Dr. Devra Davis
www.devradavis.com
Author and environmental warrior

Dr. Devra Davis is one of America's leading environmental health researchers and advocates. She is the author of a National Book Award Finalist, When Smoke Ran Like Water, and a new "must-read" addition to the environmental cannon, The Secret History of the War on Cancer. Dr. Davis directs the world’s first Center on Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Her pioneering research and public policy work has been honored by many national and international groups, including the World Health Organization. In the Clinton administration, Dr. Davis worked to mitigate incidents of chemical exposure and lent her voice and passion to health and the environment as a key speaker, along with Al Gore, at the national Earth Day 2000 celebration.  Read More

 

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, editor, and feminist activist. In 1972, she co-founded Ms. magazine, and remained one of its editors for fifteen years. She continues to serve as a consulting editor for Ms., and was instrumental in the magazine's move to join and be published by the Feminist Majority Foundation. In 1968, she had helped to found New York magazine, where she was a political columnist and wrote feature articles. As a freelance writer, she was published in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, and women's magazines as well as for publications in other countries. She has produced a documentary on child abuse for HBO, a feature film about the death penalty for Lifetime, and been the subject of profiles on Lifetime and Showtime.

 Her books include the bestsellers Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and Marilyn: Norma Jean, on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Her writing also appears in many anthologies and textbooks, and she was an editor of Houghton Mifflin's The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History.

 

Cecile Richards

Cecile Richards is president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Over the course of her career, she has become a nationally recognized progressive leader and a fierce advocate for reproductive health and rights. Since coming to Planned Parenthood in February 2006, Ms. Richards has led the organization to many significant achievements, including its success in ensuring FDA approval of over-the-counter status for emergency contraception, and the launch of a nationwide campaign to provide comprehensive, medically accurate sex education for all young people in America.

 

Alexandra Zissu
Author, speaker, and environmental maven

Alexandra Zissu is a writer, editor, and speaker. She’s the co-author of The Complete Organic Pregnancy (Collins, 2006), a contributing writer at New York Magazine, and has worked for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Lifetime and Details magazines, The New York Observer and Women’s Wear Daily. Her focus is environmental health, which she covers in “Ask An Organic Mom” on TheDailyGreen.com, as The Green Guide’s parenting columnist, and as a “Green Mum” for Cookiemag.com.

Her next book, a complete guide to green and sustainable kitchens, is due out from Clarkson Potter in spring 2010. Her articles have appeared in many publications over the past decade-plus, including Plenty, Health, Organic Style, The New York Times, Vogue, Teen Vogue, Bon Appetit, Child, Cookie, Allure, The Huffington Post, Self, Time Out New York, and Harper’s Bazaar. She lives in New York with her (organic) family.

 

Zainab Salbi
Author, activist and social entrepreneur, and co-founder and CEO of Women for Women International.

Salbi established the organization in 1993 to provide women survivors of war and civil strife with direct aid and emotional support, rights awareness and life skills education, market-based vocational skills training and income generation assistance all to help them rebuild their lives and evolve from victim to survivor to engaged citizen. Women for Women International has supported more than 195,000 women and distributed more than $79 million in aid and currently works in eight countries: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sudan.

 

Veena Siddharth
Vice President of International Programs, Planned Parenthood

Veena Siddharth has been vice president of international programs since June 2007. Veena has expertise in human rights, women's rights and advocacy. Prior to joining PPFA, Veena was the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. Veena also served in the Africa Region of the World Bank, helping African women's organizations empower women to fight HIV/AIDS. In another position at the World Bank she worked on micro-finance initiatives, helping landless women in South Asia acquire savings and credit facilities. Prior to the World Bank, Veena was Oxfam International's senior advocacy officer in Washington, where she co-founded Oxfam's advocacy office. She also worked in Malawi with the United Nations Development Program, leading the education and refugee assistance programs; and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal helping rural women obtain loans on group collateral. She grew up in India, the U.S. and Canada and is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and Harvard University.