Daniella Levine Cava was elected Miami-Dade County’s first-ever woman Mayor in November 2020. She enters the Mayor's office following a nearly 40-year career as a relentless advocate for South Florida families. As Miami-Dade County's Mayor, she oversees a metropolitan government with more than 28,000 employees serving nearly 3 million residents, managing an annual budget of approximately $9 billion. A social worker, lawyer, and community activist, she was first elected in 2014, and re-elected in August 2018, to serve as the Miami-Dade County Commissioner.

As Commissioner, she invested in Miami-Dade small businesses and expanded economic opportunity, protected the environment and our water, increased the County police force for underserved areas, advocated for an expanded, reliable public transportation system, worked to create affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods, and helped make local government more accountable and transparent.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, she has advocated for a more effective public health response. As the new Mayor, she is working to create a unified pandemic response strategy that protects Miami-Dade.

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Desert Horse-Grant is a world leader in facilitating the translation of discoveries from the lab to the clinical environment, being recently named by Modern Healthcare as one of the year's Top 25 Innovators. She launched the UCLA Health Innovation Challenge, a seed funding program that recognizes and scales innovative therapeutic, digital and device solutions as well as patient experience and performance excellence efforts. In 2019, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced Desert and colleagues recipients of a prestigious national i6 Challenge grant to support Regional Innovation Strategies. She and her team’s pioneering work to develop Oncoscope, a novel biotool on the analysis and visualization of linked molecular and clinical cancer data, was recognized with a social impact award by GitHub and published in Nature Genetics in 2018.

Dr. Zee oversees an interdisciplinary program in sleep and circadian rhythm research, with findings that have paved the way for innovative approaches to improve sleep and circadian health. Zee is the founder of the first circadian medicine clinic in the USA, where innovative treatments are available for patients with circadian rhythm disorders.

A central theme of her research program is understand the role of circadian-sleep interactions on the expression and development of cardiometabolic and neurologic disorders. Zee's research has focused on the effects of age and neurodegeneration on sleep and circadian rhythms and pathophysiology of circadian sleep-wake disorders.

Zee also has authored more than 300 peer reviewed original articles, reviews and chapters on the topics of sleep, circadian rhythms, and sleep/wake disorders. She has also trained over 50 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students and has mentored numerous faculty members. Zee is a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and a member of the American Neurological Association. She is past president of the sleep research Society, past president of the Sleep Research Society Foundation, and past chair of the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board. She is the recipient of the American Academy of Neurology Sleep Science Award and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Achievement Award.

Dr. Nimer is the Director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, Florida.  He is also a world renowned hematologist, molecular biologist, and bone marrow transplant physician. Dr. Nimer was at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York for nearly 20 years, where he held the Alfred P. Sloan Chair and served as Head of the Division of Hematologic Oncology, Vice Chairman for Faculty Development, and Chief of the Hematology Service. He also served as a member of Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, an Attending Physician at Memorial Hospital, and a Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Cornell University.

Dr. Nimer has conducted extensive clinical and basic science research into the treatment and genetic basis of adult leukemia and bone marrow failure states. He has authored over 200 scientific publications and has received numerous awards for his research, including the prestigious Irma T. Hirschl Career Scientist Award. Dr. Nimer graduated from MIT and received his MD from the University of Chicago. He completed training in Internal Medicine and Hematology/Oncology at UCLA, and joined the faculty there before moving to Memorial Sloan-Kettering in 1993.

Dr. Born is a retired Brigadier General with 30 years of service in the United States Air Force. Prior to coming to Harvard she served two terms as the Dean of the Faculty at the United States Air Force Academy where she was also the Professor and Head of the Leadership Department. Previously, Dana served as an Exchange Officer with the Royal Australian Air Force, Assistant Director for the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Chief of the Personnel Issues Team for the Air Force, Aide and Speech Writer to the Secretary of the Air Force, and Squadron Commander for 11th Mission Support Squadron in Operation Enduring Freedom.

A graduate with distinction of the United States Air Force Academy, Dr. Born received Penn State University’s Alumni Fellow Award and Distinguished Alumni Award. Born is the recipient of the Air Force’s Zuckert Award for Outstanding Management Achievement, Air Force Association’s Vandenberg Award for outstanding contributions to Aerospace education, Air Force’s Distinguished Service Medal, and Legion of Merit and Defense Meritorious Service Medal. She has also been honored with the Harvard Kennedy School Annual Dean's Teaching Awards as well as the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Innovation in Teaching Award. Dr. Born is a Distinguished Moral Leadership Fellow.

Robert Spetzler, MD, is a world-renowned neurosurgeon who is a pioneer and legend in the field. He has been honored by professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. In 1994, Dr. Spetzler was chosen to be the Honored Guest of Congress of Neurological Surgeons. At age 49, he was the youngest recipient of this prestigious honor.

Dr. Spetzler was born in Stierhoefstetten, Germany, and moved to the United States at the age of 11. He received his B.S. from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and his doctorate of medicine from Northwestern Medical School in Chicago. His postgraduate training was completed at Wesley Memorial Hospital–Northwestern in Chicago. He completed a residency in neurosurgery at the University of California – San Francisco

In 1983 Dr. Spetzler left his position as associate professor of neurosurgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland to assume a position as Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Barrow Neurological Institute at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. He served as President and CEO of Barrow from 1986 to 2017. He is also emeritus chair of neurosurgery at the Phoenix campus of The University of Arizona College of Medicine. Dr. Spetzler has published more than 300 articles and 180 book chapters in the neuroscience literature. He has co-edited a number of neurosurgical textbooks, including the Color Atlas of Microneurosurgery.

Manuela Testolini has a deep, impact-driven history in the philanthropic space. Manuela believes that kids have the power to change the world, and created In a Perfect World to help provide them with the tools to do so. Under her leadership, In A Perfect World has created programs that provide education, mentoring and artistic expression to undeserved and at-risk youth around the world in places including Mali, Malawi, Senegal, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal, among others, and also in the U.S. from Los Angeles to Washington, DC and beyond, directly impacting more than 38,000 children worldwide. In addition to In A Perfect World’s work of building schools, providing grants to inner city classrooms in need, and helping to facilitate youth-driven moments of service, Manuela has created a unique Youth Ambassador Program in which she trains young people to be philanthropists and community leaders themselves.

Manuela has been involved with several nonprofit organizations and philanthropic projects including Love4One Another, Free Arts Minnesota, and the Young Women’s Empowerment Network. From this work, experience, and passion, In A Perfect World was born, and has since been widely recognized with honors including the Award of Service from United Communities Against Poverty, the GuideStar Platinum Seal Award, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Fearless Leader Award, and a recipient of the Muhammad Ali Voice of Humanity honor.

Interestingly, Manuela is also the former wife of rock legend Prince.

Entering his 20th season with the Miami HEAT, and third as Vice President/Executive Director of the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund, Steve Stowe oversees the fundraising arm of the team, while working alongside the players and coaches to support their local philanthropic endeavors, including the Corporate Education Community Outreach Ticket Program and Pat Riley’s military appreciation initiative, Home Strong. Additionally, he acts as a liaison between the board of directors and the rest of the organization.

Stowe also organizes the annual Miami HEAT Family Festival and the annual Team Charity Gala and Concert, which have featured private performances from artists such as Kool & The Gang, Mary J. Blige, Earth, Wind & Fire, Vanilla Ice, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, The Temptations and The Four Tops, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Comedian Gary Owen, The Commodores and Michael McDonald. As a result of these efforts and other special events, over $20 million has been raised for local non-profit beneficiaries since the inception of the HEAT’s Charitable Fund.

Sal Pace is Chairman of the Board for the National Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) — the nation’s largest cannabis policy reform organization. Sal is a recognized leader in cannabis reform and represented Colorado’s 46th District from 2008 to 2012, during which he served as House Minority Leader. He also served as Pueblo County Commissioner from 2013 to 2018. Pace is widely recognized as one of the nation’s most knowledgeable individuals on the subject of marijuana policy.During his time in the General Assembly, Pace played a leading role in developing Colorado’s medical marijuana model, earning him recognition as the face of regulation from news media. He served on several policy and legislative interim committees focused on cannabis, and he founded a national organization of local elected officials called Leaders For Reform. As a county commissioner, Pace led efforts to create the Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University and establish the first college scholarship program funded by cannabis tax revenue. Pace serves on the board of the Institute of Cannabis Research. He is also an advisory board member for HeadCount's Cannabis Voter Project. As MPP chair, Pace handles critical cannabis policy, criminal justice reform, and racial and social justice.

Dr. David Nolan is Chair and Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami. He is an expert on hurricanes, tropical meteorology, computer modeling of weather phenomena, and tornadoes. Nolan teaches courses on Atmospheric Dynamics, the General Circulation of the Atmosphere, and Vortex Dynamics. His graduate students and post-docs use both computer simulations and atmospheric data to better understand physical processes in the atmosphere. His students have worked closely with scientists at the NOAA/AOML laboratory and the National Hurricane Center.

Dr. Nolan obtained his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard University. Before coming to the University of Miami in 2002, he held research positions at UC Berkeley, Colorado State, and Princeton University. The majority of his research has been on the dynamics of hurricanes, with emphasis on their formation and intensification. Through his collaborations with NOAA, Nolan has been fortunate to fly into the centers of three different hurricanes. He has also investigated the dynamics of convection in the tropics and the fluid dynamics of tornadoes.