Ms. Ekhlas Ahmed was forced to flee the outbreak of civil war in Sudan with her mother, father, and three younger brothers in 2003. Her family was resettled to Portland, Maine, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Sociology from the University of Southern Maine with hopes of helping resettle other refugees. She is the vice President and Co-founder of Chance to Advance , an non profit organization raising awareness in her community of the violence and needs in Darfur. Additionally,  she is writing a book called the Bridge Between, an autobiography in a poetic form to share her experiences and raise awareness about Darfur. Those who are devoted to “The Ellen show” will be familiar with Ekhlas, a teacher of English language at Westbrook middle school. She gives credit to Ellen DeGeneres with helping her learn English. Ms. Ahmed devoted her life to helping refugees navigate culture differences and works outside the classroom to build bridges with the community at-large.

Abdullah Antepli is Chief Representative of Muslim Affairs at Duke University and teaches courses on Islam and Muslim cultures at Duke Divinity School. Previously, he was Duke’s first Muslim chaplain, associate director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program at Hartford Seminary, the first Muslim chaplain at Wesleyan University, and worked in Myanmar (Burma) and Malaysia with the Association of Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Countries. He is founder and executive board member of the Association of College Muslim Chaplains, a board member of the Association for College and University Religious Affairs, senior fellow on Jewish-Muslim Relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and co-director of the Muslim Leadership Initiative.

Dr. Michael Berenbaum is a writer, lecturer, and teacher consulting in the conceptual development of museums and the development of historical films. He is director of the Sigi Ziering Institute at the American Jewish University where he is also a Professor of Jewish Studies. From 1988–93 he served as Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, overseeing its creation. For three years, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. He also served as Deputy Director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust where he authored its Report to the President of the United States, the foundational document of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to this day. Berenbaum is the author and editor of twenty two books, scores of scholarly articles, and hundreds of journalistic pieces. He was the Managing Editor of the Second Edition of the award winning Encyclopedia Judaica,  a 16 million word, 22 volume compendium of the Jewish history, religion and civilization. He has been producer, executive producer, historical consultant, interviewee and writer for many films, including One Survivor Remembers and The Last Days that won Academy Awards and Emmy Awards.

Susan Benesch founded and directs the Dangerous Speech Project, to study rhetoric that can inspire violence - and to find ways to prevent this without infringing on freedom of expression. Susan started out as a journalist, covering wars and invasions among other topics, then trained as a human rights lawyer at Yale, and has worked for NGOs including Amnesty International and Human Rights First. She now teaches at American University and is Faculty Associate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. She also runs a community music space at her home in DC, hosting monthly dinner concerts.

Sam Harris is a child survivor of the Holocaust. He was born on May 13, 1935, in Deblin, Poland, and was only four years old when World War II broke out in 1939. As a young child, he survived four years in the Deblin ghetto and in the Czestochowa concentration camp. Sam lost his parents and five brothers and sisters, who were killed in the Treblinka death camp.

In 1947, the 12-year-old boy born as Szlamek Rzeznik sailed with other child refugees to America. Through the Jewish Children's Bureau in Chicago, he was adopted by a loving family and became Samuel R. Harris.

School, career, marriage and fatherhood followed, but Sam never forgot his past. He wrote a book to share his journey, "Sammy: Child Survivor of the Holocaust." He speaks to thousands annually about the atrocities of genocide, honoring the lives of all those who died at the hands of bigotry and hatred.

Sam was an instrumental force in the creation of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, of which he is President Emeritus.

In 2014, Sam was the proud recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

A dynamic speaker, Dr. Mary Johnson has conducted seminars and workshops related to the Holocaust and modern genocide, researched issues dealing with the Holocaust and human rights and written and co-edited study guides and publications related to all areas of Facing History. She is Senior Historian at Facing History and Ourselves and an adjunct professor for Masters in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton College, where she teaches a variety of courses on the Holocaust and recent genocides. Dr. Johnson is on the Human Rights Committee of the New York State Council for the Social Studies and Chair of the International Visitor’s committee of the National Council for the Social Studies.

An accomplished author and historian, her publications include curricula, Elements of Time, Holocaust Testimonies on using Holocaust testimonies and oral history, Teaching about the Holocaust and Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians, The Nuremberg Trials, Samuel Bak art exhibition ‘Icons of Loss: memories of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, Reader’s Companion to The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank, The Definitive Edition, Facing History Resource Book, two PBS series Daring to Resist: Three Women Face the Holocaust, and Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State.

Ivy Schamis is an award-winning social studies teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School, where she has taught for 18 years. On February 14th, 2018, while teaching about how to counter hate groups on college campuses, a former MSD student shot and killed 2 of Ivy’s students and wounded others. Despite this tragedy, Ivy continues to educate and inspire youth to make “Never Again” a reality. Over 200 students are enrolled in her “History of the Holocaust” class this year.

Ivy has earned numerous awards for her teaching and courage. She was MSD Teacher of the Year and Broward Educator of the Year. She was named Teacher of the Year by the New York-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect and received the Bear Award from The Brady Campaign for Gun Control. Ivy was the recipient of the inaugural Stronger Than Hate Award for educators from the USC Shoah Foundation.

Ivy Grew up in Miami and earned an undergraduate degree in International Relations and a Graduate degree in Social Studies Education from Florida International University in Miami. She is married to her husband, Jeffrey, and has 2 grown children, Isaac and Sabrina. They raised them in Parkland and they are proud graduates of Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Ivy loves to travel and has visited Holocaust Museums and Memorials in cities all over the world.

Dr. Stephen D. Smith is the Finci -Viterbi Endowed Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation, and holds the UNESCO Chair on Genocide Education.

Smith founded the UK Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire, England and cofounded the Aegis Trust for the prevention of crimes against humanity and genocide.

Smith has served as a producer on a number of film and new media projects, including New Dimensions in Testimony, and the VR project The Last Goodbye.

In recognition of his work, Smith has become a member of the Order of the British Empire and received the Interfaith Gold Medallion. He also holds two honorary doctorates, and lectures widely on issues relating to the history and collective response to the Holocaust, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

Kelley Szany serves as Director of Education at Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (IHMEC), the 2nd largest Holocaust museum and human rights institution in the United States. In this role, she oversees all educational initiatives for educators and students, public programing, and training for all recruits and promotional classes (Sergeants and Lieutenants) to the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sheriff and Correctional Department recruits, and suburban law enforcement officials.

During her 16-year tenure, Szany has become recognized as a leading human rights and museum educator, training facilitator, and public speaker. Szany currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Association of Holocaust Organizations and Educators Institute for Human Rights, and serves on the Advisory Board of Unsilence. In 2015, Szany was appointed to serve on the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission.

She has won multiple awards for her educational and human rights work, and most recently was awarded the Carl Wilkens Fellowship, where she worked alongside national leaders to strengthen a permanent anti-genocide constituency through both advocacy work and influence of U.S. policy. In 2016, she was awarded the Damen Award from the Graduate School at Loyola University of Chicago, an award granted to an alumnus (a) from each of Loyola’s schools and colleges that recognizes the qualities of leadership in industry, leadership in community, and service to others.

Szany is the author of “Teaching the 1994 Rwandan Genocide Through Stanton’s 8 Stages,” and “The Power of Story: Teaching About Genocide Through Literature Circles,” in the upcoming Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group book Teaching About Genocide: Insights and Advice from Secondary Teachers – Volume One and Volume Two.

Szany holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Canisius College, as well as a master’s degree in public history from Loyola University Chicago.