BROTHER RICK CURRY, S.J., Ph.D.
Actor, author, teacher and advocate for the disabled, Brother Rick Curry is the founder and Director of the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped (NTWH). Brother Curry, who was born with a physical handicap, studied theater in New York, but because of his handicap, found it difficult to find work as an actor. In 1977, he founded NTWH, a non-profit educational, production and advocacy organization that trains the physically disabled in theater arts. Since that time, the NTWH has grown into an international institution with thousands of students and campuses in NYC and Belfast, Maine.

In 1999 he opened the NTWH Belson Bakery, a full service bakery and training school for persons with disabilities, offering online and mail service of Brother Curry's Breads. He has been an observer for the National Theatre of the Deaf, has worked with the BBC in London, toured handicapped schools in Japan and Israel and participated in programs at Loyola School in India. Brother Curry is also an accomplished writer and has authored two books, The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking and The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking.

PERNESSA C. SEELE
Pernessa Seele is founder and CEO of The Balm In Gilead, Inc., a non-profit, non-governmental organization that seeks to improve the health status of people of the African Diaspora by assisting faith communities in addressing life-threatening diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. The organization has enabled thousands of churches, both in the US and throughout Africa, to become leaders in preventing the transmission of HIV through educational programs and compassionate support of all persons affected by HIV/AIDS and is currently mobilizing faith communities in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania.  

One of the nation’s most prominent voices on the issues of HIV/AIDS, Ms. Seele has also conceived and implemented several programs, including The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, the largest AIDS awareness program in the United States, targeting the African American faith community, and engaging nearly 10 million churchgoers since its inception in 1989.

Pernessa Seele is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including being named one of 100 people “Shaping Our World” by TIME Magazine and one of “50 Women Shaping the World” by Essence magazine.

JOHN SWEENEY
John J. Sweeney was elected president of the AFL-CIO in October 1995 and has been re-elected three times since. Born in the Bronx in New York, the son of Irish immigrants, Mr. Sweeney launched his trade union career with the Ladies Garment Workers. As SEIU president from 1980–1995, he led the successful Justice for Janitors campaign and increased SEIU membership from 625,000 to 1.1 million. During that time, Mr. Sweeney initiated the push for stronger federal laws in the area of health and safety, sexual harassment, and civil and immigrant rights and advocated for legally-mandated paid family leave, health care reform and a raise in the minimum wage.

Under his leadership, the AFL-CIO moved far more resources into the support of national union organizing efforts and dramatically expanded its program for issues of education and political action. Mr. Sweeney also led the federation to support legalization for undocumented immigrants and expanded outreach to and leadership opportunities for women, people of color, immigrant workers and students. As AFL-CIO president, he established the union movement’s first accredited National Labor College and spearheaded the innovative Working America affiliate that now includes more than one million members.

A nationally acknowledged leader committed to service for others, economic justice and political reform in the workplace, Mr. Sweeney has co-authored two books, including America Needs a Raise: Fighting for Economic Security and Social Justice and Solutions for the New Work Force: Policies for a New Social Contract.