Neijma Celestine-Donnor
Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Social Work, PEN America

Neijma Celestine-Donnor (she/her/hers) is assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland-Baltimore. She leads efforts to respond to hate and bias through trauma-focused response and support, training and education, and data collection and distribution. She holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland, is a licensed clinical social work supervisor, and is currently completing her JD at the University of Baltimore. She also has years of experience within the field of trauma services, is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, and is an experienced trainer and facilitator.

Pasha Dashtgard
Director of Research, PERIL

Pasha Dashtgard is the Director of Research for the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). He has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the department of Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine, and was formerly a postdoctoral Fellow at Loyola Marymount University’s Psychology Applied Research Center (PARC). He attended Columbia University, Teacher's College for his MA in Mental Health Counseling and Ed.M in Education. Dr. Dashtgard leads PERIL’s research and evaluation team, overseeing national testing of all prevention and intervention tools alongside primary research in the form of nationally-representative surveys, focus groups, and ethnography. Pasha’s research interests include masculinities, online radicalization, PTSD, and large-scale mental health policy/service delivery. Research projects include analysis using his Male Supremacy Scale (MSS) and its intersections with online behavior, PTSD in solitary confinement, and various projects intervening with populations beset by misinformation, conspiratorial thinking, and political polarization.

Paulette Granberry Russell
President & CEO, NADOHE

Paulette Granberry Russell, JD, was elected president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education in March 2020. She is a leading national voice and sought-after presenter on issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in higher education and beyond. Paulette is Senior Advisor to the President for Diversity, Emerita, at Michigan State University. Her research interests include gender equity in STEM, campus culture and its impact on marginalized communities, and strategies for dismantling structural racism to create more equitable experiences for faculty, students, and staff of color. Paulette received her bachelor of arts degree from Michigan State University (MSU) and her juris doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. She is a licensed attorney with the State of Michigan

Paul T. Jaeger
Professor and Distinguished Scholar—Teacher, University of Maryland

Paul T. Jaeger, PhD, JD, MEd, MLS, is a Professor and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in the College of Information Studies, Director of the Museum Scholarship and Material Culture graduate program, and Associate Director of the Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility at the University of Maryland. He studies the impacts of law and policy on information access and behavior, with a focus on human rights and civil rights. He is the author of 20 books and more than 200 journal articles and book chapters. He is an editor of Library Quarterly and Including Disability, and co-chair of the Including Disability Global Summit. 

La'Nita Johnson
Director of Training and Partnership Development, PERIL

La’Nita Johnson is an expert in multilingual international education and training design. Currently the director of Training and Partnership Development at the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL), she leads the Summer Institute Fellowship and oversees training development across the US and online. As a terrorism survivor, La’Nita is deeply committed to global education on countering violent extremism. Her powerful speeches and advocacy on survivor needs, including mental health, have gained recognition from prestigious organizations and media outlets, such as the World Bank, Quartz, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. La’Nita holds a master’s degree in international training and education from American University and bachelor’s degrees, magna cum laude, in Hispanic studies and international studies with a specialization in intercultural communications from Pepperdine University.

Nico Perrino
Executive Vice President, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Nico Perrino is executive vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the creator and host of FIRE’s So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast. Prior to his current role, he led FIRE's Communications department for nearly a decade, most recently as its senior vice president of communications. Nico's writing has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Politico, Newsweek, and The Guardian, and he regularly travels the country to speak about free speech and other civil liberties issues. As a documentarian, Nico was Co-Director and Senior Producer of “Mighty Ira: A Civil Liberties Story” (2020), a feature-length film about the life and career of former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser. He also worked as a consultant on “Can We Take a Joke?” (2015) and "The Coddling of the American Mind" (2023).
 

Lara Schwartz
Director of the American University Project on Civil Discourse, faculty at American University School of Public Affairs, PEN America

Lara Schwartz (she/her/hers) is the founding director of the American University Project on Civil Discourse and teaches at the American University School of Public Affairs. Schwartz focuses on civil rights and liberties, constitutional law, politics, communications, policy, and civic dialogue. Prior to joining AU’s faculty, Schwartz served as director of strategic engagement at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, as Courts Matter director at Media Matters, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign, and vice president of external affairs at the American Association of People with Disabilities. Schwartz is the coauthor of How to College: What to Know Before You Go (And When You’re There). Her next book, Try to Love the Questions: From Debate to Inquiry in the College Classroom, will be released in 2023.

Kristen Shahverdian
Senior Manager, Free Expression and Education, PEN America

Kristen Shahverdian is the program manager of free expression and education at PEN America, developing campus engagements and public events related to free expression and education. Teaching has been a consistent interest throughout her career: After a decade in dance and choreography, she began researching best practices for participatory art projects and how to teach art that depicts violence and traumatic events. She previously served as a project manager for the Philadelphia Folklore Project, and facilitated workshops on trauma and art at the College Art Association and Dance Studies Association. She is also a writer and editor at the online dance journal thINKingDANCE.

Emerson Sykes
Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU

Emerson is a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, where he focuses on First Amendment free speech protections. In 2019–2020, he hosted At Liberty, the ACLU’s weekly podcast. Prior to joining the ACLU in 2018, Emerson was a legal advisor for Africa at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). In 2012–2013, he served as assistant general counsel to the New York City Council. In 2011, Emerson was a senior policy fellow in the office of a member of the Parliament of Ghana. Emerson holds a JD from the New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar for public interest law, and a master of public affairs degree from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science at Stanford.

Terri Taylor
Strategy Director, Innovation & Discovery, Lumina Foundation

Terri Taylor, J.D., serves as the strategy director for innovation and discovery at Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. Working from Lumina’s office in Washington, D.C., Taylor leads the foundation’s efforts to develop new strategies for higher education to contribute to solving our most intractable societal problems, including how to re-build democracy and respond to climate change with equity at the center. In her time at Lumina, Taylor has overseen the foundation’s work to increase participation in bachelor’s programs, led the postsecondary finance portfolio, and built out new strategies to bring student voice to federal policy.

Before joining Lumina, Taylor worked for several years at EducationCounsel, where she advised organizations, institutions, and foundations on legal and policy strategies to promote equity, quality, and attainment in higher education and K12. She worked with several colleges and organizations on race-conscious practices, including deep involvement in U.S. Supreme Court advocacy related to Fisher and other admissions cases. 

Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in American studies and religious studies from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She started her career in education as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English as a second language in Kyrgyzstan.

James L. Turk
Director, Centre for Free Expression, Toronto Metropolitan University

Jim is director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. He speaks and writes extensively on expressive freedom and its relationship to social justice, human rights, civil liberties, and democracy. From 1998 to 2014, Jim was executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers. Previously he was a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto and has held several senior positions in the Canadian trade union movement. Jim received his BA from Harvard University, his MA from the University of California at Berkeley, his PhD from the University of Toronto, and was a Knox Fellow at the University of Cambridge.