An economist by training, Ahed Alhendi is a member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Council for Regional Integration. As a social entrepreneur in his native Syria, he organized artists to restore color and images of hope to public spaces in territories liberated from ISIS. He also devised a program for Syrian artists to use 3D modeling techniques to build prosthetics for their fellow citizens who had been wounded in the war. An active voice for Arab development and reform, he is a frequent guest on pan-Arab satellite channels, and his writing has appeared in leading American and Arab newspapers.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib is a Palestinian American humanitarian activist and blogger. He leads Realign For Palestine, an Atlantic Council project that challenges entrenched narratives in the Israel and Palestine discourse and develops a new policy framework for rejuvenated pro-Palestine advocacy. Realign For Palestine aims to cultivate a new generation of Palestinian voices committed to a two-nation solution, nonviolence, and radical pragmatism.

Brandon Kramer is the director of the feature documentary, Holding Liat.

Elijah Kahlenberg is the President and founder of Atidna International. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2025 with a B.A. in government, Middle East studies, and Jewish studies with minors in Hebrew and History. He plans to pursue both a PhD in History and a JD focusing on International Law.

Jadd Hashem is the Vice President of Atidna International and also the Palestinian Head of Dialogue. Born in Dallas as a Palestinian-American, Hashem has been active in local politics while campaigning for the total equality of Palestinians in Israel/Palestine. He believes in the total equality of all people in the Holy Land.

Joseph Braude is  founder and president of The Center for Peace Communications. He is an expert on the nexus of culture and politics in Arab societies and an active presence in the region’s media and policy debates.

Academy Award-nominated, Emmy- and Peabody-winning documentary filmmaker, and co-director of RBG, My Name Is Pauli Murray, Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, and Every Body.

Lance is a DC-based filmmaker and co-founder of MHP. Lance produced HOLDING LIAT (Berlinale Documentary Award), The First Step(Tribeca, AFI DOCS); City of Trees (Full Frame, PBS, Netflix); and the Webby Award-winning documentary series The Messy Truth. Lance was selected to the 2018 Sundance Creative Producers Summit, the 2017 Impact Partners Documentary Producers Fellowship and was named to the DOC NYC “40 Under 40” list in 2021. In 2014, Lance received the DC Mayor’s Arts Award, the highest honor given to working artists in the city. Lance served two terms as Board Member of Docs in Progress, is a board member of the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) and has been an active member of the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA) since 2016.

Laurel Leff is a professor of journalism at Northeastern University and the author of Buried by The Times and Well Worth Saving, which examine how American media and universities responded to the Holocaust. Her work focuses on institutional silence and moral failure during times of crisis.

Libby Lenkinski (she/her) is the founding President of Albi and serves as Vice President for Public Engagement at the New Israel Fund, where she has led all aspects of NIF’s public efforts in the United States for the last decade – including communications, digital, programs, events, leadership, community partnerships and engagement, New Generations and fellowships. Prior to joining NIF, Libby lived and worked in the Israeli non-profit field for almost a decade. Libby currently serves on the board of American Friends of the Batsheva Dance Company and Heeb Magazine, and is on the Advisory Committee for the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues, Ayin Press, Schlepp Labs, and Diaspora Alliance. Libby is based in NYC and travels to Israel-Palestine frequently.

Melanie Robbins is the deputy director of Realign for Palestine with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Initiative. She drives project strategy, communications, outreach, and engagement. Robbins has previously worked with a Jewish and Palestinian youth education program, publishing a Hebrew-Arabic magazine and later serving as the director of development and international relations for Peace Now.

Palestinian American peace activist and co-founder of The Path Forward 

Moumen al-Natour is a Palestinian politician, lawyer and human rights defender. He is an organizer of the We Want to Live movement, a movement based in the Gaza Strip which has opposed the region's Hamas-controlled government.

Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political strategist and heads the Jerusalem Development Fund. He is widely recognized for his efforts to promote dialogue and practical solutions for peace.  

Dr. Sari Nusseibeh is a Palestinian philosopher and professor emeritus at Al-Quds University. Educated at Oxford and Harvard, he’s the author of Once Upon a Country and The Story of Reason in Islam, and a leading voice for coexistence and human dignity in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Yuval David is an Emmy Award–winning journalist filmmaker and actor as well as a prominent advocate for Jewish and LGBTQ rights. He serves as a strategic advisor to international NGOs policy institutes and advocacy organizations bringing expertise in media communications and sociopolitical analysis. Through his work Yuval advances human rights combats antisemitism and promotes inclusive democratic values.

Yuval is also known for his poignant written work—including academic papers news commentary articles and poetry—that captures the depth of lived experience while exploring identity justice and resilience. As a broadcaster and commentator he skillfully embraces and dissects complex and often contentious issues creating space for clarity courage and meaningful dialogue.