The Junction with Lisette Nieves

Kelly Lytle Hernández is theChair in History and African American Studies and directs the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. For her historical and contemporary work, in 2029 Kelly was selected as a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow. She is also an elected member of the Society of American Historians, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Pulitzer Prizes Board. One of the nation’s leading experts on r...

Heather McGhee is a bestselling author, nonprofit executive, public intellectual, and political strategist. She is a former president and currently a trustee emeritus of Demos, a progressive U.S. think tank. In 2021, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together debuted at #3 on the New York Times best seller list and stayed there for 10 weeks. In it Heather argues that white Americans "have been steeped...

Maria Hinojosa is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and founder of Futuro Media Group, which covers untold stories about underrepresented communities. A four-time Emmy Award winner, Maria is the host and executive producer of Latino USA and the political podcast In The Thick.  In 2022 she and Futuro won the  Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting for the podcast Suave. It tells the story of David Luis "Suave" Gonzalez, who was sentenc...

Tony Marx has run The New York Public Library, the country’s largest public library system, for fifteen years. Prior to that he was president of Amherst College and worked in anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa in the 90s. His long career has been characterized by his ardent belief in access. At NYPL he removed late fines after discovering that the NYPL had disenfranchised thousands of patrons of color with. He also pressured bo...

John B. King Jr. is the Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation's largest public higher education system. Previously, he served as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Education under President Obama, and as the President of The Education Trust, a nonprofit focusing on equity in education. His trailblazing career also includes serving as NY State Education Commissioner, the first African American and Puerto Rican in...

Xochitl Gonzalez is the New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning novels Olga Dies Dreaming, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, and the highly anticipated Last Night in Brooklyn (out April 2026). She is a contributor to The Atlantic, where she was recognized as a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist in Commentary. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, Gonzalez holds a BA from Brown University and an MFA from the Iowa...

Cheryl Wills is an institution in New York City and national news, with 30+ years in network television. She has deepened our understanding of the role Black Americans played in building and protecting our country with her book series on her family’s transition from slavery to freedom ("Die Free: A Heroic Family Tale," "The Emancipation of Grandpa Sandy Wills," "Emancipated: My Family’s Fight for Freedom," and "EMMA.") 

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Gisele Castro has always been a leader with a purpose much bigger than the impactful organization she helped found and now leads, exalt, where she and her team transform young people’s lives through education, employment opportunities and criminal justice reform. Her work ensuring equity in justice for court-involved youth is remarkable, and now she’s poised to replicate the exalt model nationally. What’s more, her personal story r...

Kandy G Lopez is a multidisciplinary portrait artist exploring cultural identity, representation, and power through fiber, painting, glass, and mixed media. Born to Dominican parents, she draws from her experience navigating multiple cultural landscapes. Kandy holds a BFA in Painting and a BS in Marketing/Management from the University of South Florida and earned her MFA in Painting from Florida Atlantic University. Her background ...