The grandson of four Holocaust survivors, David has made it his life purpose to leverage the power of collective memory to inspire collective action towards a world of “Never Again.” After graduating from Duke University with a degree in Public Policy, David joined Accenture Strategy, where he advised Fortune 500 clients and the firm’s flagship corporate philanthropy program, Accenture Corporate Citizenship ($60M/Yr portfolio). In January 2017, unnerved by the rise of fear and hate at home and abroad, David left Accenture to pursue his global vision for Together We Remember full-time. David also serves on the External Advisory Committee (EAC) of the USC Shoah Foundation, the Institute for Visual History and Education.

Michael Pertnoy is a social entrepreneur, media & tech executive, award-winning documentary filmmaker, marketer and community organizer.  He is currently a Partner at Volery Capital, a social impact and sustainability focused private equity firm. Prior to Volery, Michael was Vice President at Deluxe Entertainment Services Group responsible for innovation strategy and corporate development on behalf of senior leadership. Michael previously founded Righteous Pictures, a film and new media production company that creates social issue films and public engagement campaigns to serve as platforms for dialogue and catalysts for change.  

Michael's first film, The Last Survivor, tells the stories of survivors of four different genocides and mass atrocities. The film won numerous awards, including Best Documentary and the Audience Award when it premiered at the 2010 Oxford Film Festival. It went on to play in over 250 venues as part of a global community screening and social action campaign centered around genocide awareness, prevention and survivor advocacy. For his work in the field, Michael was accepted into the inaugural Carl Wilkens Human Rights Fellowship program and was named one of South Florida's Top 20 Business Leaders under 40 by the Miami Herald. Originally from Miami, Florida, Michael now lives in New York City.

Grady Lenkin is a first year MBA candidate at the Yale School of Management. Grady has been heavily involved with Together We Remember since its founding at Duke University in 2012. He gained experience in community organizing in Boston, policy research in India, and government and foundation advisory services across the US, Canada and Australia. Prior to entering Business school, Grady served as Special Assistant to the Founder and CEO of the Harwood Institute, a social enterprise that accelerates the impact of government agencies and social service providers through training and advisory services. Grady has also worked in commercial real estate development and private equity. He holds an undergraduate degree in Public Policy from Duke University and is an avid rock climber and skier.

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.

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.

Chic Dambach is CEO of Operation Respect as well as an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins and American Universities, and he is a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. He is President Emeritus of the National Peace Corps Association; former President of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, and former Chief of Staff for Congressman John Garamendi. Previously, he held executive positions in the arts, sports, and health, and he was an “expert” advisor to the director of the Peace Corps. He has served on dozens of nonprofit boards, and he was a senior consultant with BoardSource where he helped write two books on nonprofit governance. His career began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia, and his memoir, Exhaust the Limits, the Life and Times of a Global Peacebuilder, features a lifetime of service and successful initiatives for peace in Africa. He has been nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, and the Institute for Economics and Peace presented him the Leadership and Service for Peace Award in 2016. He was named the “2016 Peace Corps Champion” for keeping the spirit of service alive. His TEDx Talk “Why Not Peace” is available on YouTube. He was a national champion kayak racer and served as an official for canoe and kayak competition in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and he has an MBA degree from Wake Forest University.

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.

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.