Jamie Raskin is a three-term Democratic State Senator in Maryland, the Senate Majority Whip, and a dynamic leader of the progressive forces in Annapolis who has been at the center of the breakthrough policy changes Maryland has experienced over the last decade.

A professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for the last 25 years, Jamie has also taught at Yale Law School and has had thousands of students and authored several books. Jamie has been a strong environmental champion and advocate of dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and successfully introduced both Maryland’s renowned Jane Lawton Farm-to-Schools program and the Green Maryland Act compelling all state institutions and agencies to use green purchasing rules and to have composting and recycling plans. He also introduced the very first Benefit Corporation law in America, inventing a new corporate entity devoted both to making profits and to making positive change in the world, an innovation that has been adopted by dozens of other states, including Delaware.

All told, Jamie has seen more than 100 of his bills pass into law while earning high marks as a zealous constituent servant. He has been listed as one of Maryland’s “Top 10 Most Effective Legislators” by the Gazette of Politics and Business, “Montgomery County’s Most Responsive Elected Official” by the Silver Spring Voice, “a Hero to Maryland’s Working Families” by Progressive Maryland, and “one of the nation’s most talented state legislators” by the Huffington Post.

Michael H. Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and a globally recognized expert on community economics. He’s a fellow at Cutting Edge Capital and Post Carbon Institute and a founding board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). He teaches economic development at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He has authored or coauthored nine books. 

Shuman has performed leakage analyses and related economic­ development planning in more than ten states and has analyzed opportunities for food localization for several states, cities, counties, and regions across the nation. He has given an average of more than one invited talk per week, mostly to local governments and universities, for thirty years—in forty-­seven states and eight countries. He has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, such as the The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and NPR's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered, and has written nearly one hundred articles for such periodicals as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Parade Magazine, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Tebabu, the recipient of the White House’s “Champion of Change” recognition in 2012, is the Co-founder & Chief Storyteller of Blessed Coffee, the Nation’s Second Benefit Corporation. His longtime passion in cultural promotion, work in media to promote African culture, and his use of stories to excite markets for African products has resulted the establishment of Blessed Coffee, a new social Business model, which creates international market linkages for higher-value and profit-sharing with farmers and producers to foster and advance economic and social development.

Blessed Coffee, founded by Tebabu and Sara Mussie, his wife and partner,  imports, roasts, brands and distributes premium Ethiopian coffee to the wholesale and cottage-café retail market to connect the small coffee farmers, with the specialty coffee consumer in the US market.

After several years of Brand development and start-up phase, Blessed Coffee, has now presented an investment and partnership offers that give 50% of the common stock share of the Blessed Coffee’s Roasting and Wholesale component to the 300,000 small coffee farming in exchange for $6.00/farmer investment to be paid in the course of two years, a total of $1.8 million dollars. In return for the investment, the farmers will receive 50% equity ownership in the wholesale operations, and 50% of the net profits. With an average of 5 household members per farmer, the fulfillment of Blessed Coffee will have massive impact in the lives of over 1.5 million people.

Tebabu aspires to present the Blessed Coffee as an alternative business model to the African community in the US, to encourage them to follow suit and establish businesses that advance US-Africa cultural and economic ties for development in Africa, and here in our American communities.

Tom Raffa is the president and founder of Raffa, P.C. a national Top 100, B-Corp certified, professional services firm with one primary objective – to be a catalyst for positive systemic change in the community.  To better serve his clients, he founded two affiliate organizations, Raffa Financial Services, Inc. (RFSI) and Raffa Wealth Management (RWM).  RFSI provides insurance and investment products and services, while RWM provides investment consulting and financial planning to non profits, private and family foundations and high-wealth individuals who support the nonprofit sector. Tom also assists business leaders in India as the Knowledge and Equity Partner at Vardaan, a new consulting company that is becoming a key partner to businesses across India as they invest dollars to do the most good and to help grow their own bottom lines.  

For his dedication to society, he has received numerous awards such as, the 2016 Georgetown University Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year, the 2016 Making A Difference Award from The Nonprofit Village, the Business CEO of the Year for Social Value Leadership by Greater DC Cares, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, one of the Top 50 CEOs in DC (CEO Magazine) and was recognized for his commitment to improving educational outcomes for students by the Pearl and Ivy Educational Foundation with the Innovation in Philanthropy Award.  

Tom leads his own social enterprises by example and inspires others toward greatness.  He and his Firm have provided millions of dollars in skilled based pro bono support, hundreds of thousands of hours of community service and have been recognized as a Top Corporate Philanthropist in the Region.    

With a CPA certificate from the District of Columbia, Tom is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  He is also a founding board member of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management and the Alliance for Nonprofit Insurance and has served on the board of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington.  He is a member of the board of Compass Fellowship and Sister Cities of Montgomery County.  Tom is the Vice Chair, the Treasurer and on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Catalogue for Philanthropy.  He is a member of the Board of the United Way of the National Capital Area where he serves on the Strategy Committee and the Audit Committee.  Tom is the Treasurer and on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.  

Tom has been published in The Nonprofit Quarterly, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and The Nonprofit Times and is a sought-after speaker throughout the country at various conferences, corporate functions and Federal agencies.  

A graduate of Georgetown University, Tom is an active member of the Georgetown University Alumni Admissions Program and serves as a mentor at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.