Phil is a photographer. He straddles the digital/analog border with a 4X5 camera and film, scanning, Photoshop, and toned silver prints. For dozens of thousand-word equivalents answering the question, "What does he photograph?" see his website, at www.strausphoto.com.
Phil is on the board of directors of the Center for Defense Information where he's underwritten the launch of the Straus Military Reform Project. He is supporting a MotherJones.com project on militarism.
He's recently begun playing the piano and composing music and returned to running after a ten-year lapse due to now-eliminated arthritis. He's looking forward to a return to the study of mathematics. Phil has been a devoted go player for over 35 years.
He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Margaret Harris. They've recently become empty-nesters. Phil has degrees in psychology and engineering. For other details of his past life, ask his cousin, Jane Butcher.
Buckingham became president and CEO in February 2010. Prior to this she held the position of COO/CFO; she joined Mother Jones in 2002. She has spent more than 20 years in senior finance and management positions in the publishing and high-tech industries working for a range of publishing companies and Internet startups, including Sony Corp.'s Internet incubator and at International Data Group.
Monika Bauerlein is co-editor of Mother Jones, where, together with Clara Jeffery, she spearheaded an era of editorial growth and innovation, marked by two National Magazine Awards for general excellence, the addition of a seven-person Washington Bureau, and an overhaul of the organization’s digital strategy that tripled MotherJones.com's traffic. Previously she was Mother Jones’ investigative editor, focusing on long-form projects marrying in-depth reportage, document sleuthing, and narrative appeal. She has also worked as an alternative-weekly editor (at Minneapolis/St. Paul’s City Pages), a correspondent for US and European publications in Washington, D.C. and at the United Nations, an AP stringer, corporate trainer, translator, and pastry chef (a very short stint). She lives in Oakland with her husband and their three children.
Clara Jeffery is co-editor of Mother Jones, where, together with Monika Bauerlein, she has spearheaded an era of editorial growth and innovation, marked by the addition of an eight-person Washington bureau, an overhaul of the organization's digital strategy and a corresponding tripling of traffic, and the winning of two National Magazine Awards for general excellence. Before joining the staff of Mother Jones, she was a senior editor of Harper's magazine. Eight pieces that she personally edited have been finalists for National Magazine Awards, in the categories of essay, profile, reporting, public interest, and fiction. Works she edited have also been selected to appear in various editions of Best American Essays, Best American Travel Writing, Best American Sports Writing, and Best American Science Writing. Clara cut her journalistic teeth at Washington City Paper, where she wrote and edited political, investigative, and narrative features, and was a columnist. Jeffery is a graduate of Carleton College and Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Born in Baltimore and raised in Arlington, Virginia, she now resides in the Mission District of San Francisco with her partner Chris Baum and their two-year-old son Milo. Their burrito joint of choice is El Metate.
Steven Katz is Publisher for Mother Jones and its non-profit publisher, the Foundation for National Progress. He joined MoJo in 2003 after several years as Vice President of Development for Earthjustice, the nation's leading non-profit environmental law firm. While at Mother Jones, Steve helped found and was the first Project Director for The Media Consortium, a network of more than 40 independent, progressive media organizations around the United States.
Steve has thirty years' experience working in the fields of the environment advocacy, the arts, social justice, and neighborhood-based housing development. Prior to joining Earthjustice in 1995, he was Managing Director for the California urban environmental advocacy organization, Communities for a Better Environment, from 1989 to 1994. During the mid and late 1980s, Steve worked in the non-profit arts world, including three years as Managing Director for the San Francisco-based touring ensemble, A Traveling Jewish Theatre. He also was Associate Director for Housing and Planning at Brooklyn's Flatbush Development Corporation for two years in the early 1980s, and Development Coordinator for the Bronx-based sweat equity urban homesteading group, People's Development Corporation, from 1976 to 1978.
Steve has been on a number of non-profit boards, among them Earthshare of California, the As You Sow Foundation, the Marin Center for Peace and Justice, and Turtle Island Restoration Network. Steve received his PhD in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1987, and his B.A. from Oberlin College in 1974. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Rachelle, and his son, Noah.
Sara Frankel has worked in media companies since starting her first job as a Mother Jones intern in 1986. She subsequently worked as an editor and feature writer for both weekly magazines and a daily newspaper. Since receiving her MBA in 1994, she has held a range of business positions in electronic media companies, most recently running an Internet company she founded in 1999. She is currently working as a business consultant in New York.
For 25+ years Harriett was a partner at New York based Frankfurt Balkind, an award -winning brand strategy and communications agency with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Known for its innovative integrated approach, the agency was purchased by Interpublic/Hill Holliday during 2002. At Frankfurt Balkind, Harriett was responsible for business development and led client liaison and brand strategy teams for companies whose needs required multi-disciplinary marketing – identity, print, video, digital, web. Clients ranged from AT&T, Avon, Saks Fifth Avenue, Pitney Bowes, Hearst, Goldman Sachs, HBO, and Sony to the MTA (Grand Central Station) and New Visions for Public Schools.
Today Harriett is co-founder of Strat B in New York, providing brand strategy, messaging and marketing communications for established companies such as Time Warner Cable Media and start-ups like Cindy Levine Group. She is a partner of Bemis Balkind, a premier Los Angeles based entertainment marketing agency.
Harriett’s career began in San Francisco where she lived for 13 years and worked in retail and banking prior to joining Landor Associates, a brand and creative design consultancy. Moving to New York, she headed advertising and public relations for Reeves Communications, who later became one of her first clients when she started Levin Associates; the other was Gips+Balkind design firm, subsequently, Frankfurt Balkind. Harriett has been published in industry publications such as Communication Arts, Graphic Design: USA, and Direct Marketing News. She has a monthly blog-azine, "Secrets no one ever told you," www.snoety.com, directed primarily to 45+ women who are interested in new ideas and thoughts on living, and she serves on the Industry Council of Eurica Media Lab. She has one son, Devin, who is 25 and lives in Brooklyn.
Harriet is the director of the HKH Foundation, which makes grants in areas relating to the environment, the arms race, and civil liberties, and is also director of the Blue Mountain Center, an upstate New York workplace for artists, writers and activists. Ms. Barlow has also founded and co-founded 12 public interest organizations and has been a member of the board of directors of over 50 non-profits.
Jane is co-Chair of the Conference on World Affairs, Chair of the Dean's Advisory Committee for Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado, is on the Advisory Board of the Autry National Center and also on the Biotech Advisory Board at the University of Colorado. She is the founder of the consulting firm Conventional Wisdom, Ltd.
Andre Carothers has more than 25 years experience in non-profit management, philanthropy, program development, and organizational and leadership development. He is currently an independent consultant. He is the co-founder, former Executive Director, and now a Senior Fellow at the Rockwood Leadership Institute, a national non-profit training and consulting organization. He serves as Chairman of the Board of the Rainforest Action Network and is a Board Member of International Rivers. He is also senior adviser to the Weinmann Charitable Trust, and Executive Director of the Furthur Foundation and the New Place Fund. From 1984 to 1997 he worked at Greenpeace USA as editor of their national newsmagazine, campaign manager and member of the Board of Directors. He was a regular columnist for “E” Magazine and has written extensively on environment and civic issues for many publications. He has authored numerous reports, articles and conference presentations on topics ranging from the economics of timber extraction in Papua New Guinea to the integration of spiritual practice into social activism. He received an MA in environmental science from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley.
Diane Filippi is the Director of the SPUR Urban Center in San Francisco. Prior to joining SPUR, Ms. Filippi was a founder and Managing Principal of SMWM, an architectural and urban design firm in San Francisco.
As the Director of the SPUR Urban Center, Diane has been a guest speaker on Urban Centers to national and international audiences.
A few of Diane's other activities include:Chair, Rail-volution, Washington DC and Portland, Oregon - currentBoard Member, Association of Architectural Organizations, Chicago - currentBoard Member, ULI District Council - currentChair, Urban Land Institute, San Francisco District CouncilBoard Member, San Francisco Chamber of CommerceChair, San Francisco Friends of the LibraryChair, Keep Libraries Alive Political CampaignChair, State of California Friends of the LibraryChair, Libraries for the Future, New York
For the past 8 years, Diane has been named one of San Francisco's 100 Most Influential Women. In 2010, she was honored as a permanent member of San Francisco Most Influential Women Hall of Fame.
In 1996, Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. in recognition of service to the people of San Francisco and the San Francisco Public Library, declared February 20 to be Diane Filippi Day in San Francisco.
Dave is a self-described "father, geek, and musician who lives in Austin, Texas." He is a Texas native, and true to the Austin ethos, he's creative, passionate, and active in his community.
Dave graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in government. He later attended the Berklee College of Music, but returned to Austin to open Satellite Studio. Currently he is the President of the board of The Participatory Culture Foundation, which supports open video on the web. Dave is also very active in Texas and national politics and sits on the board of Be One Texas.
Erik is a co-founder and president of the Seattle-based Quixote Foundation. The Quixote Foundation was founded in 1997 by Erik's father, Arthur, to advance progressive causes through the action, education & policy work of dynamic nonprofit groups. Erik's wife, Lenore is the Executive Director of the Quixote Foundation.
Adam is a writer and was one of the co-founders of Mother Jones. He is the author of seven books: Half the Way Home: a Memoir of Father and Son; The Mirror at Midnight: a South African Journey; The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin; Finding the Trapdoor: Essays, Portraits, Travels; King Leopold's Ghost: a Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa; Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves; and To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918. In 1997-98, he spent five months as a Fulbright Lecturer in India, and he teaches a writing class at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.
Kim Keller is the Executive Director of the David & Anita Keller Family Foundation, a Bay Area-based family foundation committed to human rights as the cornerstone to peace and justice. She is deeply engaged and passionate about international human rights and strategic philanthropy. In addition to serving on the boards of the Foundation for National Progress (Mother Jones) and Accountability Counsel, Kim is an active member of The Philanthropy Workshop West, Global Philanthropy Forum, and the International Human Rights Funders Group. In 2011, she volunteered with the Carter Center as an election observer during the Liberian presidential election.
Prior to directing her family's foundation, Kim worked in social science research and policy analysis for Bay Area non-profits including the Prevention Research Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and for the Department for Veterans' Affairs.
Kim holds degrees from Wellesley College and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Rick is a founding principal of Melcher & Tucker Consultants, a Chicago-based strategic marketing and communications firm advising small and midsize companies and not-for-profit organizations. Since he co-founded the business in 2000, Rick has helped clients with strategic planning, media and capital campaigns, and in building alliances. Prior to his current endeavors, Rick worked at two leading public policy web sites, and spent two decades at Business Week magazine, managing bureaus in Chicago and London, and where he received the Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club for reporting on Europe and the Center for Education Reform's award for Excellence in Journalism.
Rick is a board member of the Foundation for National Progress, and serves on the national board of trustees and the Chicago advisory board of Facing History and Ourselves. He is also on the executive committee of the board of directors of Chicago Commons and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate of Duke University, Rick and his wife, Barbara, are the parents of three children.
Carolyn Mugar is and has been for twenty years the Executive Director of Farm Aid. Previous to that, she was an organizer with the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers International Union. Both unions have since merged several times. She also founded the Armenia Tree Project based in Watertown Massachusetts and Yerevan, Armenia and is very active on Armenian issues, going back and forth to Armenia several times a year. She likes to bike a lot. She walked the whole Camino in Spain over four years ago. She went to college and received a higher education.
Staff Representative
Maddie is the research editor at Mother Jones, managing a team of editorial fellows who fact-check the magazine's website and print issues and help make its explosive stories bulletproof. She also writes about culture, food politics, and environment for MoJo, and enjoys interviewing writers and comedians for its media section. Before Mother Jones, she worked at several educational nonprofits in the Bay Area and wrote for The Rumpus. She studied literature at Middlebury College and originally hails from Boulder. When not enjoying the victual paradise of San Francisco, you can find her skiing and hiking in the mountains.
Jon Pageler has been a Vice President of Diageo, the world's leading premium drinks company, since 2003 and is currently responsible for Marketing Communications. At Diageo, Mr. Pageler's responsibilities include overseeing the marketing communications efforts in North America, as well as coordinating these efforts with the other Diageo markets worldwide. Prior to becoming the Head of Marketing Communications for North America, Mr. Pageler served as the Brand Communications Strategist in Diageo's world Headquarters in London.
Mr. Pageler began his tenure with Diageo in Napa, as the Diageo Chateau & Estate Wine Company's executive in charge of Corporate Relations in the role of Vice President Corporate Relations, Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines.
From 2000 to 2003, prior to joining Diageo, Mr. Pageler worked for the Crisis Management and Strategic Communications firm, Westhill Partners, where, among other responsibilities, he managed the firm's largest client, Diageo. Mr. Pageler came to Westhill from his role as Scheduler and, ultimately, Trip Director on the Bill Bradley for President Campaign, where he served for two years. From 1995 through 1998, Mr. Pageler held positions on several political campaigns including as the Scheduler for Charles Schumer's successful bid to unseat US Senator Al Damato and as Campaign Manager for Charlie King's unsuccessful bid for New York State Lieutenant Governor.
Prior to that Mr. Pageler worked for the American Red Cross as a communications specialist and as an Investigator for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a non-profit criminal defense firm based on 125th Street in Manhattan.
Mr. Pageler graduated with honors and a BA in Philosophy from Carleton College in Northfield Minnesota in 1990.
Ken is a technologist, designer, musician and amateur chef.
Working at the intersection of design and technology, Ken has led several software and design projects over a 30-year career, most recently as CTO at Groupon.com He is currently an investor and advisor to several early stage start-ups, including DesktimeApp.com, TheNounProject.com and Kitchensurfing.com
Ken serves on the board of The Old Town School of Folk Music and The Awesome Foundation of Chicago, and is partner and board member at City Winery Chicago.
Ken has had a lifelong interest in cooking and the politics of food. He recently completed the 'La Technique' program at The French Culinary Institute, NYC and is a founding member of The Kitchen Community Chicago, a non-profit based in Boulder, CO that is building 'learning gardens' in Chicago schools.
Ken is a 20-year transplant from the Boston area to Chicago where he lives with his wife, Amanda Lao and their 2 year old rooftop garden.
Susan has been active in the arts, education, civil rights and women's issues for most of her life. She has been a on the board of Pitzer College since 1990 and the chair since 2001. She also serves on the board of directors of Chicago-based Urban Gateways: Center for the Arts in Education, the largest arts-in-education organization in Cook County, Ill. Urban Gateways reinforces the arts curriculum in Chicago public and parochial schools by sponsoring artists to teach visual arts, dance, theater and music. Susan is also chair of the board of directors of the Chicago Foundation for Women, whose goal is to increase philanthropic giving by women for a variety of causes, including shelters for abused women and girls and programs on domestic violence and sexual assault. Susan is married to Nick Pritzker, whose family are owners of the Hyatt Hotel chain.
Dr. Nan Schaffer is a conservationist and internationally recognized expert on the rhinoceros and reproduction. Although her research programs focused on reproductive issues in a variety of mammals, Dr. Schaffer's greatest contributions to science and conservation center on the five species of rhinoceros. In 1998, concerned with the continued decline of these critically endangered species, Dr. Schaffer refocused her efforts and founded SOS Rhino, an international non-profit organization focused on saving rhinoceroses in their natural habitats. SOS Rhino's community-based conservation programs built on the capacity of all stakeholders to conserve by raising local awareness and promoting protection of habitats and animals.
In addition to her contributions to science and conservation, Dr. Schaffer is also a philanthropist and activist in the LGBT community. She was the first woman invited to join the Board of IMPACT, the predecessor to Equality Illinois, the state's oldest and largest LGBT political action committee. In 1985 she co-founded Outlines, one of the first lesbian newspapers in the Midwest, which became The Windy City Times, the oldest and only surviving LGBT newspaper in Chicago. In addition to her political and publishing efforts, Dr. Schaffer supported numerous LGBT organizations with her time, wisdom and financial resources, and in 2004, she was inducted into the Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame.
In her retirement, Dr. Schaffer has continued her philanthropy, activism and conservation efforts. She serves as a governing member of the Chicago Zoological Society's Board of Trustees and continues to consult with Malaysian government officials and leaders of rhinoceros conservation programs.
Kate Sheppard covers energy and environmental politics in Mother Jones' Washington bureau. She was previously the political reporter for Grist and a writing fellow at The American Prospect. She can be reached by email at ksheppard (at) motherjones (dot) com. Her work has also been featured in the New York Times Room for Debate blog, The Guardian's Comment is Free, High Country News, The Center for Public Integrity, The Washington Independent, ForeignPolicy.com, Washington Spectator, Who Runs Gov, In These Times, and Bitch. She was raised on a vegetable farm in southern New Jersey (yes, they do exist), but has adapted well to life in the nation's capitol. She misses trees and having a Congressional representative with voting power, but thinks D.C. is pretty great anyway.
Kevin Simmons is the founder and co-director of two nonprofit art spaces: High Concept Laboratories (HCL), and Los Del Patio. HCL collaborates with Chicago-area artists and performers to foster the creation and development of new works, and also curates classes, screenings, lectures, and other events for the community. Los Del Patio, located in Panama City, Panama, entails a gallery, cafe/bar, center for studios and workshops, as well as professionally-oriented programming pertaining to the production and presentation of contemporary art. He is the president of Opera Cabal, a Chicago-based avant-garde contemporary opera company, and in addition to serving on the board of the Foundation for National Progress / Mother Jones Magazine, he is a board member of Molly Shanahan / Mad Shak Dance Company, The Canary Project, and the Azuero Earth Project. A former AmeriCorps*VISTA Site DIrector with LIFT, he studied political science and public policy at Princeton University and has worked in development and programming for a variety of environmental projects in Panama, including the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center and the Frank Gehry-designed BioMuseo / Museum of Biodiversity in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.