Emma Cline is the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest, The Girls and the story collection Daddy. She received the Plimpton Prize from The Paris Review and an O. Henry Award, and was chosen as one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists.
The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant.
Bethany McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, a contributor at Business Insider, and a contributor at CNBC. She’s the co-host, along with University of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales, of the podcast Capitalisn’t. Her newest book, which she co-authored with Joe Nocera, is “The Big Fail: What the Pandemic Revealed About Who America Helps and Who it Leaves Behind.”
Sheila Johnson is Founder & CEO of the Salamander Collection. The company operates luxury properties centered around unique destinations in the US and the Caribbean that includes Salamander Middleburg which has achieved the Forbes Five-Star ratings for both its accommodations and spa.
James G. Basker is president of the Gilder Lehrman Institute and Richard Gilder Professor of Literary History at Barnard College, Columbia University. As president of the Gilder Lehrman Institute since 1997, Basker has overseen the development of history education initiatives nationwide, including history high schools, teacher seminars, traveling exhibitions, digital archives, and the National History Teacher of the Year Award program.
Hailing from New Orleans, Tarriona "Tank" Ball is the frontwoman of the three-time Grammy-nominated group Tank and The Bangas.
K. L. Walther was born and raised in the rolling hills of Bucks County, Pennsylvania surrounded by family, dogs, and books. Her childhood was spent traveling the northeastern seaboard to play ice hockey. She attended a boarding school in New Jersey and went on to earn a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia. She is happiest on the beach with a book, cheering for the New York Rangers, or enjoying a rom-com while digging into a big bowl of popcorn and M&Ms. And listening to Taylor Swift on repeat, of course.
David Magee is the bestselling author of Dear William: A Father’s Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love and Loss and other books including Things Have Changed: What Every Parent (and Educator) Should Know About the Student Mental Health and Substance Misuse Crisis. He’s a creator of the William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing at the University of Mississippi and a former daily newspaper publisher and award-winning columnist.
Emily Raboteau writes at the intersection of social and environmental justice, race, climate change, and parenthood. Her previous books are Searching for Zion (2013), winner of an American Book Award and finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the cult classic novel, The Professor’s Daughter (2005). Since the release of the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, she has focused on writing about the climate crisis.
Yolanda Pierce is Dean of the Divinity School and the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair & Professor of Religion and Literature at Vanderbilt University. Her scholarly research interests include African American religious history, womanist theology, and literature. Pierce is a native New Yorker, public theologian, and community activist. Pierce also served as the Founding Director of the Center for African American Religious Life at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).
