John Badalament, EdM, is the author of the acclaimed Modern Dad’s Dilemma: How To Stay Connected with Your Kids in a Rapidly Changing World and Director of the PBS documentary All Men Are Sons: Exploring The Legacy of Fatherhood. His work has been featured on ABC News, NPR, in Men’s Health, Pregnancy, The Los AngelesTimes, and on HuffingtonPost.com. He serves on the Honorary Board of the Ties Never Broken Campaign, a partnership with The White House. John is a Harvard-trained educator who speaks internationally to schools, parent groups and organizations. 

Timothy J. Wheeler, the managing partner of the law firm Greene, Broillet & Wheeler LLP.  He has extensive trial experience in a variety of areas including product liability, general negligence and auto product liability. Tim was named the Lawyer of the Year in Product Liability by Best Lawyers in America for 2013. He was a three-time finalist for the prestigious Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, presented by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), for his outstanding trial record and involvement and commitment to consumer rights. Tim is a graduate of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA (J.D., 1978), Tim attended Santa Clara University (BS, cum laude, Political Science, 1975), and was a recipient of the Jesuit Scholarship. While at Loyola High School, Tim's excellence in all areas of student life was recognized by the faculty, which bestowed upon him The Loyola Award. Tim and his wife Nancy reside in Manhattan Beach,  have been married for 37 years and have four adult children, Matt, Tim, Danny, and Mary and two grandchildren, Lily and Grace. 

Dr. Will Courtenay, “The Men’s Doc,” is an internationally recognized expert in helping boys, men and fathers, and a psychotherapist, consultant, distinguished author, researcher, keynote speaker, radio host, and consultant to and speaker at schools and universities. His new book is titled Dying To Be Men. The American Psychological Association calls him, “a leading psychologist in the field of masculinity” and Who’s Who in America calls him a “foremost achiever in his field.” As one of the world’s leading innovators in the health of boys and men, he has a documented history of success in shaping and promoting this new field, as well as new perspectives on fatherhood, boyhood, and masculinity. Dr. Courtenay received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and has served on the clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco, Medical School. He is the Founding Editor of the International Journal of Men's Health. Dr. Courtenay is a powerful, effective voice about boys and men, heard nationally on radio and television – including CNN, Good Morning America, World News, Fox News, ABC News, NBC News – and seen in print – including NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, NPR, Newsweek, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune. Dr. Courtenay is a contributor to Esquire Magazine.

Derreck Kayongo is a social entrepreneur and the founder of The Global Soap Project. An executive and development expert, Derreck Kayongo has more than 15 years experience developing strategic social campaigns within organizations for cause-related advocacy, public policy, issue management, and community organizing. His work has made a profound contribution in raising awareness aimed at realizing permanent solutions to global poverty.

Kayongo’s journey from child refugee to fearless visionary is filled with moments of inspiration (along with the benefits of good, old-fashioned sweat equity) that make him one of the most popular – and authentic – speakers on the circuit today. From Africa to Atlanta with nothing but a dream and tenacity, Kayongo beat the odds, earned an education, and has served in leadership roles in some of the world’s most respected non-governmental agencies (NGOs) since 1994. Today, he shares his vivacious spirit and invaluable experience in the areas entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, global health, social justice and professional engagement with audiences in both the corporate and not-for-profit worlds.

Derreck Kayongo’s ability to motivate others to understand the role their work and skills can play in problem solving is one of the many reasons he was chosen as a finalist for the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year Award. Add to that the mantra of being a voice for the voiceless through his noble work of giving back, including dedicating his life to improving the lives of marginalized and vulnerable people across the globe: he has worked with the American Friends Service Committee as Program Director for the Southeast Peace Education program; joined Amnesty International as the Director of the Southeast Region; and currently serves as Senior Advocacy Coordinator for the Southeast region with CARE International.

In 2009, Kayongo and his wife Sarah embarked on a new journey pursuing their life-long passion of starting an NGO of their own. The Global Soap Project focuses on repurposing partially-used soap from hotels into new soap for needy populations, particularly in Africa. To date, The Global Soap Project has been able to donate 9,000 bars of soap to Swaziland, 5,000 bars to Kenya, 10,000 to Ghana, 1,000 to Uganda and another 3,000 to Haiti.

Derreck Kayongo is a proud naturalized U.S. citizen. He has been recognized as a 2011 CNN HEROES finalist and a COX Enterprise nominee; honored by Congressman John Lewis with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition; is currently writing his autobiography; has been featured in more than 20 news stories in the U.S., featured on Fox News as part of the Real American story series; featured on CNN with Fredricka Whitfield.

Since 1994, Derreck Kayongo has given more than 300 speeches on key issues related to poverty reduction in Africa; mainly on water and sanitation, soap, HIV/AIDS, Child Soldiers, Health and Sanitation, Impact of Landmines in Africa, Countries in Conflict and role of basic Education for Girls in Africa.

Mark Staufer is a New Zealand native living in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Mark and his co-host, Bryan Erwin have a blog and podcast about the gnarly responsibilities of being fathers. Mark and Bryan can be seen nightly on Disney Jr in their show “Dads."  

Al Checchi is the author of The Change Maker, which catapults readers into a world few will ever experience. Entertaining, fast-paced, and episodic, this memoir of an unconventional agent of change provides a lesson in the values of strategic thinking and responsible leadership found so wanting today. With self-deprecating humor and irony, Al Checchi chronicles the meteoric rise whereby his creativity, strategic thinking, and negotiating skills helped transform three major American institutions-Marriott Corporation, Walt Disney, and Northwest Airlines-and led him to challenge the California political establishment as a candidate for governor. Checchi demonstrates that through experience, vision, courage, and force of personality, one person can make a difference and lead others to move beyond their comfort zones and transform our institutions. 

As an Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, Rob Morrow is a critically acclaimed actor, writer, and director with an established career in television spanning over three decades. He is best known for his Emmy Award-nominated role in “Northern Exposure” and for starring in the long-running CBS hit drama, “Numb3rs”. Rob lives with his wife and daughter in Los Angeles.

Nick Kokotakis is a native New Yorker living in Los Angeles. He has two daughters age 9 ½ and 21, one of whom is disabled. An actor and photographer, Nick also enjoys hockey and kickboxing – but he swears he’s not a violent person! 

Scott Lenz was born in Lewisberg, Pennsylvania. By the time he reached 9th grade, he had been to eight schools, which explains a lot about his social awkwardness. However, his wife Suzanne and two kids - Jaron, 13 and Georgia, 10 - went to less than five schools combined, so it all evens out.

He was the original rat mascot for Chuck E. Cheese, and since then has been a record store manager, music journalist, television documentarian and, most recently and importantly, a stay-at-home dad. His single greatest hope is that ABBA will one day reunite.

Ron is a licensed architect, and has been in private practice for 15 years. He attended Cal Poly SLO for his undergrad, and his graduate study was done at the University of Copenhagen. His is the father of three, two sons and a daughter.

Alejandro Edda was born in Puebla, Mexico. Growing up as an only child, Alejandro always had a curiosity about creating non-existing worlds and characters. After graduating from high school, he went on to attend IRM, one of the finest Russian Conservatory schools for drama and cinema in Mexico City. He studied 3 years under the Stanislavsky method, and prior to his graduation he was offered a role in a musical play by an established writer/director in San Francisco C.A. After finishing working for the theater company, Alejandro took the opportunity to move to Los Angeles, where he studied for 2 years at a Meisner-based acting studio. In July of 2007 he graduated as one of the top 5 actors of his class. Currently living in Los Angeles, for the past two years Alejandro has worked on independent international movies that have been shown in various film festivals. Luciano Edda, his first son, was born in March of 2009.