Bishop Rainey Cheeks
Bishop Cheeks is an international theologian, teacher, preacher, author and healer. This dynamic spiritual leader is the founder and Pastor of Inner Light Ministries, a Washington based church, committed to healing people from all forms of oppression and limitations.

His life is a demonstration of dedication to spiritual study and mastery. He was initiated in Krya Yoga by Swami Hariharananda Giri and ordained as a Minister of Spiritual Science at the National Spiritual Science Center in Washington, D.C., received a Doctor of Divinity from the St. Andrews Theological Seminary of London and is an elder in the Akan Religion.

He currently serves on the advisory board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice for the National Black Religious Summit. His work as an organizer, facilitator and trainer for HIV/AIDS has provided him with opportunities to present papers on holistic health at the World Health Conference in Amsterdam, Berlin and Japan.

LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com, as well as a regular contributor for ESPN’s Sports Center, Outside the Lines and First Take. Prior to joining ESPN first as a magazine editor and later as a writer, Mr. Granderson was a sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Granderson was a Columbia University Hechinger Institute Fellow, a 2009 GLAAD Award winner for online journalism and won first place in the opinion writing category for the 2008 Excellence in Journalism awards given by the National Lesbian Gay Journalist Association. Mr. Granderson broke the Sheryl Swoopes’ coming out story, and most recently ignited an intense national community debate with his op ed piece, "Gay is not the New Black" on CNN.com. In his commentary Mr. Granderson has tackled taboo subjects such as usage of the N-word in the black community, the presence of gays in the locker room, and the truths and lies about reverse racism. Blistering honest and insightful, Mr. Granderson spares no one. Not even himself.

Ché Ruddell-Tabisola
Ché Ruddell-Tabisola manages special projects at HRC and has been part of the Equality Forward initiative since it began in 2007. Ché manages a diverse portfolio that includes organizing with faith-based communities and heading HRC’s participation in the Our Families Count partnership, a public education campaign encouraging LGBT people to participate in the 2010 Census. A proud first-generation American, Che was born to Filipino and British immigrants in Southern California.

Rinku Sen
Rinku Sen is the President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and Publisher of ColorLines magazine. A well respected activist and writer, Rinku has been published in The Huffington Post, Jack and Jill Politics, The San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes.com, AlterNet, Tompaine.com, and Racewire, the ColorLines’ blog. Rinku has had extensive experience doing civil rights work around race, feminism, immigration, and economic justice with a number of different civil rights organizations.

Joshua Ulibarri
Joshua Ulibarri is a partner at Lake Research Partners and one of the lead researchers of “At the Intersection: Race, Sexuality and Gender.” A Chicano from Salt Lake City, UT, Joshua holds a Masters Degree from George Washington University and has worked with HRC and other LGBT-equality organizations on many occasions over the last eight years.