Advisory Committee
The Team Harmony Foundation is proud to have the support and guidance of outstanding community leaders from around the world.
Meet our Advisory Committee.
NOTE: The Team Harmony Advisory Committee development is continuously in progress and will be updated on a regular basis.
Martin J. Walsh, Honorary Co-Chair
Martin J. Walsh is a lifelong champion of working people and a proud product of the City of Boston, is the City’s 54th mayor. Mayor Walsh was sworn in to serve a second term on January 1, 2018.
Kumar Bogati
Kumar Bogati holds a Masters in Business Studies (MBS) in Finance from Tribhuvan University of Nepal. Kumar is associated and working in different organizations as a finance and goods administrator. Kumar serves as a motivator for school students and has keen interest in working towards peace and harmony among all human beings.
Mark U. Brodie
Mark is an integrated marketing communication and digital narrative expert with experience in an array of projects, productions, publications and services in markets around the world. Mark's leadership and creative skills are focused on the development of programs, organizations, technologies, and audiences that believe in consistently pushing the status quo. His work is manifest in support of a number of health and technology related startups that improve the public's well-being.
As an educator, Mark uses a constructivist teaching style that infuses social justice elements in all the courses he instructs including, Digital Narrative, Non-Profit Communications Management, Conflict and Negotiation and Sports as Civic Engagement. He also leads Common Collective, an Emerson College student content production team that works with non-profit and educational organizations.
His current projects include producing Emerson College’s School of Communications podcast Campus on the Common, The podcast Navigating Dementia, Directing In Their Words, a film project about Immigration on the US Southern Border with the Border Angels, The Rediscover Rosaito Film Festival & Public and Sports diplomacy programs in Rosarito, Mexico.
Sharon Chapman
Sharon Chapman has worked at Stoneham High School for the past 30 years. For 20 years, she taught science and health education at the high school along with peer leadership. For the past 10 years, Sharon has been the Program Supervisor of Science and Health Education for grades 5-12. She has served as the varsity girls soccer coach for over 28 years. Sharon has been the Peer Leadership advisor for the past 18 years and was in the first cohort of MA teachers to be trained by the ADL World of Difference group. Sharon holds an undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Scranton and a master’s degree in teaching from Simmons College. Her main focus has always been to try to make Stoneham High a positive and welcoming environment for everyone who is part of the school community. She attended Team Harmony with students from Stoneham High School when it first launched.
Kelly Cohen
Kelly Cohen is the Director of JumpSpark, an Innovation Initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and a member of the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative. She has spent her career building meaningful, dynamic Jewish experiences for children, teens and adults and built a wealth of experience working in a myriad of different settings including camps, day schools, synagogues, and Israel travel. She holds a BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, a Masters in Jewish Education from Hebrew College and is a graduate of the Pardes Educators Program. Kelly is a graduate of the M² Senior Educators Cohort and a participant in The Jewish Education Project's Generation Now Fellowship.
As the Director of JumpSpark, Kelly leads the visioning and realization of JumpSpark as the hub of Jewish teen innovation in Atlanta- reimagining the possibilities for teens, parents of teens, Jewish professionals and overseeing the allocation of large-scale grants to support this work.
Kit Cunningham
Kit Cunningham is the Director of Community Engagement and an interdisciplinary studies teacher at the Rivers School, an independent school in metrowest Boston. Her work to engage students in community issues through a social justice lens, with hands on, relational experiences, and also includes the oversight of a unique student run philanthropy program. Kit has been an educator and non-profit administrator in public and private schools, and at a nonprofit where her focus was on the empowerment of women and girls. Promoting an understanding of the systemic and interrelated nature of social issues is at the core of her teaching and community work. Kit is involved as a volunteer and Board member at the Boston Hope Lodge, the Waltham Family school, and has been on the board of organizations supporting women, such as RIA House.
Cathryn Cushner Edelstein
Cathryn Cushner Edelstein, holds a M.A. in Speech Communication from New York University, a B.S. in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Boston University. Cathryn is Faculty Coordinator for the Institute on Activism (Team Harmony); Faculty Director of the Paris Global Pathways Program. A Senior Executive-in-Residence teaching at Emerson College full-time for fifteen years, Cathryn is the founding director of the Nonprofit Communication Management Program at Emerson College which provides experiential collaboration between students and nonprofit organizations; students plan, create, and execute cause campaigns.
Niko Emack
Niko Emack is a lifelong Cambridge resident and Cambridge Rindge and Latin alumnus. He graduated from Emerson College in 2018, where he majored in Political Communication and played soccer in the NCAA. A student of media and communication, Niko has held jobs working for the Boston Globe and NPR’s Only A Game. His reporting has been published on the front page of the Boston Globe and his radio interviews aired nationally. Most recently, his expertise took him to Cambridge City Hall, where he served as Mayor Marc C. McGovern's Communication and Community Engagement Liaison. In this role, he managed digital communication, social media, press relations, and event planning. Niko is proud to serve his community and values the importance of mentorship. When he’s not behind a desk, Niko coaches the boy’s Junior Varsity soccer team at CRLS and volunteers with My Brother's Keeper Cambridge.
Rev. Rodney E. Dailey
Rev. Rodney E. Dailey is the founder of two successful gang prevention and mediation programs in Boston, MA. He is a published author of “Gang Peace to Street Peace, The Untold Story“ and a Veteran of the United States Army. He coordinated the first march for gang violence in Boston, MA and helped organize the first national gang summit in Kansas City, receiving over 90 awards from local and national organizations and governments. The 41st President of the United States awarded him and the Gang Peace Program the 1000th Point of Light Presidential Award. The program was later re-awarded by the 44th President of the United States, President Obama. He fulfilled a fellowship at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and another at Northeastern University’s Law institute and is an Otto Snowden fellow. He earned a bachelor’s in human service management from the University of Massachusetts Boston and completed one year of studies towards his MDiv at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Rev Dailey is an ordained Local elder in the African Methodist Episcopal church and has completed the AME Ministerial Institute, he acknowledged his call under Rev. Dr. Leroy Attles and was later Ordained by Bishop Gregory GM Ingram, Rev Dailey is a son of St Paul AME Cambridge, where he has served for 25+ years as a trustee, President/Treasurer of the men’s choir and ministerial staff member. He is currently the Associate minister of New Bethel AME Lowell. Rev Rodney is the president of the 1st Episcopal District Sons of Allen men’s ministry, serving 364 church’s, and he also serves as the Chaplain of Cambridge Veteran Services since 2017.
Sasha Goodfriend
Sasha Goodfriend is a social movement organizer working to curate feminist & queer experiences through partnerships with statewide government, community organizations & creatives alike. She works to advance this mission through her roles as President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization for Women (Mass NOW) since 2015 and as Chair of the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, a consultant with Boston Pride and Suffrage100MA. Sasha graduated with a B.A. from the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University majoring in International Relations with a minor in Women, Gender & Sexuality studies and received her Masters in Public Policy from Simmons University.
Jon P. Jennings
Jon P. Jennings is the current City Manager of the City of Portland, ME. Prior to his appointment, he served as the Assistant City Manager for the city of South Portland.
As city manager in Portland, he has focused his efforts on right-sizing municipal government so the city can concentrate on its core services. In order to allow the city to operate more cost effectively and efficiently, and provide excellent customer service, he has been exploring and implementing innovative ways to improve city services. In 2007, Jennings brought the idea of professional basketball to Maine and was a partner in Maine Basketball, LLC, which owns the Maine Red Claws, until 2012. Jennings worked in the United States Senate for Senator John Kerry, and held several senior positions in government in Washington, DC. at the U.S. Department of Justice and at the White House during the Clinton Administration. He also worked for the Boston Celtics in a variety of coaching and management positions for 11 years.
He has served on the board of numerous charitable organizations, including in Maine the board of Mercy Hospital, July 4th Portland, and on the City of Portland’s Homelessness Task Force. He attended Indiana University (Bloomington) and Harvard University, where he received his master’s in public administration.
Denise Kaigler
Denise Kaigler is the founder and principal of MDK Brand Management, LLC, a firm that helps clients elevate their brand, broaden their visibility, and strengthen their value. Denise is also the author of Forty Dollars and a Brand: How to Overcome Challenges, Defy the Odds and Live Your Awesomeness, a book designed to help individuals define a personal brand that helps them reach their professional goals. Denise has decades of corporate experience in communications, branding, and marketing at global brands, including Reebok, adidas Group, Nintendo and Boston Scientific. Since founding MDK Brand Management in 2015, she has been helping organizations and individuals discover, demonstrate, and increase their value through the power of storytelling. Organizations that have tapped MDK Brand Management include Allen & Gerritsen, Boston Scientific, Children’s Services of Roxbury, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Merrill Lynch, The BASE, and the National Basketball Wives Association. MDK Brand Management also supports numerous Massachusetts correctional facilities where Denise helps current and former inmates remake their brands to rebuild their lives.
Denise is active in the non-profit community and sits on several boards, including the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Mass Humanities, and the University of Massachusetts Boston Advisory Board for Sport Leadership and Administration. She is also an adjunct professor at colleges in the greater Boston area.
Richard Lapchick
Richard Lapchick is a human rights activist, pioneer for racial equality, internationally recognized expert on sports issues, scholar and author. He brought his commitment to equality and his belief that sport can be an effective instrument of positive social change to the University of Central Florida where he accepted an endowed chair in August 2001. Lapchick became the only person named as “One of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sport” to head up a sport management program.
Ray Matsumiya
Ray Matsumiya is the Director of the Oleander Initiative that gathers peacebuilders from around the world to Hiroshima, Japan for life changing programs and study tours. Inspired by a mother from Hiroshima, Ray has devoted his professional career to unofficial diplomacy, cross-cultural exchange and peacebuilding. Over the past twenty years, he has supervised over 50 programs and institutes in the US, Japan, Spain and six Middle Eastern/ North African countries. These programs sponsored by the US State Department, UNESCO, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and private foundations have included over 2500 educators and civil society leaders. Ray's programs have been featured in numerous newspapers around the world including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, Spain’s El Pais, Jordan’s Al-Arai and Morocco's Le Matin. In 2016, his Op-Ed was published in USA Today. He has also made appearances on the television stations NHK World (Japan), SNRT (Morocco) and Radio Tunis. Ray has been an invited speaker at TEDx, the Massachusetts State House, the Dayton International Peace Museum, the US embassy of Tunis and numerous universities such as the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Ray received his Master’s degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and his BA from Wesleyan University. He is a certified mediator under M.G.L. ch.233 § 23C.
Dimitris Messinis
Dimitris Messinis is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Mindspace, aiming to culture entrepreneurship in the Balkan region. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Philip Morris R&D. He has worked as a data scientist at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in Washington DC and at the biotech startup Protavio. He is an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumnus of the U.S. Department of State. Dimitris has a PhD in Systems Pharmacology and a diploma in Mechanical Engineering (NTUA).
Sandra M. McCroom
Sandra McCroom is the President & CEO of Children’s Services of Roxbury Inc. (CSR) which provides comprehensive child care services providing high-quality service to economically disadvantaged children, youth, families, and individuals, in four cities across the Commonwealth. CSR is one of the largest minority-operated human services providers in Massachusetts, with over 400 employees and serves more than 6,000 people annually. Ms. McCroom spent seven years of her career in state service. In 2010, Governor Deval Patrick tapped her to serve as Undersecretary for Criminal Justice in the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Her portfolio included the Department of Correction, the Sex Offender Registry Board and the Parole Board with a combined 6000 employees and $550 million annual budget. She also served as the administration’s Executive Director for the Office of Grants and Research administering state and federal grant funds for public safety of more than $150 million. For eight years, she led Roxbury Youthworks Inc. as the Executive Director serving system involved youth and their families. Ms. McCroom was also the Senior Development Coordinator of the Safe Neighborhood Initiative under Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger.
Turner Mojica
Turner Mojica is a Fellow in the Emerson Blanquerna Global Communication Center. A joint project between Emerson College and Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Ramon Llull University in Barcelona. He is on the Global Advisory Board for Communication Studies at Emerson College and Senior Advisor for the Earth Charter International and the University of International Communication (UCI). He is also Consultant to the Latin American University of Science and Technology (ULACIT). He is the founder of Turner Mojica Management Consulting, a firm specialized in international strategic branding, business networking, crisis and reputation management. Mr. Mojica began his career as a United States Senate Republican page at fifteen before crossing aisles a year later working nearly a decade for the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy in both Washington DC and Boston offices. He earned his degree in Communication, Politics and Law at Emerson College. Turner Mojica cut his teeth in New York City working for Chanel Inc, and then as a Marketing Manager at Playboy Enterprises Inc. He then moved to Milan consulting fashion, art and film companies. He is on the board of Cento Passi Network an anti-Mafia organization based in Palermo. He is a career advocate against child sex trafficking working with international organizations including Destiny Rescue in India and Souteast Asia and Face of Justice in Latin America.
Allyce J. Najimy
Allyce Najimy is the CEO and Executive Director of the Foundation To Be Named Later (FTBNL). The foundation raises money and has donated over $11 Million in grants and scholarships to more than 250 innovative, creative, effective non-profits that promote education, leadership and healthy development in Boston and Chicago. FTBNL also sends young people to college through their Peter Gammons College Scholarships, which Allyce created. After beginning her career as a teacher, she joined City Year as a founding staff member in 1990 and worked for a decade there expanding City Year around the country. She later worked as the COO for the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. Allyce is an adjunct professor at University of Massachusetts Boston and is one of the founders of their new Sport Leadership Administration Bachelor Degree Program presented by New Balance. She works on large scale, high profile events for Chicago Children’s Choir, Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation and The Grammys Music Academy. She serves as a trustee of Beacon Academy, The Institute for Sport and Social Justice, The New England Sports Museum and The Massachusetts Cultural Council. She has her Masters in Education from UMASS Boston and a Bachelor in Psychology and Counseling from Assumption College. She mentors many young people and advises many non-profits including The Wonderfund, Big Sisters, The Base, Roxbury Youthworks, West End House Boys and Girls Club and Fresh Truck.
Enric Ordeix
Dr. Enric Ordeix is the Codirector of the Emerson-Blanquerna Center for Global Communication, full-time professor of Corporate and International Public Relations, Academic Director Bachelor’s Degree on Global Communication Management and of the MA- in Global Communication, Leadership ans Corporate Diplomacy. He is a member of the Research Group on Strategy and Advertising Creativity of Blanquerna School of Communication and has been visitin professor at Emerson College (Boston) and Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) and guest speaker in institutions such as Universidad Católica de Chile Universidad de Viñadelmar (Chile), Erfurt University (Germany) and Saint Petersburg State University (Russia), Oklahoma University, Harvard Extension School of Harvard (EUA) and Zayed University (Abu Dhabi). Professor Ordeix is president of the Global Communication Institute a (consortium of 15 universities worldwide), Board member of the International Public Relations Association and of the International Academy of Business Disciplines (IABD), European consultant and of the European initiative International Virtual Consulting Firm (IVCF). His Dissertation on Organizational Personality has extraordinary award by his alma mater university, Ramon Llull University. His research and background drove him towards the areas of city branding, Public Affairs, Public Diplomacy and Public Relations. He has been teaching and organizing international conference in these areas more than 20 years and has published several academic articles at renown journals like Tripodos, Public Relations Review and American Behavioral Scientist, among others.
Gregory Payne
Dr. J. Gregory Payne is Chair of Emerson College's Department of Communication Studies. He also is the Co-Director of the Emerson Blanquerna Center for Global Communication and received an “Honoris Causa” from the University of Ramon Llull in Barcelona in the fall of 2019 for his distinguished academic and professional career. He has taught at Yale and Tufts University. Dr. Payne received his B.A, M.A. and Ph.D at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and also earned an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has authored books, chapters, articles and proceedings and has lectured internationally on topics related to political communication, public diplomacy, health communication, media, ethics, leadership, negotiation, crisis and risk communication. He is on the Advisory board of the Journal of Health Communication, Tripidos, American Behavioral Scientist, Media Ethics, , Journal of Promotion Management, among others. He has been the invited editor for American Behavioral Scientist’s special edition on the U.S. presidential campaign for every election since l988. He is past President of the International Academy of Business Disciplines, past chair of the Political Communication Division of the National Communication Association, and Advisory Board member of the Global Public Relations Project.
Larry Rasky
In Memoriam
Larry Rasky was chairman and CEO of the Rasky Partners. He had more than 30 years of experience in public policy and media relations. The clients who have benefited from his well-honed abilities include start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, non-profits and government officials. Prior to launching the firm, Larry worked as special assistant for Policy and Communications for Congressman Ed Markey and the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance. Mr. Rasky was a board member of the New England Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. He was Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Emerson College, his Alma Mater, and served as a Trustee Emeritus.
John Rendon
John Rendon is Chief Executive Officer and President of The Rendon Group, a global strategic communications consultancy. To date, TRG has worked in or on 100 countries. Mr. Rendon has served as Executive Director and Political Director of the Democratic Party of the United States and has worked and led numerous campaigns at the federal, state and local level. Mr. Rendon is considered to be one of the world’s leading pioneers in the use of strategic communications as an element of national power and one of the first thought-leaders to harness the power of emerging technologies in support of real time information management.
Rick Rendon
Rick Rendon is the founder of Empower Peace and Senior Partner of The Rendon Group, a Boston-based communications firm that specializes in public affairs campaigns. Throughout his career, Mr. Rendon has taken great pride in creating and developing innovative community-based initiatives and social campaigns. In addition to over thirty years of experience as a senior communications consultant, Mr. Rendon served previously as a Public Information Officer for the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and as a member of United States President Jimmy Carter’s national political staff.
Sohail Riaz
Sohail Riaz started as an advertising and public relations professional in the year 2000 by joining an advertising agency and later worked full time in leading advertising agencies of Pakistan until 2011. He has launched countless advertising and PR campaigns for local, multinational brands, and public sector organizations. Sohail has headed the creative department of ad agencies for years. Sohail has almost 14 TVCs to his credit and a considerable number of print, radio, online and outdoor campaigns. In recognition of Sohail’s professional track record, academia invited him to share his advertising experience with students so he was offered adjourned lectureship by the No.1 Institute of ASIA for communication studies, Institute of Communication Studies, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Sohail taught at Superior University, Raiwind Road from 2008 till 2011 and later joined Mass Communication Department, Superior University as Head of Department in 2011 where he served there for 5 years. He joined COMSATS University, Lahore campus in March 2016 as an Assistant Professor. COMSATS is a high-ranked university of the public sector. Sohail launched a media and communication studies program successfully in CUI, Lahore campus in fall 2018.
Charlie Rose
Charlie Rose has been a Youth Worker, Organizer and Entrepreneur in Boston for the past 40 years. He was the Director of Youth Services for the City of Boston’s Community Centers (now Boston Centers for Youth and Families) for nine years. Previous to that he was a VISTA volunteer, and a community organizer. He is currently Senior Vice President and Dean of City Year. He has helped build City Year into a national and international model for youth community service organizations and has been involved in all aspects of organizational development for the past 30 years. He co-founded the City of Boston’s nationally recognized violence and gang prevention program called the Street worker Program and has been a leader in the community peace movement in Boston for nearly two generations. He is the co-founder and co-owner of a Boston neighborhood restaurant (Bella Luna) and entertainment complex which includes a nightclub and lounge (Milky Way Lounge). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Jackson Square LLC for Urban Edge Community Development Corporation and is actively involved with Project 351 as well as serving on the Board of Advisors of the UMass Boston Sports Leadership Degree Program. In 2011, Charlie was awarded an honorary doctorate from U-Mass Boston.
Macey Russell
Macey Russell, a partner in Choate’s Litigation Department, practices in the area of complex commercial litigation. He has over thirty years of experience representing financial institutions, banks, businesses and corporations in disputes involving contracts, securities, investments, and lending arrangements in state court, federal court and in arbitrations. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Russell served as the Chair of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Judicial Nominating Commission, charged with recommending judicial appointments to the Governor. Mr. Russell is listed in Best Lawyers in America, and is a member of Litigation Counsel of America’s Trial Lawyer Honorary Society. Mr. Russell is also a thought leader on diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, which includes presentations at SIFMA’s C&L Annual Conference. His recent recognition includes: 2017, named a Fellow by the College of Law Practice; 2018, presented with the Boston Bar Association’s Voice of Change Award; 2018, Get Konnected together with The Boston Foundation and Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce named him one of Boston’s 100 Most Influential People of Color, and also one of the 50 Most Influential Lawyers of Color in Greater Boston; and 2019, named a Chambers finalist for the Minority Attorney of the Year Award.
Mehroz Sajjad
Mehroz Sajjad is a communication and public relations professional from Lahore, Pakistan and is currently enrolled in the Doctoral program at the School of Communication and Information, University of Kentucky. Her current area of research is the intersection between immersive technologies and nation branding. Mehroz is also a Fulbright Scholar and a graduate of Emerson College, Boston. Her past experience includes teaching at the School of Media and Mass Communication -Beaconhouse National University (BNU),Pakistan as an Assistant Professor, where she also served as the interim Head of Department. Mehroz has also worked closely with the GlobCom project for the last six years as an external advisor.
Avi Salloway
Avi Salloway is a musician, activist, and educator based in Cambridge, MA. Salloway is the bandleader and principal songwriter for Billy Wylder. From 2013-16 he toured worldwide with Bombino, the Tuareg guitar master from Niger. Prior to Billy Wylder and Bombino, he co-led the band Hey Mama/Avi & Celia with Celia Woodsmith of Della Mae. Salloway has co-written, produced, and recorded on 12 albums and performed over 1200 concerts across five continents. Salloway has also collaborated and performed with renowned artists including Jack Johnson, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bombino, Tinariwen, David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), The Low Anthem, and Pete Seeger. As an activist, Salloway uses music as a creative and strategic tool to build community, trust, and justice. In November 2016, he traveled to Standing Rock to join the Indigenous- led nonviolent resistance to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. From 2011-2016, Salloway worked with Heartbeat, the Jerusalem based non-profit organization that unites Israeli and Palestinian youth musicians to foster critical understanding and transform conflict. He has also partnered with leading environmental organization 350.org to organize strategic environmental actions, working to create a more sustainable and equitable planet.
Jordan Smith
Jordan Smith is Senior Advisor to Mayor Martin J. Walsh. Jordan is an East Boston resident, and has lived in several of Boston’s neighborhoods since graduating from Bowdoin College in 2014. After studying Environmental Studies and Sociology, Jordan spent a year volunteering for AmeriCorps, where she worked in Mayor Walsh’s Office of Food Access on urban farming initiatives, helping local farmers interpret and navigate the City’s newly established urban agriculture zoning; Article 89. It was during this year, working with Boston’s urban farming and food access community, that Jordan realized her passion for local government, and understood how local government has the ability to change people’s lives. After working at anti-hunger non-profit Project Bread for almost three years, Jordan returned to the City of Boston, where she has held several roles within the Mayor’s office since early 2018. Outside of work Jordan enjoys spending time outside, and can be found most nights either walking around one of East Boston’s parks, or biking on the East Boston greenway.
William H. “Smitty” Smith
William H. “Smitty” Smith, Ed. D. is the founding executive director of the National Center for Race Amity. Smith is producer and co‐writer of the award winning documentary Invisible Soldiers: Unheard Voices. He is concept creator and Co-Executive Producer and Senior Writer for the 2018 documentary for public television, An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition. His service and honors include: National Education Association Award for Outstanding Program for Television (The Teller and The Tale Halloween Special); Cited in Sports Illustrated November 2005 cover story as one of the men who changed the face of college football; Decorated veteran of Viet Nam while serving as a conscientious objector medic in a combat platoon; Screen Actors Guild Diversity in Production Award; Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award; Founder, Campus Conversations on Race College Network; Past Member, National Race Unity Committee, National Spiritual Assembly of Baha’is of the United States; Bank of America Balfour Scholar Award; Outstanding Service Award, National Association of Black Veterans; Recipient of National NAACP Chairman’s Award; Principal Organizer of the historic US Congress Joint Resolution Establishing the National Day of Honor for African American and Other Minority World War II Veterans; Principal Organizer of the Massachusetts State Bill establishing the Second Sunday in June Annually as Race Amity Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Initiator of 2019 South Carolina House Resolution 4339 which proclaimed Sunday June, 2019 as Race Amity Day in the State of South Carolina.
Gwendolyn VanSant
Gwendolyn VanSant is an experienced organizational change consultant and coach who works at the intersection of diversity leadership, equity and inclusion, and strategic planning. She is the CEO and Founding Director of BRIDGE and the Equity and Inclusion Team Lead at Changemaker Strategies. A skilled community organizer, Gwendolyn is also a well-recognized thought leader on racial justice and reparations. Gwendolyn currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Town of Great Barrington W. E. B. Du Bois Legacy Committee. She is on the Advisory Board of Greylock Federal Credit Union’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) program, and she is a board member of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, UU Mass Action Network, Shakespeare & Company, and Women’s Fund Of Western Massachusetts. A longtime activist, Gwendolyn has founded several initiatives based on the principles of equity and justice, the inherent dignity and worth of individuals, and our interconnected web of humanity.
John Vitti
John Vitti has worked in Boston newspapers for 30+ years, the last 20 at the Boston Globe, where he is multiplatform editor and page designer in the sports department. John is also a licensed English teacher in Watertown Public Schools, where he serves as journalism adviser for all five schools and teaches journalism electives at Watertown High School and Watertown Middle School. John is also the founder of Headliners in Education (HiE), a 501(c)3 nonprofit that engages and inspires students of all ages through journalism. As of July 2020, HiE was working with 1,100 students and teachers in 300+ schools in 29 states. John is a graduate of Newton North High School and Ithaca College and lives in Watertown, Mass., with his wife, two daughters, and 88-year-old mother.
Mason West
Mason West III is Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School. Mason West earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. He later earned his Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning and Community Development from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. Currently he is pursuing his Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Tennessee. For fifteen years Mr. West served as an instructor and administrator. He has educated youth in Georgia, Alabama and Bermuda as an exceptional Religion and Social Studies instructor. Mr. West also served as an associate pastor at the West End Church in Atlanta Georgia and the Madison Mission Church in Madison, Alabama. Currently, Mr. West serves others in several capacities. He is the Director of Community Learning at the Randolph School in Huntsville, Alabama. He is the Director of Ministry for the Buckhead Community Fellowship Ministry in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the founder and CEO of the Mason West Group (MWG), a youth leadership consulting company. His company specializes in the creation of youth leadership programs. In 2003 Mr. West started his Talented Tenth Leadership Program to teach youth how to influence their peers, their government and their economy. Mr. West is also the co-founder and Chief Operations Officer for Engage Youth Empowerment Services, a youth advocacy company based in Wolverhampton, England.
Lisa Wong
Dr. Lisa Wong is a pediatrician and arts education advocate committed to healing the community through music. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, she is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and practices at Milton Pediatric Associates. A violinist and violist, she is a member of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra of Boston’s medical community, and served as LSO’s president for 21 years. During her tenure, she helped create LSO's signature “Healing Art of Music Program” which has benefited over 50 medical nonprofits in the greater Boston area through musical concerts and collaborations.
Dr. Wong is a co-founder of the Boston Arts Consortium for Health (BACH) and the Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School and member of National Organization for Arts and Health and the Performing Arts Medicine Association. She serves on several boards and advisory panels, including Conservatory Lab Charter School, New England Foundation for the Arts and A Far Cry orchestra. In April, she worked with musical and medical colleagues at Boston Hope Hospital to create a program that provided “musical doses” to patients and frontline healthcare workers struggling with Covid-19. She also performs in community-based events such as the annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace. Dr. Wong received an honorary degree from Wheelock College in 2016. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, violinist Lynn Chang and also enjoys cooking, baking and playing with her grandchildren.
Josh Zakim
Josh Zakim is the city councilor of District 8 in Boston, MA. Mr. Zakim represents the neighborhoods of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Kenmore Square, Mission Hill, Audubon Circle, and the West End. He is a Back Bay resident, attorney, and community activist, and chairs the Council's Committee on Housing and Community Development. During his first term, Mr. Zakim led the Council's efforts to address issues of equity and fairness in Boston. Josh also convened hearings to address the unique challenges faced by seniors in the LGBTQ community in finding affordable, welcoming housing in Boston. He began his career at Greater Boston Legal Services where he represented working families who were facing the loss of their homes to foreclosure at the hands of predatory lenders.