Juan Enriquez
Co-Founder, Synthetic Genomics Inc. and Managing Director, Excel Venture Management

Juan Enriquez works on the cutting edge of discovery. An active investor in early stage private companies in the life sciences and big data sectors, he is one of the world’s leading authorities on the uses and benefits of genomic code. Bio-science is beginning to affect the way we live, work, and do business, and Juan is a mapper and implementer of its promise. Synthetic Genomics, which he co-founded, produced the world’s first synthetic life form and the first standard, programmable cells. These technologies are being applied to energy, chemicals, vaccines, agriculture, information storage, and various other fields.

He recently coauthored an ebook titled, Homo Evolutis: A Short Tour of Our New Species. The book takes readers into a world where humans increasingly shape their environment, their own selves, and other species. By the end of the book, readers will see a broad, and sometimes scary, map of life science driven change, a Homo evolutis, which directly and deliberately controls its own evolution and that of many other species. He is also author of the global bestseller As The Future Catches You and of The Untied Stated of America. In addition to his entrepreneurial work in the life sciences, Juan writes, speaks, and teaches about the profound changes that genomics and other life sciences will cause in business, technology, politics and society. He is one of the top speakers at TED and other venues. He and Bill Gates were the two outside guest curators for TED 2011. He was the founding director of the Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project — and currently chairs the Genetics Advisory Council for the Harvard Medical School. He has published dozens of papers and articles in a variety of forums including The Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, Science, Nature, and the New York Times.

Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) Chairman, Senate Budget Committee

As Washington state’s senior Senator, Patty Murray has a proven track record spanning more than two decades of fighting for Washington state families in the United States Senate. Serving as a member of Senate Democratic leadership since 2007, Patty has established herself as a tireless leader on education, transportation, budget issues, port security, healthcare, women, and veterans’ issues. In addition to being the first female Senator from Washington state, Patty served as the first female Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee during the 112th Congress and currently serves as the first female Chair of the Senate Budget Committee.

Never planning to enter politics, in the 1980s a state politician told her she “couldn’t make a difference” when she went to Olympia as a parent to advocate for a preschool program targeted by state budget cuts. Patty responded by organizing a grassroots coalition of 13,000 parents that fought successfully to save the program. In 1992, she ran for the United States Senate as a voice for Washington families who were not being heard. Dramatically outspent, Patty ran a grassroots campaign of family, friends, supporters, and public interest groups to beat a 10-year veteran of the House of Representatives. Patty was re-elected in 1998, 2004, and 2010.

As a unique voice in the United States Senate, Patty is known for her down-to-earth, determined style. Patty is often looked to by colleagues and the media in Washington D.C. for her ability to articulate how complex issues affect every day American families.

Patty met her husband of over 40 years, Rob Murray, while attending Washington State University. They have two grown children, Sara and Randy. Patty enjoys fishing, exploring Washington state’s great outdoors and spending time with her family.

Gene Sperling
Director, National Economic Council; Assistant to the President for Economic Policy

Gene B. Sperling is Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He was appointed by President Barack Obama on January 7, 2011.

Mr. Sperling served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, Timothy F. Geithner starting in 2009. In that role, Mr. Sperling served as a lead policy advisor for Secretary Geithner. Previously, Mr. Sperling served during the Clinton Administration as the Director and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. In these positions, Mr. Sperling played a lead role in the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act and was a key negotiator for the 1997 bipartisan Balanced Budget Agreement. In addition to his economic work, Mr. Sperling has specialized on education in poor and conflict-affected nations.

Mr. Sperling holds a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

David Brooks
Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times

David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He has been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Atlantic Monthly, and he is currently a commentator on The PBS Newshour. He is the author of Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There and On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense. In 2011 he came out with his third book, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement.

Mr. Brooks joined The Weekly Standard at its inception in September 1995, having worked at The Wall Street Journal for the previous nine years. His last post at the Journal was as op-ed editor. His distinguished history of contributions to publications including The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Public Interest, the TLS, The New Republic and Commentary, among others.

Born on August 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, Mr. Brooks graduated a bachelor of history from the University of Chicago in 1983.

Representative Peter Roskam
(R-IL) House Majority Chief Deputy Whip

Born and raised in the district he serves, Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam is now in his fourth term in the United States House of Representatives. According to The Washington Post, Roskam “serves as a calming, drama-free influence” on Capitol Hill, and is regularly praised for his ability to distill complex national issues to their core.

Roskam graduated from the University of Illinois before spending his early career in the office of his mentor, legendary Congressman Henry Hyde. He later earned his J.D. from Kent College of Law. Roskam has represented Chicago’s western suburbs in both the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate, where he served alongside then State-Senator Barack Obama.

Often referred to as the House Republicans’ “listener-in-Chief,” Roskam uses his roles in leadership and on the Ways and Means committee to fight for fiscal responsibility and common sense tax initiatives; he is a co-author of the Pledge to America and played an active role in securing a landslide House majority in 2010.

Roskam currently lives in Wheaton with his wife of 24 years, Elizabeth. They have four children, Gracey, Frankie, Steve and A.J.

Susan Dentzer
Senior Policy Advisor,
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Susan Dentzer is Senior Policy Advisor at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest health and health care philanthropy. In this role, she works closely with foundation leaders to carry out the organizational mission of improving the health and health care of all Americans. One of the nation’s most respected health and health policy thought leaders and journalists, she is also an on‐air analyst on health issues on the PBS NewsHour.

Dentzer is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Hastings Center. Dentzer is a frequent guest and commentator on such NPR shows as This American Life and The Diane Rehm Show. From May 2008 to April 2013, Dentzer was Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, the nation’s leading journal of health policy, where she transformed the journal from a bimonthly academic publication to a highly readable, topical monthly journal and online publication with more than 120 million page views annually.

Prior to joining the journal, Dentzer was on‐air correspondent on health and health policy for the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, where she earned numerous awards. Before this, Dentzer served as chief economics correspondent and economics columnist for US News & World Report and a senior writer for Newsweek. Dentzer has been the recipient of several fellowships, including the Nieman Fellowship for journalists at Harvard and the US-Japan Leadership Program fellowship sponsored by the Japan Society.

Dentzer is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization providing relief to refugees and displaced persons around the world. A graduate of Dartmouth, Ms. Dentzer is a Dartmouth trustee emerita, and was the only woman to date to chair the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, which she did from 2001 to 2004. Dentzer, her husband and their three children live in the Washington, DC area.

Mark McClellan, MD, PhD
Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform; Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution

Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, is director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Dr. McClellan’s work at the Engelberg Center focuses on promoting high-quality, innovative, and affordable health care. A doctor and economist by training, he also has a highly distinguished record in public service and in academic research. Dr. McClellan is a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he developed and implemented major reforms in health policy. These include the Medicare prescription drug benefit, FDA’s Critical Path Initiative, and public-private initiatives to develop better information on the quality and cost of care. Dr. McClellan chairs the Reagan-Udall Foundation, is co-chair of the Quality Alliance Steering Committee, sits on the National Quality Forum’s Board of Directors, is a member of the Institute of Medicine, and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He previously served as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and senior director for health care policy at the White House and was an associate professor of economics and medicine at Stanford University.

Harvey Fineberg, MD, PhD
President, Institute of Medicine

Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., is President of the Institute of Medicine. He previously served Harvard University as Provost for 4 years and 13 years as Dean of the School of Public Health. He helped found and served as President of the Society for Medical Decision Making and has been a consultant to the World Health Organization. His research has included assessment of medical technology, evaluation of vaccines, and dissemination of medical innovations. At the Institute of Medicine, he has chaired and served on a number of panels dealing with health policy issues, ranging from AIDS to new medical technology. He also served as a member of the Public Health Council of Massachusetts (1976-1979), as Chairman of the Health Care Technology Study Section of the National Center for Health Services Research (1982-1985), and as President of the Association of Schools of Public Health (1995-1996). He is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles on subjects ranging from AIDS prevention to medical education. Dr. Fineberg holds four degrees from Harvard, including the MD and PhD in Public Policy.

Admiral Mike Mullen, USN (Ret.)
17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Admiral Mike Mullen served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2007-2011). He was the principal military advisor to President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, as well as two Secretaries of Defense.

He led the military during a critical period of transition, overseeing the end of the combat mission in Iraq and the development of a new military strategy for Afghanistan. He advocated for the rapid development and fielding of innovative technologies, championed emerging and enduring international partnerships, and advanced new methods for combating terrorism—all of which directly culminated in the elimination of Usama bin Laden.

As Joint Chiefs Chairman, he spearheaded the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. In addition, he successfully led the complex organizational model of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Mullen has deep experience in leading change in complex organizations, executive development and succession planning, diversity implementation, crisis management, strategic planning, budget policy, congressional relations, risk management, technical innovation, and cyber security. He is widely recognized as an “honest broker” in his key leadership roles as the trusted advisor to both President Bush and President Obama.

He and his wife, Deborah, remain staunch advocates of veterans and their families on a broad range issues including drawing public attention and institutional focus to the challenges of post-traumatic stress, combat-related brain injury, military suicide, care of the wounded and veteran homelessness.

A native of Los Angeles, Mullen graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968. He commanded at every level in the Navy. His final four-star command was in Europe for NATO. His fleet experience culminated in his assignment as the Navy’s highest ranking officer, the 28th Chief of Naval Operations (2005-2007). Admiral Mullen earned a M.S. in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Governor Martin O’Malley
(D-MD) 61st Governor of the State of Maryland

Martin O’Malley is Governor of the State of Maryland. First elected in 2006, he was re-elected in 2010 with 56 percent of the vote. In 2009, Governing Magazine named O’Malley “Public Official of the Year.” Washington Monthly Magazine recently called him “arguably the best manager in government.”

The Governor’s job creation initiatives have helped establish and maintain Maryland’s place as a global leader in biotechnology, clean energy, cyber security, information technology, aerospace, trade, and advanced manufacturing. Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks Maryland #1 in the nation for entrepreneurship and innovation, and among the top five states for economic performance. Under Governor O’Malley’s leadership, Maryland’s public school system has also been ranked #1 in America for four years in a row and Maryland elementary and middle school students have achieved their highest scores ever on state tests. In addition, College Board says that since 2007, Maryland has done more than any other state in the nation to hold down the cost of college.

Governor O’Malley has cut more state spending than any previous Governor in Maryland’s history, while reducing the size of state government, reforming and saving Maryland’s state pension system, and nearly eliminating Maryland’s structural deficit (which stood at nearly $2 billion when Governor O’Malley took office) — all while making record investments in public education.

Governor O’Malley’s administration has invested more than $2 billion in school construction and renovation — a record in Maryland. Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch Ratings have all certified the State’s Triple A Bond Rating, making Maryland one of only 8 states to earn this seal of fiscal responsibility. Marylanders have the 3rd lowest state and local tax burden as a share of income in the nation.

Prior to serving as Governor, O’Malley served as Mayor of the City of Baltimore. Between 1999 and 2009 his policies helped the people of Baltimore achieve the greatest crime reduction of America’s largest cities. During his time as Mayor, O’Malley worked with the city’s citizens and public servants to make it a cleaner, more beautiful city where people want to live and businesses want to invest. He served on the Baltimore City Council from 1991 to 1999. O’Malley received his bachelor’s degree from Catholic University and his law degree from the University of Maryland.

Governor O’Malley and his wife Katie O’Malley, a District Court judge, have two daughters, Grace and Tara, and two sons, William and Jack. They are members of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.

Carly Fiorina
Board Chair of Good360

Carly Fiorina worked her way through undergraduate and graduate school and began her business career as a secretary for a small business. She became the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company, serving as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005. She was named Fortune’s “Most Powerful Woman in Business” for six consecutive years.

During her tenure at HP, Carly led the reinvention of this legendary company, tripling its rate of innovation, achieving market leadership, transforming its cost structure and accelerating growth. She successfully acquired and integrated Compaq Computer, in what is now seen as the most successful high-tech merger in history. Under her leadership, HP doubled in revenues to $88 billion and generated 11 patents a day, with significantly improved profitability and cash flow. HP became a leader in every product category and market segment in which it competed.

Carly currently serves as Chairman of Good360, the world’s largest product philanthropy organization. She is one of the world’s most recognized business leaders and a champion of innovation, education, entrepreneurship, and job creation. She also is an outspoken advocate for leveraging women to solve our most pressing problems. She is the founder of the One Woman Initiative and now serves as a Global Ambassador for Opportunity International.

Carly is politically active. She ran for the Senate in 2010 and served as Victory Chair for John McCain and a co-chair for Mitt Romney. She is also engaged in national policy formulation, serving as a Senior Advisor for the Center of Strategic and International Studies.

Carly earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University, an MBA from the University of Maryland and a Master’s of Science in Business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a cancer survivor who openly tells her story. She and her husband Frank live in Virginia. They have a daughter and two granddaughters.

Janet Murguía
President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza

Having experienced the promise of the American Dream firsthand, Janet Murguía has devoted her career to opening the door to that dream to millions of American families. She continues this mission as President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

Murguía has sought to strengthen NCLR’s work and enhance its role as a vital American institution. One of her first priorities was to harness the power of the nation’s 50 million Hispanics and improve opportunities for Latino families by strengthening the partnership between NCLR and its network of nearly 300 community-based affiliates which serve millions of people in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Murguía has sought to strengthen the Latino voice on issues affecting the Hispanic community such as education, health care, immigration, civil rights, and the economy. Murguía has also emphasized on turning Latino growth into empowerment through the Latino vote. In 2008, NCLR along with its partners helped register nearly 200,000 new Hispanic voters. Other initiatives and partnerships helped more than 1.5 million eligible immigrants apply for citizenship.

She began her career as legislative counsel to former Congressman Jim Slattery. She then worked at the White House from 1994 to 2000, ultimately serving as deputy assistant to President Clinton, providing strategic and legislative advice to the president. She served as deputy director of legislative affairs, acting as a senior White House liaison to Congress. In 2001, Murguía joined the University of Kansas as executive vice chancellor for university relations, overseeing KU’s relations with the public.

Murguía grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. She received three degrees from KU: a BS degree in journalism , a BA degree in Spanish, and a JD degree from the School of Law.

Tamron Hall
Anchor, MSNBC’s NewsNation

Tamron Hall anchors NewsNation — weekdays from 2-3 PM ET on MSNBC. NewsNation features high profile interviews and in-depth coverage of U.S., world and political news. The program has covered countless important American milestones, including a live broadcast from Ground Zero after the death of Osama Bin Laden, where President Obama joined the families of 9/11 victims to mark the occasion. In addition, NewsNation presented live coverage of major events including the final space shuttle launch from KSC in July 2011 and Hurricane Isaac in 2012. In her popular segments, “Gut Check” and “We Just Thought You Should Know,” Hall encourages viewers to give their opinions on some of the most controversial stories in the news via Facebook and Twitter.

In addition to her role at MSNBC, Hall can also be seen on NBC News as frequent substitute host for TODAY and Weekend Today. She has also hosted several special reports for MSNBC and NBC News, including “Making the Grade,” “Debating the Black Agenda,” several Dateline and Rock Center pieces, the 2012 London Olympics and “Education Nation: Teacher Town Hall,” which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2011. Hall also served as correspondent of the NBC News special “The Inauguration of Barack Obama,” which won an Emmy for Outstanding Live Coverage in October 2010.

Prior to joining MSNBC in July 2007, Hall spent 10 years at WFLD in Chicago. Before that, Tamron spent four years as a general assignment reporter at KTVT in Dallas. She began her broadcasting career at KBTX in Bryan, Texas, as a general assignment reporter.

Hall was the recipient of Temple University’s prestigious Lew Klein Alumni in the Media award in 2010. She has been recognized by Day One, a New York-based advocacy group for victims of domestic violence, for her work and support of their efforts.

Chuck Todd
NBC News Chief White House Correspondent; NBC News Political Director; Host, The Daily Rundown, MSNBC; Contributing Editor, Meet the Press, NBC News

Chuck Todd is NBC News’ Chief White House Correspondent, as well as the host of The Daily Rundown on MSNBC. He became NBC News’ Political Director in March 2007. He also serves as NBC News’ on-air political analyst for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Today, Meet the Press and MSNBC.

In addition to his on-air analysis, Todd is responsible for all aspects of the network’s political coverage, serving as the point person for political news and information. He is also the editor of “First Read,” NBC’s must-read guide to political news and trends in and around Washington, D.C. (firstread.msnbc.com) In 2009, Todd co-authored with Sheldon Gawiser the definitive election result analysis book for the 2008 presidential campaign, titled, How Barack Obama Won, published by Vintage.

Before joining NBC News, Todd was the Editor-in-Chief of National Journal’s “The Hotline,” Washington’s premier daily briefing on American politics. In his 15 years working at “The Hotline” or one of its affiliates, Todd became one of Washington’s foremost experts on political campaigns of all levels. He served as Editor-in-Chief for six years. He also serves as a contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly where he pens political essays. Todd frequently contributes op-ed essays for various publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. In addition to Todd’s extensive media presence, he’s served as an adjunct professor, teaching a graduate-level political communications course at the Johns Hopkins University.

In January of 2012, GQ named Todd “The Most Powerful Journalist in Washington,” part of the magazine’s “50 Most Powerful People in Washington” list. In May of 2012, Todd won the “Jeopardy!” Power Players match. Todd is a native of Miami and currently resides in Arlington, Va., with his wife, Kristian, and two children.

Andrea Mitchell
Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News; Host, Andrea Mitchell Reports, MSNBC

Andrea Mitchell, NBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, covers foreign policy, intelligence, and National Security issues for NBC News and MSNBC. In addition to traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she hosts Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, her daily program of political and foreign policy news. Mitchell was also a lead correspondent covering the 2012 Presidential campaign. She is the author of Talking Back: …To Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels (Viking 2005), a memoir about her experiences covering five presidents, Congress, and foreign policy. An Emmy Award winning journalist, Mitchell has also received the prestigious Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the National Press Foundation 2010 Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, and the Radio-Television News Directors’ Foundation Zeidenberg Award for protecting the First Amendment. Mitchell is a member of The Gridiron Club and is a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a board member of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and America’s Promise Alliance. She is married to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and resides in Washington, DC.

Julie Rovner
Health Policy Correspondent, NPR

Julie Rovner is a health policy correspondent for NPR specializing in the politics of health care.

Reporting on all aspects of health policy and politics, Rovner covers the White House, Capitol Hill and the Department of Health and Human Services in addition to issues around the country. She served as NPR’s lead correspondent covering the passage and implementation of the 2010 health overhaul bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

A noted expert on health policy issues, Rovner is the author of a critically-praised reference book Health Care Politics and Policy A-Z. Rovner is also co-author of the book Managed Care Strategies 1997, and has contributed to several other books, including two chapters in Intensive Care: How Congress Shapes Health Policy, edited by political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann. In 2005, Rovner was awarded the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for distinguished reporting of Congress for her coverage of the passage of the Medicare prescription drug law and its aftermath. Rovner has appeared on television on the PBS NewsHour, CNN, C-Span, MSNBC, and NOW with Bill Moyers. Her articles have appeared in dozens of national newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Modern Maturity, and The Saturday Evening Post.

Prior to NPR, Rovner covered health and human services for the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, specializing in health care financing, abortion, welfare, and disability issues. Later she covered health reform for the Medical News Network, an interactive daily television news service for physicians, and provided analysis and commentary on the health reform debates in Congress for NPR. She has been a regular contributor to the British medical journal The Lancet. Her columns on patients’ rights for the magazine Business and Health won her a share of the 1999 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award.

An honors graduate, Rovner has a degree in political science from University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Peter Cook
Chief Washington Correspondent & Host of Capitol Gains, Bloomberg Television

Peter Cook is Bloomberg Television’s chief Washington correspondent and the host of Capitol Gains, which airs on Bloomberg Television and WUSA in Washington, D.C. on Sundays. He covers the intersection between business and government in Washington and reports on the Obama administration, Congress, the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the Pentagon and regulatory agencies.

Cook, who joined Bloomberg Television in 2003, regularly talks to the key decision makers setting government policy. He has interviewed President Obama, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, top regulators such as SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and world leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Cook’s reporting at Bloomberg has taken him around the world. He covered President Obama’s first trip to China, and traveled through Europe with Treasury Secretary Geithner during the European debt crisis. Cook also regularly talks to business leaders impacted by government policy including JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Honeywell Chairman and CEO David Cote and Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally.

Prior to joining Bloomberg Television, Cook was a producer and reporter for NBC News and MSNBC in Washington. Before that, he helped launch EnergyNewsLive.com as news director and Washington bureau chief. Cook also spent ten years as a local news anchor and reporter. The son of a former Newsweek Rome bureau chief, Cook lived in Italy in his early youth. Cook is a graduate of Duke University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.