Margery Eagan, co-host of GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” Heather Cox Richardson, Boston College professor of history Eileen McNamara, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Boston Globe columnist and Brandeis professor emerita of the practice of journalism
John F. Kennedy Library
Rohit Lamba is the coauthor of Breaking the Mold: India's Untraveled Path to Prosperity, assistant professor of economics at Cornell University and visiting assistant professor of economics at New York University Abu Dhabi. He previously worked as an economist at the office of the chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
Foley & Lardner LLP
Ali Banuazizi is Research Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Research Affiliate at the Center for International Studies at M.I.T. After receiving his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1968, he taught at Yale and the University of Southern California before joining the faculty of Boston College in 1971. Since then, he has held visiting appointments at the University of Tehran, Princeton, Harvard, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Oxford, and M.I.T. He served as the founding editor of the journal of Iranian Studies, from 1968 to 1982. He is a past president of the Association for Iranian Studies (AIS) and of the Middle East Studies Association in North America (MESA); associate editor of the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World; and currently editor-in-chief of Freedom of Thought Journal. Ali Banuazizi is the author of numerous articles on society, culture, and politics of Iran and the Middle East, and coauthor (with A. Ashraf) of Social Classes, the State and Revolution in Iran (2008) and coeditor (with M. Weiner) of three books on politics, religion, and society in Southwest and Central Asia.
Boston Public Library - Rabb Lecture Hall
Terry Szuplat, one of President Barack Obama's longest-serving speechwriters and former deputy director of the White House Speechwriting Office; Ashley All, president of the Kansas Coalition for Common Sense; Donovan Livingston, teaching assistant professor of music and director of college thriving at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Zander Moricz, executive director of the Social Equity through Education Alliance.
John F. Kennedy Library
Robert D. Blackwill is the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. His current work focuses on U.S. foreign policy writ large as well as on China, Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, and geoeconomics. The Ambassador’s new book coauthored with Richard Fontaine, Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power, was published by Oxford University Press in June 2024. As deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic planning under President George W. Bush, Blackwill was responsible for government-wide policy planning to help develop and coordinate the mid- and long-term direction of U.S. foreign policy. He also served as presidential envoy to Iraq. Blackwill went to the National Security Council (NSC) after serving as the U.S. ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003. He is the recipient of the 2007 Bridge-Builder Award for his role in transforming U.S.-India relations. In 2016 he became the first U.S. Ambassador to India since John Kenneth Galbraith to receive the Padma Bhushan Award from the government of India for distinguished service of a high order. Prior to reentering government in 2001, Blackwill was the Belfer lecturer in international security at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. During his fourteen years as a Harvard faculty member, he was associate dean of the Kennedy School, where he taught foreign and defense policy and public policy analysis. He was faculty chair for executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, Israel, and Kazakhstan, as well as military general officers from Russia and the People's Republic of China. From 1989 to 1990, he was special assistant to President George H.W. Bush for European and Soviet affairs, during which he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany for his contribution to German unification. Earlier in his career, he was the U.S. ambassador to conventional arms negotiations with the Warsaw Pact, director for European affairs at the NSC, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, and principal deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs. Blackwill’s best-selling book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World (MIT Press, February 2013), coauthored with Graham Allison of the Harvard Kennedy School, has sold over 300,000 copies. His book, War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft (Harvard University Press, April 2016), coauthored with Jennifer M. Harris, was named one of the best foreign policy books of 2016 by Foreign Affairs. His latest Council Special Reports are Implementing Grand Strategy Toward China: Twenty-Two U.S. Policy Prescriptions (January 2020), The End of World Order and American Foreign Policy (May 2020), coauthored with Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institution, and The United States, China, and Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War (February 2021), coauthored with Dr. Philip Zelikow of the University of Virginia. Blackwill is a member of CFR, the Aspen Strategy Group, the Trilateral Commission, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Foley & Lardner LLP
James Nichols-Worley was the lead petitioner for expanding the local voting age to 17 years old in his hometown of Southborough, Massachusetts. His town meeting article was successfully passed at the local level and was introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature in 2023 as Bill H.3874. Nichols-Worley is currently studying Economics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Katherine Silbaugh is a Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law and is widely recognized for her pioneering work on gender, family care, and household labor. She is a leader in the legal literature on the relationship between work and family. Her research highlights the economic and social value of work done within households; the complex relationship between families and institutions, such as employers and schools; and the inadequacy of the legal framework supporting care work. Her publications about the relationship between institutions and family address a range of legal systems from family law and employment law to urban planning and education law. She has intervened in policy matters of particular concern to LGBT individuals, including marriage equality litigation and anti-bullying law and policy. Kelly Siegel-Stechler is a Senior Researcher at CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life. Her research is centered on civic development and political socialization in schools. She is primarily focused on projects that advance civic learning and development in K-12 education, as well as questions related to youth political and electoral engagement. Prior to joining CIRCLE, Kelly worked as a Research Fellow with the Institute for Education Policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, where she supported their work on civic development as it relates to curriculum, instruction, and school culture. Andy X. Vargas is the State Representative for the 3rd Essex District (Haverhill) in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He is a member of the Massachusetts Black & Latino Legislative Caucus and was previously elected to the Haverhill City Council, taking office at age 22 and serving as the city’s first Latino elected official. A firm believer in the power of education to empower youth, Vargas passed legislation to mandate civics education for all public school students, ensuring a brighter future for generations to come. James Eldridge has served as State Senator for the Middlesex and Worcester district since January 2009. Senator Eldridge previously served as State Representative for the 37th Middlesex district. He serves as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and the Senate Vice Chair Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. As an activist legislator, Senator Eldridge proudly serves as the Senate Chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, the Medicare for All Caucus, and the Clean Energy Caucus.
Old South Meeting House
Sidita Kushi and Monica Duffy Toft
Foley & Lardner LLP
Joe Christo, Sanjay Seth, and David Abel
John F. Kennedy Library
Daron Acemoglu
Foley & Lardner LLP
RAHSAAN HALL is the President and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. He leads the Urban League’s efforts to enable communities to overcome racial and social barriers that cause economic inequities and are exacerbated by sexual and domestic violence, by creating employment and economic development opportunities. Previously, Rahsaan served as the Director of the Racial Justice Program for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and prior to that Rahsaan was the Deputy Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice. He also served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Rahsaan also serves on the boards of the Who We Are Project and the Hyams Foundation and is an ordained reverend in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Rahsaan is a highly sought-after public speaker and has received multiple awards and recognitions for his work, including Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers 2021, Equal Justice Coalition’s 2019 Beacon of Justice Award, Get Connected‘s 2018 GK100 Boston’s Most Influential People of Color, and the Massachusetts Communities Action Network 2018 Carry It On Leadership Award. ARLINE ISAACSON is a Co-Chair of the Massachusetts GLBTQ Political Caucus (formerly the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus), where she has lobbied on every major LGBTQ+ issue in Massachusetts. Arline advocated for the groundbreaking 1989 gay and lesbian civil rights bill and domestic-partnership benefits for Massachusetts public employees. Her fights have included LGBTQ+ parental rights, anti-bullying bills, hate crimes bills, transgender rights, HIV/AIDS legislation, and banning conversion therapy for minors. Arline also led the legislative battle for marriage equality, making Massachusetts the first state in the nation to defeat a marriage equality ban. SEAN SIMONINI is the founder of the Massachusetts Association of Student Representatives (MASR), an organization that uplifts and empowers student representatives serving on local and state school boards across the Commonwealth. Sean saw firsthand how powerful student sentiment can be after serving on his own school committee during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic and sought to establish a network that encourages students to be leaders in creating the change they want to see. He believes that students are essential partners in building better school environments and uniting communities around our common pursuit of a more accessible and impactful education system.
Old South Meeting House
For the latest information regarding each event please contact the presenting organization.