Greg Werkheiser

Greg Werkheiser is cofounder and Executive Director of the Phoenix Project, a statewide nonprofit organization that educates and engages Virginia's next generation of social entrepreneurs on the front lines of the battle to revitalize Virginia's economically and socially distressed communities.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has recognized Mr. Werkheiser as one of the nation's leading civic educators. He founded and led for seven years the Virginia Citizenship Institute, now merged with the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia, which has prepared hundreds of young Virginians to be more informed, thoughtful and engaged participants in political life. By gubernatorial appointment, Mr. Werkheiser chaired the Virginia Commission for National and Community Service, which guides AmeriCorps and other federal volunteer programs.

Prior to his role with the Phoenix Project, Mr. Werkheiser practiced as a commercial litigator for several years with leading firms in Virginia and Washington DC. His pro bono representation of 1,500 Native American families in landmark litigation helped preserve one of North America's most important archaeological sites and earned him recognition as Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. As a first-time candidate for public office in 2005, Mr. Werkheiser secured 48.2% of the vote and the endorsement of the Washington Post in his spirited challenge to a twelve-year incumbent member of the Virginia House of Delegates. Also a speechwriter, he has penned remarks for a former Virginia governor, former President and First Lady of the United States and former Ambassador to France.

Mark R. Warner

Mark R. Warner served as Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006. His administration inherited $6 billion in budget shortfalls and ended with a surplus that allowed the largest single investment in K-12 education in Virginia history, a reinvestment in public college and university systems, and a record investment in the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay.

From 2004 to 2005, he chaired the National Governors Association, leading a national high school reform effort to meet the challenges of a global economy. He was named among Governing Magazine Public Officials of the Year in 2004, TIME Magazine's America's 5 Best Governors in 2005, and Newsweek's Next issue in 2006. Virginia was ranked the best managed state in the Nation by Governing Magazine in 2005, and last year was named the runaway winner in the Best State For Business ranking done by Forbes, based on the tax structure, education system, and bipartisan fiscal management the Warner Administration had put in place.

Governor Warner is a former high tech business leader, who co-founded Nextel and one of the largest technology-based venture capital funds in the mid-Atlantic. As a private citizen, he launched a health care foundation that has helped provide coverage for hundreds of thousands of Virginians. He is currently heading up a federal leadership political action committee called Forward Together, and this last election cycle, Governor Warner headlined 92 events and made 70 trips to 28 states. He helped to raise and donate almost $10 million to Democratic candidates and committees, playing a role in dramatic gains in Congress and in statehouses across the nation. Currently, Governor Warner is serving as a board member of the National Democratic Institute and the CNA Corporation. He has been appointed chairman of a taskforce on climate change at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Robert Egger

Robert Egger is the Founder and President of the DC Central Kitchen. At the Kitchen, food donated by regional foodservice businesses is used to fuel the Kitchen's nationally recognized culinary arts job training program, where unemployed men and women learn marketable skills while donations are converted into balanced meals.

In Washington, Mr. Egger chairs the Mayor's Commission on Nutrition and Street Sense, Washington homeless newspaper. He was the Co-Convener of the Nonprofit Congress, held in Washington DC in 2006.

Mr. Egger was included in the Non Profit Times' list of the 50 Most Powerful and Influential Nonprofit Leaders of 2006. He is also the recipient of the 2005 Volunteers of America Community Service award and the 2004 James Beard Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year award. He has been named an Oprah Angel, a Washingtonian of the Year, a Point of Light and one of the Ten Most Caring People in America by the Caring Institute.

Mr. Egger's book on the non-profit sector, Begging for Change, The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient and Rewarding For All, was released in 2004 by HarperCollins. It was recently awarded the 2005 McAdams Prize for "Best Nonprofit Management Book" by the Alliance for Nonprofit Management.

William M. Dietel

William M. (Bill) Dietel is Chairman of GuideStar International, which seeks to illuminate the work of every civil society organization (CSO) in the world by deploying in each nation a highly searchable and comprehensive catalogue or database of reports on a country's CSOs.

Mr. Dietel has combined careers in educational, philanthropic, and nonprofit sector leadership, spanning more than 40 years. He has served as member or officer on the boards of BoardSource, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, New York Public Library, Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Vassar College, the Idyllwild Arts Academy, the Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust, and the Conservation Research Center Foundation in Front Royal, Virginia.

Presently, Mr. Dietel is chair of the Pierson-Lovelace Foundation, the Brain Mapping Medical Research Organization at the UCLA Medical School, and the Child Care and Learning Center in Washington, Virginia. He is the founding chair of the American Friends of the British Museum and the American Farmland Trust in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the executive committee of the Institute for Philanthropy in London.

Mr. Dietel taught history at the University of Massachusetts and was an associate professor of the humanities at Amherst College, where he also served as assistant dean of the college. From 1961 to 1970 he was principal of the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York. He joined the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1970 and served as president from 1975 to 1987.

Marco A. Davis

Marco A. Davis is the Mid-Atlantic Region Director of Youth Venture, an initiative that invests in the ideas of young people who create, launch, and lead sustainable community-benefiting clubs, businesses, and organizations. Youth Venture was founded by Ashoka, a global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs.

Previously Mr. Davis served as Director of Leadership Development at the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. At NCLR, Mr. Davis created the Lideres Initiative, an effort to identify, support, and develop new leadership in the Latino community through a national network of more than 500 organizations that serve Latino high school and college students.

Mr. Davis began his career as a leadership development counselor for high school students in New York City. Additionally, he studied and took part in community organizing at the Center for Third World Organizing in Oakland, CA. Mr. Davis also founded and manages Brown Ivy, an online community of nearly 500 Latino Ivy League alumni.

Carol Thompson Cole

Carol Thompson Cole is President & CEO of Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP), a philanthropic investment organization that helps great leaders build strong, high-performing nonprofit institutions.

Cole serves as a member of the Federal City Council; and is a member of the Greater Washington Advisory Board of SunTrust; the Board of Trustees of Wesley Theological Seminary and the Summit Fund; and is a Lifetime Trustee of the Urban Institute. She has been a Trustee of Smith College and Trinity College.

She served as Special Advisor to President Clinton on the District of Columbia. Prior to serving in the Clinton administration, Cole was the Vice President for Government and Environmental Affairs at RJR Nabisco. She spent twelve years in multiple positions in the government of the District of Columbia including as as the first woman (and, at the time, the youngest person) to be appointed City Administrator, Deputy Mayor for Operations and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development.

Cole also advises Curtex Construction/The Curtex Group, a company that provides services in the areas of management consulting, organizational development, government relations, and community affairs to faith based organizations and community development corporations.