Dr. Evelyn Farkas is one of the nation’s premier voices on American foreign policy and geopolitics, and one of the nation’s most-trusted experts on U.S.-Russia relations. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia, she was the Department of Defense’s top Russia expert under President Obama. Farkas advised three Secretaries of Defense during her tenure at the Pentagon and was responsible for policy toward Russia and the surrounding region. She is an outspoken voice on how America ought to respond to adversaries and manage aggressors, ranging from Russia to North Korea to Iran and China. Expertly positioned to discuss the at times tenuous intersection of foreign objectives and domestic priorities, Dr. Farkas appears regularly on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and other networks. She currently serves as the executive director of the McCain Institute, and her op-eds are regularly featured in leading publications. She discusses how America’s position abroad is shifting under the current presidential administration, and the global gamut of national security challenges.

Called "the human embodiment of Twitter" by The New York Times, Adam Sharp has forged a distinctive career of more than twenty years at the intersection of media, technology, and politics. Sharp joined Twitter in November 2010 as its first hire in Washington, DC. From 2010 through 2016, Sharp was Head of News, Government, and Elections at Twitter, advising and driving creative uses of Twitter by journalists and news organizations, government officials and agencies, and political candidates and campaigns worldwide. He led the platform’s approach to the 2012 and 2016 US and more than a dozen international elections during his tenure. He was also director of media partnerships and worked closely with the media, government, and political candidates that wanted to make use of Twitter. Sharp became the longest-serving member of the company’s global media team, and its most visible broadcast spokesperson.

In the early 1970s, Bernstein and Bob Woodward broke the Watergate story for The Washington Post, leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and setting the standard for modern investigative reporting, for which they and The Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Since then, Bernstein has continued to build on the theme he and Woodward first explored in the Nixon years – the use and abuse of power: political, media, financial, cultural and spiritual power. Renowned as a prose stylist, he has also written a classic biography of Pope John Paul II, served as the founding editor of the first major political website, and been a rock critic.

Jon Steinberg is the founder and CEO of Cheddar, a new video media company sitting at the intersection of business news and culture. He was named to Ad Age’s 2015 40 under 40. He was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of DailyMail.com North America. Steinberg grew U.S. revenue 45% while at Daily Mail and doubled direct advertising revenue. He joined DailyMail.com from BuzzFeed where he was President & Chief Operating Officer, responsible for business management, company operations, finance, and social advertising operations. Under his leadership, BuzzFeed became a global and profitable social advertising business working with over half of the top 100 brands. He grew the company from 15 employees to over 500. Steinberg was previously Strategic Partner Development Manager on Google’s SMB (small medium business) partnerships team.

One of the foremost authorities on national security and foreign policy, Peter Bergen is CNN’s most senior security analyst and has more than 20 years experience reporting from the world’s hot spots. He has written six books, 3 of which were New York Times best-sellers, including Manhunt, which was turned into an Emmy-winning documentary. He is best known as one of the few people to interview Osama bin Laden face-to-face. Always putting himself where the action is, Bergen is a compelling and knowledgeable speaker on what’s going on in the world’s hot spots.

One of the world’s leading interviewers, Nina Easton helps CEOs, global leaders, and cultural icons communicate their vision and stories on stage. With deep economic and political sophistication, she engages speakers and audiences to produce far-sighted conversations on how to navigate today’s hyper-speed, disruptive landscape. Her broad portfolio crosses business sectors–from finance and insurance to high-tech and energy–as well as U.S. and geopolitics.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are best known for breaking the Watergate story for The Washington Post, leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and setting the standard for modern investigative journalism. For this work, they and The Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Their work has been called “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time” by longtime journalism figure, Gene Roberts, and the book they co-authored on their experience, All the President’s Men, went on to become a New York Times best-seller and an Academy Award-winning feature film. 

Michael Parrish DuDell is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and the best-selling author of Shark Tank Jump Start Your Business and Shark Tank Secrets to Success—the official business books from ABC’s hit show, Shark Tank. Ranked as one of the top three most popular business authors by Amazon.com and named “one of nation’s leading Millennial voices” by IBM, Michael is a recognized industry expert and commentator who’s regularly featured across numerous media outlets, including CNN, CNBC, Fox News, Fox Business News, Bloomberg TV, and many more. He's also the host of The Next Crop—an interview web series that showcases the next generation of business and media influencers. An award-winning international keynote speaker, Michael delivers high-energy workshops and interactive presentations designed to help businesses and leaders build future-focused organizations and connect with a new generation of consumer. He has guest lectured at such renowned universities as MIT and Columbia and collaborated with some of the world’s most influential brands, including Kraft, Visa, Disney, L’Oreal, and American Express.

In an era of digital transformation and disruption, Anthony Shop is a refreshing optimist and proven innovator in the field of digital and social media. As a convener, entrepreneur and educator, Anthony champions a digital mindset to create bottom-up strategies that unleash the energy in people. He has demonstrated that by putting people before technology, organizations can achieve results that seemed unimaginable a few short years ago.

Ari Fleischer is a former White House Press Secretary for U.S. President George W. Bush, from January 2001 to July 2003. Today, he works as a media consultant for corporations and sports players and organizations like the NFL, Bowl Championship Series through his company, Ari Fleischer Sports Communications. With the signature wit and humor he used to handle the toughest of questions in the White House briefing room, in speeches he provides an in-depth look at the current presidential administration, political landscape, the media, and U.S. foreign policy.

After an acting career including a role on The Sopranos (HBO), Chris decided to follow his real passion- using media to bridge intercultural gaps worldwide- so he traveled to East Africa. He now traverses the globe from Tanzania to Abu Dhabi as Host of Bridge the Gap, a new series featured on National PBS television, where he discovers what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes for one day. He is a United Nations Moderator, an International Speaker (TEDx), a Writer for award-winning publications like Lonely Planet, an Eagle Scout and a National Geographic Young Explorers grantee. 1 : Actor/Activist from Brooklyn whose TV career spans MTV to The Sopranos 2 : traveled from Tanzania to Thailand hosting the internationally recognized TV Series Bridge the Gap, broadcast into 45M homes in 80 markets 3 : Published Writer for Huffington Post and Lonely Planet 4 : celebrated Emcee and Guest Speaker for TedX and the United Nations, at Jane Goodall’s National Leadership Retreat, and at events in Qatar, Rio de Janeiro, and Abu Dhabi.