As the founding executive director of the Karsh Institute of Democracy, Melody Barnes guides the organization on an action-oriented path to realizing democracy in principle and practice. Barnes is a dedicated public servant with more than 25 years of experience crafting public policy. She served in the administration of President Barack Obama as assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Prior to her work in the Obama administration, Barnes was executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress and chief counsel to the late Senator Ted Kennedy on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Barnes started her career in New York as an associate at Shearman & Sterling. In addition to her role at the Karsh Institute, Barnes is the J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, a distinguished fellow at UVA’s School of Law, and co-founder of the domestic-policy strategy firm MB2 Solutions.

As an adjunct instructor for the University of Virginia’s Politics Department, Mary Kate Cary teaches small seminars for undergraduate students: “Political Speechwriting,” and “Democracy Out Loud,” which studies the greatest speeches in American political history.  Cary also co-teaches “Election 2024” before 500 undergraduates—leading one of the only political science classes in America taught from both sides of the aisle. In 2021, Cary served on UVA’s Committee on Free Expression and Free Inquiry, which produced the University’s policy on free speech. She is the director of Think Again @ UVA, an initiative to promote free speech, viewpoint diversity, critical thinking, and intellectual humility through student-facing programming. Before she began teaching at UVA, Cary was a White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. She is a proud alumna of UVA, is married to a UVA alum, and is the proud mother of two UVA alumni.

Aimee Rogstad Guidera was named secretary of education by Governor Glenn Youngkin in December 2021, overseeing education from pre-K through postsecondary in Virginia. Before joining the Youngkin administration, she was a strategic consultant helping states, foundations, companies, and nonprofit organizations improve student learning outcomes. Guidera founded and served as president and CEO of the Data Quality Campaign, a national nonprofit advocating for accessible educational data. A respected thought leader, she was named one of TIME's 12 Education Activists of 2012 and cited by news outlets such as Business Week and NPR. Guidera is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow and has served on boards including American Succeeds and the Institute for Educational Leadership. Prior to founding DQC, she directed the National Center for Educational Achievement's Washington, DC office and worked with the National Governors Association. Guidera actively engages in her local schools as a volunteer and parent-teacher organization leader.