Panteá Farvid (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Applied Psychology, within the Schools of Public Engagement and the chair of psychology in the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students (BPATS). She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in social and applied psychology, psychology for social change, research methods, psychology of gender and sexuality, psychology and technology, and research methods.

Her expertise, research, teaching and advocacy work center on the psychology of gender and sexuality. Dr. Farvid is the founder and director of The SexTech Lab at The New School, which examines evolving social issues at the intersection of sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, culture, technology, and intimacy. Her work addresses various intersections of contemporary interpersonal, social, and structural inequities, with a view to mobilizing empirically driven social and political change. As of Fall 2023, she is also the co-director of the Gender and Sexuality Institute at The New School.

Dr. Farvid works with interdisciplinary research teams, community organizations, and policy makers across the globe. She draws on mixed-methods, discursive methods, participatory approaches, as well as new and emerging methodologies. Dr. Farvid has a wide-ranging media profile addressing social and psychological issues (see for example, her TEDx talk on saying goodbye to binary gender), as well as being a frequent consultant to policy makers and private companies. Dr. Farvid is widely published, inside and outside academia, with a sole-authored book coming out on Psychology and Heterosexuality: Reckoning with Disciplinary Heteronormativity (Palgrave) as well as an edited collection on Sexual Racism and Social Justice: Reckoning with White Supremacy and Desire (Oxford University Press).

Gary Barker, PhD is an international voice for healthy manhood, gender equality and violence prevention. He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University and a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Loyola University-Chicago. He is the founder and CEO of Equimundo Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, an international organization that works globally, including the US, to engage men and boys in healthy masculinities. Gary Barker has led global action to engage men as fathers and caregivers, including co-authoring the State of the World’s Fathers reports. He has received an Ashoka Fellowship, an Open Society Fellowship, and a Voices of Solidarity Award from Vital Voices for his research and activism. In 2019 he was named by Apolitical as one of the 100 most influential persons in gender equality globally. Gary advises UN agencies, corporations, and governments on engaging men as allies in gender equality. He holds a Research Affiliate position at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. His four novels — Luisa’s Last Words, The Afghan Vampires Book Club, Mary of Kivu, and Museum of Lost Love – draw on his experiences of working in conflict-affected settings and have been praised for creating stories of “grace and passion” out some of the world’s most violent places. He lived nearly 20 years in Central and South America and currently lives in Washington, DC.

Gary L. Cunningham is a nationally recognized leader in economic and social justice whose career  bridges public service, philanthropy, and community development. A Minneapolis native and member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation as a Freedmen descendant, he has dedicated his life to creating  systems in which all people, particularly those historically excluded, can thrive. 

Cunningham began his career in public service as Director of the Civil Rights Department for the City of  Minneapolis, advancing equity and accountability across civic institutions. He later served as Director  of Compliance for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, strengthening transparency and fair access in  public contracting. Returning to Minnesota, he became County Administrator for Scott County and later  Associate Superintendent for Minneapolis Public Schools, where he led systemic reforms that  supported stronger educational and operational outcomes. 

He then joined the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs as a Senior Fellow, focusing on  governance and economic inclusion, before becoming Hennepin County’s Director of Planning and  Development. In that role, Cunningham managed the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, created  the Affordable Housing Incentive Fund, and launched the African American Men Project—a pioneering  effort to address racial inequities across systems of opportunity. 

At NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, he served as CEO and Director of Primary Care, transforming  the organization into one of Minnesota’s leading integrated health and human service agencies. He later  became Vice President of Programs at the Northwest Area Foundation, where he helped align the  foundation’s mission around racial and economic equity goals. During that time, he also co‑founded the  African American Leadership Forum, which continues to unite Black leaders and communities through  collective policy action. 

Cunningham went on to serve as President and CEO of the Metropolitan Economic Development  Association (MEDA) and later of Prosperity Now, a national organization dedicated to building an  economy that works for everyone. Today, he serves as Senior Advisor to the Institute on Race, Power,  and Political Economy at The New School and as Board Chair of Momentus Capital. 

A published author and sought‑after public voice, Cunningham has contributed to Nonprofit Quarterly,  The Foundation Review, and Poverty & Race, examining how power, policy, and history shape  opportunity in America. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and recipient  of the Humphrey School’s Public Leadership Award. Cunningham also serves on the editorial board of  Freedom Schools: A Journal of Democracy and Community, published by the University of Texas Press.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Metropolitan State University and a master’s degree  in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Darrick Hamilton is the University Professor and Henry Cohen Professor of
Economics and Urban Policy at The New School, where he also founded and directs
the Institute on Race, Power & Political Economy. He additionally serves as Chief
Economist at the AFL-CIO.

Widely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost public intellectuals, Professor
Hamilton reimagines how an economy should work—identifying bold
opportunities to invest in our human capacity and fostering collaborations that
advance economic inclusion, social equity, and civic engagement in the United
States and around the world.

A pioneer in the economics subfield of identity group stratification, Professor
Hamilton’s research has been featured in The New York Times, Mother Jones,
Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Wall Street Journal. He has developed and advised
on transformative policy proposals—such as baby bonds, guaranteed income, and
a federal job guarantee—that have inspired legislation and shifted billions of
dollars toward building a fair and inclusive economy.

In 2025, Professor Hamilton was named the Katherine Hampson Bessell Fellow at
the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and was recognized as a Freedom Scholar by the
Marguerite Casey Foundation in its 2020 inaugural class. He has advised national
and global leaders on economic policy, including the U.S. Joint Economic
Committee and the Senate Banking Committee and also serves on the board of
directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
Born and raised in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Professor
Hamilton earned his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and his Ph.D. in
Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rain’s North Star and perpetual sense of urgency is advancing the wellbeing of people and the planet. Rain has spent over 25 years studying, teaching and applying her work in the social sciences to bring together key leaders who all share a stake in an issue - despite having different perspectives or goals - to create systemic solutions on issues of climate, health, education and social justice. She has a track record of teasing out true insights from fads and translating analyses into lessons and communications that can further meaningful change. She has been consistently commended for her resonant leadership, staff development
prowess and zen presence during converging crises.

Rain’s impact includes and is not limited to having...
● Helped 25+ Fortune 100 companies including AstraZeneca, CVS/Aetna and Meta transform business practices to improve individual consumer and population level outcomes
● Worked as a policy advisor for President Bill Clinton, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, multiple members of the United States Congress and the United Kingdom’s Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and multiple US governors
● Worked with 100+ NGO’s, foundations and family offices on philanthropy vehicle creation, visioning, governance, strategic planning, geopolitical analysis and sustainable giving
● Held corporate sustainability and global advisory boards roles for AstraZeneca, CVS, Dicks Sporting Goods, Nestle, McDonalds, PepsiCo, Coca Cola and Glaxo Smith Kline
● Developed social impact campaigns for critically acclaimed films on health and justice including Beautiful Boy, The Antidote, The Price of Freedom, Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down and more
● Formally trained in policy, business transformation, advocacy, information systems and communications
● Published numerous reports and articles along with media credits that include Time, the New York Times, U.S. News, Good Housekeeping, The Army Times, World Reports, Fast Company, USA Today and Forbes

Rain also teaches health policy and leadership at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public service and studies neurobiological leadership with the Teleos Institute in Philadelphia. She earned her Bachelor of Art in International Relations, Information Systems and Global Economics and her Master of Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs - all at Syracuse University.

Jackson Katz, Ph.D., is an educator, author, and scholar-activist who has long been a major figure in the growing global movement of men working to promote gender equity and prevent gender-based violence. He co-founded the first large-scale gender violence prevention initiative in college and professional athletics in North America, and the first system-wide prevention program in the U.S. military. He is the creator of numerous award-winning educational documentaries, including the classic Tough Guise series and The Man Card: 50 Years of Gender, Power, and the American Presidency. His book Man Enough: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity won a Foreword Indie award as one of the best political science books of 2016. In 2024 he co-founded the Young Men Research Project. He has lectured and trained in all fifty US states, 8 Canadian provinces, and every continent except Antarctica. His new book, just out from Bloomsbury, is Every Man: Why Violence Against Women Is a Men's Issue. His TEDx talk on that topic has been translated into 27 languages and has over 5.7 million views.

Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University in Washington, DC, where she is also the founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). She is a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur and recently served as the inaugural creative lead for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s residency program on social cohesion in Berlin, Germany. Dr. Miller-Idriss regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress and briefs policy, security, education and intelligence agencies in the U.S., the United Nations, and other countries on trends in domestic violent extremism and strategies for prevention and disengagement. She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of seven books, including Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism (Princeton University Press, 2025), Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right (Princeton University Press, 2022), and is currently at work on a new co-authored book (with Pasha Dashtgard) on evidence-based prevention of hate-fueled violence. Dr. Miller-Idriss writes frequently for mainstream audiences, as an opinion columnist for MSNBC and in other recent by-lines in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, Politico, USA Today, The Boston Globe, and more.

Richard V. Reeves is the founder and president of the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Before founding AIBM in 2023, Reeves was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. While at Brookings, he focused on policies related to economic inequality, racial justice, social mobility, and boys and men.

Reeves is the author of several books, including “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to do About It” and “Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That is a Problem, and What to do About It.”

Inspired by his own experiences as a father and policy expert, Reeves founded AIBM to bring awareness to the challenges facing boys and men today and to develop evidence-based solutions.

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WARREN SPIELBERG PhD, Fulbright Scholar is a psychologist, psychoanalyst and an Associate Teaching Professor at the New School in New York and clinical supervisor at the Ph.D. clinical program. He is a clinical supervisor at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in psychoanalysis and faculty at the Stephen Mitchell Relational Center. He is also on the faculty at the Adelphi University Postdoctoral Trauma program. He is Co-Editor of the book, “The Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents- Two Volumes” (Praeger Publishers). His published work has also included OP Eds and magazine pieces on Black Boys and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. He is a former member of the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Boys and Men and is the recipient of the APA Practitioner of the Year Award for his work with the FDNY post 9/11. Currently, he is a Senior Fellow at the Equimundo Center for Masculinities and Social Justice. His portfolio there has included male trauma and currently a project on Masculinity and Democracy. His consultative work has included the Obama Foundation MBK program, Al Quds University, on the West Bank, the FDNY, UNICEF and other NG0’s and governmental bodies. He maintains a private practice in Brooklyn, NY where he treats children, adults, and families. His website is Warrenspielberg.com

Kirkland Vaughans, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. A Fellow-training and supervising analyst-on the faculty of IPTAR, he is also faculty and founder of the Adelphi Derner/ Hempstead Child Clinic and Supervisor in the Child & Adolescent Program of the Derner Postgraduate Program and faculty at NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis and the Stephen Mitchell Relational Study Center. He is Founding Editor of the Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy and the co-editor of the two-volume Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents. He has presented at over 125 conferences and panel discussions on issues pertaining to white racism, generational trauma among African Americans, and the school-to-prison pipeline for boys and girls of Color, and is a subject of the documentary, Your Mum and Dad. He Is a founding member of Black Psychoanalysts Speak and was a member of the Holmes Commission. In addition, he is a recipient of the 2024 Founder Award of SPPP. (Div. 39) APA.

Ayse Lokmanoglu’s research is at the intersection of communication, computational social science, and digital humanities. She investigates how supremacist ideologies are propagated online by state and non-state actors, with a particular focus on issues of race, gender, and religion. Her work utilizes advanced computational methods, including automated text and visual analysis, and network analysis, to provide insights into the digital strategies of supremacist groups.

Her research has been supported by substantial grants, including the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). She has also received numerous awards for her scholarship, including the National Communication Association’s Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, the IEEE VIS 2023 Best Paper Award, and top paper awards from the National Communication Association’s Division. Lokmanoglu is also a leadership member of the VOX-Pol Network and an affiliate of Northwestern University’s Center for Communication and Public Policy (CCPP), the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP), and Monash Global Peace and Security Center.

She completed her Ph.D. in Communication at Georgia State University as a presidential fellow in the Transcultural Conflict and Violence Initiative (TCV). Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University, an assistant professor of Disinformation Studies at Clemson University, and a core faculty member of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation-funded Media Forensics Hub.

Wilson Valentín-Escobar, PhD (he/him/él) is an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Public Humanities. A first-generation college graduate who is also a product of New York City's public schools, Valentín is a scholar, professor, curator, and activist who hails from pre-gentrified Brooklyn. The son of a former public school janitor and homemaker, and raised in Brooklyn's Farragut Public Housing Projects by working-class Puerto Rican parents who migrated to New York City, his experiences of discrimination and invisibility shaped his intellectual and scholarly interests, pedagogical philosophy, as well as his commitment to transformative social justice. 

Valentín is the author of two books: Bodega Surrealism: Latina/o/x Artivists in New York City (NYU Press, forthcoming) and Rican-Structing the Roots and Routes of Puerto Rican Music and Dance  (Centro Press, forthcoming). He has curated numerous exhibits, including ¡Presente! The Young Lords in New York, Montage Quotidien: The Photographs of Máximo Rafael Colón, and Power and Memory: 50 Years of Struggle, Shared Legacies of Resistance, among others. Valentín has also presented at national and international conferences, and has published his scholarship in academic refereed journals, book anthologies, and museum catalogs.  

As an interdisciplinary scholar trained in the Critical Ethnic Studies tradition, he has long been committed to community engaged pedagogy and collaborative, transdisciplinary, public-facing scholarship that fosters praxis-oriented intellectual inquiry. His scholarship and teaching is at the intersections of various fields and subjects, including artivism (arts and activism), US Latinx Studies, Cultural Studies, Museum Studies, Performance Studies, Urban Studies, Historical Studies, Sociology, Aesthetics, and Oral History. He aims to create pathways for aesthetic innovation, arts-based civic engagement, community activism, community-based arts education, and multi/interdisciplinary arts that foster and hold space for socio-political and academic collaborations. Valentín believes that decolonial teaching practices and knowledge production are best realized within spaces of freedom and equity, allowing for creative and imaginative thinking beyond conventional paradigms and disciplines. 

He teaches courses in Community Engagement and Social Action, US Ethnic Studies, Latina/o/x Studies, Puerto Rican Studies, Art and Activism, Oral History Theory and Methods, Self-Directed Learning, and Cultural Studies.

Before joining The New School, Valentín was an Associate Professor of American Studies and Sociology at Hampshire College (2004-2022), Director of the cross-campus Five College Latin, Caribbean and Latina/o/x Studies Program (2011-2018), and Director of the interdisciplinary Bachelor of Liberal Arts Program at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell (2019-2021). 

Valentín is the recipient of various national and international fellowships, grants, and awards, including: a Postdoctoral Associate in the Program in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration at Yale University, an Andrew Mellon Fellowship at Columbia University, the George Washington Henderson Fellowship at the University of Vermont, the Fred C. Anderson Fellow in American Studies at Carleton College, the American Sociological Association Presidential Minority Fellowship, and a Periclean Faculty Leadership Program Grant from the Eugene Lang Foundation.

At the University of Michigan, he completed a PhD and MA in American Studies, as well as a MA in Sociology. He completed a Graduate Certificate in Oral History at Columbia University, and a BA in Sociology and Latinx Studies (with honors) at Fordham University. 

Dr. Sedef Ozoguz is an Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts in Psychology in the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students (BPATS). She earned her PhD in Critical Social Psychology from the City University of New York (CUNY), and holds degrees in Psychology and Cognitive and Decision Sciences from the University of York and University College London (UCL).

Her research explores gender and sexuality through transnational, transdisciplinary, and transmodal approaches, and has been published in leading journals such as Qualitative Psychology and Feminism & Psychology. Beyond academia, Sedef is dedicated to public scholarship, using documentary film to make gender and sexuality research accessible to wider audiences. Her film, Wild Women of Anatolia, which centers on the freedom dreams of women in Türkiye, has been screened at international festivals including Documentarist, Beyond Borders, and Antioch.

She currently serves as co-director of SexTechLab, where she investigates how sexuality, gender, race, culture, technology, and intimacy intersect in contemporary society.

David Bering-Porter is Assistant Professor of Culture and Media at the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School. David has lectured, taught, and published on zombie movies and other forms of Black horror, generative media and artificial intelligence, and the intersections of race, culture, and digital theory. David is a founding member of the Digital Theory Lab at New York University and is an ongoing member of the steering committee for the Code as a Liberal Art program at The New School. His current book project, under contract with University of Minnesota Press, is titled Undead Labor and is a study of the ways that race, labor, and value come together in the mediated body of the zombie. His writing has also appeared in journals such as Critical Inquiry, Flow, MIRAJ, Post 45, Culture Machine and the Los Angeles Review of Books.