Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III

Pastor, Poet, Activist, Author

Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III is a nationally respected spiritual leader, author, and activist, serving as Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Known for his powerful voice on justice, democracy, and faith, Dr. Moss weaves together Black spirituality and liberation theology to inspire change and healing. His work calls us to imagine a more just and compassionate society, rooted in service, resilience, and love.

Matthew Desmond

Author, Sociologist, Professor

MacArthur “Genius” and Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond has transformed our understanding of poverty in the US with his instant #1 New York Times bestseller Poverty, by America and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. Praised as “an extraordinary feat of reporting and ethnography” by The Washington Post, Evicted draws on the stories of eight real families living on the edge of eviction to help readers better understand the causes and conditions of deep poverty. Poverty, by America, has been praised by the New Yorker as “urgent and accessible” and by Esquire as “another paradigm-shifting inquiry into America’s dark heart.” Drawing on history, research, and original reporting, the book reimagines the debate on poverty, and makes a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. Desmond is the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology and the founder and principal investigator of The Eviction Lab (www.evictionlab.org) at Princeton University. Desmond is a New York Times Magazine contributing writer, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New Yorker and The Chicago Tribune. 

Michael A. Nutter

Former Mayor of Philadelphia

Michael A. Nutter served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia from 2008 to 2016, following nearly 15 years on the Philadelphia City Council. During his tenure, he focused on public safety, education, sustainability, and economic development. Currently, he is the David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Paige Gebhardt Cognetti

Mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania

Paige Gebhardt Cognetti is the 36th Mayor of Scranton and the first woman to hold the position. Sworn in on January 6, 2020, she was re-elected in November 2021. Prior to becoming Mayor, she advised the Pennsylvania Auditor General on oversight of public school districts and care for older adults.

Kai Davis

Artist, Educator, Poet Laureate 

Kai Davis (she/her) is a Black Queer multidisciplinary artist, educator, and The Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. Her work explores Blackness, Queerness, womanhood, grief and the many ways these themes converge. Kai has performed for TEDX Philly, CNN, BET, PBS, and NPR, among others. She is a two-time international grand slam champion, winning Brave New Voices in 2011 and The College Union Poetry Slam Invitational in 2016. In 2017 Kai received the Leeway Transformation Award for her years of art for social change work in Philadelphia. She is currently a Co-Organizer and Creative Director for The Philly Pigeon Poetry Show, which won the Poetry Foundation’s Equity in Verse Grant in 2023. Her work has been published by 2 Pens & Lint (2012), The Offing (2018), The Shade Journal (2019), and Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought (2021) among others.