Kellyanne Conway

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Kellyanne Conway

American pollster, political consultant, pundit

Kellyanne Conway is an American pollster, political consultant, and pundit. Previously she held roles as campaign manager and strategist in the Republican Party and was former president and CEO of The Polling Company, Inc./Woman Trend. In 2016, she was appointed as Trump’s campaign manager and now serves as a counselor in his presidential administration .

Within polling, Conway is one of the most quoted and noted pollsters on the national scene, having provided commentary on over 1,200 television shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, HBO, Comedy Central, MTV and the Fox News Channel, and numerous radio shows and print stories. Throughout her two decades in market research, Conway has provided primary research and advice for clients in 46 of the 50 states and has directed hundreds of demographic and attitudinal survey projects for statewide and congressional political races, trade associations, and Fortune 100 companies. She is also co-author of What Women Really Want: How American Women Are Quietly Erasing Political, Racial, Class, and Religious Lines to Change the Way We Live.

Within the Republican Party, Conway has worked for leaders such as the late Congressman Jack Kemp, former Vice President Dan Quayle, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Senator Fred Thompson and Congressman Mike Pence, Vice President in Trump’s administration.

Conway spoke at The Common Good in 2017: History in the Making: Post-Election Panel 2016 alongside Carl Bernstein and Governor William Weld, with moderator Alan Schwartz.

Twitter: @KellyannePolls

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

Bill Kristol

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Bill Kristol

Founder and Editor of The Weekly Standard

Bill Kristol is a political analyst and the Founder and Editor of the political magazine The Weekly Standard. He is known for his neo-conservatism and frank approach to issues.

Kristol taught political philosophy and American politics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government before joining the Reagan administration. He eventually became Chief of Staff to the Vice President in the George H. W. Bush administration. Kristol has played a major role in the debate on American foreign policy since September 11th, and served as a foreign policy advisor for Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign.

Kristol is associated with a number of prominent conservative think tanks. He co-founded the Project for the New American Century and is a member of the board of trustees for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, the Policy Advisory Board for the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and a director of the Foreign Policy Initiative.

Kristol was hosted by The Common Good for a Commentary on the 2016 Presidential Election with Bill Kristol.

Twitter: @BillKristol

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Journalist, filmmaker, activist

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has become an important part of the global conversation in support of women’s issues and human rights in her native country and around the world.

Obaid-Chinoy has worked with refugees and marginalized communities from Saudi Arabia to Syria and from Timor Leste to the Philippines. By bringing their voices to the forefront, she has often helped them bring about a critical change in their community. Obaid-Chinoy has made over a dozen multi-award-winning films in over 10 countries. In 2012, Time Magazine included her in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2013, Obaid-Chinoy was the recipient of the Crystal Award. by the World Economic Forum for her work in documentary filmmaking, making her the first Pakistani to receive this honor. According to Women in the World founder and journalist Tina Brown, A Girl In The River is having “a galvanic political impact on laws surrounding honour killings in Pakistan.” After viewing the film, Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif promised to overturn the country’s honor killing law.

Obaid-Chinoy was honored with the American Spirit Award for Activism in the Arts at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @sharmeenochinoy

Tammy Duckworth

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Tammy Duckworth

American politician, former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel

Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq veteran who lost both legs and partial use of her right arm in 2004. She won her Congressional seat in 2012, and her Democratic seat in the Senate began in 2017. She is also the first Asian American woman elected to Congress in Illinois, the first disabled woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand. She is fluent in Thai, Indonesian, and English.

Senator Duckworth was born in Bangkok Thailand. in 1989 she graduated from the University of Hawaii with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, and later received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University. In 1992 she joined the United States Army Reserve and chose to fly helicopters, citing it as one of the few combat positions open to women at the time. Senator Duckworth was working towards her P.H.D. in political science when she was drafted in 2004 to fight in the Iraq war. in November of that year, her UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in combat, where she sustained injuries and had to have her legs amputated. She received the Purple Heart for her injuries, and was promoted to Major.

In 2006, Senator Duckworth became the director of the Illinois Department of Veteran affairs, and held the position until 2009. While in the position, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with PTSD and veterans with brain injuries.

Twitter: @SenDuckworth

Lindsey Graham

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Lindsey Graham

U.S. Republican Senator of South Carolina

Lindsey Graham has earned a reputation as a conservative problem-solver and one of the strongest proponents of national defense. Graham is also a leader in cutting spending, reforming entitlements, and reducing government interference in businesses.

Prior to serving in the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. Before being elected to Congress, Graham compiled a distinguished record in the United States Air Force, retiring at the rank of Colonel in June 2015, having served his country in uniform for 33 years. Graham was elected to the United States Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014. Since 2019, he has been the Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Senator Graham spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @LindsayGrahamSC

Ian Bremmer

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Ian Bremmer

President and Founder of Eurasia Group

Ian Bremmer is the President and Founder of Eurasia Group, a leading global political risk research and consulting firm as well as founder of GZERO Media tasked with public coverage for global affairs.. Bremmer is also a foreign affairs columnist and editor at large for Time Magazine as of December 2014. In 2013, he was named professor at New York University, and in 2019, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs announced that Bremmer would teach an Applied Geopolitics course at the school. He is the author of The J Curve, Every Nation for Itself, and the New York Times bestselling Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism.

He is a prolific thought leader and author, regularly expressing his views on political issues in public speeches, television appearances, and top publications. Dubbed the “rising guru” in the field of political risk by The Economist, he is a Global Research Professor at New York University and a Foreign Affairs Columnist and Editor at Large for TIME magazine. His latest book, Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World, was published in May 2015. Bremmer is credited with bringing the craft of political risk to financial markets—he created Wall Street’s first global political risk index (GPRI)—and for establishing political risk as an academic discipline.

Bremmer spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @ianbremmer

General David Petraeus

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General David Petraeus

Former U.S. Army General and public official

General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus is one of the most prominent U.S. military figures of the post-9/11 era.  During his 37-year career in the United States Army, General Petraeus was widely recognized for his leadership of the Surge in Iraq, which reduced violence in Iraq by over 85%; for his oversight of the organization that produced the U.S. Army’s counterinsurgency manual and overhauled all aspects of preparing U.S. Army leaders and units for deployment to combat; and for his command of coalition forces in Afghanistan as they reversed the momentum of the Taliban and enabled the commencement of the transition of tasks to Afghan forces and institutions.

General Petraeus’ military career was distinguished by significant achievements during assignments in Cold War Europe, Central America, the United States, Haiti, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the greater Middle East. His career culminated with six consecutive commands as a general officer, five of which were in combat, a record believed unmatched in the post-World War II era.  

After General Petraeus’ retirement from the military, he served as Director of the CIA. General Petraeus is now a Partner with the global investment firm KKR and the Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, a position he has held for over two years. He is also a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors College, a Judge Widney Professor at the University of Southern California, a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Co-Chairman of the Woodrow Wilson Institute’s Global Advisory Council, and a member of the boards of seven veterans service organizations and several think tanks.

General Petraeus received the American Spirit Award for Distinguished Public Service at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Kayleigh McEnany

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Kayleigh McEnany

Writer, commentator

Kayleigh McEnany is an American political commentator, writer, and former CNN contributor. In 2017, she was appointed national Spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, and in February 2019, she was announced as National Press Secretary for the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign. With an extensive background in politics and media, McEnany has made many appearances on several notable cable television shows and has written for several notable publications.

McEnany spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @kayleighmcenany

Larry Kudlow

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Larry Kudlow

Director of the United States National Economic Council

Larry Kudlow is an American financial analyst and former television host serving as Director of the National Economic Council under President Donald Trump since 2018. (1)

Kudlow began his career as a junior financial analyst at the New York Federal Reserve. In 1981, Kudlow joined the administration of Ronald Reagan as associate director for economics and planning in the Office of Management and Budget. After leaving the Reagan Administration during the second term, Kudlow returned to Wall Street and Bear Stearns, serving as the firm's chief economist from 1987 until 1994. In the late 1990s, Kudlow left Wall Street to become an economic media commentator – first with the National Review, and later hosting several shows on CNBC. (1)

Larry Kudlow spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

(1) Material from Wikipedia.

Abby Huntsman

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Abby Huntsman

American journalist, television personality

Abby Huntsman currently serves as a co-host of ABC's The View. She was previously a general assignment reporter for Fox News Channel (FNC), providing coverage of the news of the day across the network’s daytime and primetime programming.

Prior to joining FNC, Huntsman served as co-host of MSNBC’s The Cycle and was a host/producer for The Huffington Post’s streaming network HuffPost Live. Huntsman was named one of Forbes “30 under 30” in media in 2013 and received a B.A. in political science and communications from the University of Pennsylvania.

Huntsman spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @HuntsmandAbby

Andrew McAfee

Andrew McAfee

Scientist

Andrew McAfee is co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and the associate director of the Center for Digital Business at the MIT Sloan School of Management, studying the ways information technology affects businesses and business as a whole. His latest book written with Erik Brynjolfsson is Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future. Their 2014 book The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies was a New York Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Financial Times McKinsey business book of the year award. He writes academic papers, a blog for the Financial Times, and articles for publications including the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He’s talked about his work on The Charlie Rose Show and 60 Minutes, at TED, Davos, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and in front of many other audiences.

Twitter: @amcafee

Ret. General Ronald Keys

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Ronald Keys

Retired Air Force General

General Ron Keys retired from the Air Force in 2007 after completing a career of over forty years and commands of eight different organizations including operational, staff, and international units. His last assignment was as Commander of Air Combat Command, at the time the Air Force’s largest major command, consisting of more than 1,200 aircraft, 27 wings, 17 bases and 200 operating locations worldwide with 105,000 personnel.

Under his leadership, ACC organized the Air Force’s first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Wing and first Network Warfare Wing. In September of 2007, he received the Air Force Association’s most prestigious annual award, The H. H. Arnold Award. General Keys is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours in the F-4, A-10, F-16 and F-15, including more than 300 hours of combat time.

General Keys spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Seth Flaxman

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Seth Flaxman

Co-founder of Democracy Works

Seth co-founded Democracy Works (and the nonprofit’s flagship site, TurboVote.org) while receiving a Master’s in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He previously worked as a researcher on the Council on Foreign Relations and Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. In 2011, he was honored as one of Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” in the field of law and policy. Seth is also a Draper Richards Kaplan entrepreneur and Ashoka Fellow.

Flaxman spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @Sethflaxman

Joel Benenson

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Joel Benenson

Founder and CEO of Benenson Strategy Group

Joel Benenson is the  founder and CEO of Benenson Strategy Group, and the only Democratic pollster in history to have played a leading role in three winning presidential campaigns. Joel has been the chief pollster and chief campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, a senior strategist for President Barack Obama beginning with his 2008 campaign, and has worked on President Bill Clinton’s polling team during the 1996 race.

Joel’s corporate clients have included top executives at the Campbell Soup Company, HBO, Toyota, the NFL, Procter & Gamble, Panera Bread Co., Hearst, Blue Star Energy, and MSNBC. In the advocacy and nonprofit sector, he has worked with leading institutions including AARP, League of Conservation Voters, SEIU, Clean Energy Works, and Grocery Manufacturers of America.

Before becoming a pollster in 1995, Joel was a political journalist for the Daily News in New York and served as communications director for Governor Mario Cuomo’s 1994 campaign. He was also previously a vice president at the New York ad agency FCB.

Benenson spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @benesonj

Jacob Weisberg

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Jacob Weisberg

American political journalist

In 2018, Jacob Weisberg co-founded Pushkin Industries, an audio content company, with Malcolm Gladwell. The two CEOs produce several well-known podcasts under the company, including Revisionist History and Broken Record.

Before founding Pushkin, he worked as a writer and editor at The New Republic and covered politics for New York Magazine before joining the new internet magazine Slate, where he covered the 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns as Chief Political Correspondent and served as Editor from 2002 to 2008. Weisberg also became Chairman of The Slate Group, whose roster includes Slate magazine and Panoply, a podcast network.

He has been a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, a contributing editor of Vanity Fair, and a reporter for Newsweek in London and Washington. Weisberg is also the author of several books, including The Bush Tragedy, a 2008 New York Times bestseller, and In an Uncertain World (2003), written with former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin.

Weisberg spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @jacobwe

Stephanie Cutter

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Stephanie Cutter

Founding Partner of Precision Strategies

Stephanie Cutter is a founding partner at Precision Strategies, a communications, digital and data targeting consulting firm in Washington D.C. and New York City. Her political and communications experience spans two decades in public service and the private sector, and she has crafted communications and crisis-management strategies for the White House, US Senate, and the nation’s leading political campaigns and corporations. After helping to elect President Obama in 2008, Stephanie was the President’s 2012 Deputy Campaign Manager in charge of communications, media, policy, and research, as well as being part of the senior strategy team. Stephanie sits on the boards of Organizing for Action, the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and in 2013, she was appointed to the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities.

Cutter spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @stefcutter

Ambassador Ryan Crocker

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Ambassador Ryan Crocker

Former U.S. Ambassador

Ryan Crocker is Dean and Executive Professor at the George Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University where he holds the Edward and Howard Kruse Endowed Chair. He retired from the Foreign Service in April 2009 after a career of over 37 years, but was recalled to active duty by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan in 2011. He has served as U.S. Ambassador six times: Afghanistan (2011-2012), Iraq (2007-2009), Pakistan (2004- 2007), Syria (1998-2001), Kuwait (1994-1997), and Lebanon (1990-1993). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and the Association of American Ambassadors. In August 2013, he was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees all U.S. government-supported civilian international media. He is also on the Board of Directors of Mercy Corps International.

Ambassador Crocker received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in 2009. In July 2012, he was named an Honorary Marine, the 75th civilian so honored since the founding of the Corps in 1775.

Ambassador Crocker spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Heidi Crebo-Rediker

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Heidi Crebo-Rediker

Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

Heidi Crebo-Rediker is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the CEO of International Capital Strategies. Prior to this, she served as the State Department’s first chief economist. providing advice and analysis to the secretary on foreign policy issues with a significant economic or financial component. Crebo-Rediker was also the Chief of International Finance and Economics for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, following nearly two decades in Europe as a senior investment banker. In the Senate, she advised then-chairman John Kerry on a range of international and domestic economic and financial issues. She has had an extensive career in investment banking, and on returning to Washington, D.C., she was the founding Co-Director of the Global Strategic Finance Initiative at the New America Foundation. During her time in the Senate, she was the architect of the bipartisan National Infrastructure Bank legislation (BUILD Act) introduced in March 2011 and included in President Barack Obama’s JOBS Act.

Crebo-Rediker spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin

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Douglas Holtz-Eakin

American economist

Douglas Holtz-Eakin has a distinguished record as an academic, policy adviser, and strategist. He is the President of the American Action Forum and most recently was a Commissioner on the Congressionally chartered Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Since 2001, he has served in a variety of important policy positions. He was the 6th Director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) from 2003 to 2005. Following his tenure at CBO, Dr. Holtz-Eakin was the Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and the Paul A. Volcker Chair in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. During 2007 and 2008 he was Director of Domestic and Economic Policy for the John McCain presidential campaign. Dr. Holtz-Eakin serves on the Boards of the Tax Foundation, National Economists Club, and the Research Advisory Board of the Center for Economic Development.

Holtz-Eakin spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016.

Twitter: @djheakin