Past Official Speakers

Mikhail Gorbachev

One of the 20th century's most pivotal leaders, Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary leadership and the democratic reforms that ended the Cold War. As a keynote speaker he continues to inspire the rest of us to lead the way towards peace, a better environment, and global democracy.

David Satcher

As the 16th Surgeon General, Dr. Satcher encouraged public debate about issues including mental health, bioterrorism, sex education, AIDS, tobacco, obesity, and balancing the community healthcare system. As the force behind creating Healthy People 2010, the nation's health agenda, he works to eliminate racial disparities in ...

Gro Harlem Brundtland

Former Prime Minister of Norway, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Dr. Brundtland has been a prominent force in addressing key issues such as healthcare, economic sustainability, and the challenges to the environment throughout the world. Sh ...

Richard Carmona

As the 17th Surgeon General, Dr. Carmona developed comprehensive knowledge of the environmental influences on healthy living today. He offers a close look at the epidemic of asthma in young children as well as other issues directly related to the state of our environment and how we can work towards not only a healthy body, ...

Ambassador Munir Akram

Following a long and distinguished diplomatic career as the former Permanent Representative to the United Nations from Pakistan, Ambassador Munir Akram is now ready to step out from behind the diplomatic curtain and tell what he knows and offer his perspective on what the goals of the United States should be in Pakistan and ...

Kim Campbell

Having made history as Canada's first female Prime Minister, The Right Honorable Campbell is among the most celebrated world leaders. Expanding her global influence, she was instrumental as Co-Founder of Club of Madrid, an organization of current and former heads of state and government dedicated to strengthening democracy ...

Mickey Edwards

Serving as a member of Congress for 16 years, he was a senior member of the House Republican leadership as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, a member of both the House Appropriations and Budget Committees, and ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. He is now a lecturer at Princeton, poli ...

Kweisi Mfume

Former President and CEO of the NAACP, Maryland Congressman, and Chairman of the Black Congressional Caucus, Mfume is credited with rebuilding and revitalizing the NAACP. As a leader, activist, and seasoned political voice for diversity, he continues to follow his dream of impacting society and shaping a more humane public ...

Jenny Shipley

Shipley has held many distinguished positions throughout her career in politics. Most notable was her role as the first female Prime Minister of New Zealand, which she held from 1997 to 1999. As Prime Minister, Shipley was the first woman to chair the highly successful APEC in New Zealand in 1999, advancing the free trade ...

Marc H. Morial

In a distinguished professional career that has spanned 25 years, Marc Morial has served as one of the most accomplished servant-leaders in the nation.

Cesar Gaviria

Former Colombian President César Gaviria --known in Latin America as a conflict mediator, advocate of democracy, staunch supporter of regional integration and defender of human rights-- also served as the first elected Organization of American State (OAS) Secretary General.

Christopher Edley

Christopher Edley, Jr. joined Boalt Hall as Dean and Professor of Law in 2004 after 23 years as a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He is the first African American dean to lead a top-ranked US law school. Dean Edley earned a law degree and a M.P.P. in public policy from Harvard University, where he served as an edito ...

Lech Walesa

Using his power of persuasion to promote his vision of peace and equality, Walesa led the Solidarity Labor Movement that brought about the downfall of Poland's Communist leadership. For his heroic efforts, Walesa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and went on to become the first democratically elected President of Poland. H ...

John Kasich

Known as a strong proponent of personal responsibility and a leader who was able to accomplish things through consensus, Kasich served as a US Congressman for 18 years. He currently hosts The Heartland with John Kasich on Fox and can be seen on The O’Reilly Factor. Examining the issues and people who made ...

Robert Dole

Recognized as one of the most prominent political figures of our time, Senator Dole is Chairman of the World War II Memorial Campaign, counsel to one of DC's top law firms, author of two best-selling books on political humor, a frequent guest on the late night talk show circuit and political commentator for The Daily Sho ...

Strobe Talbott

An award-winning journalist for Time magazine for twenty-one years and President of the Brookings Institution, Talbott became Deputy Secretary of State in 1994. The author of a series of books on the U.S./Soviet arms race and the Cold War, he was also the founding director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.

Joseph Stiglitz

Regarded as one of the best economic minds of his generation, Joseph E. Stiglitz is the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics. His work has helped explain the circumstances in which markets do not work well, and how selective government intervention can improve their performance. He helped create a new branch of eco ...

Bay Buchanan

Former US Treasurer, political commentator for CNN, and veteran of six presidential campaigns, Buchanan gets inside politics and the election with her well-informed, fair perspective. As an author, she takes the most controversial presidential candidate to task in her unapologetically partisan book The Extreme Makeover ...

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

The first female Lt. Governor of Maryland, Kennedy Townsend has carried the Kennedy legacy in serving the people of our nation. With faith and religion consistently crossing over into the political realm, she has written Failing America’s Faithful: How Today’s Churches are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way ...

Maria Echaveste

As the former Assistant to President Clinton and Deputy Chief of Staff, Echaveste was the highest-ranking female Hispanic Official at the White House. She previously served as Administrator of the US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, and worked extensively on the Department's anti-sweatshop effort.