Diverse Communities
Middle Eastern
Filmmaker & Founder, Family Health Alliance
Taraneh Salke is the founder & executive director of Family Health Alliance (FHA), a nonprofit organization focused on advancing women's reproductive health & rights in underdeveloped & resource-poor... |
Federal Whistleblower
Peter Van Buren is the author of We Meant Well, which discusses how he blew the whistle on the federal government for failing to adequately help Iraq rebuild itself. |
Author & Journalist
In suburban America, she lived in two worlds. At home, she was the daughter of the Iranian exile community, serving tea, clinging to tradition, and dreaming of Tehran. Outside, she was a California girl who practiced... |
Executive Editor of Lebanese Newspaper, The Daily Star
Khouri knows the Middle East like few other journalists. As the Editor-at-Large of The Daily Star in Beirut, Lebanon, he reports from ground zero of the conflict as it unfolds. A Palestinian-Jordanian,... |
Iranian Writer & Journalist
A celebrated poet and filmmaker, Hakakian’s recent film, Armed and Innocent, takes a close look at the involvement of underage children in wars around the world. Speaking on the Middle East and the importance... |
Pollster & Trendspotter
Hailed a "maverick predictor," speaker John Zogby is a pollster and trendspotter skilled in identifying, understanding, and unveiling the significance of trends. |
Expert on the Intersection of Technology & Foreign Policy
Gifted at finding creative solutions to age-old problems, Jared Cohen understands the powerful impact information-sharing technologies can have on today's world. |
Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal & Sarah Shourd
Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were detained in Iran on July 31, 2009, while hiking in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan near the Ahmed Awa waterfall, a local attraction. They were freed in November 2011... |
Chair of Arab Studies at the University of Columbia
Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Chair in Arab Studies at Columbia University. Khalidi is past President of the Middle East Studies Association, and is President of the American Committee on Jerusalem, and editor of... |
Director, Control Room
Noujaim's controversial documentary Control Room, about the Arabic-language cable news station Al Jazeera, called into question the prevailing images and positions offered up by the US news media about the war... |
Former Representative to the UN
After a long diplomatic career as the former Permanent Representative to the United Nations from Pakistan, Ambassador Munir Akram shares his insights with global audiences. |
Ambassador of the League of Arab States to the US
Having been involved in countless diplomatic negotiations, and contributed to the delegation that led to the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, there are no other speakers available today who can address... |
Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress
As co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit American Islamic Congress, speaker Zainab Al-Suwaij works to promote a positive Muslim American voice. |
International Strategic Communications Expert
An Indian Muslim childhood, Jesuit schools and universities, and a perpetual inquisitiveness power this American businessman, author and foreign policy speaker's observations. Host of the Foreign Policy Association'... |
Award-Winning Journalist & Author
Robin Wright has reported on numerous wars and revolutions and recently covered foreign policy for The Washington Post. She authored The Last Great Revolution. |
Expert on Islam / Author
Jytte Klausen is a Professor of Comparative Politics and author of The Cartoons That Shook the World. In her book Klausen examines the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and the worldwide protests that... |
Counter-Extremism Activist
Maajid Nawaz is a former member of the Islamic political group Hizb ut-Tahrir, and the co-founder and executive director of Quilliam, the world's first counter-extremism think tank. He is also the co-founder of Khudi... |
