Lt. Col. (res.) Avital Leibovich has been the Director of the American Jewish Committee in Jerusalem since 2014. She is an expert in Middle East diplomacy and in geopolitical strategy, working closely with ambassadors and diplomats in Israel and abroad. Her career spans over 20 years in a wide range of senior media and public relations positions within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). As Head of the Foreign Press Branch, she serves as the face of the IDF to the international community. She created and led the Interactive Media Branch of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit in response to the rapidly growing influence of social networks and internet platforms in the media world. Lt. Col. Leibovich received a BA in English Literature and Political Science from Bar Ilan University and an MA in International Relations from University of Haifa, as well as a diploma in Spokesmanship, Communications, and Public Relations from the Department of Foreign Affairs at Bar Ilan University.

Kristoffer (Kris) Shields is Director of the Eagleton Center on the American Governor (ECAG) and the Interim Director of the Eagleton Science and Politics Program at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. As the Director of ECAG, Shields leads the construction and maintenance of the Center's archives on former New Jersey governors, which includes videos of interviews and roundtable discussions, important documents, photographs, and original research. The Center also conducts research and analysis of the office of the governor in a national context. Shields writes for the Center's website and is co-author of From Candidate to Governor-Elect: Recommendations for Gubernatorial Transitions. He also a frequent contributor to radio, television, and print media on issues related to governors and gubernatorial elections. Shields is an Assistant Research Professor at Eagleton and teaches first-year seminars on governors and gubernatorial elections as well as a special topics course in the Political Science department titled "The American Governor." He was also formerly a co-instructor in the department's "Political Campaigning" course. Shields also helps teach and train the institute's graduate fellows and post-doctorate science fellows. As Interim Director of the Eagleton Science and Politics Program, Shields organizes workshops and training sessions for scientists interested in policy and leads the Eagleton Science Fellowship Program, which places post-doctoral scientists in New Jersey government offices. Shields is a former lawyer and an historian by training, with a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University, a J.D. from the New York University School of Law, and a Ph.D. in History from Rutgers University. He has focused on 20th century U.S. legal and cultural history and is particularly interested in the cultural importance of famous trials. He is the author of "The Opposition: Labor, Liquor, and Democrats" in A Companion to Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover and is a contributor to the online American history textbook The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook. Shields previously practiced law in New York City as an associate in the real estate and litigation departments at Dechert LLP and as a media law clerk at NBC Universal. In 2012-2013, Shields was an Eagleton Graduate Fellow, placed at the State Historic Preservation Office in Trenton.

Mr. Solomon has over 25 years of experience working in government, academia, and the non-profit sector. He is one of the principals that founded and directs the Sustainable Jersey Certification program. Prior to his current position he was the founder and Executive Director of the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute at Rutgers where he worked to expand the capacity of public decision making to address sustainability. Mr. Solomon's experience includes positions as a policy advisor on sustainable development for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities integrating land use and energy policy, director of the States Campaign for the Resource Renewal Institute in San Francisco, and policy director for the non-profit New Jersey Future. Other jobs include a stint as a national Park Ranger and serving in the inaugural class of AmeriCorps volunteers. He has participated on advisory boards for federal and state government, civic organizations, and has advised major corporations. He writes and speaks frequently on sustainable development, energy, land use policy, using indicators in public decision making, and governance issues. Randy holds a B.S. in Biology from Stockton University and a M.S. in Public Policy from Rutgers University.

John Seabrook has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for more than three decades. He is the author of The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory, Flash of Genius: And Other True Stories of Invention, Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing, the Marketing of Culture and other books. The film Flash of Genius was based on one of his stories. He and his family live in Brooklyn.

Clara Bingham is a journalist and author whose work has focused on social justice and women's issues. Her latest book, The Movement: How Women's Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2024. A history of the early years of second wave feminism, The Movement is written in a similar oral history narrative style to her previous book, Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost its Mind and Found its Soul (Random House 2016)

Pria Anand is a neurologist and the author of The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains, named a Best Book of June and Best Science & Technology Book of 2025 by Barnes & Noble and a Best Book of the Summer by The Observer, Publisher's Weekly, The Globe and Mail, and Book Riot. Her stories and essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Time Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. She is a graduate of Yale University and Stanford Medical School, and she trained in neurology, neuro-infectious diseases, and neuroimmunology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is now an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine, and she cares for patients at the Boston Medical Center.

Dr. Rachel Paster is a Clinical Psychologist at Center for Anxiety where she is the Director of Clinical Training and Interim Director of the Boston Office (though she is based in New Jersey). Dr. Paster holds Masters degrees in Risk and Prevention and Adjustment Counseling from Harvard's Graduate School of Education as well as a Doctorate in Psychology from William James College with a certificate in Latino Mental Health. She completed her APA-accredited internship at Wediko Children's Service in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Paster is trained in a variety of treatment modalities including CBT, ACT, DBT, and EMDR and works with people presenting with depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, and life transitions. She also has a focus on working with couples and folks in the LGTBQ+ community. Dr. Paster enjoys spending time with her family, baking, and eating good food.