Speakers

Dynamic guests highlighted the inaugural UVA Democracy Biennial

Headshot of Thomas Baltimore

Thomas Baltimore

Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., serves as chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. Recently, he was the president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust.

Melody Barnes headshot

Melody Barnes

Melody Barnes is director of the UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy, co-director for policy and public affairs for the UVA Democracy Initiative, and J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at UVA's Miller Center.

Angela Glover Blackwell headshot

Angela Glover Blackwell

Angela Glover Blackwell is founder in residence at PolicyLink, the organization she started in 1999 to advance racial and economic equity for all.

Bob Bruner headshot

Robert Bruner

Robert Bruner is a senior fellow at UVA's Miller Center, University Professor at the University of Virginia, distinguished professor of business administration, and dean emeritus of UVA's Darden School of Business.

Mary Kate Cary headshot

Mary Kate Cary

Mary Kate Cary is a Miller Center senior fellow and former speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush. 

Julián Castro headshot

Julián Castro

Julián Castro served as U.S. secretary of housing and urban development under President Barack Obama from 2014–17.

Gerald Chertavian headshot

Gerald Chertavian

Gerald Chertavian is the founder and CEO of Year Up, a national program that empowers underserved young adults to enter the economic mainstream.

Larry diamond headshot

Larry Diamond

Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). He is a Bass University Fellow in undergraduate education at Stanford University.

John Dickerson headshot

John Dickerson

John Dickerson is a correspondent for 60 Minutes and a CBS News senior political analyst. 

Robert Doar headshot

Robert Doar

Robert Doar is the president and Morgridge Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Previously, he served for more than 20 years in leadership positions in the social service programs of New York State and New York City.

Deborah Feinen headshot

Deborah Feinen

Deborah Frank Feinen is the mayor of Champaign, Illinois. Prior to being on the City Council, she served as a Champaign County Board member for 14 years.

Ed Freeman headshot

R. Edward Freeman

R. Edward Freeman is University Professor and Olsson Professor of Business Administration, and an academic director of the Institute for Business in Society at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

Bob Hugin headshot

Robert J. Hugin

Robert J. Hugin was a senior executive at Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company, for 19 years, serving as CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors. He was the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2018.

Karin Lips headshot

Karin Lips

Karin Lips is the founder and president of the Network of Enlightened Women and a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Carolyn Miles headshot

Carolyn Miles

Carolyn Miles is the former president and CEO of Save the Children. Serving on the boards of numerous non-governmental organizations, she was named one of the 50 World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune in 2015.

Rami Nashashibi headshot

Rami Nashashibi

Rami Nashashibi is a MacArthur Fellow, a doctor of sociology from the University of Chicago, and the founder and executive director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN).

Tom Perez headshot

Tom Perez

Tom Perez served as the chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017–21. He was previously United States secretary of labor and assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Ai-jen Poo headshot

Ai-jen Poo

Ai-jen Poo is the co-founder and executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which brings dignity and fairness to workers who care and clean in our homes.

Denver Riggleman

Denver Riggleman

Denver Riggleman served as U.S. congressman from Virginia's fifth district from 2019 to 2021.

Rashad Robinson headshot

Rashad Robinson

Rashad Robinson has been the president of Color of Change since 2011 and serves on the board of the Hazen Foundation, Demos, and the National LGBTQ Taskforce. 

David Rubenstein headshot

David M. Rubenstein

David M. Rubenstein is cofounder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group and chairman of the boards of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Rodney Slater headshot

Rodney Slater

Rodney Slater is a partner at the law firm of Squire Patton Boggs. He served as U.S. secretary of transportation under President Bill Clinton.

Margaret Spellings headshot

Margaret Spellings

Margaret Spellings is president and CEO of the nonprofit Texas 2036. She served as U.S. secretary of education for President George W. Bush.