Based in New Orleans, Nini Nguyen is a chef, instructor, and recipe developer. After starting her career in some of the country’s most innovative kitchens, such as Eleven Madison Park in New York, she ventured into the culinary spotlight by participating in Top Chef Season 16 and later in Top Chef: All-Stars Los Angeles, earning a dedicated fan following.
Doris is often called upon by the news media and late night TV hosts as well as hundreds of companies, educational institutions and nonprofits to share her vast knowledge of leadership and provide historical context for events of the current day, as our democracy is challenged, international wars rage, we continue to recover from the impacts of COVID intersected with the economic fallout, polarization, and social and racial unrest during a time filled with fear and anxiety about our future both individually as citizens and collectively as a country.
Crystal Hana Kim is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Stone Home (2024), a current finalist for the Maya Angelou Book Award, and If You Leave Me (2018), which was named a best book of 2018 by over a dozen publications. Kim is the recipient of the 2022 National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award and the winner of a 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.
Bob Woodward is the author of three consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers on President Trump—Fear (2018), Rage (2020), and Peril (2021) with Robert Costa—and an audiobook of 20 interviews with Trump. He has authored 22 bestselling books, 15 of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, covering every president from Nixon to Biden.
Allan Carey is the Director of Sphere Education Initiatives at the Cato Institute where he leads the organization’s efforts to engage grades 5-12 educators, including the annual Sphere Summit, on civic education, civil discourse, and the institutions of civic culture. With nearly two decades of experience in education, Allan has previously taught in high schools, colleges, and nonprofits covering everything from history, philosophy, and economics to management and leadership courses.
Inspired by his grandfather, Link began cooking as a young boy at home. In 1993 he moved to San Francisco to attend the California Culinary Academy and to work at several Bay Area restaurants. During his time on the West Coast, Link’s cooking style became more refined, and his appreciation for raw ingredients and a delicate approach to technique came into focus.
Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of HumanProgress.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well-being by providing free empirical data on long-term developments, and a policy analyst in Cato's Center for Global Liberty & Prosperity. Her writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes, The Hill, Business Insider, and many other outlets. She was named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list for 2018 in the category of Law & Policy.
MSNBC Political Analyst, Host of the Fast Politics Podcast & Vanity Fair Special Correspondent. Molly Jong-Fast is an American writer, journalist, author, political commentator and podcaster. Jong-Fast is the author of three books and her memoir “How To Lose Your Mother” will be coming out from Viking in the June of 2025. You can find her on threads/x/ instagram as mollyjongfast.
Rachel Cargle is an Akron, Ohio born writer, entrepreneur and philanthropic innovation. Her work and upcoming book with Penguin Random House, centers the reimagining of womanhood, solidarity and self and how we are in relationship with ourselves and one another. In 2018 she founded The Loveland Foundation, Inc., a non-profit offering free therapy to Black women and girls.
Julie Vaucresson is the owner and operator of Creole Made Easy, LLC (CME), a complimentary entity of the Vaucresson’s Sausage Company. Vaucresson Sausage Co is a 122 year old family business located in the heart of New Orleans’ Creole Seventh Ward commercial corridor.
Julie V is the co-owner of the Vaucresson’s Sausage Company, TV and social media personality, cookbook author and a sauce savant.
