Stephanie Schriock is a strategic, adaptive leader with a 20-year record of success in both start-ups and mature organizations. Her strengths in management, strategy, and media relations are underpinned by her down-to-earth ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and views. From 2010 through 2021, Stephanie was President of EMILY’s List, a national organization dedicated to electing women to office. During her tenure, she tripled its income to $120 million, quadrupled its staff to 120, built an online community of over 5,000,000, and trained more than 14,000 women to run for office. Through an organizational restructuring and sharply expanded use of technology, Stephanie produced a more nimble and efficient platform, driving dramatic improvements both in fundraising and in the delivery of its key services — recruiting, training and supporting candidates. Stephanie is a frequent commentator on television and speaks on leadership at universities and national conferences. She is the author of Run to Win, A Leadership Guide to Women Who Want to Change the World. Before joining EMILY’s List, Stephanie managed the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Jon Tester in Montana, building a campaign organization from scratch and defeating an 18-year incumbent. She served as Senator Tester’s Chief of Staff until 2010. Stephanie also managed Al Franken’s Senate campaign in Minnesota, leading to Franken’s come-from-behind victory after a months-long recount and court cases. Born in Minnesota and raised in Montana, Stephanie has an M.A. from the GSPM at GWU and a B.S. from MSU-Mankato.

Emily Cain is an accomplished public policy maker, organizational leader, and political strategist who has been leading at the state and national level for the past twenty years. First elected at the age of 24, Emily made her mark in Maine politics serving in both the state House and Senate over five terms, leading the Appropriations Committee as Chair and serving as the youngest woman House Minority Leader in state history. From 2017-2023, Emily served as Executive Director of EMILYs List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics, during three historic election cycles helping to elect a record number of Democratic pro-choice women from all backgrounds across the country and up and down the ballot. Prior to joining EMILYs List, Emily was the Chief Strategy Officer at HistoryIT, a technology company dedicated to making historical collections more accessible and meaningful through digitization. Emily lives in Maine with her husband, Danny Williams, and their mini labradoodle, Sunny. As a member of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees, Emily chairs the Strategic Planning Committee of the board. Emily is a singer, cook, enthusiastic peloton rider, ardent fan of Broadway, the NFL and F1, and is currently earning her Ph.D. in higher education at The University of Maine.

Jess McIntosh is a veteran communications strategist, national cable news political analyst, and former co-host of the award-winning SiriusXM radio show Signal Boost. Currently Jess serves as a consultant to progressive candidates and organizations looking to strengthen their social impact through message strategy, media training, combatting disinformation, and story development. With nearly 20 years of campaign experience, Jess has worked at every level of American politics from school board to U.S. President. She spent 5 years leading the EMILY’s List communications team, helping to strategically craft and amplify the narratives of women across the country. She served as a senior communications advisor to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, where she directed outreach to influencers and served as a national spokesperson. Her writing about politics and gender has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ELLE Magazine, Refinery29, Shondaland, The American Independent, Lenny Letter, and more. Jess lives in New York with her partner and a super cute rescue puppy who turned out to be an extremely large dog.

For more than seven years, Matt McKenna served as spokesperson and senior adviser to President Bill Clinton as well as Chelsea Clinton, the Clinton family and the Clinton Foundation. Upon Matt’s departure from the organization, President Clinton said, “I’m so grateful to Matt for all of his hard work and loyalty. While I’m sad to see him leave, I am both happy for his bright future and extremely proud of him.” In the private sector, Matt has advised a diverse group of companies including The Carlyle Group, lululemon athletica and Uber Technologies on a range of issues including crisis management, acquisitions, hiring and firing of CEOs, lawsuits and executive communications. For several years, Matt served as senior adviser to WilliamsWorks, working with dozens of philanthropies and NGOs worldwide. Matt was first tapped to be the spokesperson for President Clinton during the 2008 presidential campaign. Following the campaign, he became communications director to the Clinton Foundation, a global philanthropy with more than 1,000 employees in over 50 countries, while continuing to serve as President Clinton’s personal spokesman and an adviser for media relations and politics. Prior to joining the Clintons, Matt worked on several statewide political campaigns, most recently serving as communications director for the U.S. Senator Jon Tester - both in his successful U.S. Senate campaign and his first term in the U.S. Senate. Matt also worked in communications and opposition research for Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Gov. Tony Knowles of Alaska. A native of Bozeman, Montana, Matt is an avid mountain and road cyclist. He lives in Montana with his dog, Pablo.

Nicco Mele is a recognized expert at the intersection of news, technology, and politics. From 2016 to 2019, Nicco was the Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School where he led research on sustainable business models for local journalism and misinformation on social networks. He previously served as the Senior Vice President and Deputy Publisher of the Los Angeles Times where he was responsible for digital revenue for all of the California News Group's brands. Nicco also founded The Lexington Observer, a local news digital weekly in his hometown. Most recently, he served as Managing Director at Draper Richards Kaplan where he served on the boards of the News Revenue Hub, City Bureau, Define American, and Recidiviz. As webmaster for Governor Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid, Nicco and the campaign team popularized the use of technology and social media that revolutionized political fundraising and reshaped American politics. Subsequently, he co-founded Echo & Co, a digital consultancy he sold in 2014. He has published widely, including the international bestseller “The End of Big: How The Digital Revolution Makes David The New Goliath” published in 2013 by St. Martin’s Press.