Strobe Talbott, author of six books on U.S.-Soviet relations and nuclear arms control, served in the State Department for 8 years, including a year as Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. He entered government service after twenty-one years as a journalist for Time magazine. His last position there was as Time's Editor-at-Large and foreign affairs columnist.

Tavis Smiley was selected by Time magazine as one of America's 50 most promising young leaders. Newsweek profiled him as one of the "20 people changing how Americans get their news" and dubbed him one of the nation's "captains of the airwaves". He was the first American to simultaneously host signature talk shows on both PBS and NPR.

Ted Fishman is an expert on China's impact on the global economy and the rapid emergence of China as a world power. Fishman's bestselling book, China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World has helped describe for the world the effects of China as a world power. His talks reflect the intelligence and wit readers find in his writing and has most recently focused on the emergence of China and its impact of the lives of Americans as consumers, workers, managers and citizens.

Thomas Barnett is a New York Times-bestselling author and a nationally-known public speaker. Dr. Barnett is in high demand within government circles as a forecaster of global conflict and an expert of military transformation, as well as within corporate circles as a management consultant and conference presenter on issues relating to international security and economic globalization.

Veteran political journalist and bestselling author, Thomas DeFrank is the Washington bureau chief of the New York Daily News where he directs coverage of the nation's capital for the country's third-largest metropolitan daily newspaper. DeFrank is author of Write it When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford.

The appearance of Founding Father, Thomas Paine, on Youtube in seven fiery orations passionately declaring America's need to return to common sense, reason and respect for the constitution went viral immediately with 15 million views and still growing. The talent under the three-cornered hat is colorful multi-media personality, Dr. Bob Basso dubbed by People Magazine, "America's number one fun-motivating speaker."

Civil rights and environmental advocate working to combine solutions to social inequality and environmental justice, Van Jones is the president and founder of Green For All and the Ella Barker Center. He is a Senior Fellow with Center for American Progress and a Fellow at IONS. His work is currently focused on green economic development.

Brzezinski served as the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and in 1981 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He is known for his role in the normalization of U.S.-Chinese relations and for his contributions to the human rights and national security policies of the United States.