Speakers
Leigh M. Chapman
Leigh M. Chapman was appointed Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth on January 8, 2022. In this role, Chapman leads the Pennsylvania Department of State. Previously, Chapman served as executive director of Deliver My Vote. She also held senior leadership positions at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and other non-partisan, non-profit election reform and advocacy organizations.
Representative Torren Ecker
Committed to standing up for taxpayers, conservative and family values, as well as serving his community, Rep. Torren Ecker (R-Cumberland/Adams) was elected to represent the citizens of the 193rd Legislative District in November 2018. His legislative focus will be on promoting workforce development, a competitive business environment and standing up to the special interests responsible for out-of-control property taxes. Torren is looking to give back to the people of Pennsylvania a government that puts the people first, protects individual freedoms and limits government intrusion in citizens’ daily lives.
Ben Ginsberg
Ben Ginsberg, a nationally known political law advocate representing participants in the political process, is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institut ion and co-chair of the Election Officials Legal Defense Network. He represented four of the last six Republican Presidential nominees. Ben served as co-chair of the bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration which produced a much-lauded report on best practices and recommendations for state and local officials to make U.S. elections run better.
Sophie Beren
Sophie Beren is a unifier from Wichita, Kansas. She is the Founder and CEO of The Conversationalist, a non-partisan educational platform empowering Gen Z to break out of their echo chambers, have difficult conversations, and unify the world. Her community of over 100,000 young people is committed to coming together, across differences, through "POVz" the first ever Gen Z Talk Show, and through their digital network located on the Geneva app. Sophie was recently recognized as a Uniter in America by The White House and was named "25 Under 25" by Social Entrepreneur's Magazine. Beren will continue to unify the next generation, one conversation at a time.
Jose Felix Diaz
As an attorney, advisor, and four-term elected official, Jose Felix has consistently been recognized as one of the rising stars in government affairs over the past decade. In 2010, Jose was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, where he served for seven years. Jose ascended quickly to the leadership ranks of the legislature, where he chaired the Energy & Utilities, Regulatory Affairs, and Commerce committees. Known for his fundraising prowess and sharp political instincts, Jose was recruited to serve on the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Future Majority Project Board, to help recruit and retain minority candidates throughout the United States.
Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.
One of the nation's most prominent scholars, Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., is a passionate educator, author, political commentator, and public intellectual who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies, a program he first became involved with shaping as a doctoral candidate in Religion at Princeton. He is also on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. He frequently appears in the media, as a columnist for TIME Magazine and as an MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe and Deadline Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace. He also regularly appears on Meet the Press on Sundays.
Jason Grumet
Jason Grumet is the founder and president of the Bipartisan Policy Center. He is respected on both sides of the aisle for his innovative approach to improving government effectiveness and impacting public policy.
Phil Griffin
Phil Griffin is the former president of MSNBC, the 24-hour cable news operation which had a banner year in 2016, delivering its biggest audiences in the network’s 20-year history. Griffin had been with MSNBC since its launch in July 1996 and during his tenure, Griffin launched the network’s flagship programming “Morning Joe” and “The Rachel Maddow Show.” He also produced and launched several programs for the cable network including "Hardball with Chris Matthews" which he helmed from 1999-2004; "Internight," hosted by Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, Bob Costas, and Bill Moyers.
The Honorable Amber McReynolds
Amber McReynolds is one of the country’s leading experts on election administration, policy, and innovation. In 2021, Amber was appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as a Governor for the United States Postal Service. Amber is focused on strengthening and modernizing democracy and improving the civic health of our nation.
Rep. Jordan Harris
State Representative Jordan Harris has emerged as a rising star and leading progressive voice in the Pennsylvania legislature on issues that matter most to his constituents, including criminal justice reform and education reform. First chosen to represent the 186th Legislative District on Nov. 6, 2012, Harris was most recently selected by his colleagues to serve again as the Democratic Caucus Whip for the 2021-22 legislative session. The Whip is the second highest ranking position in leadership behind only the caucus leader, and Harris is only the second African American to hold the position of Whip for the Democratic Caucus. Harris previously served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus.
Lesley Jantarasami
Lesley Jantarasami is the managing director of the Energy Program and brings over 10 years’ policy experience at the state and federal levels. She led energy and climate initiatives at the Oregon Department of Energy to evaluate policy design options for decarbonizing the state’s electricity, transportation, industrial, and buildings sectors, including sector-specific strategies and economy-wide cap-and-trade carbon pricing legislation. She also led integration of energy resilience issues in a new statewide climate adaptation framework for Oregon.
Julia Harris
Julia Harris is a Senior Policy Analyst forthe Bipartisan Policy Center’s Health Program. Prior to joining BPC, Harris was Director of Clinical Models for UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid managed care business. For six years she worked for TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, leading value-based payment and delivery system reforms. Harris joined the State of Tennessee after holding previous positions with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, D.C. and a large Federally Qualified Health Center in New Jersey, where she led a team of migrant and community health outreach workers. In 2017, Harris was part of a small team that took top prize in the global Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition to build an innovative consumer medical device.
Rachel Orey
Rachel Orey is an Associate Director for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Elections and Congress Projects. Her research focuses on evidence-based and data-driven reforms that meaningfully improve our elections ecosystem. She recently obtained her Master of Public Policy and Certificate of Data Science from George Washington University. Prior to joining the BPC, she served as a research intern at The Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program supporting research on Congressional Oversight, election administration, and the Federal Reserve. She also served as a Legislative Intern for former U.S. Senator Kamala Harris.
Grace Panetta
Grace is a senior politics reporter at The 19th with a particular focus on elections, election administration, and voting rights. She holds a degree in political science from Barnard College and a graduate certificate in election administration from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
Michael Smerconish
Michael Smerconish is the host of a daily radio program heard nationwide on SiriusXM’s POTUS channel. He is also the host of CNN’s “Smerconish”, which airs Saturdays at 9 a.m. and founder of Smerconish.com.
Steve Scully
Steve Scully has interviewed every president since Gerald Ford. In his three-decade career at C-SPAN, he has served as political editor, host, and senior executive producer of C-SPAN’s programming, including the Washington Journal, Road to the White House series and its podcast ‘The Weekly.’ In addition to his work at C-SPAN, Scully served as adjunct faculty at the University of California-DC Program and completed his Terker Fellowship (2019-21) at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs last month. He previously served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver, Pace University and George Mason University. He is the host a new program on its bipartisan political channel, The Briefing with Steve Scully-airing weekdays on Sirius XM 124
Adrienne Schweer
Adrienne Schweer is a BPC fellow and leads its Paid Family Leave Task Force. From 2014 to 2017, Schweer served as chief of protocol to Defense Secretaries Chuck Hagel, Ashton Carter, and Jim Mattis in the Pentagon. In 2015, Schweer started a non-profit organization, Family Leave Works, to find bipartisan solutions to paid family leave. She has worked across the aisle to shape policy and helped corporations elevate stories of how paid family leave is good for business. In 2018, she helped BPC stand up the first bipartisan Paid Family Leave Task Force.
Michael Steele
When he was elected Lt. Governor of Maryland in 2003, Michael Steele made history as the first African American elected to statewide office; and again with his subsequent chairmanship of the Republican National Committee in 2009. As chairman of the RNC, Michael Steele was charged with revitalizing the Republican Party. A self-described "Lincoln Republican," under Steele’s leadership the RNC broke fundraising records and Republicans won 63 House seats, the biggest pickup since 1938. As Lt. Governor of Maryland, Mr. Steele’s priorities included reforming the state's Minority Business Enterprise program, improving the quality of Maryland's public education system, expanding economic development in the state and fostering cooperation between government and faith-based organizations to help those in need.
Tara Setmayer
Ms. Setmayer is a former CNN political commentator, current contributor to ABC News and former GOP Communications Director on Capitol Hill. She regularly appears on cable news programs and has frequently guest hosted ABC's The View. She is a 2022-23 Resident Scholar for the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. In January 2020, Setmayer was named a Harvard Institute of Politics Spring 2020 Resident Fellow. Also in January 2020, she joined The Lincoln Project as a senior advisor and hosts the live show "The Breakdown" alongside co-founder Rick Wilson, on the organization's streaming channel, LPTV.
Dennis C. Shea
Dennis C. Shea is the Executive Director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy. His past work with the Bipartisan Center (BPC) includes serving as a consultant to the BPC’s blue-ribbon Housing Commission and its Senior Health and Housing Task Force. In these roles, he contributed to two landmark reports, Housing America’s Future: New Directions for National Policy and Healthy Aging Begins at Home. During the Administration of President George W. Bush, Shea served as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret)
Admiral James Stavridis is Vice Chair, Global Affairs of The Carlyle Group and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation, following five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. A retired 4-star officer in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter piracy, and cyber security. He also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006-2009.
David Thornburgh
David Thornburgh is Senior Advisor to the Committee of Seventy and Chair of Ballot PA, a project of the organization that aims to repeal closed primaries in Pennsylvania and allow the state’s 1.1 million independent voters to vote in every election. He is also a Professor of Practice in Temple University’s Master of Public Policy program and an Adjunct Instructor of Government at Franklin and Marshall College.
Rich Thau
Rich Thau is the president and founder of the message-testing firm Engagious. He is also the creator of the Swing Voter Project, a monthly research project where he moderates online focus groups of Trump-to-Biden swing voters living in key swing states. Rich partners with Axios and Schlesinger Group on the Swing Voter Project, is a regular contributor to Smerconish.com, and is a featured speaker and expert on the topic of persuadable voters.
Matthew Weil
Matthew Weil is the Executive Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Democracy Program where he is responsible for all of the organization’s voting-related policy development efforts at the state and federal level, the Business Alliance for Effective Democracy, and collaborations with social media platforms to provide authoritative election information to voters.
Nick Troiano
Nick Troiano is a civic entrepreneur based in Denver, CO and is the Executive Director of Unite America –– a non-partisan organization that seeks to foster a more functional and representative government. Nick has been a leader in the political reform movement over the last decade, beginning as a founding staff member of Americans Elect in 2010; he ran for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 10th District in 2014 and drew national attention as both the youngest candidate that cycle and the most competitive independent U.S. House candidate in nearly two decades.
Jeff Zucker
Jeff Zucker is the former president of CNN Worldwide where he oversaw CNN’s 23 branded news and information businesses, including the U.S. television network, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. Zucker is also the former president and CEO of NBC Universal. Earlier, he had been president of the NBC Universal Television Group from May 2004, rising to chief executive officer of the NBC Universal Television Group in December 2005. Prior to that, he was president of the Entertainment, News & Cable Group since December 2003, and president of NBC Entertainment since December 2000.
John Wood Jr.
John Wood Jr. is a writer, podcaster and noted public speaker nationally recognized as a leading voice on issues of political and racial reconciliation. He is national ambassador for Braver Angels, America’s largest grassroots, bipartisan organization dedicated to political depolarization.
Salena Zito
Salena Zito joined Washington Examiner in 2016 as a Pittsburgh-based columnist and reporter covering national politics and culture, she is also a weekly columnist at the New York Post, as well as the Pittsburgh post and co-authored The Great Revolt; Inside the populous coalition reshaping American politics, with Brad Todd. In 2018 she won first place for her columns in the Associated Press For her coverage of American politics, as well as winning the Barbara Olsen Award for Excellence and Independence in Journalism. She has interviewed every president, vice-president as well as those who sought their party’s nomination on both sides of the aisle in the 21st Century.