Dr. Lynette A. Rawlings founded and leads The Policy Academies - a research training and career development program to prepare undergraduates to doctoral students, and early career researchers of color from low-to moderate income backgrounds for influential careers in public policy leadership. From 2007 through 2012, she conceived, designed, and led the Academy for Public Policy Analysis and Research at the Urban Institute – the pilot program that serves as the underpinnings of The Policy Academies. In addition to running The Policy Academies, Dr. Rawlings is a Visiting Professor of Practice in the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics. She is also an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Dr. Rawlings has been a Senior Consultant with the Urban Institute and has been a Non-Resident Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution. An accomplished researcher and analyst, she has over 20 years of experience exploring issues of equity, inclusion, and economic opportunity in US metropolitan regions at leading policy research institutions. Much of this work has focused on the role of race and place in shaping outcomes for families and communities in urban areas. In addition, her research includes exploring policies on immigrant and ethnic minority integration in U.S. and European Union cities. Among her many publication credits is co-authorship of Public Housing and the Legacy of Segregation – an exploration of the implications of racial discrimination and segregation for distressed public housing in American cities. From 2000 through 2012, Dr. Rawlings was a senior researcher at the Urban Institute. Prior to joining the Urban Institute, she was a Program Associate with the Income Security Division at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She has also contributed to policy research and initiatives for the German Marshall Fund of the US, the Bertelsmann Foundation, and the European Foundation Center.

Michael McAfee, President, oversees strategy development, the alignment of PolicyLink assets, and the achievement of policy wins that ensure all people in America have economic security, live in healthy communities of opportunity, and benefit from a just society. He came to PolicyLink in 2011 as the inaugural director of the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink. Under his leadership, PolicyLink emerged as a national leader in building cradle-to-career systems that ensure children and youth in our nation’s most distressed communities have a pathway into the middle class. His partnership with local leaders in more than 60 communities contributed to significant improvements in the educational and developmental outcomes for more than 300,000 children, and helped attract public and private investments that exceed $1 billion. Because of the focus on results, Promise Neighborhoods became a permanent federal program through the 2015 authorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Michael is also the catalyst for the creation of the Corporate Racial Equity Advantage, the first comprehensive tool to guide private sector companies in assessing and actively promoting equity in every aspect of their business operations and strategy. His vocation is to achieve equity in America—just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. He serves on the boards of Bridge Housing, Independent Sector, North Lawndale Employment Network, One Degree, and Sweet Beginnings, LLC. He served in the United States army, completed Harvard University's Executive Program in Public Management, and earned his doctor of education in human and organizational learning from The George Washington University. He is an avid off-road hiker and practitioner of Bikram yoga.

Founder and Chief Equity Officer/CEO Partnership for Southern Equity

Sharon L Davies vows the Charles F Kettering Foundation will engage the public in fight for inclusive democracy.