Speakers

During his 24-year career in higher education, Alford has worked on initiatives with the Department of Education to address retention challenges for minority-serving institutions, with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to develop Prison Education Programming at...

Anthony is an expert in developing job placement strategies and minority business development. Previously, he worked as the deputy secretary and chief operations officer at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Balz is chief correspondent at The Washington Post. He joined the Post in 1978 and has been involved in political coverage as a reporter or editor throughout his career. He has served as deputy national editor, White House reporter and Southwest correspondent. He is...

Beyond academic work, Bauer has represented both Joe Biden and Barack Obama as clients. He was Obama’s personal attorney and was general counsel to his 2008 presidential campaign. He later served as White House counsel in the Obama administration. Bauer is currently...

Bina works as an informaticist on the MyChart Patient Experience team, focusing on product planning and helping customers improve the digital experience. He started at Epic 26 years ago as an implementer and RFP writer after graduating from Beloit College.

Carvajal is the founder and executive director of Wisconsin EcoLatinos, a non-profit organization that strives to assist the Latino community in Wisconsin in combating environmental hazards and advocating for a just and sustainable environment. Carvajal has a...

Cavill's company, Madison Home Performance, provides energy audits for those looking to make their homes more comfortable or energy efficient. Cavill is a graduate of UW-Madison and Notre Dame and for a while played piano for a living in the Chicago area.  

Chen is an assistant professor in computational communication at UW-Madison’s Department of Life Sciences Communication. She researches to what extent digital media and technologies hold politicians accountable and how deliberative designs improve the quality of civic...

Christians has been writing about food and fine arts since 2008 for the Cap Times. Since early 2021, she has hosted Cooking with the Cap Times, featuring live demonstrations by Madison-area chefs.

An ex-Marine, Couper served as Madison police chief for 21 years and was both controversial and revered for his cooperative approach to anti-Vietnam War protesters. He later became an Episcopal priest and was also a member of the Peace Council, an international group...

Long interested in the implications of digital media on journalism and public communication, Culver's research focuses on the ethical dimensions of social tools, technological advances and networked information. She combines these interests with a background in law...

Davis leads a team of talented individuals whose mission is to share stories showcasing how Alliant Energy delivers on its purpose — serving customers and building strong communities across Iowa and Wisconsin. Her leadership extends across the market research,...

Dunn is one of the nation’s top communications and political strategists. She served as a senior advisor on the Biden-Harris campaign, and has decades of experience advising presidents and senior Democrats. She served as a chief strategist to President Barack Obama...

Eig is the bestselling author of "King: A Life," about Martin Luther King Jr. He served as a senior consulting producer for the PBS series "Muhammad Ali," and wrote a biography about the boxer. Eig's first book, "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig," won...

Ellison has served as Minnesota’s attorney general since 2019. He led the team that successfully convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on murder charges for the May 2020 death of George Floyd. Before becoming attorney general, Ellison served in...

Garfield graduated from UW-Madison in May 2020 with a degree in journalism and a minor in theatre. She previously worked as the state capitol intern for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and government watchdog reporter for USA TODAY Network-Wisconsin, before landing at...

Gautam stewards outreach and education efforts for the Dane County Department of Waste & Renewables as sustainability engagement coordinator, leading award-winning projects such as Trash Lab. She is proud to be part of a team that is working to advance the circular...

Habeck leads the largest hunger-relief organization in Wisconsin. With a footprint of 35 counties, she supports a network of nearly 400 food pantries, meal programs, and hunger-relief organizations.

Heinrich prioritizes the well-being of the people who live in Dane County by emphasizing health and racial equity as a foundational element of the department’s work. Prior to joining the department, Heinrich conducted research and managed public health initiatives on...

Hong is a mom, chef, restaurant owner and community organizer. Elected in 2020 to represent Madison's 76th Assembly District, Hong serves as the first and only Asian American elected official in the Wisconsin Legislature. Her legislative priorities include the...

Ms. Hooker works in spearheading major strategic programs for transforming the organization from a functional focus to that of an enabler of testing solutions across the business. She enthusiastically leads nearly 2,000 clinical laboratory and operations enterprise...

Hunt is best known for his work over 35 years in the Washington bureau of the Wall Street Journal. He was a Bloomberg opinion columnist covering politics and policy when he retired in 2018. For the Wall Street Journal, he was a congressional and national political...

Bryan Johnson has been the recycling coordinator for the City of Madison since 2015. He’s spoken to many groups about recycling, from local senior centers to solid waste conferences. He’s a member of the Associated Recyclers of Wisconsin and the Badger Chapter of the...

Jones joined UW Health in 2018 as the program manager for Community Health Improvement. She previously worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 10 years with over 15 years in the reproductive and sexual health space. In the Office of Population Health, Jones has...

Kinzinger served six terms in Congress representing the northern part of Illinois. As one of only two Republicans on the January 6th Committee, Kinzinger stood against his own party. Shortly after the insurrection at the Capitol, Kinzinger started the Country First...

Lasagna is responsible for strategic grant-making to support Ascendium's postsecondary education in prison focus area, which seeks to promote effective strategies to ensure that incarcerated learners can access and succeed in postsecondary education. Prior to joining...

Lewis partners with the health system’s nursing teams in providing guidance and support, including the implementation of supportive wellness programs to help SSM Health’s nursing workforce manage stress and trauma coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

As CEO, Loving develops and implements Access’ strategic goals and objectives. He gives direction and leadership toward the achievement of the organization’s mission of creating a healthier and more equitable community, along with ensuring an environment where Access...

Maraniss is a New York Times best-selling author, fellow of the Society of American Historians and visiting distinguished professor at Vanderbilt University. He has been affilliated with the Washington Post for more than 40 years.

Marley covers voting issues for the Washington Post with an emphasis on the Upper Midwest. He previously reported on Wisconsin politics for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and is the co-author of the 2013 book “More Than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions and the...

McGroarty joined the Cap Times in May 2023. She holds a master's degree in journalism from UW-Madison and an interdisciplinary bachelor's degree in journalism, history and political science from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Prior to relocating to Madison for...

Millar, an anthropologist, is one of 350 Wisconsin’s volunteer leaders. She co-leads its Community Climate Solutions Team and participates in many other 350 Wisconsin teams. She was also previously active in MOSES, a local organization working to reform the criminal...

Mnookin is the 30th leader in UW-Madison's 175-year history. Prior to leading UW-Madison, she was dean of the UCLA School of Law, where she helped to strengthen the school’s academic excellence, increase both the diversity and the academic strength of the student...

Moreno founded and directs the Prison Education Initiative at UW-Madison, which delivers college jumpstart courses and degree programs to incarcerated students and encourages research related to prison-based education. Moreno previously served as a clinical law...

In addition to his work at the Cap Times as a regular columnist, Nichols is the author of more than a dozen books about politics and the media. Most recently, he co-authored "It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism" with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Nichols also writes...

In addition to her work leading Second Harvest, Orge is the president of Feeding Wisconsin, treasurer of Feeding America's Midwest Association of Food Banks, and has been involved in multiple local and regional efforts around food security. She previously served as...

Redmond serves as the director of the Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy and has worked for the State of Wisconsin for 22 years. In addition to helping with the development and implementation of the recommendations from Gov. Tony Evers’ Task Force on...

Ross employs outreach to bring society and system-impacted communities exactly where they need each other to be. Since his release in 2020 after 17 years in prison, Ross has become a founding partner of the multidimensional justice solutions firm Paradigm Shyft, an...

Sanders is the senior U.S. senator from Vermont, and has held that seat since 2007. He is an independent and a self-described democratic socialist, but he caucuses with senators of the Democratic Party. Popular among progressives, he ran for president in both 2016 and...

Scheufele is the Taylor-Bascom Chair and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at UW-Madison and an investigator in the Morgridge Institute for Research. He is a widely-cited expert in the fields of political communication, science communication, and science &...

Elected in 2020, Shelton represents Wisconsin’s 90th Assembly District, containing most of the city of Green Bay. Shelton entered politics in 2016 as a organizer with Black Lives United and the Wisconsin Women’s March. She is the founder of the Healthy School Meals...

Sibi has run the catering company Les Delices de Awa for five years and plans to open a brick and mortar restaurant of the same name on Madison's Atwood Avenue, in January. She currently vends at the Northside Farmers Market every Sunday morning during the summer, and...

Soglin served as Madison's mayor for a total of 22 years in three different stints between 1973 and 2019. He came to Madison politics by way of anti-Vietnam War activism as a UW-Madison student in the 1960s. He was beaten by police during campus protests against the...

Stanley has directed music at Madison’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church for 34 years, but his influence extends far beyond that. He has worked with countless schools in Madison and throughout the Midwest as an artist in residence teaching music to children. He has written two...

Stenger develops programs that support youth working to reclaim their education, gain job skills and become community leaders. He previously led communications, fundraising and external affairs at the Osborne Association, an organization providing policy advocacy and...

Tokaji is the Fred W. & Vi Miller Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has published over 50 articles and other scholarly papers on issues of voting rights, free speech, and democratic inclusion. He is co-author of the book...

Woodruff covered politics and other news for nearly five decades at NBC, CNN and PBS. In 2013, Woodruff and the late Gwen Ifill were named the first two women to co-anchor a national news broadcast: the PBS NewsHour. After Ifill’s death, Woodruff became sole anchor...

Local economy reporter Yahr writes about challenges and opportunities facing workers, entrepreneurs and job seekers. She’s won awards for her coverage of the pandemic’s effects on the local community, from entrepreneurs of color struggling to weather the downturn to...

Originally from Detroit, Yancyy is a saxophonist whose music extends across many genres. He has opened for scores of contemporary music giants, including Stevie Wonder, Average White Band, Temptations and the Neville Brothers, and has recorded with many others as well...

Zaleski spent 39 years in the newspaper business, the last 23 as an award-winning columnist for the Cap Times. Since leaving the paper, he has written three books, the most recent about acclaimed former Madison Police Chief David Couper.

Zebell develops and manages programs at Sustain Dane, including Accelerate Sustainability workshops, one-on-one assistance, and tracking partners’ sustainable impacts. Zebell was a dedicated Sustain Dane volunteer for years before accepting this position, holding an...