Caitlin Heising is vice chair of the Heising-Simons Foundation, a family foundation based in Los Altos and San Francisco, California. She received a Master of Public Administration at the London School of Economics (LSE) with a focus on social impact, graduating with distinction in 2020. Previously, she worked with Article 3 Advisors, a human rights and strategic philanthropy consultancy based in San Francisco. In 2014, she joined the board of the Heising-Simons Foundation, where she has developed a grantmaking program focused on human rights and criminal justice reform in the U.S.  

Caitlin serves on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch and is the vice chair of HRW’s U.S. Program Advisory Committee. Caitlin sits on the advisory board of Stanford PACS. She is also a founding member of Maverick Collective, a global community of strategic philanthropists and advocates working to end extreme poverty by improving the health and rights of women and girls around the world. She was a 2016 Research Fellow at Institute for the Future, where she collaborated on research projects exploring the future of philanthropy and social innovation. Caitlin holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brown University.  

Anna Malaika Tubbs is a New York Times Bestselling storyteller who grew up in Dubai, Mexico, Sweden, Estonia, Azerbaijan, as well as the United States. Influenced by her exposure to all kinds of cultures and beliefs, Anna is inspired to bring people together through the celebration of difference. Motivated by her mother’s work advocating for women’s and children’s rights around the world, Anna uses an intersectional lens to advocate for women of color and educate others in all of her projects. Anna holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and a Masters in Multidisciplinary Gender Studies from the University of Cambridge in addition to a Bachelors in Medical Anthropology from Stanford University. She takes from her academic background and produces content that is easy for others to connect with and understand. Her focus is on addressing gender and race issues in the U.S., especially the pervasive erasure of Black women. Anna's writing has been featured in Time Magazine, New York Magazine, CNN, Motherly, the Huffington Post, For Harriet, The Guardian, Darling Magazine, and Blavity. 

Her first book, titled The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation, was published by Flatiron Books in February of 2021. A New York Times’ Bestseller, a New York Times Editors Choice, and an Amazon Editor’s choice, the book has achieved critical acclaim and has been featured in Oprah Daily, People Magazine, USA Today, The Skimm, Fortune Magazine, MSNBC, CBS, C-Span, NPR, Forbes, The 19th News, Yahoo News, The Washington Post, Southern Living Magazine, and more. 

Kica Matos is the President of the National Immigration Law Center and the Immigrant Justice Fund, as well as a Distinguished Practitioner at Yale University's Brady Johnson Program in Grand Strategy.  

Previously, she was Vice President of Initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice and Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice at the Center for Community Change. She also led the U.S. Reconciliation and Human Rights Program at Atlantic Philanthropies and served as deputy mayor in New Haven CT, overseeing community programs. Kica has also worked as executive director of JUNTA, as an assistant federal defender representing death sentenced inmates, and as an organizer with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.  

She holds a B.A. from Victoria University, an M.A. from the New School, and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. She has received honorary doctorates from Albertus Magnus College and the University of New Haven. She is a recipient of several awards, including the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, and she was inducted into the CT Women's Hall of Fame in 2021. 

Nadia Murad Nadia Murad is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, human rights activist, and survivor of the Yazidi genocide. In 2014, she was taken captive by the Islamic State (ISIS) during its genocidal campaign against the Yazidi people in Iraq. After enduring horrific abuse, she escaped captivity and has since become a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Through her courageous storytelling and tireless activism, Nadia has brought international attention to the plight of Yazidis and other communities affected by conflict-related sexual violence. She partnered with international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to seek justice for ISIS's crimes and founded Nadia’s Initiative, a nonprofit organization focused on rebuilding communities in crisis and supporting survivors of sexual violence. Nadia is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State. She has addressed the United Nations, national governments, and international organizations, calling for justice, accountability, and comprehensive support for survivors. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her unwavering commitment to ending sexual violence in conflict, Nadia continues to amplify the voices of survivors and advocate for policies that uphold human dignity, peace, and security. 

Ai-jen Poo is a next-generation labor leader, award-winning organizer, author, and a leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the executive director of Caring Across Generations. Poo is a nationally recognized expert on the care economy and is the author of the celebrated book The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.  

Recognized as one of the most influential leaders in the world, Juan Manuel Santos was the President of Colombia, from 2010 to 2018, where he ushered in a new era of prosperity, peace, equity, and education throughout Colombia during his two-term tenure.  

He was one of the initial promoters of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that became the world agenda in 2015 (he officially proposed them in the Rio+20 Summit in 2012). He also led the process to convene a special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGASS 2016) to discuss more effective ways to face the world drug problem. He was one of the founders and architects of the Pacific Alliance, the most successful economic integration process in Latin America. 

He was the sole recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 for “his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. He was also awarded the Lamp of Assisi by the Catholic Church and the Tipperary International Peace Award in Ireland for his efforts to bring peace to his country and the region.

Esteban Santos was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. After finishing high school, he demonstrated his commitment to public service by volunteering in the Colombian Army, where he completed multiple combat training courses. He later pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, graduating in 2017, and went on to earn a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University in 2023.

Esteban currently serves as Vice President at Crest Investments, where he oversees the firm’s Latin American portfolio across high-value assets in the oil & gas and mining sectors. Beyond his professional work, he is an avid road cyclist, a passionate traveler, and an experienced skydiver with more than 650 jumps.

José Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and Tony-nominated theatrical producer.

A leading voice for the human rights of immigrants, he founded the non-profit immigrant storytelling organization Define American, twice named one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, and explores all facets of immigration as host of its YouTube show and podcast Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas. He is also a co-founder of 1587 Sneakers, the world's first Asian American sneaker brand.

His best-selling memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, was published by HarperCollins in 2018. An updated edition with new material for living in Trump’s America was released in June 2025. His second book, White Is Not a Country [working title], will examine America's foundational Black and White racial binary, and where everyone else fits within and outside that binary.

Liz Simons is chair of the board of the Heising-Simons Foundation. A former teacher, Liz worked in Spanish-bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms, and subsequently founded Stretch to Kindergarten, a spring-summer early childhood education program. She currently serves as chair of the board of The Marshall Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. She also serves on the boards of the Foundation for a Just Society, Math for America, and the Learning Policy Institute. She is a founding pledger of One for Justice, and an advisory board member of Smart Justice California. Additionally, she volunteers at The Beat Within, a magazine by and for incarcerated youth. 

In 2023, President Biden appointed Liz to serve as a member of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, an independent organization in the executive branch of the federal government that examines how federal programs serving systems-impacted youth and other federal programs and activities can be coordinated among federal, state, and local governments to better serve vulnerable children and youth. 

Liz earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University. Liz Simons and Mark Heising founded the Foundation in 2007 and joined the Giving Pledge in 2016, publicly committing the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. 

Diana is a singer, guitarist, pianist, composer, songwriter, music instructor, lead teaching artist with the Lullaby Project and core band member of the Immigrant Orchestra. Based in San Francisco, California, she was born and raised in Ciudad Juárez, México and immigrated to the United States as a teenager to study music in Michigan. Over the last decade in the Bay Area she has released two albums of original songs written in Spanish and English, and Mexican classic songs. In 2014 Diana received the Emerging Leader Award by the Chicana/Latina Foundation. In 2015 she was named one of YBCA’s 100: creative minds, makers, and pioneers that are asking the questions  and making the provocations that will shape the future of American culture. NPR Music gave Diana an honorable mention to Arrullo in best Latin albums of the year in 2017. Diana was named one of SF Magazine’s 100 Artists: Artists Putting The East Bay On The Map, in 2018. 

​Diana is currently a lead and teaching artist in San Francisco, for the Lullaby Project, a project of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute which pairs new and expecting parents and caregivers with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, supporting parental health, aiding childhood development, and strengthening the bond between parent and child.