The Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) is an independent, national, bilingual, not-for-profit organization based in Montreal, Quebec. Its mission is to "improve public policy in Canada by generating research, providing insight and informing debate on current and emerging policy issues facing Canadians and their governments." It publishes peer-reviewed research and acts as a convenor of policy debates by organizing conferences, round tables and panel discussions among stakeholders, academics, policy-makers and the general public. It is also the publisher of Policy Options magazine and the home of the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation.
NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL, is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to abortion and birth control, and to support paid parental leave and protection against pregnancy discrimination.
Roxanne Qualls is a former Democratic mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, having served from December 1993 to November 1999. She also served a two-year term on the Cincinnati City Council prior to her service as mayor, having been elected in 1991. On August 8, 2007, the Charter Committee announced her appointment to fill the unexpired term of council member Jim Tarbell. Qualls was elected to a two-year term on Cincinnati City Council in November 2007, and again in 2009 and 2011. She served as Vice Mayor, the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, chair of the Livable Communities Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on Major Transportation and Infrastructure Projects.
Zoë Eliot Baird is an American lawyer who is the president of the Markle Foundation. She is known for her role in the Nannygate matter of 1993, which arose when she was nominated by President Bill Clinton as the first woman to be Attorney General of the United States, but she withdrew her nomination when it was discovered she had hired undocumented immigrants and failed to pay Social Security taxes for them. Since 1998, she has led the Markle Foundation.
Susan Catherine Deacon is a former Scottish Labour politician, and public figure who has held leadership roles across the private, public and third sectors, and in academia and national politics.
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party support to the election and re-election of Democratic gubernatorial candidates. The DGA's Republican counterpart is the Republican Governors Association. The DGA is not directly affiliated with the non-partisan National Governors Association. Noam Lee is currently the executive director of the DGA, while Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico is the current chair.
Gloria Cordes Larson is a prominent lawyer, public policy expert, and business leader. Larson was named president of Bentley University in 2007 and served in that role until June 2018. She was the seventh president of Bentley and the first woman to hold the post. Prior to joining Bentley, Larson served as secretary of consumer affairs and business regulation from 1991 to 1993, under former Massachusetts Governor William Weld and led a business advisory council for former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.
Nora Bayly Slawik is a Minnesota politician, previously serving as Chairwoman of the Metropolitan Council, Maplewood Mayor and Minnesota State Representative. From 1997 to 1998 and 2001–2012, she represented District 57A, and from 2003 to 2012, she represented District 55B, which includes portions of Ramsey and Washington counties and the cities of Maplewood and Oakdale in the eastern part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. As Mayor of Maplewood, first elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2018, she oversaw economic redevelopment, increased public safety, and expansion of Maplewood's public outdoor spaces. In 2018, she was appointed by Governor Tim Walz to serve as head of the Metropolitan Council, where she worked until stepping down in November 2019. She also has a history of community service before her time in office, including her development of Juniper as their Project Manager for the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging from 2016 to 2017.
Gloria Charmian Duffy is a former U.S. Department of Defense official, businesswoman and nonprofit executive. Since 1996, she has been the president and CEO of the Commonwealth Club of California, America's largest and oldest public forum, founded in 1903. From 2010 to 2017 she led the acquisition, financing, design, entitlements and construction of the club's first headquarters building, at 110 The Embarcadero in San Francisco. The grand opening for the club's new building took place on September 12, 2017. The building received a 2016 California Heritage Council award for historic preservation.
Terie Norelli is a Democratic former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, serving the Rockingham 16th District and later 26th District from 1996 through 2014. She served as Speaker of the House for six years, from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2014. When Republicans regained control of the New Hampshire House in 2010, she became the Democratic minority leader. Norelli was the first Democratic speaker of the New Hampshire House in 84 years. When the Democrats regained control of the New Hampshire House in 2012, she was elected to the role of speaker again.
Henrietta H. Holsman Fore is an American public health and international development executive who serves as the Executive Director of UNICEF. Fore formerly served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Holsman International, a manufacturing and investment company. Fore was the first woman Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, 37th Director of the United States Mint in the U.S. Department of Treasury. She was the Presidential Appointee for President George H. W. Bush at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Karen Middleton is an American politician who served as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2004 to 2008 and 2008 to 2011.
Betsy Atkins is an American business executive and entrepreneur. She was the former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Clear Standards, Inc, a leading provider of SaaS Software enterprise carbon management and sustainability solutions. In 2010, Clear Standards was acquired by SAP. In addition she is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Baja Corp, a venture capital investment firm, which she founded in 1993. Atkins is on the board of directors of Wynn Resorts, Docker, Covetrus and Volvo Car Corporation. She previously served as chairman of the SAP AG advisory board and was a member of the ZocDoc advisory board. She was a member of the NASDAQ LLC Exchange board of directors and is a member of Florida International University's Health Care Network board of directors. Atkins is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Atkins frequently appears on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Yahoo Finance as a corporate governance commentator.
Megan Carroll Beyer is an American journalist, activist, and lifelong advocate of women’s rights and gender issues. Beyer serves as an advisor to a range of arts and civic organizations including Civic Nation, the American Film Institute, and the Better Angels Society.
John Hottinger is a Minnesota attorney and politician and a former member and majority leader of the Minnesota Senate. First elected in 1990, he was re-elected in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2002. A Democrat, he represented the old District 24 prior to the 2002 redistricting, and the current District 23 thereafter. The district included portions of Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Sibley and Waseca counties in the south central part of the state.
Maria C. Freire, Ph.D., was the president and executive director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) from 2012-2021. She also is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and Council on Foreign Relations. Freire works in global health, technology commercialization and intellectual property management, focusing on the discovery, development and access to medical interventions.
Polly Baca is an American politician who served as Chair of the Democratic Caucus of the Colorado House of Representatives (1976–79), being the first woman to hold that office and the first Hispanic woman elected to the Colorado State Senate and in the House and Senate of a state Legislature.
Peter Thacher Grauer is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He has been a member of the Bloomberg L.P. board since October 1996 and was named chairman of the board in March 2001 succeeding Michael Bloomberg. Grauer joined Bloomberg full-time in his executive capacities in March 2002. Prior to becoming a member of Bloomberg L.P. in 1996, Grauer was the founder of DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Investment. He also currently serves as the lead independent director of DaVita Inc.
Gloria Travis Tanner is a former United States politician and public figure. In 1994 she became the first African American woman to serve as a Colorado state senator. In 2000 she founded a leadership and training institute for black women in Colorado. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.
Lois Elaine Quam is an American executive who has worked in the public and the private sectors to expand access to health care. She was named three times to FORTUNE's list of the most influential women leaders in business, She has also served as a top leader at a major nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the environment.
