Will Marshall is president and founder of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a catalyst for political change and policy innovation with offices in Washington, D.C. and Brussels. Its mission is to craft new ideas for advancing the enduring values of liberal democracy. 

Founded in 1989, PPI started as the intellectual birthplace of the New Democrat and “Third Way” movements, earning a reputation as President Bill Clinton’s “idea mill.” Many of its groundbreaking policy innovations have been translated into U.S. policy and law, and have influenced center-left political leaders around the world.

Today, PPIs work centers on fortifying the vital liberal center against the global rise of illiberal populism and nationalism. Its vision for clean and equitable growth aims at spreading digital innovation to people and places left behind; lifting wages to reduce class and racial disparities; grooming the world’s most talented and entrepreneurial workers; modernizing outdated immigration laws; and, defending free societies in a dangerous world.

A veteran policy entrepreneur, Marshall in 1985 helped to found the Democratic Leadership Council, serving as its first policy director. He is an honorary Vice-President of Policy Network, an international think tank launched by Tony Blair to promote progressive policy ideas throughout the democratic world.

Marshall has served on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the Washington, D.C. Public Charter School Board. 

He is editor of many books, including Memos to the New President (PPI, January 2009); With All Our Might: A Progressive Strategy for Defeating Jihadism and Defending Liberty (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006); The AmeriCorps Experiment and the Future of National Service (PPI, 2005); Building the Bridge: 10 Big Ideas to Transform America (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997); and Mandate for Change (Berkley Books, 1992), PPI’s best-selling policy blueprint for President Clinton’s first term. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and many other newspapers, as well as The American Interest, The American Prospect, Democracy, The New Republic and other journals.

Marshall’s previous political and campaign experience includes posts as press secretary, spokesman and speechwriter for the 1984 United States Senate campaign of former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt, speechwriter and policy analyst for the late U.S. Representative Gillis Long of Louisiana, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus; and, spokesman and speechwriter in the 1982 U.S. Senate campaign of former Virginia Lt. Governor Dick Davis.

Before becoming involved in politics and public policy, he was a journalist in Virginia, including a stint with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1952, Marshall is a 1975 graduate of the University of Virginia, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History. Marshall and his wife, Katryn S. Nicolai, live in Arlington, VA. They have two children, Olivia and William.

After hours, Marshall plays lead guitar in First Road North, a local band. 

Sarah Chamberlain's passion for pragmatic politics and women's engagement drives her to wear many hats. As President and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership, Sarah runs an organization that supports the governing wing of the Republican Party in Congress. She is the only woman in the country who’s the CEO of a major Republican organization. Additionally, as the President and Founder of the Women2Women National Conversation Tour, Sarah has become one of the most prominent national voices calling for women to raise their voices on issues that matter most to them while educating them on how decisions being made for the country are affecting their own lives.

Born in upstate New York, she received her undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Delaware and received her master’s degree from the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University. From there, she came to Washington, D.C. to work for Republican Main Street Partnership and its founder Rep. Amory Houghton Jr., a former CEO of the Corning Glass Company and six-term member of Congress. Sarah has since built the Republican Main Street Partnership from the fledgling organization founded in 1997 into a thriving network of over 50 Members of Congress who share Sarah’s commitment to conservative, solution-oriented governing.

Sarah serves on the Board of Directors of the Women Campaign School at Yale University, is a National Capital Trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and sits on the Wall Street Journal CEO Council. Her written work has been featured in the Washington Post, The Hill, U.S. News & World Report, and she is a contributor for Forbes. Sarah was chosen by CQ Roll Call as a 2017 Rising Star and was featured as one of Elle Magazine’s 10 Women in Washington in 2017.

Traci Peters, founder and CEO, has more than 25 years of administrative, management, bookkeeping, customer and technical support, and meeting planning experience. Prior to starting Details Matter, she served as the Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of Sederholm Public Affairs, Inc. (SPA, Inc.) for 23 years. Traci played a key role in supporting client service programs, association management, office management, meeting planning, and communications strategies. She developed special expertise in scheduling and managing congressional fly-ins, as well as providing compliance services for federal political action committees (PACs).

Before joining SPA, Inc., Traci began her career at the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), a membership association representing the international cruise ship industry. From there she moved on to become the Administrator of APDI, a highly skilled, advanced database programming company.

Traci received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Marymount University in Virginia. She is an active volunteer in her church and community. She and her husband, Daniel, live in Maryland, and have two children.

Sean McIntosh is a Senior Specialist, Member Advocacy for SHRM. In his role, Sean is responsible for leading SHRM’s Member Advocacy efforts, including SHRM’s Advocacy Team.

Prior to joining SHRM, Sean worked on Capitol Hill in the United States Senate as a Correspondence Manager for a Senator from Iowa (with Sean himself being a native Iowan). During his time on the Hill, he managed all correspondence and constituent database operations for the Senator’s congressional office.

Sean’s beginnings with SHRM Advocacy traces far beyond his employment. Over the last 8 years, he has volunteered at almost a dozen SHRM events, particularly during SHRM “Days on the Hill." In college, he was president of the George Mason University (GMU) SHRM Chapter.

Leon Fresco is an immigration attorney in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office where he focuses his practice on providing global immigration representation to businesses and individuals. He also represents clients in administrative law matters, and has extensive appellate, commercial litigation and legislation experience. Mr. Fresco was the primary drafter of S.744, the U.S. Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill of 2013. He uses his broad range of experience to develop creative solutions to achieve his clients' objectives, which often may involve multistage representation before administrative agencies and federal courts and the development of policy solutions.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Fresco was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Immigration Litigation at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Division. In this position, Mr. Fresco provided litigation risk assessments to cabinet members in Executive Branch agencies. He also oversaw all civil immigration litigation on behalf of the federal government, including representation of the DOJ, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS). This involved supervision of more than 350 attorneys working on nearly 10,000 cases per year. He also advised and assisted client agencies in drafting immigration regulations. In this capacity, and prior to entering government service, Mr. Fresco argued extensively in six of the federal appellate circuit courts, including several en banc arguments.

Prior to joining the DOJ, Mr. Fresco was the staff director for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, handling matters involving immigration, refugees and border security, including managing the subcommittee's oversight functions involving the DOJ, DHS, HHS, DOL and DOS. He was the principal advisor to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), former chairman of the subcommittee, on all aspects of immigration law and policy.

Maddy Fain Ellis is a director and assistant counsel on immigration law in the Office of the General Counsel at PwC LLP.  Before joining PwC, Maddy was an associate counsel with the Adjudications Law Division at U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services where she advised on complex business immigration law matters. In addition, Maddy served as acting branch chief and wrote business immigration appeals decisions as an appeals officer for the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office.  Prior to that, she was a professional associate in human resources for the U.S. Department of State in Amman, Jordan.  Maddy also worked as a director and senior associate focusing on business immigration law at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and as an attorney at several boutique immigration firms.  Maddy received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Charlotte A. Burrows was designated by President Biden as Chair of the EEOC on Jan. 20, 2021.  She was initially nominated to serve as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2014.  The U.S. Senate later unanimously confirmed her to a second term ending in 2023.

Chair Burrows has advocated for strong civil rights protections and robust cooperation between the Commission, employers, and employees to advance equal opportunity in the workplace.  She seeks to enhance the Commission's enforcement of all laws within its jurisdiction, focusing in particular on initiatives to combat harassment, foster pay equity, and advance diversity and inclusion.  While at the Commission, she has worked to increase the agency's outreach to Native Americans, vulnerable immigrant and migrant communities, and other traditionally underserved populations.  In addition, Chair Burrows is particularly interested in the impact of technology and big data on civil rights and employee privacy.

Prior to her appointment to the EEOC, Chair Burrows served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she worked on a broad range of civil and criminal matters, including employment litigation, voting rights, combatting racial profiling, and implementing the Violence Against Women Act, among others.

Chair Burrows previously served as General Counsel for Civil and Constitutional Rights to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee and later on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.  During her time on Capitol Hill, she worked on a variety of legislative initiatives, including the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008.

Chair Burrows also held several roles in the Civil Rights Division's Employment Litigation Section at DOJ, including Deputy Chief of the Section.  There, she represented the United States in all phases of civil litigation, including trial, to enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Earlier in her career, she served as a judicial clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP.

Chair Burrows received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.