Richard Branson

Founder, Virgin Group

To finally break the fossil fuel cycle that leads to warming and war, new and disruptive energy technologies (from advanced renewable fuels, to electric cars that leave their petrol-powered rivals behind, to more efficient, lower-cost solar cells and intelligent ways of heating and cooling buildings) need adequate financial backing.

Ding Xuedong

Chairman, China Investment Corporation

After the 2008 international financial crisis, global trade and investment protectionism has again been resurgent. Policy barriers are becoming more covert, populism and provincial politics are causing greater disruption and policies are increasingly being made in a self-centered way. This trend deserves our high alert.

Sarah Brown

Co-Founder, A World at School; Executive Chair, Global Business Coalition for Education

Basic education and learning is too often neglected when dividing up aid and young boys and girls are held back for years -- if not a lifetime -- by the absence of good schooling mindful of the life skills and employment skills that will serve them well.

James Moore

Best selling author, TV political analyst

The story is true. Every damned bit of it. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, Texas was a single mother. A teenaged mom. She lived in a mobile home. And went to Harvard. Also, she got help along the way. Can you believe it?

Larry Summers and Gavin Yamey

If we make the right investments in the health sector today, we could achieve universally low rates of infectious, maternal and child deaths by 2035.

Richard (RJ) Eskow

Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future; Host, Take Action News

What does it mean for a representative democracy when most of its representatives are insulated from the real-world economic experiences of its citizens?

Jamie Krug

Writer, SAHM, CMO - Chief Medical Officer (of my family), Wife, Blogger at OurStrokeOfLuck.net

They don't have to imagine how my favorite childhood characters from books walk or talk, what their voices sound like or how they interact with their friends and family -- it's all right there, laid out in front of them on screens both big and small.

Peter S. Goodman

Executive Business and Global News Editor, The Huffington Post

The WorldPost is a product of the idea that the most foundational challenges of our era, from the perils of climate change to the epidemic of youth unemployment, can neither be understood nor addressed through the traditional frame of the nation state, but require collective efforts spanning geography and cultures.

Amitai Etzioni

Professor of international relations, George Washington University

It is impossible to prove an alternative history, what would have happened had Biden's Boots Off the Ground strategy been followed. But I found that as far as can be determined, the U.S. -- and many millions of people in the Middle East -- would be much safer and better off if Biden's counsel was heeded.

Jillian Berman

Associate Business Editor, The Huffington Post

Even armed with the knowledge that the conversation was probably going to go my way and the feeling that I did deserve more, I had a tough time getting the words out of my mouth. After the talk ended, I was relieved, but not completely.

Lincoln Mitchell

lincolnmitchell.com

As the 2016 election approaches, it is likely that we will also be told that having a clear nominee early in the process, rather than a hard-fought, and potentially nasty, campaign for the nomination will be good for the party. This idea is intuitive and attractive, but it should be noted that it also completely false.

Patte Barth

Director, Center for Public Education

Far from an education revolution, the political attention given choice and competition is diverting us from the hard work of making sure public schools prepare every child for their next steps after graduation.

Timothy Karr

Campaign Director, Free Press and SavetheInternet.com

It's a troubling sign that the information age has entered a new era -- one where our rights to connect and communicate are under constant siege by governments and corporations.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Former President of Brazil; Member of the Berggruen Institute’s 21st Century Council

Everyone sees the gap between the claims of the Brazilian miracle and the reality of daily life. People want more accountability to fix Brazil's institutions.

Jie-Song Zhang

Producer and Director of international arts & cultural exchange projects; Violinist; Contributor, National Geographic

I am curious if you have ever found a moment, undressed of your "Tiger Mom, celebrity author" costume and all of the salesmanship it entails, to sit in your natural skin as an Asian-American, and as a mother, to properly measure how the thoughts you spread might affect our community, and in particular our youth.

Dr. Judith Rodin

President of the Rockefeller Foundation

By pursuing the resilience dividend, cities can get an economic leg up and better prepare for what's next. Because no matter if the next shock hits tomorrow or 10 years from now, resilience is something a city can realize the benefits of each and every day.

Kumi Naidoo

Executive Director, Greenpeace International

Business elites and politicians continue to suffer from an acute case of cognitive dissonance. All the facts are there, we need to re-think and re-design our economies, yet they are largely in denial about the scale and pace of the necessary change.

Anne-Marie Slaughter

President and CEO, The New American Foundation

Reports, panel discussions and media reports still focus overwhelmingly on measuring the participation of women in what has traditionally been the world of men. But it is equally important to measure the participation of men in what has traditionally been the world of women.

Rev. Al Sharpton

President, National Action Network

e simply cannot celebrate Dr. King, then turn around and watch efforts to dismantle the very things he fought and died for. Here we are recognizing such an esteemed figure and a national holiday, yet the Supreme Court recently gutted part of the Voting Rights Act itself.

The B Team

Not-for-profit prioritizing people and planet alongside profit

With the UN Climate Change negotiations underway, and as the United Nations designs its flagship Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, business needs to engage.

Rachelle Friedman

Blogger; speaker; ambassador for the spinal cord injury community

Unless you yourself are paralyzed or you know someone who is, how could you possibly know everything about our world? So I'm here to set the record straight on some common misconceptions.

Richard Zombeck

Founder, BluZink at www.bluzink.com

We're finally having a discussion about income inequality and the enormous disparity in wealth in this country. Is it really a surprise to anyone that Walmart is the go-to example of what's wrong in this country?

Terry O'Neill

President, National Organization for Women

As we observe the anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision, it's vital to remember that every woman has the right to have the children she wants, raise the children she has, plan her own family and make her own health care decisions. That means women must have the social, economic and political power to pursue their goals.

Wray Herbert

Author, 'On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind's Hard-Wired Habits'

It's all good fun. But is it possible that such complete immersion in novel and extraordinary identities might have unintended consequences?

Blake Kernen

A 8th grader from Morristown-Beard School, New Jersey

Bottom line: I'm not asking my parents to be BFFs with my friend. That's my job -- and it
sure is a fun one.

Boria Sax

Author, 'Imaginary Animals,' The Mythical Zoo,' 'Animals in the Third Reich'

What does the future hold for dogs in the West? Perhaps, if the integration into human society continues, we could come to regard them as almost fully "human," with the rights and responsibilities that entails.

Nicholas Miriello

Senior/International Blog Editor, The Huffington Post

Sherman, in his brash, egotistical mini-monologue is neither a hero nor a villain. He's a human being, something the NFL has brilliantly excised from its product.

Dean Baker

Co-director, CEPR; author, 'The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive'

The provisions in the agreement will overrule measures passed by national, state, and local legislative bodies, in effect stripping democratically elected officials of much of their authority. Since most of the text is still secret we can only speculate on what the final agreement will include.

Alan Singer

Social studies educator, Hofstra University

An examination of the Pearson publishing mega-giant's plan to control public education in Great Britain makes clear, the greatest threat to local initiatives in public education may be from powerful global corporations.