People

Adam Schwartzman was born in Johannesburg in 1973. After completing degrees in English literature and development studies at Oxford University, he held positions in the South African National Treasury, the World Bank, and the International Finance Corporation. He is the author of three books of poetry--*The Good Life, The Dirty Life, and Other Stories*; *Merrie Afrika!; and Book of Stones*--as well as the anthology *Ten South African Poets*. Eddie Signwriter is his first novel. He lives in Istanbul, Turkey, with his wife and daughter.

Adam Serwer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, covering politics. He has previously worked for BuzzFeed News, MSNBC, Mother Jones and The American Prospect.

A former high school teacher and college professor, Dr. Urbanski is an active proponent of change in education. In Rochester, he proposed and designed an internship program for new teachers; a peer review intervention plan; a career ladder; and a homework hot-line service for students. Dr. Urbanski is the director of the newly established Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN), aimed at creating a new vision of teachers' unions that supports needed changes in education. Dr. Urbanski has appeared on several nationally-broadcast television programs, including the NBC *Today Show*, ABC *News World Report*, CBS *Newswatch*, and PBS *MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour*. Articles about him and his work have appeared in *U.S. News and World Report*, *Teacher Magazine*, *EducationWeek*, *The New York Times*, *The American Teacher*, *Newsweek*, *Fortune Magazine*, *Business Week*, *Los Angeles Times*, and many other publications.

Adaora Asala is a queer, afrofeminist Nigerian social commentator, community organizer, diversity consultant, and nonprofit social media expert. She has lived in New England for more than 10 years and identifies as an "iQWOC" due to her international/immigrant (queer woman of color) perspective. She is the founding director of QWOC+ Boston, the first LGBT social networking group for women-identified people of color in New England, and is known within the LGBT people of color community and across mainstream LGBT, feminist, and other progressive circles, for the fun, innovative and boundary-pushing strategies she's concept-ed to increase consciousness of diversity, unity, and pride within Boston's mainstream queer community. In addition to being recognized as a regional leader in local press, her steadfast vision, and consultative approach to community organizing and diversity has already proven itself in New England as evidenced by stories of LGBT folks of color emerging from parts of the city and state that the mainstream community had long ignored in their marketing and outreach campaigns. She makes her living as a software sales professional, is an avid video-gamer, cool kitty-owner, and a mean theme-party thrower. She blogs about diversity, event planning -- including how these two concepts are more connected than you think -- and technology at Spectra Speaks.

**Addy Shreffler** is a young but savvy farmer, who was an executive chef for several years before migrating into farming. She is committed to spreading her farming knowledge so that people can learn how to grow their own food and eat seasonally. Also through teaching canning and preserving skills, Addy wants to aid consumers to self-sufficiency.

Adeline Sire produces feature and news stories for *The World*. Focusing on cultural aspects, she looks for people with compelling stories that give the news a fresh and quirky slant. Her work goes from researching story ideas, to reporting and producing segments for the program. Before joining the staff at *The World*, Adeline produced freelance arts features for PRI's radio program *Beyond Computers*, and Boston station WBUR's *Morning Edition* and *Here and Now*, where she trained. She also worked several years in a publishing department of the United Nations headquarters in New York. A native of France, Adeline says, "some of the most exhilarating experiences of working at *The World*, are talking to people in different countries, exploring different cultures, and tackling new issues every day. I love the challenge." Adeline is also a musician and a baroque music freak, but that's neither here nor there.

**Dr. Adil Najam** (عادل نجم) is the inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University which was founded in 2014 with a generous gift from BU alum Frederick S. Pardee. He is also a Professor of International Relations and of Earth and Environment. Earlier, Prof. Adil Najam served as Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore, Pakistan and as the Director of the Boston University Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. In addition to Boston University, Prof. Najam has taught at MIT and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. His research focuses on issues of global public policy, especially those related to global climate change, South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human development. Prof. Najam was a co-author for the Third and Fourth Assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); work for which the scientific panel was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the public understanding of climate change science. In 2008 he was invited by the United Nations Secretary-General to serve on the UN Committee on Development (CDP). He was a member of the President of Pakistan’s Special Task Force on Human Development (2001) and served on Pakistan’s Presidential Commission on Higher Education (2002). In 2010 he was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence), one of Pakistan’s highest civil awards by the President of Pakistan. In 2019 he was appointed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs.

**Admiral James Stavridis**, USN (Ret.) is chairman of the Board of Counselors of McLarty Global Associates, an international consulting firm, and an operating executive of the Carlyle Group, an international private equity firm. He spent more than thirty years in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of four-star Admiral. He was the Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and previously commanded U.S. Southern Command, overseeing military operations in Latin America. At sea, he commanded a Navy destroyer, a destroyer squadron, and an aircraft carrier battle group in combat. He holds a Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he recently served five years as dean. He has published nine previous books and hundreds of articles and is a frequent national and international television commentator as well as a Bloomberg Opinion weekly columnist, and a monthly columnist for TIME Magazine.

Adora Brown is the summer 2024 GBH News investigative intern.

Adoyo Owuor is the Founder and Executive Director of Zamani Foundation. She received her BA from the University of California, Davis where she concentrated on Italian Literature, Music Composition and Art.