Cleo Wade is a New York Times–bestselling author and poet whose work explores hope, resilience and the power of love. Her books include Heart Talk, Where to Begin, What the Road Said, Remember Love: Words for Tender Times, and May You Love and Be Loved can be found wherever you buy books.  

David M. Rubenstein is an investor, philanthropist, interviewer, author, and historian. He is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most successful private investment firms.

Chef-Partner, Pomegranate Hospitality (New Orleans: Saba; Miss River and Chandelier Bar at Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans; Denver: Safta)
Author, Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel

Alon Shaya is Chef-Partner of Pomegranate Hospitality, which includes Saba in New Orleans, Safta in Denver, and both Miss River and Chandelier Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans. Born in Israel, raised in Philadelphia, and a proud New Orleanian, Alon has always had a deep love and appreciation for food and the singular way restaurants anchor their communities.

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University. Gordon-Reed won 16 book prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize  and the National Book Award, for The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family  (2008). She is the author of six books, and editor of two. She was the Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History at the University of Oxford (Queen’s College) 2014-2015, and was appointed an Honorary Fellow at Queen’s in 2021.