Deputy Director

Joelle Gamble is the National Director of the Roosevelt Institute | National Network, the nation’s largest student policy organization, which engages young people in unique, progressive activism that empowers them as leaders and promotes their ideas for change. Under Gamble’s leadership, Roosevelt's National Network now boasts 120 chapters in 38 U.S. states and has dramatically increased the number of student policy campaigns it supports. Her media experience includes Fox News, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee and C-SPAN.

Executive Director

Heather Smith is the executive director of Rock the Vote. During the historic 2008 election season, Rock the Vote ran the largest non-partisan voter registration campaign in history that saw 22 million young voters cast a ballot. Her media experience includes NBC News, the Today Show, FOX News, CNN, NPR and the BBC.

President & Chief Strategist

Atima Omara is the President of Young Democrats of America, the nation's largest youth participation organization. Omara has worked over a decade in Democratic and progressive politics and is a recognized leader and speaker on engaging youth, women, and people of color in the political process. Her media experience includes Fox News DC (FOX 5), BBC America, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine, and Women's Enews.

President & CEO

Maria Teresa Kumar is the founding executive director of Voto Latino, a youth organization targeting acculturated Latinos in civic participation. During the 2008 presidential elections, Voto Latino’s work concentrated in five battle ground states and witnessed a 5% increase in Latino voter participation in those states above the national average. Additionally, she hosts "Changing America" on MSNBC. She has extensive media experience.

Educator/Activist

EDUCATION

Ileana Jiménez is an educator and activist passionate about creating inclusive schools and transforming education for gender, racial, and economic justice. Her 2011 research in Mexico City focused on creating safe schools for LGBT youth. Her media experience includes Melissa Harris-Perry, The Atlantic, Feministing, Care2, Huffington Post and Ms. Magazine.

Chief Executive Officer

Sabrina Lamb is the founding CEO of WorldofMoney.org dedicated to the financial education of youth in the Tri-State area. Under her leadership, she has spearheaded the annual Youth Financial Education Training Institute and Youth Business School, attracting financial experts adept in teaching youth disciplined saving, stocks/bonds, real estate investment, insurance, wealth mindsets and philanthropy. Her media experience includes CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Fox Business and WABC.

Co-founder & Chief Programs Officer

Christen Brandt is the director of international operations at She’s the First, an NGO that sponsors girls’ education worldwide. She works closely with ten partner programs to ensure students receive a quality education, and has a broad knowledge of effective programming for girls and youth. Her media experience includes Mashable, Scranton Times, Forbes, Today.com and Huffington Post.

Author, Speaker, Consultant

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Claire Mysko is the director of programs and youth outreach at the National Eating Disorders Association and is an internationally recognized expert on the body image and self-esteem issues facing women and girls today. Her media experience includes 20/20, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Jezebel, CNN and Al Jazeera.

Psychologist/ Teen Expert

Dr. Scyatta A. Wallace is an award winning Psychologist/Teen expert, writer and college professor. Her mission is to use research, writing and social commentary to educate teens and parents about the importance of health and overall wellness. Her media experience includes BET 106 & Park, The Michael Baisden Show, ABCNews.com, Essence Magazine and South African Sunday Times.

Stanley S. Nelson Distinguished Practitioner for Justice Reporting & Communications

YOUTH RIGHTS AND ISSUES

Liz Ryan is a campaign strategist and youth justice expert, who directs the Youth First! Initiative, a national advocacy campaign to end the incarceration of youth in youth prisons and direct resources towards effective community-based programs for youth. Her media experience includes The Diane Rehm Show on NPR, Al Jazeera Television, USA Today, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Crime Report, the Chronicle of Social Change, the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange and The Huffington Post.

Political Strategist, Community Organizer & Author

Charlene Carruthers is the national director for the Black Youth Project 100. She has a passion for developing young leaders to build capacity within marginalized communities and has over 10 years of experience as a community organizer in racial justice, feminist and youth leadership development movement work. Her media experience includes NPR, MSNBC, The BBC and The Melissa Harris-Perry show.

Founder and Director, Associate Professor of Sociology/Criminology

Jessica Klein is a writer and an Assistant Sociology/Criminal Justice Professor at Adelphi University specializing in school shootings, bullying, friendship, and gender. Klein has written widely about school shootings and other forms of school violence as well as on issues related to the increased depression, anxiety, and social isolation in America--and especially among youth. Her media experience includes Newsday, USA Today, Huffington Post, Fox 5, 20/20 and The New York Times.

Executive Director

Kierra Johnson is the executive director of URGE, the leading pro-choice organization working to mobilize and provide support for the diverse, upcoming generation of leaders. Through her leadership, she promotes the organization’s values of shared power and authority; youth-controlled agendas; collaboration and partnership; constituent-specific strategies; learning; and diversity and inclusion. Her media experience includes The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Nation, RH Reality Check and US News and World Report.

Attorney, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section

Lara S. Kaufmann is senior counsel and director for education policy for at-risk students at the National Women’s Law Center, where she works on the advancement of women and girls at school and in the workplace. She focuses on improving educational outcomes for at-risk girls, including pregnant and parenting students, students who are victims of harassment and violence, and students who are unfairly disciplined. Her media experience includes CNN, ESPN, Al Jazeera, The Nation, RH Reality Check, NPR, Dispatch, Huffington Post, Politico and Vice.

Director

Melissa Hillebrenner is director of Girl Up— an innovative campaign of the United Nations Foundation that works to build and maintain a constituency dedicated to improving the lives of the world’s hardest-to-reach girls. Girl Up’s provide girls with the opportunity to become educated, healthy, safe, counted and positioned to be the next generation of leaders. Her media experience includes Adweek, Mix 105.1 and WORT 89.9.

Creator and Host, Know This! with Ariana

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

Ariana Proehl is the creator, producer and host of Know This! with Ariana, an online talk show making it cool to "Know Yourself and Know Your World." As a former executive director of a youth development and diversity education organization, DiversityWorks, she knows firsthand about the potential of next generation voices. Her media experience includes The Today Show, Glamour Magazine, Clutch Magazine Online and more.

Principal

Aimée Thorne-Thomsen is the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at Advocates for Youth, a national sexual and reproductive health and rights organization serving young people. Her media experience includes The Washington Post, RH Reality Check, Feministing, Colorlines and Feministe.