Vicky Ward

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Vicky Ward

Author, journalist

Vicky Ward is a New York Times Bestselling author, investigative reporter and author of the book, KUSHNER, INC., published March 19, 2019.

The author of two best-selling books, The Liar's Ball: The Extraordinary Saga of How One Building Broke the World's Toughest Tycoons, and The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers. She is the editor at large of HuffPost and HuffPost’s long-form magazine, Highline, and Town & Country magazine. Previously, she was a contributor to Esquire and contributing editor to Vanity Fair for eleven years where her articles covered politics, finance, art and culture and society.

Ward discussed her book KUSHNER, INC. at The Common Good in 2019: Vicky Ward Investigative Reporter and New York Times bestselling author "Kushner, Inc.".

Twitter: @VickyPJWard

Guy Cecil

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Guy Cecil

Chair of Priorities USA

Guy Cecil is one of America’s leading political strategists. He is currently the Chairman of Priorities USA Action, an independent political action committee, and the Founder of Miles Strategies. Cecil has more than 15 years of experience managing high-profile political, non-profit, and corporate issue advocacy campaigns, including having served as Executive Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He is recognized as a leading Democratic strategist with experience in every region of the country, including Senate races in 35 states.

The Common Good hosted Cecil on March 6th, 2019, for a discussion entitled Political Briefing - “Election 2020: Messaging & Strategy”.

Twitter: @GuyCecil

Fern Hurst

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Fern Hurst

Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of CLAL

Fern K. Hurst, a Jewish leader and champion for pluralism, was recently named the new Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. Ms. Hurst succeeds Thomas O. Katz, Esq. as Chairman of the organization.

Active in CLAL since the late 1980’s, Ms. Hurst has been a member of the Board for many years, most recently in the position of Associate Chair/Secretary. Long active in the work of the organization, she was a member of the delegation that went to the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona, the pre-eminent interfaith forum, and has been a key participant in CLAL’s annual workshops in Aspen, Colorado.

In addition to her participation at CLAL, Ms. Hurst is a member of the Executive Committee of AIPAC, and was the founding president of The Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York. She is a member of the Business Council of the Democratic National Committee, and a member of the Democratic Leadership Council. She is also on the board of Goucher College, from which she holds a B.A, and is an overseer of the School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania, from which she holds a Masters of City Planning.

Fern co-hosted Rule of Law, Investigations, Testing the New Supremes in 2019 and hosted a Meet & Greet: The Right Honorable David Miliband in 2016 at The Common Good.

Robert Friedman

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Robert friedman

CEO of Bungalow Media & Entertainment

Robert Friedman is well known in the entertainment business world as his 30 year long career exemplifies. In this field he has developed, produced, and distributed all forms of filmed and experiential content across traditional and digital media platforms. Friedman has held an array of senior executive positions including President of RadicalMedia & Entertainment; President of AOL, Interactive Marketing, TV, & Ad Sales; Co-Chairman of New Line Cinema in charge of Worldwide Theatrical Marketing and Licensing and President of New Line Television, which he launched for the company. Friedman was an original member of the start-up team at MTV.

Friedman serves on the boards of AccuWeather, Mount Sinai Health System, Columbia Graduate School of Business, NATPE, The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and is a trustee emeritus of Vassar College.

The Common Good hosted Friedman on February 12, 2019: Screening and Discussion of The Panama Papers. Moderated by Stephanie Ruhle, Friedman spoke alongside Alex Winter and Kevin Hall at the event.

Alex Winter

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Alex Winter

Actor, film director, screenwriter

Alex Winter is a British-American actor, film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Bill S. Preston, Esq. in the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its 1991 sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. However, his acting career dates all the way back to his childhood, when he spent several years performing on Broadway with co-starring roles in The King & I, Peter Pan, and the American premiere of Simon Gray's Close of Play at the Manhattan Theater Club. He then completed NYU film school and went on to have starring roles in several other feature films, including the Warner Brothers smash hit, The Lost Boys and Percy Adlon's Rosalie Goes Shopping.

In 2000, Winter wrote and directed Fever, released by LionsGate Films. In 2013, Winter returned to the screen in Grand Piano, directed by Eugenio Mira. 2013 also saw the release of Winter’s VH1 Rock Doc Downloaded, the story of Napster. The feature documentary premiered at SXSW and earned worldwide critical acclaim at theatrical and festival screenings. Winter’s follow-up, the multiple award-winning documentary Deep Web, had its world premiere in 2015 at SXSW followed by a broadcast premiere in the U.S. on the Epix network alongside a global festival tour.

Winter now has two new documentary features; The Panama Papers for the Epix Network, and Trust Machine for Breaker and Futurism Studios. His current project is titled Zappa; the first all-access documentary on the life and times of Frank Zappa. The Kickstarter campaign for this project was the highest funded documentary in crowdfunding history.

The Common Good hosted Winter on February 12, 2019: Screening and Discussion of The Panama Papers. Moderated by Stephanie Ruhle, Winter spoke alongside Kevin Hall and Robert Friedman at the event.

Twitter: @Winter

Kevin G. Hall

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Kevin G. Hall

Journalist

Kevin Hall is a senior investigator and chief economics correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers. He shared the 2016 Pulitzer Prize as part of the Panama Papers team, and is a 2010 Pulitzer finalist and Loeb Award winner for reporting on Wall Street and the financial crisis. From 1999 to 2005 Hall was Knight Ridder’s Brazil-based South America bureau chief, and won the Sigma Delta Chi for Best Foreign Correspondence in 2004. Hall was the 2013-14 president of SABEW and co-coordinates its annual Goldschmidt data-immersion fellowship.

The Common Good hosted Hall on February 12, 2019: Screening and Discussion of The Panama Papers. Moderated by Stephanie Ruhle, Hall spoke alongside Alex Winter and Robert Friedman at the event.

Twitter: @KevinGHall

Joseph Zidle

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Joseph Zidle

Investment strategist

Joe Zidle is a Managing Director and the Chief Investment Strategist in the Private Wealth Solutions group. He has been on CNBC and is known for his ability to spot trends in reams of data.  

He previously spent nearly a decade at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, most recently serving as Head of Investment Strategy for Global Wealth Management and Deputy Director of the Research Investment Committee, where he was responsible for creating and communicating global investment strategies to the firm's private client division across all major investment disciplines. He was also with  Richard Bernstein Advisors, as an independent investment advisor, where he was responsible for portfolio strategy, asset allocation, investment management and marketing to major wealth management firms and independent RIAs.

Joe Zidle participated in the Economic Forecast For 2021 with Bryon Wien and Joe Zidle, on February 15 2021. Wien and Zidle provide a special forecast on the economy and the markets given the many unusual factors - Covid, a new Administration and the continued political divide, raging unemployment, etc. What are we likely to see in the next few months and what can we hope for?

Laurence Tribe

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Laurence Tribe

Legal scholar

Laurence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard, has taught at its Law School since 1968 and was voted the best professor by the graduating class of 2000. The title “University Professor” is Harvard’s highest academic honor, awarded to just a handful of professors at any given time and to just 68 professors in all of Harvard University’s history.

Born in China to Russian Jewish parents, Tribe entered Harvard in 1958 at 16; graduated summa cum laude in Mathematics (1962) and magna cum laude in Law (1966); clerked for the California and U.S. Supreme Courts (1966-68); received tenure at 30; was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at 38 and to the American Philosophical Society in 2010; helped write the constitutions of South Africa, the Czech Republic, and the Marshall Islands; has received eleven honorary degrees, most recently a degree honoris causa from the Government of Mexico in March 2011 that was never before awarded to an American and an honorary D. Litt. From Columbia University; has prevailed in three-fifths of the many appellate cases he has argued (including 35 in the U.S. Supreme Court); was appointed in 2010 by President Obama and Attorney General Holder to serve as the first Senior Counselor for Access to Justice; and has written 115 books and articles, including his treatise, American Constitutional Law, cited more than any other legal text since 1950.

Tribe spoke at The Common Good in 2019: Rule of Law, Investigations, Testing the New Supremes.

Twitter: @tribelaw

Bret Stephens

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Bret Stephens

Columnist, associate editor for the New York Times

Bret Stephens is an op-ed columnist and associate editor for the New York Times. He previously worked for the Wall Street Journal, where he served concurrently as foreign-affairs columnist, deputy editorial page editor and member of the editorial board. Prior to that he was editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, a position he assumed in 2002 at the age of 28. Mr. Stephens has degrees from the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics, as well as three honorary doctorates.

Stephens was hosted by The Common Good in 2018: Defending Democracy: John Avlon, Philip Bobbitt, Ian Kahn, Garry Kasparov, and Bret Stephens.

Twitter: @BretStephensNYT

Ian Kahn

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Ian Kahn

Actor

Ian Kahn recently starred as General George Washington in AMC’s critically acclaimed series Turn: Washington’s Spies, which recently completed its fourth and final season. Prior to landing the role of the nation’s first president, Kahn appeared in numerous high-profile television series, including Sex and the City, Suits, Law & Order, Castle, The Unusuals and Shameless. Kahn has been speaking about his experience playing General Washington and the role’s connection to our current political challenges in venues across the country.

Kahn was hosted by The Common Good in 2018: Defending Democracy: John Avlon, Philip Bobbitt, Ian Kahn, Garry Kasparov, and Bret Stephens.

Twitter: @IanKahn

Philip Bobbitt

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Philip Bobbitt

Director for the Center for National Security at Columbia Law School

Philip C. Bobbitt is the Herbert Wechsler Professor of Federal Jurisprudence and director for the Center for National Security at Columbia Law School. He is one of the nation’s leading constitutional theorists. Bobbitt’s interests include not only constitutional law but also international security and the history of strategy. He has served as a law clerk to the Honorable Henry J. Friendly, associate counsel to the president, the Counselor on International Law at the State Department, legal counsel to the Senate Iran-Contra Committee, and Senior Director for Critical Infrastructure and Senior Director for strategic planning at the National Security Council.

Mr. Bobbitt was hosted by The Common Good in 2018: Defending Democracy: John Avlon, Philip Bobbitt, Ian Kahn, Garry Kasparov, and Bret Stephens - November 29, 2018.

Twitter: @PhilipBobbitt

Garry Kasparov

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Garry Kasparov

Chess Grandmaster

Garry Kasparov, one of the world’s greatest chess champions in history, fled Russia in 2013 after Putin’s crackdown on reform efforts led by Kasparov and others. Kasparov currently serves as chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, and has authored numerous works on the Putin regime and artificial intelligence.

Garry Kasparov joined The Common Good to discuss Russia and the dangers Vladimir Putin and his regime pose to the world in Defending Democracy: John Avlon, Philip Bobbitt, Ian Kahn, Garry Kasparov, and Bret Stephens. Kasparov also spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2018.

Twitter: @Kasparov63

John Berman

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John Berman

CNN Anchor

John Berman is the co-anchor of New Day on CNN. He was previously an anchor on CNN Newsroom, Early Start, and At This Hour. Prior to working at CNN, Berman worked at ABC News as a contributor to all of ABC’s broadcasts. He reported on the invasion of Iraq and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. He has also worked on Anderson Cooper 360 and Cuomo Prime Time. He has also appeared in Jeopardy as a celebrity contestant.

Mr. Berman was hosted by The Common Good in 2018: Facts and Fears: Hard Truths and Intelligence: James Clapper - November 7, 2018.

Twitter: @JohnBerman

Honorary Advisory Board Member: James Clapper

Director James R. Clapper is rightly considered to be one of the leading security minds of the 21st century. He has served in many key roles in the U.S. intelligence community, most notably as the Director of National Intelligence, In that role, Clapper served as the nation’s top intelligence official and the principal intelligence advisor to the President from 2010 to 2017. As the Director of National Intelligence, Clapper held one of the broadest portfolios in the U.S. government, overseeing 200,000 intelligence employees internationally, a $52 billion budget, and the intelligence units of high-profile organizations like the CIA, NSA, and FBI. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

While many of his accomplishments remain classified, Clapper was in the Situation Room during the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden. He also played a pivotal role in uncovering the likely parties at work behind the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee. Among his other notable public achievements, Clapper worked to improve communication between domestic agencies, building partnerships with foreign governments, and sweeping IT upgrades. Prior to becoming the Director of National Intelligence, Clapper served in two Administrations as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He was the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on intelligence, counterintelligence, and security matters for the Department. In this capacity, he also acted as the Director of Defense Intelligence for the DNI.

James Clapper on flying mission  during the Vietnam War, June 1971

James Clapper on flying mission  during the Vietnam War, June 1971



Clapper in 1995, a lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency

Clapper in 1995, a lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency

Clapper retired in 1995 after a distinguished career in the U.S. Armed Forces. His career began in 1961 when he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and culminated as a lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Clapper’s intelligence-related positions over his 32 years in uniform include Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence at Headquarters, U.S. Air Force during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and Director of Intelligence for three combatant commands: U.S. Forces, Korea, Pacific Command, and Strategic Air Command. He served two combat tours during the Southeast Asia conflict, and flew 73 combat support missions in EC-47’s over Laos and Cambodia.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter presents Clapper with the Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, 2016.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter presents Clapper with the Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, 2016.

His awards include three National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medals, two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public Service Award, three Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Awards, the Presidentially-conferred National Security Medal, and many other U.S. civilian and military, as well as foreign government, awards and decorations. In recognition of his storied career, he was awarded the FBI Director’s Medallion and the title of honorary Special Agent by FBI Director, James Comey.

He is currently a national security analyst for CNN and author of the New York Times best-selling book, Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence.

Clapper earned a bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland, a master’s degree in political science from St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas, and an honorary doctorate in strategic intelligence from the then-Joint Military Intelligence College. He is married to the former Susan Terry, and they have two grown children and four grandchildren.

The Common Good hosted Clapper with moderatorJohn BermaninFacts and Fears: Hard Truths and Intelligence: James Clapper - November 7, 2018. He currently serves as a member ofThe Common Good Honorary Advisory Board.

Selected Media:

Clapper with TCG CEO Patricia Duff, and John Berman in 2018

Clapper with TCG CEO Patricia Duff, and John Berman in 2018

Haley Barbour

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Governor Haley Barbour

Former governor of Mississippi

Haley Barbour, Founding Partner of BGR Group, returned to BGR in January 2012 after serving two consecutive terms as Governor of Mississippi, including two years as the Chairman of the Republican Governors Association. (1)

Governor Haley Barbour began his political career in 1968, dropping out of college to work on Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign. Gov. Barbour later served as Political Director of the Reagan White House. From 1993 to 1997, Gov. Barbour served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, managing the 1994 Republican surge that led to GOP control of both Houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. (1)

In 2003, he was elected Governor of Mississippi, assuming office in January 2004. After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, he received the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award for his efforts to rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Other awards during his tenure as Governor included being named Governor of the Year by Governing Magazine, receiving the Gulf Guardian Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and receiving the Adam Smith Award from BIPAC. (1)

Gov. Barbour participated at The Common Good "On the Fault Lines: Decision 2018" Midterm Elections Power Panel on October 25th, 2018, along with Gerald Seib, David Gergen, Nate Silver, and Ann Lewis, moderated by Gloria Borger.

Twitter: @HaleyBarbour

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(1) Material from the BGR Group website.

Nate Silver

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Nate Silver

Statistician, journalist

Nate Silver is an American statistician and writer who analyzes baseball and elections. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight and a Special Correspondent for ABC News.

Silver was named one of The World's 100 Most Influential People by Time in 2009 after an election forecasting system he developed successfully predicted the outcomes in 49 of the 50 states in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. In the 2012 United States presidential election, the forecasting system correctly predicted the winner of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In 2010, the FiveThirtyEight blog was licensed for publication by The New York Times. In 2012 and 2013, FiveThirtyEight won Webby Awards as the "Best Political Blog" from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. In July 2013, Silver sold FiveThirtyEight to ESPN, and Silver became its Editor in Chief. The ESPN-owned FiveThirtyEight launched on March 17, 2014. The site focused on a broad range of subjects under the rubric of "data journalism".

The Common Good hosted Silver on October 25, 2018 on the "On the Fault Lines: Decision 2018" Midterm Elections Power Panel. He spoke alongside Governor Haley Barbour, David Gergen, Ann Lewis and Gerald Seib, moderated by Gloria Borger.

Twitter: @NateSilver538

Gerald Seib

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Gerald Seib

Editor, journalist

Gerald Seib is the Washington bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, responsible for the Journal’s news and analysis from the nation’s capitol. he writes a weekly column, “Capital Journal,” which brings an insightful, predictive and original understanding to politics, national affairs and foreign policy. Mr. Seib appears regularly on networks such as CNBC, Fox Business Network, CNN, and the BBC as a commentator on Washington affairs.

Seib participated at The Common Good "On the Fault Lines: Decision 2018" Midterm Elections Power Panel on October 25th, 2018, along with Governor Haley Barbour, David Gergen, Nate Silver, and Ann Lewis, moderated by Gloria Borger.

Twitter: @GeraldFSeib

Gloria Borger

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Gloria Borger

Political analyst, correspondent, pundit

Gloria Borger is CNN's chief political analyst, appearing regularly on The Situation Room. Borger plays an instrumental role in the network's daily coverage while reporting on a variety of political and breaking news stories. (1)

Before joining CNN in September 2007, Borger was CBS News' national political correspondent and a contributor to CBS's Face the Nation, 60 Minutes II and the network's special events coverage. From 2002 to 2004, she was the co-anchor of CNBC's Capital Report. Borger began her professional career as a reporter at The Washington Star where she covered politics and co-authored a daily serial. Borger was a political columnist for U.S. News & World Report and chief congressional correspondent for Newsweek. (1)

Borger moderated the "On the Fault Lines: Decision 2018" Midterm Elections Power Panel at The Common Good on October 25th, 2018, with speakers Gerald Seib, David Gergen, Nate Silver, Ann Lewis, and Governor Haley Barbour.

Twitter: @GloriaBorger

(1) Material from the CNN website.

Ann Lewis

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Ann Lewis

Democratic Party strategist

Ann Lewis is a Democratic political veteran, serving as the White House Director of Communications for President Bill Clinton from 1997-2000 and Senior Advisor to the campaigns of Hilary Rodham Clinton for Senate in 2000 and 2006, and for President in 2008. In 2016, she was Co-Chair of Jewish Women for Hillary. Lewis was the first female Political Director of the Democratic National Committee (1981-1985), the Vice President for Public Policy of Planned Parenthood (1994-1995) and the Former Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski. (1)

Lewis participated at The Common Good "On the Fault Lines: Decision 2018" Midterm Elections Power Panel on October 25th, 2018, along with Gerald Seib, Nate Silver, David Gergen and Governor Haley Barbour, moderated by Gloria Borger.

(1) Material from the Democratic Majority for Israel website.

Paula Stern

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The Honorable Paula Stern

Businesswoman, former Chairwoman of the ITC

Paula Stern founded The Stern Group in 1988 and leads its practice, serving national and multi-national companies and organizations on business, political, and tech policy issues that affect their competitiveness in a global economy. (1)

As chairwoman of the ITC, from 1984-1986, and a commissioner for a nine-year term, Dr. Stern analyzed and voted on over 1,000 trade cases involving a broad range of industries and issues. At the time, she was the second highest-ranking woman in the executive branch of the U.S. Government. As both a member and Senior Adviser of the Trade Policy Sub-council of the bipartisan Competitiveness Policy Council, Stern prepared the Council’s proposals for reforming U.S. international economic policy making, delivered to the U.S. Congress and President in 1993, which guided the trade and export policy of the Clinton Administration. Dr. Stern also served as a member of the U.S. President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations; co-chaired the International Competition Policy Advisory Committee for the Attorney General and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division; chaired the Advisory Committee of the U.S. Export-Import Bank; and served as a Senate confirmed Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation. (1)

The Common Good hosted Stern on October 4th, 2018, for a special discussion on “Trump & Global Trade (Dis)Order”, and at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2018.

(1) Material from The Stern Group website.