Summit leadership

Co-Chairs

Laura Ellsworth

Co-Chair, Eradicate Hate Global Summit; Partner-in-Charge of Global Community Service Initiatives, Jones Day

Laura Ellsworth is a partner at Jones Day, which has more than 2500 lawyers in 43 offices on 5 continents.

Mark Nordenberg

Co-Chair, Eradicate Hate Global Summit; Chancellor Emeritus and Chair of the Institute of Politics, University of Pittsburgh

Mark Nordenberg joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Law faculty in 1977 and earned a reputation for outstanding teaching and impact in his field.

Steering Committee

Meryl Kirshner Ainsman

Executive Director and Trustee, Philip Chosky Foundation

Meryl Kirshner Ainsman is the business manager of the law firm of Ainsman Levine, LLC, and the Executive Director and Trustee of the Philip Chosky Foundation.

Catherine Augustine

Director, RAND Pittsburgh Office

Dr. Catherine Augustine is a senior policy researcher and the Director of the RAND Pittsburgh Office.

Kathleen Blee

Co-Chair, Collaboratory Against Hate; Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Bailey Dean of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the College of General Studies, University of Pittsburgh

Kathleen Blee has published 7 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters.

Leslie Braksick

Co-Founder and Senior Partner, My Next Season

Dr. Leslie Braksick spent the first 25 years of her career leading a consulting firm she co-founded in 1993, CLG, advising executives on matters of leadership, culture, and strategy execution.

Marc Brown

President, ABR Ventures

Marc Brown is the President and Founder of ABR Ventures, a growth and venture capital firm focused on early stage technology and consumer products ventures.

Dina Clark

Senior Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion, Skanska USA

Dina Clark is Senior Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion for Skanska USA Building.

Jared Cohon

University Professor and President Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University

Jared L. Cohon is the President Emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University and a University Professor in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy.

Lorrie Faith Cranor

Co-Chair, Collaboratory Against Hate; Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor, CyLab Security and Privacy Institute; FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Lorrie Faith Cranor is the Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies of CyLab and the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

David Danks

Professor of Data Science & Philosophy, University of California, San Diego; Steering Committee, Eradicate Hate Global Summit

David Danks is Professor of Data Science & Philosophy and affiliate faculty in Computer Science & Engineering at University of California, San Diego.

Jeff Finkelstein

President and CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

Jeff Finkelstein has served as President/CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh since 2004. He is President of JPRO, a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh and the Wexner Heritage Program, a past Chair of the Large City Executives Group of JFNA, and a board member of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation.

Leon Ford

Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Bronze Investments

Leon Ford is an Entrepreneur-In-Residence for Bronze Investments; an Aspen Institute Civil Society Fellow; an internationally-known speaker, author, activist, and mental health ambassador; and a tireless advocate for social change.

Saleem Ghubril

Executive Director, The Pittsburgh Promise

Saleem Ghubril is the Executive Director of The Pittsburgh Promise and a passionate advocate for the City of Pittsburgh.

Ken Gormley

President and Professor of Law, Duquesne University

Ken Gormley is President and Professor of Law at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He previously served as Dean of Duquesne University School of Law.

Hayley Haldeman

Executive Director, Mattress Factory

Hayley Haldeman is the Executive Director of the Mattress Factory, a contemporary installation art museum in Pittsburgh’s Northside neighborhood.

Maxwell King

Chief Executive Officer, The Pittsburgh Foundation (Ret.)

Maxwell King’s four-decade career includes the presidencies of two of the country’s largest philanthropies and the editorship of one of its most influential daily newspapers.

Timothy Lewis

Counsel, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis

Timothy K. Lewis, a former federal appeals court judge, is the co-chair of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group and serves as a mediator, arbitrator, settlement counselor, and trial and appellate practitioner.

Wasiullah Mohamed

Senior Policy Officer, The Pittsburgh Foundation

Wasiullah (Wasi) Mohamed served as the Director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh (ICP) Food Pantry for two years, and was selected to be ICP’s Executive Director in 2015.

Stefani Pashman

Chief Executive Officer, Allegheny Conference on Community Development

Stefani Pashman serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliated organizations – the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh, LLC and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance.

Nicholas Rasmussen

Executive Director, Global Institute to Counter Terrorist

Nicholas Rasmussen is a national security professional with more than 27 years in U.S. government service, Rasmussen held senior counterterrorism posts at the White House and in the U.S. Intelligence Community from 2001 to 2017.

Michele Rosenthal

Steering Committee, Eradicate Hate Global Summit; Principal, Michele Rosenthal Consulting

Michele Rosenthal is the principal in Michele Rosenthal Consulting, a consulting firm representing local public figures, including Brett Keisel.

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Schiff

Foundation Scholar, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Schiff is a noted teacher and researcher in Jewish ethics. Rabbi Schiff received ordination, as well as his Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters degree, from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (H.U.C. – J.I.R.).

Scott Schubert

Chief of Police, City of Pittsburgh

Chief Scott Schubert is the chief of police for the City of Pittsburgh.

David Shribman

Executive Editor Emeritus, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

David Shribman was executive editor of the Post-Gazette from 2003 to 2019 and currently is Executive Editor Emeritus.

Alex Spiro

Deputy General Counsel, PNC

Alex Spiro is PNC’s Deputy General Counsel responsible for leading legal support for its Corporate & Institutional Bank and several related areas.

Geovette Washington

Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Legal Officer, University of Pittsburgh

Geovette E. Washington currently serves as Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Legal Officer at the University of Pittsburgh, a position she has held since August 2015.

Devin Winklosky

Administrative Judge, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Devin Winklosky has dedicated his professional career to upholding and advancing the rule of law around the world.

Global Advisors

Salam Al-Marayati

President and Co-Founder, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)

Salam Al-Marayati is nationally recognized for his commitment to improving the public understanding of Islam and policies impacting American Muslims.

Jacqueline Beauchere

Global Digital Safety Advocate, Microsoft Corporation

After serving since 2013 as Microsoft’s and the technology industry’s first Chief Online Safety Officer, Jacqueline Beauchere is the company’s Global Digital Safety Advocate.

Tore Bjørgo

Director of the Center for Research on Extremism: The Far Right, Hate Crime and Political Violence (C-REX)

Dr. Tore Bjørgo is director of C-REX, a professor at the University of Oslo, and an adjunct professor at the Norwegian Police University College.

Michael Chertoff

Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, The Chertoff Group

On February 15, 2005, Michael Chertoff became the second Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Jennifer Ciardelli

Director of the Initiative on the Holocaust and Professional Leadership, United States Holocaust Museum

Jennifer A. Ciardelli directs the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Initiative on the Holocaust and Professional Leadership.

Christie Edwards

Deputy Head of the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Christie Edwards is an internationally recognized and published legal expert with over twenty years of experience working on international humanitarian and human rights law, gender, international policy and advocacy, and international community development.

Cristina Finch

Head of the Gender and Security Division at DCAF, Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance

Cristina Finch is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer leading and working with organizations that make a difference.

Seamus Hughes

Deputy Director of the Program on Extremism, George Washington University; Global Advisor, Eradicate Hate Global Summit

Seamus Hughes is an expert on terrorism, homegrown violent extremism, and countering violent extremism (CVE).

Barry Kerzin

Founder & President, Altruism in Medicine Institute; Founder & Chairman, Human Values Institute

Ven. Dr. Barry Kerzin is an American trained physician, Buddhist monk and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Adjunct Professor at HKU, and Honorary Professor at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences.

Louisa Klingvall

Team Leader, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers Unit C.2 Fundamental Rights Policy

Louisa Klingvall has been a team leader in the Fundamental Rights Unit of the European Commission DG Justice since 2012.

Theodor Meron

President and Judge, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

Theodor Meron is a central figure in international criminal justice. Judge Meron has been a Judge and the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) since the Mechanism’s establishment in 2012.

Nicholas Rasmussen

Executive Director, Global Institute to Counter Terrorist

Nicholas Rasmussen is a national security professional with more than 27 years in U.S. government service, Rasmussen held senior counterterrorism posts at the White House and in the U.S. Intelligence Community from 2001 to 2017.

Tom Ridge

Chairman, Ridge Global

Tom Ridge is Chairman of Ridge Global. He provides clients with solutions to cyber security, international security and risk management issues.

George Selim

Senior Vice President of Programs, Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

George Selim, Senior Vice President of Programs for the ADL, leads their education, law enforcement and community security programs and oversees the work of ADL’s Center on Extremism.

Erroll Southers

Professor of the Practice in National & Homeland Security, University of Southern California

Dr. Erroll G. Southers is a former FBI Special Agent, Professor of the Practice in National and Homeland Security, Director of the Safe Communities Institute, and Director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at the University of Southern California (USC) Sol Price School of Public Policy.