Contributors

Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a Queer Black Troublemaker and Black Feminist Love Evangelist and an aspirational cousin to all sentient beings. Her work in this lifetime is to facilitate infinite, unstoppable ancestral love in practice. Her poetic work in response to the needs of her cherished communities has held space for multitudes in mourning and movement. Alexis’s co-edited volume Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines (PM Press, 2016) has shifted the conversation on mothering, parenting and queer transformation. Alexis has transformed the scope of intellectual, creative and oracular writing with her triptych of experimental works published by Duke University Press (Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity in 2016, M Archive: After the End of the World in 2018 and Dub: Finding Ceremony, 2020.) Unlike most academic texts, Alexis’s work has inspired artists across form to create dance works, installation work, paintings, processionals, divination practices, operas, quilts and more.   Alexis is the founder of Brilliance Remastered, an online network and series of retreats and online intensives serving community accountable intellectuals and artists in the legacies of Audre Lorde’s profound statement in “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” that the preceding statement is “only threatening to those…who still think of the master’s house as their only source of support.” Through retreats on ancestor accountable intellectual practice, and online courses on topics from anger as a resource to transnational intellectual solidarity Alexis and her Brilliance Remastered collaborators have nurtured a community of thinkers and artists grounded in the resources that normative institutions ignore.  

Jeffrey Gural is Chairman of GFP Real Estate LLC.  GFP Real Estate LLC has an ownership interest in 41 properties, almost all of which are located in Manhattan.  Mr. Gural, along with his son, Eric Gural and nephew, Brian Steinwurtzel are responsible for all future acquisitions and the managing and leasing of the 10 Million square feet that they have an ownership interest in.   Mr. Gural joined Newmark Knight Frank in 1972, and served as Chairman until 2017, after which he became Chairman Emeritus.  Prior to that, Mr. Gural was a member of the staff of Diesel Construction Co., for approximately six years where he was responsible for the supervision and construction of more than one million square feet of new office space in such notable buildings as 437 Madison Avenue and 645 Madison Avenue. Mr. Gural is a member of the Executive Committee of The Real Estate Board of New York; Former President of the enCourage Kids Foundation; Chairman of “I Have a Dream Foundation – NY” and Co-Sponsor of the Chelsea-Elliot “I Have a Dream” Project; former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Times Square Alliance; member of the Board of Trustees of The New School;  Chair of the Board of Governors for Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts; Former Chairman of the Board of Directors for Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York; Vice President of The Broadway Association; member of the Board of Directors of the Museum at Eldridge Street; member of the Board of Directors of the Statue of Liberty Foundation; member of the Board of the Settlement Housing Fund; member of the Board of Directors of New York City Outward Bound Schools; member of the NYC Board of Directors for the March of Dimes and President of The Realty Foundation of New York.  Mr. Gural is a member of the UJA-Federation, Executive Committee. Both Jeff and his father, Aaron Gural, were honored at the organization’s 1995 Annual Luncheon. As a sideline, Mr. Gural is a major owner and breeder of Standardbred racehorses and has two farms in Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania.  Mr. Gural owns a casino in Upstate New York; Tioga Downs and a racino at Vernon Downs.  Mr. Gural is also Managing Partner of New Meadowlands Racetrack LLC, which is the current lessee and operator of the New Meadowlands Racetrack.  The Meadowlands recently opened a new $120 Million grandstand which is a state of the art new facility. Mr. Gural is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with a degree in Civil Engineering.  He is married, has three grown children, five grandchildren and resides in Manhattan.

Eva Hagberg Fisher’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, Tin House, Wallpaper, Wired, and Dwell, among other places. She is the author of How to Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and holds degrees in architecture from UC Berkeley and Princeton as well as a PhD in Visual and Narrative Culture from UC Berkeley. 

Powered by his nearly 40 years as a chief executive and entrepreneur in the technology industry, Bob is a trusted advisor to corporate leaders. He provides a clear perspective on growth opportunities and is known for his intuitive and decisive leadership. Through Hammer Ventures, he focuses on identifying and investing in companies who have unique, highly differentiated AI technology foundations with strong growth prospects and highly profitable business models. He is actively involved with several of the Hammer Ventures portfolio companies.  He sits on the Board of IronYun, a leading AI video analytics platform company. He is a major investor and works closely with the team at Robo Global Ventures. He founded Hammer Ventures in 2019 following a 20-year career at Commvault, where he served as the company’s CEO after its spin-off from AT&T in the late 1990s. He changed the strategy, underlying technology guided Commvault through an IPO in 2006 and established Commvault as a well-recognized industry leader, grew the product portfolio and migrated the company to the Cloud.  Commvault’s growth was achieved through 100% internal innovation.  Commvault’s share price increased from pennies to over $60 when he retired. Market capitalization increased from 30 million to over $3 billion. Acting on his entrepreneurial spirit, Bob was also a venture partner of the Sprout Group, an internal division of Credit Suisse First Boston Private Equity, Inc., from 1997 until 2003. Before joining the Sprout Group, he served as the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Norand Corporation, a portable computer systems manufacturer beginning in late 1989 until acquisition by Western Atlas, Inc. in 1997. Bob, identified Norand as an acquisition candidate and was instrumental in its leveraged buy-out from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. in 1989. After Norand’s acquisition Bob became its Chairman and CEO.  He guided it through its initial public offering in 1993. Previously, he spent a year as chairman, president and chief executive officer of publicly held Telequest Corporation, and five years in the same capacity with privately held Material Progress Corporation. Before joining Material Progress, Bob spent 15 years in various sales, marketing and management positions with Celanese Corporation, rising to the level of vice president and general manager of its global structural composites materials business. Bob and his wife Ann are active in philanthropy through the Hammer Family Foundation. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Columbia University. Bob is an avid golfer and enjoys time with his family.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford is a Licensed Psychologist, Speaker, and the host of the wildly popular mental health podcast, Therapy for Black Girls. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana, her Master’s degree in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling from Arkansas State, and her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from The University of Georgia. Her work focuses on making mental health topics more relevant and accessible for Black women and she specializes in creating spaces for Black women to have fuller and healthier relationships with themselves and others. She has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Bustle, Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, Women’s Health, BuzzFeed, Teen Vogue and Essence. Dr. Joy lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband and two sons.

Melissa Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and the Program in Environment and Sustainability. Melissa is founder and president of the Anna Julia Cooper Center, an independent organization advancing justice through intersectional scholarship and action. Along with Dorian Warren, Melissa co-created and co-hosts System Check. She is currently serving as interim host of The Takeaway from WNYC public radio. Melissa is an award-winning author, sought after public speaker, and accomplished media professional. From 2012-2016, she hosted the television show “Melissa Harris-Perry” on weekend mornings on MSNBC and was awarded the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism. She has served as editor-at-large Elle.com and for ZORA. She continues to serve as contributing editor for The Nation. She is the author of the award-winning Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, and Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.   Harris-Perry received her B.A. degree in English from Wake Forest University and her Ph.D. degree in political science from Duke University. She studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Harris-Perry previously served on the faculty of the University of Chicago, Princeton University, and Tulane University. She serves on several boards and award committees and is a trustee of The Century Foundation, The Next 100 and The Markup. Professor Harris-Perry has been awarded honorary degrees from many universities including Meadville Lombard Theological School, Winston-Salem State University, Eckerd College, New York University, and Ithaca College.

Winnie Holzman is the writer (with renowned composer/ lyricist Stephen Schwartz) of the hit musical Wicked, which has been running for over 20 years on Broadway, and has been produced all over the world. She also co-wrote both screenplays for the movie adaptations of Wicked. After graduating from Princeton University, Winnie went to New York City where she and three friends formed a comedy group, performing in various venues Off Off Broadway. She was accepted into the first class of the newly formed NYU Musical Theatre Program, where she studied with such luminaries as Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim. Her thesis musical, Birds of Paradise, (written with composer David Evans) was eventually produced off-Broadway, directed by Laurents. Relocating to Los Angeles, she was asked to join the writing staff of the groundbreaking TV drama thirtysomething, and went on to create another memorable TV series– My So-Called Life. Other TV credits include Once and Again, (reuniting with her mentors, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz) Huge ( collaborating with her daughter, Savannah Dooley) and Roadies (with Cameron Crowe). Her (non-musical) play Choice was recently produced at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. She’s written two other plays with her husband, actor Paul Dooley: Post-its: Notes on a Marriage, and Assisted Living. Also an actress, she appeared in the movie Jerry Maguire and as Larry David’s wife’s therapist on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Winnie is currently at work on an original drama series for HBO, which will reunite her with the star of My So-Called Life, Claire Danes.

Quiara Alegría Hudes is the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Water By the Spoonful; author of a memoir, My Broken Language; and screenwriter of Vivo. For Broadway, she wrote the Tony Award-winning hit In the Heights. As an essayist, she has written for The Nation, The Cut, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and American Theater Magazine. In opposition of the carceral state, Hudes and her cousin founded Emancipated Stories, helping people behind bars share one page of their life story with the world. She has keynoted alongside Gabriela Sanchez on the joys and madness of a Boricua sisterhood in theater. Hudes is a West-Philly-born-and-bred language grrrl, and she moved to New York in 2004, where she continues to write and raise a family.  ON MUSIC. Originally trained as a composer, Hudes frequently writes about musical themes and incorporates her piano training into her writing process. She has collaborated with renowned musicians including Nelson Gonzalez, Michel Camilo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Erin McKeown, Alex Lacamoire, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Bill Sherman. ON MENTORS. Hudes inherits teachings from matrilineal mentors including her Aunt Linda Hudes who composed music for the Big Apple Circus for 20 years and taught her piano; Paula Vogel that monster of mischievous theatrical form who taught her playwriting; and Virginia Sanchez, her mom and a recognized Santera and shaman who taught her about the spiritual legacy of a Taína-Lukumí-Boricua. Are music, writing, and spirit teachable? Yes, just like lungs are born knowing how to breathe, but can learn new ways to integrate breath through musculature, observation, and practice.

Tanwi Nandini Islam is the author of BRIGHT LINES (Penguin 2015), a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. She is the founder of Hi Wildflower Botanica, a small-batch niche perfume, candle and skincare line. Her writing has appeared in Elle.com, Fashionista.com, Open City, Women 2.0, Billboard.com and Gawker. A graduate of Brooklyn College MFA and Vassar College, she lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Naomi Jackson is author of The Star Side of Bird Hill, published by Penguin Press in June 2015. The Star Side of Bird Hill was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and the International Dublin Literary Award. Star Side was named an Honor Book for Fiction by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. It was also selected for the American Booksellers Association’s Indies Introduce and Indies Next List programs. The book has been reviewed by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Kirkus Reviews, NPR.org and Entertainment Weekly, which called Star Side “a gem of a book.” Publishers Weekly named Jackson a Writer to Watch.  Jackson studied fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She traveled to South Africa on a Fulbright scholarship, where she received an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town. A graduate of Williams College, her work has appeared in literary journals and magazines in the United States and abroad, including The New York Times, Harper’s, The Washington Post, Poets & Writers, and Caribbean Beat. She is the recipient of residencies, grants, and fellowships from Bread Loaf, MacDowell Colony, Camargo Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania’s Kelly Writers House, Hedgebrook, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Freya Project. Jackson is Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rutgers University-Newark. She was a 2021-2022 Scholar-in-Residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and served as Writer-in-Residence at Queens College. She previously taught at the University of Iowa, University of Pennsylvania, City College of New York, and Oberlin College.  Jackson was born and raised in Brooklyn by West Indian parents. 

Mira Jacob is a novelist, memoirist, illustrator, and cultural critic. Her graphic memoir Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award, named a New York Times Notable Book, as well as a best book of the year by Time, Esquire, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal. It is currently in development as a television series with Film 44. Her novel The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing was a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick, shortlisted for India’s Tata First Literature Award, longlisted for the Brooklyn Literary Eagles Prize and named one of the best books of 2014 by Kirkus Reviews, the Boston Globe, Goodreads, Bustle, and The Millions. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Electric Literature, Tin House, Literary Hub, Guernica, Vogue, and the Telegraph. She is currently the visiting professor at MFA Creative Writing program at The New School, and a founding faculty member of the MFA Program at Randolph College. She is the co-founder of Pete’s Reading Series in Brooklyn, where she spent 13 years bringing literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to Williamsburg. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, documentary filmmaker Jed Rothstein, and their son

Abbi Jacobson is an actor, writer and artist based in New York City. She is the Series Creator, Executive Producer and star of the critically-acclaimed show Broad City, premiering its fourth season this summer on Comedy Central. Upcoming, Jacobson will Executive Produce FX’s female-centric half-hour comedy pilot Meaty with Jessi Klein, and will star in the Netflix heroin drama 6 Balloons alongside Dave Franco. Jacobson is a New York Times-bestselling author of her illustrated book, Carry This Book, and has also released two coloring books: Color This Book: New York City and Color This Book: San Francisco.

Sheinelle Jones is co-host of the 3rd Hour of TODAY. Since joining NBC News in 2014, Jones has covered a variety of breaking news events and human-interest stories. During her tenure, Jones has interviewed many notable politicians and news makers including then-Senator Barack Obama, then-Senator Hillary Clinton, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer.  She has conducted up close interviews with other notable figures and celebrities including Halle Berry, Kevin Hart, John Legend, Celine Dion, Tiffany Haddish, and sports legends including Derek Jeter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Venus Williams. Jones has also covered timely breaking news events.  Most recently she hosted a roundtable for the network taking an in-depth look at the COVID-19 crisis and its effect on the healthcare workers and minority communities. She also broadcasted live from Philadelphia as part of the TODAY show’s continuing special series “Reopening America TODAY.” Jones hosts “Through Mom’s Eyes,” a digital series for TODAY where she visits with the mothers of celebrities to discuss their journey behind the scenes, and to get their unique take on raising successful children. In addition, she contributes to the TODAY Parenting Team, a multi-platform community where she shares stories about her life as a multi-tasking mom and interacts with viewers around the country. She also co-hosts a weekly radio show “Off the Rails” on Sirius XM with fellow TODAY show co-hosts Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer, and hosts “Wild Child,” an award-winning weekly educational series, part of NBC’s “The More You Know” family programming. Jones is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and The Links Inc., an international group of women devoted to enriching the lives of families in their communities.  Jones, who comes from a family of educators, takes a special interest in activities involving education. Prior to joining TODAY, Jones served as a co-host of FOX’s Emmy Award-winning morning show “Good Day Philadelphia” where she reported local, national and international headlines. During her time in Philadelphia, Jones was recognized for her involvement with children and youth organizations. She also received proclamations from the city of Philadelphia and the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware citing her work as a journalist and volunteer.  Jones joined FOX Philadelphia from FOX Tulsa where she served as an evening news anchor and reporter. During her tenure there, Jones was awarded and honored by the National Association of Black Journalists and the Oklahoma Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.  Jones began her career as a morning anchor and reporter for WICS-TV in Springfield, Illinois. Jones is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and Spanish.  She lives with her husband Uche Ojeh in Manhattan with their 9-year-old twin son and daughter, Uche and Clara, and their 12-year-old son, Kayin.ones is on Twitter at @sheinellejones and Instagram at @sheinelle_o.

New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage. Published in 2018, An American Marriage is an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize), Aspen Words Prize and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries. Jones, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Her third novel, Silver Sparrow, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.

Jodi Kantor is a prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times and best-selling author whose work has revealed hidden truths about power, gender, technology, politics and culture. In October 2017, she and Megan Twohey broke the story of decades of sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Their work helped ignite the #MeToo movement, shift attitudes, and spur new laws, policies and standards of accountability around the globe. Together with a team of colleagues, they were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service, journalism’s highest award. They also received or shared in numerous other honors, including a George Polk award and being named to Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people of the year. “She Said,” their book recounting the Weinstein investigation, was called “an instant classic of investigative journalism” by the Washington Post and one of the top ten works of journalism of the decade by New York University. Ms. Kantor and Ms. Twohey later released “Chasing the Truth,” a version of the book that introduces high school and college-aged readers to investigative journalism. Ms. Kantor’s earlier reporting on working mothers and breastfeeding inspired two readers to create the first free-standing lactation suite for nursing mothers. There are now over a thousand Mamava units across all 50 states. Her article about the havoc caused by automated scheduling systems in Starbucks workers’ lives spurred changes at the company and helped spark a national fair-scheduling movement. Over the years, her work on Amazon has had repeated impact: After she and David Streitfeld revealed punishing practices at corporate headquarters in 2015, the company introduced paternity leave, including at its warehouses. By investigating a Staten Island warehouse in 2021, Ms. Kantor, Karen Weise and Grace Ashford found serious problems with the company’s employment systems nationwide, including 150 percent yearly turnover and a long history of erroneous terminations. The company admitted it had been more focused on customers than workers and vowed to fix its broken systems, while employees at the Staten Island warehouse drew on the information unearthed by The Times to help win a historic unionization vote.