
Author and motivational speaker, Dan Holdridge survived the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon. Join us, as we connect with Dan to hear about his story of survival and the valuable lessons he learned on this infamous day in World History.

*All listed times are in Eastern Time Zone
Janine Yass is passionate about education opportunity for all students and has dedicated her life to be an advocate, leader and philanthropist who focuses on meeting the education needs of underserved students. A founder of the Boys’ Latin Charter School in West Philadelphia and a founding board member of the Philadelphia School Partnership, Janine and her husband Jeff founded the STOP Awards - for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding and Permissionless Education - to reward education providers during Covid who outperformed for students. Now known as the Yass Prize to Transform Education, her mission is to ensure that every parent be given the ability to provide their students with individualized, 21st century education opportunities and the power to make their own decisions about how and where their children are educated. In 2022, the Yass Prize will make awards totaling nearly $12 million to organizations who STOP for education.
Roger Love is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on voice. No other vocal coach in history has been more commercially successful in both the speaking and singing fields. Roger has vocally produced more than 150 million-unit sales worldwide, written 3 top selling books, created multiple bestselling audio, video and online programs, and appeared as a regular in 4 major network TV shows. His Academy Award winning film coaching credits include Walk The Line, Crazy Heart, and A Star Is Born. Roger has vocal coached actors such as Reese Witherspoon, Bradley Cooper, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeff Bridges, Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, Angelina Jolie, Rooney Mara, Zoe Saldana, Mary Steenburgen, Steve Carrell and Will Ferrell. Roger’s singing students range from The Beach Boys to John Mayer, Selena Gomez, Gwen Stefani, Phish and Maroon 5. Roger has coached professional speaker/personalities such as Anthony Robbins, Rachel Hollis, Brendon Burchard, Simon Sinek and Suze Orman. Roger’s corporate clients include Forbes, JP Morgan, Kimberly Clark, Rock Financial/Quicken Loans, IHeart Media, Zappos, Western Digital, and countless CEO’s, entrepreneurs and Fortune 100 and 500 companies.
Born and raised in Venezuela, Daniel Chang Contreras grew up seeing how his country decayed from relative prosperity to utter chaos, poverty, and authoritarianism under the socialist governments of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. In 2017, he did what more than 7 million of his countrymen did and fled the country that socialism destroyed.
In the United States, Daniel got a degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of South Florida and is now pursuing his Masters in Political Communication at American University. Daniel is a senior member of Politiks, a Venezuelan digital media outlet that counters the Maduro regime narrative. Daniel was also a contributor to El American, and his analysis has been published in outlets like the National Review, Americano Media, Real Clear World, and France 24, among others.
This event is brought to the students in part by, The Dissident Project. Their mission is to connect those with firsthand insights into authoritarianism with student audiences.
Mailyn Salabarria: born in Cuba and made in the USA.
For the last fifteen years, Mailyn has been a relentless advocate of individual natural rights, small government and not taking our freedom for granted. She is passionate about education and a staunch defender of parental rights.
Mailyn has lived in the United States since 2001. She has a Law Degree from Havana University and an MS in Mass Communication and Journalism from Florida International University. She has worked as a professional interpreter and translator, has been a small business owner, and is a graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies. Currently, she is the Director of Community Engagement for Parents Defending Education and a Senior Fellow with PDE Action.
Her motto is freedom versus force. She is a mother of two.
This event is brought to the students in part by, The Dissident Project. Their mission is to connect those with firsthand insights into authoritarianism with student audiences.
Ben Lesser was a prisoner in Auschwitz, Dachau, and Buchenwald Concentration Camps. He is also the last surviving occupant of the Dachau death train. Since surviving the Holocaust, he has led a successful professional life and raised a family. He is the founder of the Zachor Holocaust Remembrance Foundation and Zachor Learn, a free online Holocaust curriculum for schools around the world. Join us as Ben shares his story and answers any questions classes may have.
Dr. Bonde is a registered member of the Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone, a tribe based in Wells, NV. He grew up on his family farm in Fallon and is passionate about creating STEM opportunities for students in underrepresented communities. He is vocal about bringing cultural inclusiveness to the STEM community and is happy to support anyone looking for advice. Dr. Bonde graduated from Churchill County High School in Fallon, received his B.S. in Biology at University Nevada Reno, a M.S. in Earth Sciences at Montana State University-Bozeman, and came back to Nevada to earn his Ph.D. in Geoscience. Dr. Bonde sets an example not only for Indigenous peoples to achieve something big but is an inspiration to many when you meet his down-to-earth, compassionate, and inspirational personality.
Veteran broadcaster Rafa Hernández-Brito, known as Rafa "El Alcalde" (“The Mayor”), is in his tenth season of bringing his high-energy play-by-play style to each of his Cleveland Cavaliers broadcasts. Prior to joining the Cavs, Hernández-Brito was the Spanish voice of the Brooklyn Nets games for the franchise’s first two seasons. He also was the voice of the New Jersey Nets from 1997 to 2001, and called the action for St. John’s university men’s basketball during that same period. In 2018 Rafa, became the first Spanish voice of the Cleveland Browns, in 2023 Rafa became the first Spanish voice of the Cleveland Guardians, becoming the first sportscaster to be the voice of all 3 major professional teams in Cleveland. Nationally, his broadcasting experience includes 8 years as the voice of NFL football for Spanish Broadcasts of Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, the playoffs and Superbowl on Univision from 2005 to 2013. He was also the Spanish play-by-play voice of the Miami Dolphins, as well as handling the play by play for Major League Baseball, boxing and UFC. Rafa covered the Soccer World Cups from 1998 to 2014. With the 2015 NBA Finals, he became the first broadcaster in the United States to call the Finals of all 3 major sports in Spanish. Rafa has been the Public Address Announcer and voice of legendary Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for NFL Mexico games since 2016. In March of 2017 Rafa became the first broadcaster to call the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four in Spanish for Westwood One. Rafa finished high school in Locust Valley, N.Y. He went on to earn a degree in mechanical engineering at Boston University, followed by a successful run working for Coors Brewing Co., where his buoyant personality made him a natural in sales and marketing nonetheless chose to follow his passion for sports and broadcasting. He served as Sports Director at Univision Radio from 2005 to 2013, where he was also the host/ringleader of “Locura Deportiva”, Univision Radio’s most successful sports program, presiding over candid, colorful, often comical discussions on the topics of the day as “El Alcalde” (“The Mayor”). And he was the creator and longtime host of “El Garaje de AutoZone,” a Saturday morning automotive show perhaps best described as a Spanish-language version of the immensely popular NPR program “Car Talk". From 2205 to 2012 Rafa was the Spanish spokesperson for Castrol GTX High Mileage motor oil. His path to the booth is an American dream. Today Rafa has a daily syndicated radio sports show airing in the US and Latin America, he is the cohost of the Emmy award winning show Wine and Gold Show on Bally Sports Network and The Wine And Gold Radio podcast, he also served as the executive producer of the popular podcast “Road Trippin’ with RJ and Channing”.
For information about participating as a guest speaker or having your class participate, please email Ralph Krauss