Eric Cook is the Executive Chef and Owner of award-winning New Orleans restaurants Gris-Gris and Saint John. A combat veteran who served six years in the United States Marine Corps, Cook entered the culinary world and worked in many of the city's most well-renowned kitchens before building a culinary empire of his own.
Catherine "Cady" Coleman is a chemist, an engineer, a former United States Air Force colonel, and a retired NASA astronaut. She is also now a highly regarded media adviser and on-air expert, known for her STEM/STEAM advocacy. Most recently Coleman co-anchored Netflix and Time’s livestream coverage of the SpaceX launch of four civilians into space (she had helped coach them) and, as a regular ABC contributor, co-anchored its special reports covering the SpaceX launches and the Perseverance Mars rover landing.
Daniel Black is professor of African American Studies at Clark Atlanta University. He is the author of several novels, namely Perfect Peace, The Coming, and Don’t Cry For Me, and one essay collection, Black on Black.
Author of NYT & LA Times bestseller Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Elizabeth Beller is a writer, editor, and journalist specializing in culture, art, and travel. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Vogue, and Travel + Leisure, among other outlets. Before turning to writing and editing, she spent two years as a script reader for Miramax and twelve years in the art world at Sotheby’s Auction House. She splits her time between New York and New Orleans with her husband, writer Thomas Beller, and their two children.
Bernice L. McFadden is a celebrated, award-winning author who's storytelling deeply explores themes of memory, ancestry, and the African American experience. Over the course of her career, McFadden has written more than a dozen novels, beginning with her acclaimed debut Sugar (2000). Her works include The Book of Harlan (2016), which received the American Book Award and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, and Praise Song for the Butterflies (2018), longlisted for the prestigious 2019 Women’s Prize.
E.J. Lagasse fell in love with food at a very young age. As the son of Chef Emeril Lagasse, he spent most of his early years in kitchens and at home where the family table was a central part of daily life. Cooking with his dad at home and exploring new culinary experiences were fundamental to his childhood, and instilled an appreciation and respect for seasonality and nature that has led to his dedication to culinary artistry.
Ethan Brown is an investigative journalist and author, having written four books about crime and criminal justice policy, including his debut, Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent and the Rise of the Hip-Hop Hustler.
Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor
Jeff Duncan is a sports columnist for The Times-Picayune, where he has worked for more than two decades. He was a member of the team that won two Pulitzer Prizes for the paper’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Duncan is the author of three books on the Saints -- “Payton and Brees”; “Tales from the Saints Sideline”; and “From Bags to Riches” – and is currently collaborating with Steve Gleason on his memoir, which is scheduled for release in April 2024.
