LAD25 KEYNOTE &
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Jacob Kushner
Visiting Professor, Columbia Journalism School in New York
Jacob Kushner is an international correspondent who writes magazine and other longform stories from Africa, Germany, and the Caribbean.
He reports on migration and human rights, foreign aid and investment, terrorism and violent extremism, science and global health, climate change and wildlife, and press freedom.
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His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Economist, National Geographic, The Nation, VQR, The Atavist, WIRED, Foreign Policy, and VICE. He has photographed for National Geographic and field-produced for VICE on HBO, and PBS NewsHour.
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He is the author of China’s Congo Plan, which was favorably reviewed in The New York Review of Books. His latest book, Look Away: A True Story of Murders, Bombings, and a Far-Right Campaign to Rid Germany of Immigrants, was published in 2024 by Grand Central (Hachette).
U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta
California Representative
America's Languages Caucus House Co-Chair
United States Representative Jimmy Panetta proudly serves California’s 19th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. His diverse and beautiful district stretches from south San Jose in Santa Clara County, over the hills into Santa Cruz County, down the coastline of Monterey County, and into northern San Luis Obispo County. First elected in 2016, he is serving his fourth term in Congress. He currently serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on Armed Services, and House Committee on the Budget. He also serves as a Chief Deputy Whip in the 118th Congress.
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Congressman Panetta is the America's Languages Caucus's House Co-Chair. He also leads and supports several pieces of language legislation and programming including the World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants Program (WLARP), the recently introduced World Language Education Assistance Program (World LEAP) Act.
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U.S. Senator Brian Schatz
Hawaii Senator
Chair of Senate Indian Affairs Committee
America's Languages Caucus Senate Co-Chair
Since joining the Senate, he has focused his work on helping workers, veterans, and families and has led key legislation on health care, climate change, and technology.
Senator Schatz chairs the Indian Affairs Committee, and serves on the Appropriations Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; the Foreign Relations Committee; and the Select Committee on Ethics. He also serves on the Senate Democratic Caucus's leadership team as Deputy Conference Secretary and Chief Deputy Whip.
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Prior to his service in Congress, Senator Schatz was Hawai‘i’s Lieutenant Governor and served for eight years in the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives.
Senator Schatz grew up in Honolulu, and received his bachelor’s degree from Pomona College. He is married to Linda Schatz, an architect. They have a son and a daughter.
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