Jarvis DeBerry, editor of the Louisiana Illuminator, spent 22 years at The Times-Picayune (and later NOLA.com) as a crime and courts reporter, an editorial writer, columnist and deputy opinions editor. He was on the team of Times-Picayune journalists awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service after that team’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the deadly flood that followed.
Edgar “Dook” Chase, IV is a proud New Orleans native, and business owner. He is Owner/President of Chase Concessions, LLC, Executive Chef at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, proprietor of Leah’s Kitchen and Dook’s Burgers and a partner in a number of other restaurants in the New Orleans International Airport. Chase holds a Masters of Business Administration, and a formal Culinary degree from Le Condon Bleu Paris, France. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics and Finance from Dillard University in 2004.
Charles M. Blow is an acclaimed journalist and op-ed columnist for the New York Times who appears frequently on CNN. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones and the New York Times bestseller The Devil You Know. He lives in Atlanta.
K.A. (Kristin) Leigh is a Florida-born animal lover with a passion for helping others through her writing. She and her illustrator husband, Derek Roberts, created the Brudders® book series to give kids an engaging way to learn different social emotional concepts.
Betsy Fischer Martin is an Emmy-winning journalist and TV news executive. Currently she is Executive Director of AU School of Public Affairs' Women & Politics Institute and an SPA Executive in Residence. She is also a former co-host of Bloomberg Politics' Masters in Politics Podcast. She also founded her own consulting business, Fischer Martin Media, where she specializes in providing media training to corporate executives.
Freddi Williams Evans is an independent scholar and author of award-winning books for children as well as adults.
Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, a $16 billion international social justice philanthropy. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation became the first non-profit in US history to issue a $1 billion designated social bond to stabilize non-profit organizations in the wake of COVID-19.
Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs. In the 1990s, he was COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Harlem’s largest community development organization.
