Part journalist, part historian, and all shrewd political observer, Ronald (Ron) Brownstein explains the complexities of American politics with lucid precision. As a CNN Senior Political Analyst, Senior Editor for the Atlantic, and Contributing Editor for National Journal, he produces sharp analysis on politics, policy, the electorate, media, healthcare, energy, the press' impact on Americans, and the range of issues informed by his strong sense of American political and national history. Brownstein provides an insider’s look into politics and the media and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also the author of seven best-selling books, and his articles on politics, public policy, and culture have appeared in myriad of major publications and on many broadcast news outlets.

Anja Manuel is a founding partner and principal at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel, LLC, a strategic consulting firm, which she co-founded along with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others. The firm assists CEOs and senior executives at major US companies in key emerging markets such as China, India, and the Middle East. She teaches at Stanford University’s International Policy Studies Program and is a leading expert on globalization, emerging markets, and America’s shifting role in international leadership. Anja is a former State Department official, an international lawyer, and the author of the book, This Brave New World.

Renowned psychology expert and Stanford University professor Michele Gelfand is one of the leading researchers and writers on culture and the impact of culture on behavior. Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture and its multilevel consequences for human groups. Her work has been cited over 50,000 times and has been featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Voice of America, Fox News, NBC News, ABC News, and The Economist, among other outlets. Most recently, she is the author of "Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the World."

Congressman Christopher Cox is the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a former member of the House of Representatives (R-CA). Cox served 17 years in Congress, and he was a senior member of every committee with jurisdiction over investor protection and U.S. capital markets, including the committees on energy and commerce, financial services, the economy, and the budget. At the SEC, he focused on securities law enforcement, investors’ rights, and transparency. He addresses politics, the SEC, regulatory reform, the economy, and business.

David Hume Kennerly has been a photographer on the front lines of history for more than 50 years. At 25 he became one of the youngest winners of the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. He has photographed ten U.S. Presidents, covered thirteen presidential campaigns, served as a contributing editor for Newsweek magazine for ten years, and was a contributing photographer for Time & Life Magazines. American Photo Magazine named Kennerly “One of the 100 Most Important People in Photography.”

Reflecting his interdisciplinary training in American Studies, which combined the fields of history, literature, and economics, Professor Kennedy's scholarship is notable for its integration of economic and cultural analysis with social and political history. His 1970 book, Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger, embraced the medical, legal, political, and religious dimensions of the subject and helped to pioneer the emerging field of women's history. Over Here: The First World War and American Society (1980) used the history of American involvement in World War I to analyze the American political system, economy, and culture in the early twentieth century. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War (1999) recounts the history of the United States in the two great crises of the Great Depression and World War II.