Vaishali Mamgain is the director of the University of Southern Maine’s Bertha Crosley Ball Center for Compassion, a program that offers training on the use of compassion to undo systematic oppression and racism. The center applies neuroscience research that shows long-lasting neural patterns of self-compassion and engagement.

Christelle Khalaf is the associate director of the Government Finance Research Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Caroline Hoxby is the Scott and Donya Bommer Professor in Economics at Stanford University.

Adriana Kugler is a professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Her research interests include labor markets and policy evaluation in developed and developing countries. She studies labor regulations, unemployment and immigration, and has authored articles on public health insurance and the effects of TRAP (Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers) laws on women’s employment prospects.

George J. Borjas is the Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Farai Chideya is an award-winning author and journalist with more than 20 years of experience combining media, technology and diversity.

William Spriggs is chief economist to the AFL-CIO and a professor and former chair of economics at Howard University.

William M. Rodgers III is a professor of public policy and chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.

Mark Hugo Lopez is the director of global migration and demography research at Pew Research Center.

Julianne Malveaux is an economist, commentator, author and academic. She is currently the dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.