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Anthony Jackson is Vice President for Education at Asia Society. He also leads Asia Society’s Partnership for Global Learning (PGL), a national membership network of practitioners and policymakers dedicated to integrating knowledge about Asia and the world as a mainstay of American education. Over the past six years, he has lead the development of Asia Society’s International Studies Schools Network, an effort within the PGL to create a network of small, effective, internationally-themed secondary schools across the country. Before joining Asia Society, he was a Director of the Walt Disney Company’s Disney Learning Partnership, where he designed and oversaw the Creative Learning Communities network of reforming elementary schools. Dr. Jackson, trained in both developmental psychology and education, is one of the nation’s leading experts on secondary school reform and adolescent development. After a stint on Capitol Hill as a Congressional Science Fellow he became a senior staff member on the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families, chaired by George Miller (D-CA). Dr. Jackson later directed the Carnegie Corporation Task Force on the Education of Young Adolescents that produced the seminal Turning Points report, which became a key blueprint for the reform of thousands of middle schools nationwide. While at Carnegie Corporation he created and directed the Turning Points network of over 250 middle schools that operated in fifteen states, as well as in Los Angeles and New York City. He also co-authored the follow-up blueprint Turning Points 2000, which transformed many of the design principles in the original report into concrete action steps for new and reconstituted secondary schools. Many urban districts are now using Turning Points 2000 to guide secondary school reform initiatives. In 2004, Teachers College Press published the latest book co-authored by Jackson entitled Making the Most of Middle School: A Field Guide for Parents and Others.

Joining us today is Motavenda “Moti” Melchizedek. Moti is an artist, writer, astrologer and dancer. She has chronicled her personal journey of emotional and spiritual integration which is now being publishing through Tattletale Publications. She just released a piece entitled: The Edge of the World…the metaphysics of survival and the evolution of humanity. These are the chronicles of her deep journey of transformation which delineate her process of healing the wounds of self-alienation and the remembrance of the sacredness of the soul through magical drawings and writings which capture the intimate process of emotional integration. Her body of work is all about the world of feelings and the essential seat of exaltation emotions must have in the future we co-create. You can see more of her work at InnerworldDesigns.com.

Gerry is a Constitutional, Common Law, and Biblical Law Scholar. He is a political activist concerned with restoring the principles, values, morals and ethics America’s founding fathers intended. Currently he is the Central Texas Director of Grassfire.org’s “Patriotic Resistance” at www.resistnet.com where he directs 8 Congressional Districts covering over one quarter of Texas. Gerry founded the Constitutional Review Committee in 2001 with other Constitutional Scholars. This group reviewed Congressional legislation for its constitutionality for 113 sitting Congressmen. Under the Constitutional Review Committee, he was editor and author of a newsletter called “Awaken America,” which ultimately had over 390,000 subscribers. He has now resurrected this newsletter and it is available at www.drawaline.org. Gerry’s research has shown that our current government has strayed immensely from the boundaries our Constitution intended to restrain the government from usurpations of our power and the tyrannical infringement of our unalienable rights.

Annemarie currently holds the position of Research Coordinator for Opportunity@Work. In her position she is primarily responsible for coordinating a statewide coalition, Opportunity@Work, focused on strengthening the financial stability of Nebraska's families and children. The coordination of Opportunity@Work includes leading and overseeing all research, policy and public education efforts. As Voices for Children's Research Coordinator, Annemarie's additional responsibilities include overseeing the gathering of research and data collection, the authorship of the Kids Count in Nebraska report and any additional publications released by Voices. Previous to her position at Voices for Children, Annemarie lived and worked in Germany & the Czech Republic as an educator in foreign businesses, and lived in Peshawar, Pakistan volunteering for a non-profit organization working with Afghan women and children. During university and post-graduation she held a position in which she provided direct services to children and youth at a local residential crisis shelter. She received her B.A. from University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Nathan Gonzalez is a Fellow with the Truman National Security Project. He is author of two books, Engaging Iran: The Rise of a Middle East Powerhouse and America's Strategic Choice, and the upcoming book, The Sunni-Shia Conflict and the Iraq War: Understanding Sectarian Violence in the Middle East. In 2002, he received a Dean's Prize in Undergraduate Research from UCLA, through which he predicted that a U.S. invasion of Iraq would bring about massive sectarian violence and a stronger Iran. He holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University. You can get more details on his website: www.NathanGonzalez.com