Giorgio Cafiero is the CEO and founder of Gulf State Analytics, a geopolitical risk consultancy based in Washington, DC. His research interests include geopolitical and security trends in the Arabian Peninsula and the broader Middle East. Mr. Cafiero is a regular contributor to several publications including Al Monitor, The National Interest, and LobeLog. From 2014-2015, he was an analyst at Kroll, an investigative due diligence consultancy. He received an M.A. in International Relations from the University of San Diego.

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Ahsha Safaí is a passionate advocate for children and working families. He believes that change begins at the local level – in our neighborhoods - where people are most affected by government policies and programs. Ahsha’s career in public service began in his hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts working as an aide to a City Councilor. While studying at Northeastern University, under the tutelage of Governor Michael Dukakis, Ahsha learned first-hand the importance of effectively addressing local issues for the underrepresented. After graduating, Ahsha became an assistant to Loretta T. Avent, Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Clinton White House, addressing the multitude of issues facing Native Americans - further solidifying his commitment to be an advocate for underserved populations.

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Shahram Akbarzadeh is Research Professor in Middle East and Central Asian Politics at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (Deakin University), and convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum: www.mesf.org.auHe held a prestigious Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (2012-2016) on the Role of Islam in Iran’s Foreign Policy-making. His research and publications cover regional politics in the Middle East, Iranian politics and Islam in Australia.

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Rose Parris Richter is the Special Assistant to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has been Director of the Human Rights in Iran Unit at the City University of New York since 2012. The Unit works with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights to support the UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate. Ms. Richter served as senior advisor for the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations on UN elections, human rights, humanitarian, development issues, and also functioned as an advisor to the Permanent Mission of Timor-Leste to the United Nations prior to her current work.

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Founder and President of the global think tank network "Alternative Perspectives and Global Concerns (AP-GC). APGC is a global initiative that offers creative solutions to persisting global challenges from an alternative perspective, in service of promoting our common humanity. It has been granted Consultative Status by the ECOSOC in 2019.

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In recognizing Houshmand, the publication notes the University’s extraordinary accomplishments during his tenure, including, among many other accomplishments: Rowan’s two medical schools and its partnership with South Jersey’s largest health system to create Virtua Health College of Medicine & Health Sciences of Rowan University; the University’s Carnegie R2 doctoral university classification, recognizing high research activity; and the state’s first veterinary school (pending accreditation).

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Kelly J. Shannon, specialize in the 20th century history of U.S. foreign relations and women’s history. My research focuses on U.S. relations with the Islamic world, U.S. relations with Iran, women’s human rights, transnational history, and international history. My first book, U.S. Foreign Policy and Muslim Women’s Human Rights (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018) explored the integration of American concerns for women’s human rights into U.S. policy towards the Islamic world since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. My other publications include book chapters and journal articles on President Harry Truman and the Middle East, the international movement to end female genital mutilation (FGM), U.S. encounters with Saudi gender relations during the first Gulf War, U.S. relations with Iran, and state of the field essays.

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Arash Azizi is a writer and historian living between New York City and Greenville, South Carolina. His writings and commentary on politics, history and cinema have appeared in numerous outlets including the New York Times, New York Review of Books, Washington Post, Newsweek, the BBC, Newlines, Haaretz, Daily Beast, Toronto Star, Jacobin, Guardian, Vanity Fair, The Nation, the Atlantic Council, Al-Jazeera, IranWire and Al-Monitor. He is the author of “The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US and Iran’s Global Ambitions” (Oneworld, 2020) and "What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom"

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Annie Pforzheimer is a former career diplomat with the U.S. Department of State. She is currently a senior nonresident associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an adjunct professor at the City University of New York, and a member of nonprofit organizations advocating for Afghan women. Her 30-year diplomatic career focused on civilian security and the rule of law. She was the acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Afghanistan and deputy chief of mission in Kabul from 2017–2019; director at the NSC for Central America; head of the State Department’s $700 million security assistance program in Mexico; and the lead embassy human rights officer in Turkey and South Africa.

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Executive Director of the Giraffe Heroes Project (giraffe.org), a global nonprofit that moves people to stick their necks out for the common good and gives them tools to succeed. I'm a peace builder in the Middle East and Africa and in environmental conflicts in the United States. My work inspires and coaches people to put more personal meaning into their lives through service, helping solve significant public problems.

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