About the Speakers:

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  Judith Donath is a writer, designer and artist whose work focuses on the co-evolution of technology and society. She has published numerous articles about social media, AI, ethics and anonymity, and is the author of “The Social Machine: Designs for Living Online” (MIT Press). As the former director of the MIT Media Lab’s Sociable Media Group, she and her students designed innovative interfaces for on-line communities; their art projects examining the future of identity, privacy and mediated life have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. Currently, she is a faculty fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center and is writing a book about technology, trust and deception.

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  Mónica Guzmán is a bridge builder, journalist, and entrepreneur who lives for great conversations sparked by curious questions. She’s the author of “I Never Thought Of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times” (March 2022); director of digital and storytelling at Braver Angels, the nation’s largest cross-partisan grassroots organization working to depolarize America; host of live interview series at Crosscut; and cofounder of the award-winning Seattle newsletter The Evergrey. She was a 2019 fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she studied social and political division, and a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she researched how journalists can rethink their roles to better meet the needs of a participatory public.

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  Rehm Maham is a Junior political science and economics student at Louisiana State University, originally from Austin, Texas. Rehm founded the LSU chapter of BridgeUSA, is active in campus Student Government, and has worked in the Texas Legislature. When he’s not talking politics, Rehm can be found at LSU sporting events or in the Tiger Marching Band.

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  Manu Meel is passionate about empowering young people to bridge divides. He believes that the biggest threat to American democracy is negative polarization and growing misunderstanding between Americans. As CEO of BridgeUSA, Manu is currently building the largest and fastest growing student movement to bridge our differences and change how we talk politics. Manu contributes to several news outlets, works on pro-democracy efforts nationally, and advises political leaders on reducing polarization. In the past, Manu interned as an associate at the venture capital firm Amplo and at the Department of State as a political analyst in counterterrorism. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media platforms. In 2022, Manu was recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for leading BridgeUSA.