Lily Kaye

Stephen Apkon

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Stephen Apkon

Film director

Stephen Apkon, a social entrepreneur, formed the Jacob Burns Film Center with the vision of establishing a center for independent and foreign documentary films. Under his 13 year tenure as Executive Director, the JBFC grew to become a major cultural destination and a national leader in the field of visual literacy. In 2014, Mr. Apkon stepped down as the Executive Director of the JBFC to focus on film projects and other non-profit initiatives.

Apkon serves on the boards of The World Cinema Foundation and Advancing Human Rights. He is President of Big 20 Productions, the producer of films I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful; Planetary; Backyard Wilderness; and Disturbing the Peace. He is the author of The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens.

Apkon spoke at a Special Screening of “Disturbing the Peace” - November 15, 2016 at The Common Good.

Twitter: @SteveApkon

Joseph Zidle

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Joseph Zidle

Investment strategist

Joseph Zidle has been Managing Director and Private Wealth Solutions Investment Strategist at Blackstone Group L.P. since January 2018.

Mr. Zidle served as a Portfolio Strategist at Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC. He was a Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research, Head of Investment Strategy for Global Wealth Management, Co-Head of Tactical Asset Allocation, and served as Head of Global Research Marketing for Global Wealth Management. He was Strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Research Division. Mr. Zidle has extensive investment experience in various research roles. From 1993-2001, he served as a Specialist in military intelligence for the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2010, he was named one of the 40 Under Forty rising stars by Crain's New York Business.

The Common Good was proud to present a very important discussion with Joseph Zidle of Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions in January of 2019: Economic Perils, Reeling Markets, Fed Action, Tariff Wars.

Dana Perino

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Dana Perino

Political commentator

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino is anchor of The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino and a co-host of The Five on Fox News Channel.  She also appears as part of the political and election coverage teams on the Fox News Channel, and has a weekly political podcast, I'll Tell You What with Chris Stirewalt.  Prior to this, Dana served for seven years in the administration of President George W. Bush and became the first Republican woman to be named as the White House Press Secretary.  Dana joined the Bush Administration following the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 as a spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Perino had her first experience in Washington working for Congressman Scott McInnis (R-CO).  She later served as the press secretary for Congressman Dan Schaefer (R-CO).  Dana also spent time working at a public relations firm in San Diego.

Her first book, And the Good News Is…, was published in 2015.

The Common Good hosted Dana Perino along with a panel of specialists in January of 2018: “Trump – Year One” Panel.

Twitter: @DanaPerino

David Frum

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David Frum

Political commentator

David Jeffrey Frum is a Canadian-American political commentator and was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Frum later authored the first book about Bush's presidency written by a former member of the administration. He was credited with inspiring the phrase "axis of evil” in Bush's 2002 State of the Union address.  

He is a senior editor at The Atlantic as well as an MSNBC contributor. He serves on the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition the British think tank Policy Exchange, the anti-drug policy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and as vice chairman and an associate fellow of the R Street Institute.

Mr. Frum is the author of Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic, and was hosted by The Common Good in January of 2018: “Trump – Year One” Panel.

Twitter: @DavidFrum

Roger Cohen

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Roger Cohen

New York Times columnist

Roger Cohen joined The New York Times in 1990. He was a foreign correspondent for more than a decade before becoming acting foreign editor on Sept. 11, 2001, and foreign editor six months later.

Since 2004, he has written a column for The International New York Times, formerly known as The International Herald Tribune. In 2009 he was named a columnist of The New York Times.

Mr. Cohen has written Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo, an account of the wars of Yugoslavia’s destruction, and Soldiers and Slaves: American POWs Trapped by the Nazis’ Final Gamble. He has also co-written a biography of Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, In the Eye of the Storm. His family memoir, The Girl From Human Street: Ghosts of Memory in a Jewish Family, was published in January 2015.

He spoke at The Common Good in January of 2018: “Trump – Year One” Panel and we are excited to have him back at our upcoming event: Athens Democracy Forum.

Twitter: @NYTimesCohen

William Floyd Weld

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William Floyd Weld

Former Governor of Massachusetts

William Floyd Weld is an American attorney, businessman, and Republican politician who served as the 68th Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. Weld is running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election.

A Harvard and Oxford graduate, Weld began his career as legal counsel to the United States house Committee before becoming the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and, later, the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. He worked on a series of high-profile public corruption cases and later resigned in protest of an ethics scandal and associated investigations into Attorney General Edwin Meese.

Weld was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1990. In the 1994 election, he was reelected by the largest margin of victory in Massachusetts history. In 1996, he was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in Massachusetts, losing to Democratic incumbent John Kerry. Weld resigned as governor in 1997 to focus on his nomination by President Bill Clinton to serve as United States Ambassador to Mexico. However, due to opposition by socially conservative Senate Foreign Relations committee Chairman Jesse Helms, he was denied a hearing before the Foreign Relations committee and withdrew his nomination.

Weld was hosted by The Common Good in March of 2017: History in the Making: Post-Election Panel 2016, alongside Carl Bernstein and Kellyanne Conway, with moderator Alan Schwartz.

Twitter: @GovBillWeld

Richard Haass

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Richard Haass

American diplomat

Dr. Richard Haass is a veteran diplomat, a prominent voice on American foreign policy, and an established leader of nonprofit institutions. He is in his sixteenth year as president of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, publisher, and educational institution dedicated to being a resource to help people better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.

From January 2001 to June 2003, Dr. Haass was director of policy planning for the Department of State, where he directed the policy planning staff and was a principal advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold the rank of ambassador, Dr. Haass also served as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan and U.S. envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant to President George H.W. Bush and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. In 1991, Dr. Haass was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for his contributions to the development and articulation of U.S. policy during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Previously, he served in the Departments of State (1981–1985) and Defense (1979–1980), and was a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate.

Dr. Haass is the author or editor of thirteen books on American foreign policy and one book on management. His latest book is A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order, published in 2017 by Penguin Press.

Mr. Haass was hosted by The Common Good in March of 2017: The Changing World Order: Richard Haass.

Twitter: @RichardHaass

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Sheldon Whitehouse

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Sheldon Whitehouse

American lawyer, politician

Sheldon Whitehouse served as Rhode Island’s Director of Business Regulation under Governor Sundlun before being recommended by Senator Pell and nominated by President Bill Clinton to be Rhode Island’s United States Attorney in 1994.  He was elected Attorney General of Rhode Island in 1998, a position in which he served until 2003.  On November 7, 2006, Rhode Islanders elected Sheldon to the United States Senate, where he is a member of the Budget Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), the Judiciary Committee, and the Finance Committee. 

The Common Good hosted a special conversation with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in February of 2017: Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy.

Twitter: @SenWhitehouse

Marcina Hale

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Marcina Hale

Co-Founder of Reconsider

Marcina Hale is Co-Founder of Reconsider, an organization that develops media and workshops that catalyze reflection, dialogue, and action around our relationship to life and what we wish to create. She has spent 20 years developing and presenting workshops for individual and communal transformation. A master therapist and dynamic facilitator, she challenges and inspires others to live their lives more consciously and to take responsibility for their own creations. She is a producer of Disturbing the Peace and is the primary facilitator for Reconsider workshop experiences, which have been given nationally and internationally.

Hale was hosted by The Common Good in November of 2016: Special Screening of “Disturbing the Peace”.

Twitter: @MarcinaLee

Katie McGinty

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Katie McGinty

American politician

Kathleen Alana McGinty is a retired American politician and former state and federal environmental policy official. She served as an environmental advisor to Vice President al Gore and President Bill Clinton. Later, she served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in the cabinet of Governor Ed Rendell.

McGinty was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014. After Democrat Tom Wolf won Pennsylvania's 2014 gubernatorial election, he appointed McGinty as his Chief of Staff. On August 4, 2015, she officially announced her candidacy for the United States Senate in 2016. McGinty won the Democratic nomination on April 26, 2016, but lost in a close election, with 47.34% of the vote, to incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, who garnered 48.77% in the general election. McGinty now serves as the Senior Vice President of the Oceans Program for the Environmental Defense Fund.

Mrs. McGinty was hosted by The Common Good in March of 2016; Meet & Greet: Katie McGinty.

Twitter: @McGintyCampaign

Norton Garfinkle

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Norton Garfinkle

Economist, businessman

Norton Garfinkle is chairman of Princeton Scientific Capital Management, a financial investment company. He is also chairman of Princeton SciTech, an investment company that specializes in building new internet based technology companies.

Garfinkle was the founder of Brand Rating Research Corporation, a public opinion research company that provided a syndicated service to many consumer product companies including Proctor & Gamble, Bristol Myers and Colgate, television networks, national magazines and newspapers. The company also created RADAR, the first national radio ratings service.

Garfinkle served as chairman of Electronic Retailing Systems International which provided technology solutions to supermarket chains including the widely used self checkout supermarket systems. The company was sold to IBM in 2003. He founded Advanced Retail Marketing Corporation, an in-store marketing company, which was sold to News Corporation in 1996.

Mr. Garfinkle was hosted by The Common Good in January of 2016: Creating a Great Economy: Lincoln’s Surprising Relevance Today.

Melanne Verveer

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Melanne Verveer

U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues

Ambassador Verveer is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She also serves as the Special Representative on Gender Issues for the OSCE Chairmanship.

Amb. Verveer previously served as the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, a position to which she was nominated by President Obama in 2009. She coordinated foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women, traveling to nearly sixty countries. She worked to ensure that women’s participation and rights are fully integrated into U.S. foreign policy, and she played a leadership role in the Administration’s development of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. President Obama also appointed her to serve as the U.S. Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

From 2000-2008, she was the Chair and Co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international NGO that she co-founded to invest in emerging women leaders. During the Clinton administration, she served as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady. She also led the effort to establish the President’s Inter-Agency Council on Women, and was instrumental in the adoption of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. She is the co-author of Fast Forward: How Women Can Achieve Power and Purpose.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission, and she serves on the Boards of the National Endowment for Democracy, the Atlantic Council, as well as the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender and Development. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Secretary of State’s Award for Distinguished Service. In 2008, the President of Ukraine awarded her the Order of Princess Olga.

The Common Good hosted Melanne Verveer in Decemeber of 2015: Empowering Half the World.

Twitter: @MelanneVerveer

Jason Kander

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Jason Kander

Former Missouri Secretary of State

Jason David Kander is an American attorney, author, veteran, and politician. He served as the 39th Secretary of State of Missouri, from 2013 to 2017. He had previously served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013. Before entering politics, he was an intelligence officer in the Army National Guard, achieving the rank of captain.

He was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate for Missouri in 2016, narrowly losing the election to Republican incumbent Roy Blunt. After the election, Kander founded an organization called Let America Vote, a campaign dedicated to ending voter suppression. He declared himself a candidate in the 2019 Kansas City mayoral election, but dropped out on October 2, 2018, after revealing that he suffered from PTSD and depression.

The Common Good hosted Kander in November of 2015: Meet & Greet: Jason Kander.

Twitter: @JasonKander

Mark Mellman

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Mark Mellman

Political strategist

Mark Mellman is one of the nation’s leading public opinion researchers and communication strategists. He is President of the American Association of Political Consultants and CEO of The Mellman Group, a polling and consulting firm whose clients include leading political figures, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the nation’s most important public interest groups. Mellman, who counts among his clients Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Whip Steny Hoyer, has helped guide the campaigns of twenty-nine U.S. Senators, ten Governors, over two dozen Members of Congress, and numerous state and local officials.

Internationally, Mellman was chief strategist and pollster for Yair Lapid’s stunning rise from zero seats in the Israeli parliament to the country’s second largest party in just one year. Earlier he helped Cesar Gavira become President of Colombia and Luli Basha defeat the international Mayor of the Year in Albania. He has been honored twice for running the Best Campaign outside the U.S. The New York Times’ Nate Silver cited The Mellman Group as the most accurate campaign pollster in the country. As a consultant to the Democratic Leadership, Mellman plays a central role in developing strategies on a variety of issues.

He served as a consultant to CBS News and as a presidential debate analyst for PBS and The Wall Street Journal. Mellman’s op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal among others, and he writes an influential weekly column for The Hill.

The Common Good hosted Mr. Mellman in October of 2015: “The Campaign 2016: What the Numbers Reveal”.

Twitter: @MarkMellman