Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is serving her eleventh term as a member of the United States House of Representatives. She represents the 18th Congressional District of Texas, centered in Houston, which is the energy capital of the world. Considered by many as the “Voice of Reason,” she is dedicated to upholding the Constitutional rights of all people.

She sits on three Congressional Committees—a senior member of the House Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and newly appointed by the leadership as a Member of the crucial Budget Committee. She is currently the first female Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee for Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations and is leading the way on criminal justice reform through ground breaking legislation. She has also introduced several bills including the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act, H.R. 71, the Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act of 2015, and H.R. 4660, an Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015 affirming the authority of the Attorney General to reduce prison overcrowding by developing and implementing lawful policies relating to requests for executive clemency from deserving petitioners. She is a champion for women and children supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and introducing an amendment to HR2262 that provides for outreach to minority- and women-owned businesses with respect to business opportunities in the commercial space industry and authored H.R.45 the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act of 2015.

She was named by ‘Congressional Quarterly’ as one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress and the U.S. News and World Report named her as one of the 10 most influential legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a founder, member, and co-chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus; chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Energy Braintrust, co-chair of the Justice Reform Task Force, and a leadership appointed member of the international Helsinki Commission. She serves as Senior Whip for the Democratic Caucus, past Chairperson of the Texas Congressional Democratic Delegation for the 113th Congress, and current Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Board.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee earned a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University with honors in the first graduating class including females, followed by a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. She is married to Dr. Elwyn Lee who is also a Yale Graduate and an Administrator at the University of Houston. She has two children Jason Lee a graduate of Harvard University and Erica Lee a graduate of Duke University who is also a Member of the Harris County School Board in Houston, Texas. She is also the proud grandmother of two grandkids (twins), granddaughter Ellison Bennett Carter and grandson Roy Lee Carter, Illinois.

Hendrik Hertzberg is an American liberal journalist, best known as a longtime political commentator for the New Yorker magazine. He has also been President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter and (twice) editor of The New Republic. His books include ¡Obámanos! The Rise of a New Political Era and Politics: Observations & Arguments. A graduate of Harvard, he has been a fellow at that university’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and at Dartmouth College. A three-time winner of the National Magazine Award, Hertzberg is currently Editorial Director at Type Media.

Timothy McNulty’s long career in journalism includes years as a national, foreign, and White House correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. He later became the newspaper’s associate managing editor and public editor. Before retiring, he taught at the University of Chicago and at Northwestern University’s Medill School where he co-directed the National Security Journalism Initiative.

Cecile Richards is a national leader for women’s rights and social and economic justice, and a co-founder of Supermajority—a new organization fighting for gender equity. She is the author of New York Times bestseller. As President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund for 12 years, Richards worked to increase affordable access to reproductive health care and to build a healthier and safer world for women and young people. After starting her career as a labor organizer, working with women earning the minimum wage, she went on to start her own grassroots organizations, and later served as Deputy Chief of Staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2011 and 2012, she was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Richards is a frequent speaker and commentator on politics and progressive issues. She and her husband, Kirk Adams, have three children and live in New York City.

Jeb Brooks founded the Jack Brooks Foundation, an apolitical non-profit focused on increasing citizen participation in the voting process in 2017. He began his professional career in 1990 at the Management Associate training program at Citicorp and was then assigned to Citi’s branch in Taiwan. There he managed the relationships of multi-national corporations doing business in Taiwan. Later, he moved to London as A.V.P. of equity sales from Asia to European institutional investors. In 1997, Jeb moved to Texas where he worked at a retail bank, substantially improving Net Income and successfully selling the bank in 1999. Jeb then founded Merlin Engine, a private portfolio management and small business consulting firm. Merlin Engine currently manages about $30 million in assets under management as well as consulting with a number of businesses. Jeb’s educational background includes a master’s degree from University of Chicago, and a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Additionally, he has completed a number of advanced credit, equity, and management programs. Jeb also speaks conversational Mandarin Chinese.