Leadership Council
Our Leadership Council is comprised of diverse leaders and iconic Americans who are lending their names and voices to the Opportunity Nation campaign. The Council is co-chaired by Mayor Bloomberg and includes more than a dozen university and college presidents, current and former elected officials, media and business personalities, celebrities, and many more.
Salam Al-Marayati – President, Muslim Public Affairs Council
Robert Atchinson – Co-Founder, Adage Capital Management, L.P.
The Honorable Melody Barnes – CEO, Melody Barnes Solutions LLC; Former Assistant to the President, Director of White House Domestic Policy Council, President Barack Obama
Joshua Bekenstein – Managing Director, Bain Capital, LLC
Angela Glover Blackwell – Founder and CEO, PolicyLink
The Honorable Michael Bloomberg (Co-Chair) – Mayor, New York City
Naila Bolus – President and CEO, Jumpstart
The Honorable John Bridgeland – CEO, Civic Enterprises; Former Assistant to the President, Director of White House Domestic Policy Council and USA Freedom Council, President George W. Bush
Roger Brown – President, Berklee College of Music
Nick Cannon – Actor, Comedian, Musician, Writer, and Executive Producer
Dan Carroll – Founding Partner, Newbridge Capital
Noel Castellanos – CEO, Christian Community Development Association
John Coatsworth – Provost of Columbia University, Professor of International and Public Affairs and of History
Dr. Eugene J. Cornacchia – President, Saint Peter’s College
The Reverend Luis Cortés, Jr. – President, Esperanza
Dr. Scott Cowen – President, Tulane University
Artur Davis – Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives (2003 – 2011); Harvard University Institute of Politics Fellow
Fr. Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B. – President, Saint Anselm College
Robert Denson – President, Des Moines Area Community College
Dr. Xavier de Souza Briggs – Associate Professor of Sociology and Planning, MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning
Meredith DeWitt – Principal, Meredith J. DeWitt Consulting
The Honorable John J. Dilulio, Jr. – Frederic Fox Leadership Professor, University of Pennsylvania Faculty Director & Co-Chair of the Director's Advisory Group, Robert A. Fox Leadership Program; Former Assistant to the President & Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, President George W. Bush
Tiffany Dufu – Former President, The White House Project
Dr. Mil Duncan – Research Director, AGree
Mickey Edwards – Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives (1977-1993)
Dr. Willarda V. Edwards – MD, MBA; Past President, National Medical Association
Michael R. Eisenson – Managing Director and CEO, Charlesbank
Dr. Ronald Ferguson – Senior Lecturer in Education and Public Policy, Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kennedy School
Brian Gallagher – President and CEO, United Way Worldwide
Michael J. Gerson – Journalist, Washington Post; Assistant to the President for Policy and Strategic Planning, President George W. Bush
Kat Graham – Actress on the CW's The Vampire Diaries, Singer
Christopher Graves – Global CEO, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
J. Barry Griswell – CEO, Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines; Retired Chairman, President and CEO, Principal Financial Group
Paul Grogan – President and CEO, The Boston Foundation
James Gutierrez – Former CEO, Progreso Financiero
The Honorable Tony Hall – Executive Director, The Alliance to End Hunger; Former U.S. Ambassador, United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture; Former U.S. Congressman, Ohio
Romanita Hairston – Vice President, U.S. Programs, World Vision
Jacob Harold – President and CEO, Guidestar
Ron Haskins – Co-Director, Brookings Center on Children and Families and Budgeting for National Priorities Project; Former White House Senior Advisor for Welfare Policy, President George W. Bush
Arianna Huffington – President and Editor-in-Chief, AOL Huffington Post Media Group
Woody Hunt – Chairman and CEO, Hunt Companies, Inc.
Dr. Curtis L. Ivery – Chancellor, Wayne County Community College District
Jo Ann Jenkins – President, AARP Foundation
Dr. Paula Johnson – Executive Director of the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology, and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Hubie Jones – Social Justice Entrepreneur in Residence, City Year, Inc.
The Rev. Dr. Serene Jones – President, Union Theological Seminary
Irv Katz – President and CEO, National Human Services Assembly
Kimberly Kelleher – President, Say Media
Charles Kolb – President, The French-American Foundation
Marguerite W. Kondracke – Senior Advisor, America’s Promise Alliance
Dr. Kathy Krendl – President, Otterbein University
Jonathan Lavine – Managing Director, Bain Capital, LLC; Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Sankaty Advisors, LLC
Andrea Levere – President, Corporation for Enterprise Development
Stanley Litow – Vice President, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, and President, IBM International Foundation
Michael Lynton – Chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Anthony Marx – President and CEO, New York Public Library
Patrick McCarthy – President and CEO, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Michael Miles – Advisory Director, Berkshire Partners; Former President and COO, Staples, Inc.
Pat Mora – Author and Literacy Advocate
Dr. Rosabeth Moss Kanter – Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Author
Michael Muldowney – President and CEO, Foxford Capital
Dr. Alicia Munnell – Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
Dr. Diana Natalicio – President, The University of Texas at El Paso
George Nethercutt – Founder and Chairman of the Nethercutt Foundation, Former Member of U.S. House of Representatives (1995 – 2010)
Michelle Nunn – CEO, Points of Light
Dr. Eduardo Padrón – President, Miami Dade College
The Honorable Deval L. Patrick – Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Dr. Kenneth Peacock – Chancellor, Appalachian State University
Michael E. Porter – Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, Harvard Business School
Hugh Price – John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; Former President and CEO, National Urban League
A. Barry Rand – CEO, AARP
Mark Rodgers – Principal, The Clapham Group; Managing Director, Wedgwood Circle
Dr. Judith Rodin – President, The Rockefeller Foundation
Dr. Robert Ross – President, The California Endowment
Dr. Isabel Sawhill – Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Jon Schnur – Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, America Achieves
Bobbi Silten – Senior Vice President, Global Responsibility, Gap Inc.; President, Gap Foundation
Russell Simmons – CEO, RUSH Communications
Gail Snowden – CEO, Freedom House
Jordin Sparks – Musician, Actress, Philanthropist
Rick Stengel – Managing Editor, TIME
Howard H. Stevenson – Harvard Business School Sarofim-Rock Baker Foundation Professor, Senior Associate Dean, Director of Publishing, and Chair of the Harvard Business Publishing Company board
Max Stier – President and CEO, Partnership for Public Service
The Honorable Ted Strickland – Former Governor of Ohio (2007 – 2011)
Neera Tanden – President, Center for American Progress
Stuart Thorn – President and CEO, Southwire
Luis Ubiñas – President, Ford Foundation
Dennis Van Roekel – President, National Education Association
Judy Vredenburgh – President and CEO, Girls, Inc.
Dr. Jill Wakefield – Chancellor, Seattle Community Colleges
Margy Waller – Former White House Senior Advisor on Working Families, President Bill Clinton
Dr. Rick Warren – Pastor, Saddleback Church
Mark Wildman – Vice President, Group Publisher of The Parenting Group
Lisa Nicole Wilkerson – Broadway Actress
will.i.am – Musician/Producer, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Dr. Harry Williams – President, Delaware State University
The Honorable Harris Wofford – Former U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania
Dr. Fareed Zakaria – Editor-At-Large, TIME, and Host of CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria
Major General Albert Zapanta (Ret.) – President & CEO, U.S. Mexico Chamber of Commerce
