I am a professor, scholar, and practitioner with subject area expertise in development, gender, youth, and communication. I taught at numerous universities in Morocco and the United States, including the American University's School of International Service (2003-2015) and the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. I am the author, coauthor and editor of numerous peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and books. As a practitioner, I co-founded many women’s organizations and participated in the activities of a few others.

Marc Sandalow is a senior faculty member at the University of California’s Washington Program, where he has taught since 2008. He is the author of three books, including “Madam Speaker,” a biography of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He has been a journalist for over 30 years, including 21 years at the San Francisco Chronicle where he covered California politics and spent more than a decade as the paper’s Washington Bureau Chief. He is currently a political analyst for KCBS radio in San Francisco and Hearst Television and writes a weekly column for the San Francisco Examiner.

Hi, I’m Jessica Gresko and for 20 years I have worked as a reporter, editor and manager for The Associated Press, first in Miami and now in Washington. I was a legal reporter for more than a decade and covered the Supreme Court for six years. My time covering the court was a time of great change and consequence and I look forward to talking about that with you. I earned my B.A. in history and political science from Columbia University in New York and a M.S.L. (Master’s in the Study of Law) from Georgetown University Law School.

I am a Ph.D. of American government and politics with specializations in the American presidency, public policy, and polarization. My research focuses on presidential governance via the executive order and how political factors influence the ability of presidents to issue their most significant orders. I have taught UCDC’s presidency seminar since the Fall 2017 quarter. Before UCDC, I taught classes about public policy and Congress at the University of Maryland to students who had internships related to those fields in a format similar to the UCDC program.

John Lawrence has taught the Congress research seminar at UCDC since 2013 after spending 38 years as a staff person in the U.S. House of Representatives, the last eight as chief of staff to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He is the recipient of the 2013 McCormack Award for distinguished service to the Congress, presented jointly by Speaker Pelosi and Speaker John Boehner.