Assata Richards is founder and executive director of the Sankofa Research Institute, where she brings together nonprofits, local leaders, and funders to inform effective public policy. As cofounder of the…

Andrea Roberts is an urban planner who researches intentional communities built by Black people. Her experience in community development under Houston mayors Bill White and Annise Parker inform her efforts…

Stephen Harrigan is a novelist, journalist, historian, and screenwriter. His books include The Gates of the Alamo (Penguin Press 2000) and the 2019 history Big Wonderful Thing: A History of…

Chris Tomlinson is a columnist for the Houston Chronicle with a focus on business, energy, and their larger cultural effects. His New York Times best seller, Tomlinson Hill (St. Martin’s…

Philip Boehm is an American playwright, theater director, and literary translator. He has translated over thirty novels and plays by German and Polish writers, including Franz Kafka, Hanna Krall, and…

Samantha Schnee translates literary texts from Spanish to English. She is founding editor of the international magazine Words Without Borders, dedicated to publishing the world’s best literature translated into English;…

Doug J. Swanson is a novelist, journalist, and professor. He was an investigative reporter and editor at the Dallas Morning News and is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.…

Scott Tinker works to bring industry, government, academia, and nongovernmental organizations together to address major societal challenges in energy, the environment, and the economy. Dr. Tinker is Director of the…

Elizabeth Gregory directs the Women's Gender & Sexuality Studies Program and the Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality at the University of Houston. A professor of English, she…

A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance, Matthew Loden has built an…