Former Executive Director

Illinois Supreme Court has against a trans student in her battle to access the girls locker room. We FEATURE Rea Carey to discuss trans visibility and the struggle for anti-discrimination legislation. Rea is the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is one of the most prominent leaders in the U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement. Carey, who came to the Task Force in 2004 as deputy executive director, has served as executive director since 2008. Through her leadership, she has advanced a vision of fairness and justice for LGBT people and their families that is broad, inclusive and unabashedly progressive. Media includes: USA Today, The New York Times, MSNBC, LA Times, NPR, The Huffington Post.

Principal

Native American tribes are one of the major groups opposing the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. We FEATURE Lael Echo Hawk (Pawnee) , who represents tribes and tribal organizations across the United States. After serving as in-house counsel for a tribe and its economic enterprises, Lael moved to Washington, D.C. to take a position as legislative director for the Native American Contractors Association and counselor to the Chairwoman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Lael provides advice on tribal internal governance issues and economic development activities and strategic policy analysis on national tribal legislative and regulatory proposals.

Trial Lawyer, former prosecutor and Assistant Attorney General for MD Member, Supreme Court Bar

The U. S. Supreme Court has begun hearing the case of Foster v. Chatman, and as the main focus of the case is racial bias in jury selection, we FEATURE Debbie Hines, a Washington, DC based practicing trial attorney, former Maryland prosecutor and member of the Supreme Court bar who is an expert in criminal law, high profile criminal cases, gun laws, death penalty cases and voting laws. She often addresses legal issues at the intersection of race and crime. As a former felony prosecutor, she tried homicides, attempted murders, rapes, burglaries, robberies, narcotics and economic crimes before juries with a high conviction rate. Presently, she maintains a boutique law practice focused on civil and criminal litigation. As a trial lawyer in private practice, Debbie advocates for the rights of her clients in court rooms across the country. Media includes: MSNBC, Al Jazeera America, BET, C-Span, NPR, CCTV- America, TV One, Fox 5 (WTTG), The Huffington Post.

Independent Consultant

For commentary on the elections in Turkey, we FEATURE Christina Bache Fidan, who has more than 15 years’ experience working on human development, human security, conflict resolution and peace-building. She is currently a Research Fellow with the Center for International and European Studies (CIES), located at Kadir Has University, based in Istanbul, Turkey. Christina is also a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick in the UK. Her dissertation focuses on the impact of the Turkish private sector on economic security in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Christina has written numerous foreign policy, conflict resolution and peace-building related articles and reports in her capacity as a doctoral student and an international consultant. Extensive media experience.