith - Hope - Science. Future film projects include Leonardo da Vinci, The American Revolution, Emancipation to Exodus, and LBJ & the Great Society, among others.

Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including sixteen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations; and in September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The late historian Stephen Ambrose has said that “more Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source.” And Wynton Marsalis has called Ken “a master of timing, and of knowing the sweet spot of a story, of how to ask questions to get to the basic human feeling and to draw out the true spirit of a given subject.”

Ken has been the recipient of more than thirty honorary degrees and has delivered many treasured commencement addresses.  He is a sought-after public speaker, appearing at colleges, civic organizations and business groups throughout the country.  

Chris Whipple is a fascinating and compelling speaker, a gifted storyteller who peels back the curtain to show how power is really wielded in Washington. In solo presentations, and conversations he moderates with former White House chiefs of staff, Whipple treats audiences to a bipartisan master class on how government really works.

The first ever female head of The New York Times editorial board and op-ed columnist, Gail Collins is a noted women’s historian and author of When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present.

Michael Barone is a renowned political historian who is at the forefront of American political coverage, and one who explores and analyzes political issues with an unmatched passion and clarity.