Melody Barnes is the founding executive director of the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, where she leads the Institute on an action-oriented path to realizing the promise of democracy in both principle and practice.

Gov. Spencer J. Cox is a husband, father, farmer, recovering attorney, and Utah’s 18th governor. He also served as the 2023-2024 chairman of the National Governors Association Gov.

Mónica Guzmán is author of “I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times”; founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity; advisor and debate chair at Braver Angels; and host of A Braver Way podcast.

From Bucks County, to the FBI, to the Halls of Congress, Brian Fitzpatrick has built his life and career around one principle: bringing people together to solve problems.

After a career in business, The Honorable Dean Phillips served three terms in Congress representing Minnesota’s 3rd District from 2019-2024.

New York Congressman Tom Suozzi, trained as an attorney and CPA, serves on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, the chief tax writing panel in Congress. He serves on the Subcommittees on Oversight and on Tax.

Dr. Cornel West, also warmly regarded as Brother West, is the current holder of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary and tries to keep alive the rich legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Pete Peterson is dean of Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy where he also serves as a senior fellow of the school’s Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership.

Jonathan Haidt (pronounced “height”) is a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992, and taught for 16 years in the department of psychology at the University of Virginia

Tim Shriver is a husband, father, grandfather, educator, bestselling author, and Chairman of Special Olympics and UNITE, dedicated to advancing dignity, inclusion, and connection.

Yuval Levin is the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy and director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and the editor of National Affairs.

Amanda Ripley is a New York Times bestselling author, a magazine journalist and the co-founder of Good Conflict, a media and training company that helps people reimagine conflict.

David Blankenhorn co-founded Braver Angels in 2016, and is currently the founding president of Civic Life, an organization whose mission is to strengthen republican citizenship.

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He is the author of nine books and many articles on public policy, science, and culture. He was a founding board member of Braver Angels.

Alvin Wang Graylin is a global technology strategist, author of Our Next Reality (Hachette), Chairman of the Virtual World Society, Digital Fellow at Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute Center for China Analysis, Professor of AI/Tech Policy at the University of Washington, and a lecturer at MIT.

Keith Allred is the Executive Director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), an organization that works to build our nation’s capacity to engage differences constructively. His work has been featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, and Congressional Quarterly.

Dr. Donna Hicks is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and the former Deputy Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR).

Professor Paul Edwards directs the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University. Previously he served as the policy and communications director for the Governor of the State of Utah.

Layla Zaidane is President & CEO of Future Caucus, the largest nonpartisan organization of young lawmakers in the United States.

Vince Stango is the interim president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. Mr. Stango is a strategic partner to the Board of Trustees, responsible for driving the implementation of the NCC’s vision and organizational strategy.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Scott Stephenson holds a B.A. from Juniata College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American History from the University of Virginia. His broad public history experience spans nearly three decades and has been marked by public and professional acclaim for his creative and innovative approaches to engaging audiences.

Jim Ferrell is the Founder of Withiii Leadership. Prior to founding Withiii, he led The Arbinger Institute for 25 years. He has written multiple bestselling books on overcoming divides and bringing people together, including You and We: A Relational Rethinking of Work, Life, and Leadership and The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict.