Jared Cohen

Jared Cohen is the author of the books Children of Jihad: A Young American’s Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East and One Hundred Days of Silence: America and the Rwanda Genocide. He has been featured in The New Yorker and appeared on The Colbert Report, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Fox News, ABC, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, BBC, and a variety of other programs. In September 2006, Jared joined the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, where he is responsible for counter-terrorism, counterradicalization, youth and education, public diplomacy, Muslim world outreach, and North Africa. Prior to joining the Policy Planning Staff, Jared received his BA from Stanford University and his MPhil in International Relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. While at Oxford, he spent substantial amounts of time in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, where he looked at youth in the Islamic world and how they view themselves and their changing role in the world after 9/11. He has also traveled extensively throughout Africa, looking at issues related to conflict resolution, genocide, and democracy. He is fluent in Swahili and has also studied Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, Maa, Amharic, and Korean.

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is one of a very elite group of artists who have won the Grammy, the Academy Award®, the Golden Globe, the Emmy, and the Tony. She is equally well-known for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of children, the homeless, human rights, education, substance abuse, and the battle against AIDS. She is also a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations. Born and raised in New York City, Whoopi got her start in theater and improvisation before her film debut in The Color Purple, for which she earned an Oscar® nomination and a Golden Globe. She won the Oscar® and Golden Globe for her performance in Ghost and has also appeared in such films as Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Clara’s Heart, Soapdish, The Player, Sarafina!, Sister Act, Corrina, Corrina, Boys on the Side, Ghosts of Mississippi, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Her television credits include five seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Bagdad Café, her own late-night talk show, and the NBC sitcom Whoopi. She currently appears as a moderator on The View. Among her production credits are the Lifetime series Strong Medicine, Hollywood Squares, and the hit Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Whoopi cohosted nine Comic Relief telecasts and is a four-time host of the Academy Awards®. She has won multiple NAACP Image Awards as well as various honors for her humanitarian efforts. In 1992, Whoopi debuted as an author with her children’s book, Alice, followed by the best-selling Book and Whoopi’s Big Book of Manners. In 2006, she made her debut as a radio host on “Wake Up with Whoopi.”

Ross Kauffman

Ross Kauffman is the director, producer, cinematographer, and co-editor of Born Into Brothels, winner of the 2005 Academy Award® for best documentary. Kauffman worked as a documentary film editor from 1992 until 2000, working on films for HBO, Thirteen/WNET, National Geographic, and Discovery Channel. In 2001, Kauffman formed Red Light Films to make Born Into Brothels, a documentary about the children of Calcutta’s prostitutes. The film was accepted to more than 50 film festivals worldwide and has since received more than 40 awards, including best documentary from the National Board of Review and Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the 2004 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award. Kauffman is currently working on a variety of projects, including the television series War Photographers; Wait for Me, the story of a mother’s spiritual and emotional search for her son who went missing 23 years ago; and Penny, a feature narrative about a 13-year-old Tanzanian girl. Kauffman is also executive producer of In A Dream, about Philadelphia mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar, and cinematographer of the documentary Project Kashmir.

Padma Lakshmi

Padma Lakshmi is known internationally as an actress, food expert, model, and award-winning writer. In 2007 she returned as host of Bravo’s Top Chef and released her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet, a follow-up to Easy Exotic, for which she won the International Versailles Event for best cookbook by a first-time writer. Lakshmi hosted Food Network’s Padma’s Passport and Planet Food, which aired worldwide on the Discovery Channel. Lakshmi received a positive response for her performance as Princess Bithia in ABC’s miniseries The Ten Commandments, the second highest-rated TV film of 2006. She has starred in BBC America’s Sharpe’s Challenge and had roles in The Mistress of Spices and other films in the United States, Italy, and India. She has hosted Rai Television’s Domenica In, Italy’s highest rated program, and contributed to such magazines as Vogue, Gourmet, and British and American Harper’s Bazaar. Originally known as the first internationally successful Indian supermodel, Lakshmi started modeling while an exchange student in Spain at Clark University, where she received a BA in theater arts.

JosÉ Padilha

JosÉ Padilha is a Brazilian director and producer. He was born and lives in Rio de Janeiro. As a feature director, Mr. Padilha made Elite Squad, possibly the most popular Brazilian film ever, for which he won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival this year. Its official US premiere is at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. As a documentary filmmaker, Padilha directed Bus 174, for which he won an Emmy, a Peabody award, the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo film festival awards, a Directors Guild nomination, and humanitarian awards from groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. He also produced the award-winning documentaries Charcoal People, directed by Nigel Noble and released in 1999, and Estamira, directed by Marcos Prado and released in 2003.