People

Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman is the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representative to the United States. Before her appointment as the representative to the U.S., she worked as a journalist for 17 years, including a job with the Financial Times in Britain and Japan. She began her public service career as the High Representative to the United Kingdom. Her work as a representative strengthens ties between Kurdistan and the United States, advocates for the KRG's position on a wide array of political, security, humanitarian, economic, and cultural matters, and promotes coordination and partnership.

Although Bayard Rustin was one of the most important leaders of the American civil rights movement from the advent of its modern period in the 1950s until well into the 1980s, his name was seldom mentioned; he received comparatively little press or media attention, and others' names were usually much more readily associated with the movement than his was. His was a behind-the-scenes role that, for all its importance, never garnered Rustin the public acclaim he may have deserved. Rustin's homosexuality and early communist affiliation probably meant that the importance of his contribution to the civil rights and peace movements would never be acknowledged. However, fairness demands that the extent of Rustin's work receive a fair public reception. Bayard Taylor Rustin was born on March 17, 1912, to Florence Rustin, one of eight children of Julia and Janifer Rustin of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Florence's child had been born out of wedlock; the father was Archie Hopkins. Julia and Janifer decided to raise young Bayard as their son, the youngest of the large Rustin family. Julia Rustin had been raised a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and even though she attended the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the denomination of her husband, she impressed on the children she raised certain Quaker principles: the equality of all human beings before God, the vital need for nonviolence, the importance of dealing with everyone with love and respect.

A seasoned performer on the international touring circuit, and having played over one thousand concerts as a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning Muir String Quartet, Bayla Keyes currently concertises throughout America as recitalist, as soloist with orchestras, and as a member of the contemporary music ensemble Boston Musica Viva and the acclaimed piano trio, Triple Helix. With degrees from Curtis Institute and Yale University and her first professional experience with Music from Marlboro, Keyes naturally extends her musical commitment to education. She is currently Professor of Violin at Boston University and Artistic Director of both the Interlochen Chamber Music Conference and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute String Quartet Seminar. Her piano trio, Triple Helix, is in residence at Wellesley College, where their series of Beethoven concerts garnered them the accolade of Musicians of the Year 2002 from *the Boston Globe*. Their recently released CD *A Sense of Place* was mentioned as Best of North America, December 2004 by *Gramophone Magazine*. Keyes has recorded for Video Artists International, Ecoclassics, CRI, Musical Heritage, EMI-France, Sony, Koch, Bridge, MRS and New World Records. She plays a Gennarius Gagliano made in 1740.

Members of the reporting/production team of Beat the Press, our weekly television show examining the media.

In the Spring of 2009, Beatriz was unanimously appointed Head of School by the Board of Trustees. During the 2008-2009 school year, she served as Acting Co-Head of School for the Day Program at Boston Day and Evening Academy, where she has been Assistant Head of School in the Day program since April of 2007. Previously, she was a Pilot Schools Program Developer and Coach for the Center for Collaborative Education guides on Boston Pilot Schools. While in that position, she worked sharing practices to be replicated in Boston and other school districts around the country. Her professional positions have also included Director of New England Small Schools Network at the Coalition of Essential Schools Regional Center, and Headmaster of the Greater Eggleston Community High School in Boston, MA. Beatriz is also the author of two children’s books: Fiesta! and Three Kings’ Day. Both books are part of a multicultural curriculum developed by the Children’s Museum in Boston. Beatriz holds a B.A. in Fine Arts and Liberal Arts and an Ed.M in Bilingual Education, both from Boston University. She has a special interest in black and white photography, computer graphic design and music.

Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell Gordon is the author of the New York Times bestseller *Brothers and Sisters* as well as *Your Blues Ain't Like Mine*, for which she won an NAACP Image Award for Literature. She is a commentator for National Public Radio and a contributing editor for Essence magazine, and her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous other publications. Campbell was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education. She taught elementary and middle school for five years.

WCAI summer intern, interested in science communication

**Becca Wolfson** has served as executive director of the Boston Cyclists Union since August of 2015. She works with residents, advocates, municipal staff, and policymakers to advance infrastructure projects and state and local transportation policy to fulfill the organization’s mission to transform the streets of greater Boston into equitable and inviting people-centered spaces affording access and connection for every body. Her passion and work not only focus on expanding access to biking as a means of transportation, but on addressing issues of mobility justice, getting people out of single occupancy vehicles, and creating physical and emotional space for bicycles, people, transit, and vibrant city life. Her experience liaising in local government and community, environmental ethic, and grassroots organizing skills were honed in the six years she spent on Cape Cod working for Barnstable County’s Resource Development Office and environmental AmeriCorps program. While not working, attending public meetings, or cooking to fuel her many trips by bike, Becca can be found doing coursework, working towards earning her Masters in Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning at Tufts University. Becca's commute mode share is ~97.5% by bicycle, ~1.8% bus, and ~.7% commuter rail. She has been known to be insufferable.

Becky Wai-Ling Packard is interested in the intersection of motivation, identity, and mentoring. Packard's research focuses on the mentoring of women pursuing science and technology careers; the aspirations and mentoring of urban ethnic minority low-income adolescents, especially in science and technology; and understanding complex pathways toward higher education. She has designed mentoring programs in the context of her courses featuring partnerships between Mount Holyoke students and area youth from nearby Holyoke and Springfield. She received the Volunteer of the Year Award from Girls Inc., Holyoke. Packard's work is supported by the National Science Foundation's CAREER program. In June 2005, she went to the White House to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government upon early career scientists. Packard's numerous scholarly articles have been published in such journals as *Career Development Quarterly*, *Mentoring and Tutoring*, *Journal of Career Development*, *Journal of College Science Teaching*, *Advancing Women in Leadership*, and *Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy*.

Behnaz Rouhani studied mathematics education at the University of Georgia. She is a professor of mathematics for the online service of Georgia Perimeter College.

Belinda Rathbone is an author and art historian who has written extensively on American photography. She is the author of *Walker Evans: A Biography*, as well as the coauthor of *Tea with Miss Rose*. Ms. Rathbone's work has also appeared in *House and Garden*, *Architectural Digest*, *Antiques*, and *The World of Interiors*.