Season 1
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Josh Rogosin
Steven Caulker
Mailyn Salabarria
Bruce Buffer
Dr. Robert L. Green
Charlie Ward
Dr. Sanjiv Chopra
Mack Rutherford
Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in those two events at four different Olympic Games. Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of All-Time. She is on the board of directors for USA Track & Field (U.S.A.T.F.), the national governing body of the sport. Mrs. Joyner-Kersee is an active philanthropist in children's education, racial equality and women's rights. She is a founder of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, which encourages young people in East St. Louis to pursue athletics and academics. She collaborated with Comcast to create the Internet Essentials program in 2011, which provides high-speed internet access to low-income Americans.
Josh Rogosin first walked into NPR in 1999 on his way to mixing live shows at The Shakespeare Theatre in downtown D.C. Since then, he has been at the controls for all of NPR's flagship newsmagazines and gathered sound in far flung places like Togo and Benin, West Africa, Cambodia and Greece. He has engineered at NPR West and NPR NY and spent two years as Technical Director at Marketplace Productions in Los Angeles. He served as Senior Broadcast Engineer for New York Public Radio and Studio 360, and was an originating producer and sound designer for NPR's Ask Me Another. In his current role, Rogosin is the Technical Director for NPR Music and has recorded and mixed over 500 Tiny Desk Concerts at NPR and mastered over 300 Tiny Desk (Home) concerts. He graduated from the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College.
Steven Caulker is a professional footballer who plays as a center back. Born in England, he represents and captains the Sierra Leone national team. Mr. Caulker started his professional career with Tottenham Hotspur in 2009. He spent three seasons on loan with Yeovil Town, Bristol City and Swansea City. At Swansea he made his first appearances in the Premier League and at the end of the season played for Britain at the 2012 Olympics. In November 2012 he made a scoring England debut in a friendly against Sweden. Mr. Caulker has been a champion on and off the field, speaking about mental health awareness discussing issues with anxiety and depression. Mr. Caulker is also involved in a number of charity projects including building schools in Sierra Leone.
Mailyn Salabarria: born in Cuba and made in the USA. For the last fifteen years, Mailyn has been a relentless advocate of individual natural rights, small government and not taking our freedom for granted. She is passionate about education and a staunch defender of parental rights. Mailyn has lived in the United States since 2001. She has a Law Degree from Havana University and an MS in Mass Communication and Journalism from Florida International University. She has worked as a professional interpreter and translator, has been a small business owner, and is a graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies. Currently, she is the Director of Community Engagement for Parents Defending Education and a Senior Fellow with PDE Action. Her motto is freedom versus force. She is a mother of two. This event is brought to the students in part by, The Dissident Project. Their mission is to connect those with firsthand insights into authoritarianism with student audiences.
Bruce Buffer has been the “Official Voice of the Octagon” for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) since 1997 and for many other mixed martial arts events worldwide and is recognized internationally as “The Voice of Mixed Martial Arts”. The UFC is seen worldwide on Satellite and Cable TV PPV. He was also on SPIKE TV’s hit series “UFC Unleashed” and “Ultimate Fight Night” and now appears on all FOX network televised UFC events and Pay Per Views viewed by millions worldwide. Buffer is a featured character both as the Octagon announcer and as a fighter in nine UFC video games by CRAVE, THQ and the EA UFC games released since 2014 and is the model and voice for the boxing character Tony T. in the Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 video game by Midway. He has co-starred with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal on NBC’s hit TV show “FRIENDS”, appeared alongside Antonio Banderas in the motion picture “Play it to the Bone” and performed voice over work for Clint Eastwood’s 2004 Best Picture Oscar award winner, “Million Dollar Baby” and appeared as himself in the 2012 Kevin James film “Here Comes The Boom!” plus Will Ferral’s film Holmes & Watson amongst numerous other TV shows, movies and special events. As a ranked professional Poker player, on the pro tournament poker circuit, he has been seen on NBC’s Poker After Dark, the Travel Channel’s popular “World Poker Tour TV Show” featuring his playing at the final Table of the 2005 WPT LA Invitational, where he placed 6th after being eliminated by pro player, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. He also co-starred in the critically acclaimed instructional poker DVD “All In” along with poker pro Phil Gordon and was voted the 8th best “Celebrity Poker Player In The World” by Cardplayer Magazine. Bruce is President and CEO of Buffer Enterprises, Inc., through which he manages his entrepreneurial ventures. He has proven himself as a motivational speaker and has received praise from top industry professionals for his management and guidance of the successful career of his brother Michael Buffer, the world famous sports and entertainment announcer. His work involves the creation, design and management of all product and promotional licensing surrounding Michael Buffer’s world famous “LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE®” trademark phrase, which has grossed approx. $400,000,000 in retail sales of licensing ventures worldwide.
Dr. Robert L. Green is a civil rights pioneer and was a close friend and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Robert L. Green, who holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Michigan State University (MSU) and B.A and M.A. from San Francisco State College, is a former president of the University of the District of Columbia and former dean of the College of Urban Development at MSU. From 1965-1967, Dr. Green worked for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as the education director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. Green is dean and professor emeritus, Urban Affairs Programs, MSU.
Charlie Ward Jr. is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Ward was an exceptional college football player as well, winning the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, and College Football National Championship as a quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles. Ward played in the NBA with the New York Knicks for nine years and started in the 1999 NBA Finals. Ward is a husband, father, mentor and coach who embodies the principles of integrity, hard work and faith in God. He inspires adults and youth alike with his character and how he shows up in the world. Described as a once-in-a-lifetime athlete and human being, Charlie’s commitment to serve others is deeply respected in the sports community and far beyond. His calm demeanor and powerful leadership message of preparation, perseverance and patience set strong examples for business leaders, organizations, students and families. He continues to be highly sought after for his motivating and inspiring “Chalk Talk” keynote addresses and workshops, which he has presented around the world to teams, churches, organizations, conferences and businesses. Listed among the most outstanding college athletes in modern history, Charlie, a two-sport athlete, was a stellar quarterback in football and an equally impressive point guard in basketball at Florida State University (FSU). During his senior year, he won over 30 awards, including the Heisman Trophy, and set 19 school and seven Atlantic Coast Conference records, subsequently leading the FSU Seminoles to their first-ever National Championship under legendary Coach Bobby Bowden. After graduating from FSU with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Charlie was drafted twice by Major League Baseball and was a first-round draft pick of the New York Knicks. He went on to play for the Knicks, helping the team consistently reach the playoffs six consecutive years from 1996 to 2001. He played eleven seasons as a leading point guard in the NBA in New York, San Antonio, and Houston, and served as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets for two years. Throughout his professional athletic career, Charlie coached and mentored students, and is now using this experience as a full-time high school basketball coach at Florida State University High School in Tallahassee, Florida. The team’s 2020–2021 season ended with an astonishing 19-2 record, and Coach Ward won the 2021 All-Big Bend Coach of the Year award. In March 2022, Coach Ward was named the All-Big Bend Coach of the Year for a second consecutive year after leading his team to win the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A Championship — earning Florida High its first state Boys Basketball title since 1963. In October 2022, Charlie was inducted as a member of the inaugural class for the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame. He is the subject of the biography "The Athlete: Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented Life of Charlie Ward," by Jon Finkel, as well as ESPN's ACC Network documentary, "Twice As Nice - The Legend of Charlie Ward," which chronicles his two-sport career as a student athlete at FSU. Charlie Ward is a man whose greatness and grace know no bounds. He and his wife Tonja have been married for over 25 years, and they have three children, Caleb, Hope and Joshua. The Wards underwrote and produced youth development sports camps throughout the country from 1996–2006, co-produced youth music & sports events with Christian Athletes United for Spiritual Empowerment (CAUSE) at four NBA All-Star Weekends 2001–2004 and continued to quietly donate funds to churches and schools. In 2015, they established a charitable foundation, now The Charlie and Tonja Ward Family Foundation, to leave a legacy of giving back by supporting disaster relief efforts and youth character development through sports and the arts, and sharing Charlie’s inspirational message of embracing the process that leads to success.
Sanjiv Chopra, M.B.B.S, M.A.C.P, is an Indian-born American physician, Professor of Medicine and former Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education (CME) at Harvard Medical School.He currently serves as a Marshall Wolf Distinguished Clinician Educator at Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-director of the CME Division in the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He's a sought after inspirational speaker, addressing diverse audiences on topics in medicine as well as leadership, how to find your purpose, an invitation to good health and lasting happiness, etc. He has published fifteen books, including a national best-seller, Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream, co-authored with his brother, Deepak Chopra. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including: The American Gastroenterology Distinguished Educator Award and the Excellence in Teaching Award by the graduating class of Harvard Medical School in 1991. He has been designated a Master of the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London).
Mack Rutherford is a British-Belgian aviator. On 24 August 2022, under the name "Macksolo", he became the youngest person ever to fly solo around the world (and first ever minor/under eighteen years old). He holds four Guinness World Records: These include youngest person to fly solo around the world, and, youngest person to fly a microlight solo around the world. Visit macksolo.com to learn more about Mack's incredible journey!
Alan Ritchson is a an American actor and producer. Alan is well-known for his role as "Jack Reacher" in the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher and for his role as "Thad Castle" in the SpikeTV sitcom Blue Mountain State and its subsequent film, Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland. Ritchson has also played large roles in Fast X, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Smallville.