Tom Suozzi, trained as an attorney and CPA, and served as the Congressman for New York’s 3rd Congressional District from 2017-2023 before giving up his seat in the 2022 election to run for Governor. Tom also served as Nassau County Executive, and Mayor of Glen Cove. Tom has committed his 30-year public service career to delivering for his constituents. His philosophy of working with anyone who shares his goal of solving problems and delivering for his constituents has guided his career and led to notable accomplishments on issues including protecting the environment, common-sense gun safety, full access to reproductive health care, immigration, caring for our veterans, affordable healthcare, and fiscal responsibility.

A distinguished public servant and business leader, Ambassador Nides served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2021 to 2023. Prior, he served as the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources from 2010 until 2013, Chief Administrative Officer and COO at Morgan Stanley, CEO of Burson-Marsteller in New York, Chief of Staff to the U.S. Trade Representative, and numerous other leadership roles in the private and public sectors.

Michael Koplow is the chief policy officer of Israel Policy Forum, and serves as a senior research fellow of the Kogod Research Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. Before that, he was the founding program director of the Israel Institute. Michael holds a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University, where he specialized in political development and ideology, and the politics of Middle Eastern states, as well as a B.A. from Brandeis University, a J.D. from New York University, and an A.M. in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. Michael joined us the week following the October 7 attack to discuss the crisis in Israel and the U.S. response, and we are thrilled to welcome him back to JDCA to hear his unique analysis and insight.

Liz Schrayer serves as President & CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), a broad based coalition of over 500 businesses and NGOs that advocates for strong U.S. global leadership through development and diplomacy. Under her leadership, the USGLC has grown to a nationwide network of advocates in all 50 states and boasts a bipartisan Advisory Council which includes virtually every living former Secretary of State, and a National Security Advisory Council consisting of nearly 200 retired three and four-star generals and admirals. Ms. Schrayer currently serves on the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation’s Development Advisory Council, USAID’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACFVA), as well as several advisory boards and committees for the University of Michigan, including the Ford School of Public Policy. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition to running the USGLC, Ms. Schrayer serves as President of Schrayer & Associates, Inc., a nationwide consulting firm founded in 1995, which works on a wide range of domestic and international issues. Prior to starting her own firm, Ms. Schrayer served as the national Political Director of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) for more than a decade. She worked on Capitol Hill, founding the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and in state government.

Since 2018, Halie has led the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) as its Executive Director and, since 2020, as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Prior to joining JDCA, Halie served for nearly two decades as a national security advisor to four members of Congress, as a senior policy advisor in the Obama administration, and as a foreign policy expert and civil servant.  Most recently, Halie was National Security Advisor to then-Senator Kamala Harris (CA). Previously, she served as foreign policy advisor for Sens. Chris Coons and Ted Kaufman (both DE), and Rep. Robert Wexler (FL). Halie also served for more than two years in the Obama administration as Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power. Additionally, she served in the Bush Administration as a civil servant in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. During President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, Halie was the campaign’s Florida Jewish Vote Director. Halie received her master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Middle East Studies, and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan Honors College.