Scott W. Allard is an associate professor in the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. He is the author of Out of Reach: Place, Poverty and the New American Welfare State. His research focuses on social welfare policy, poverty and nonprofit organizations in the United States.

Jack Glaser is a social psychologist and assistant professor of public policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California-Berkeley. He studies the social psychology of hate crimes and intergroup violence.

Ruby K. Payne is an author, educator and speaker with a focus on poverty and economic class differences. She is the author of A Framework for Understanding Poverty. She is founder and CEO of aha! Process in Highlands, Texas.

Jay F. Hein, former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, is Distinguished Senior Fellow and director of the Program for Faith and Service at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion in Waco, Texas. The Program for Faith and Service promotes cutting-edge approaches to social problems through faith-based organizations.

UNITY of Greater New Orleans is a nonprofit organization which coordinates over 60 organizations in order to provide housing and services to prevent, reduce and end homelessness.

Baylor University, a private Baptist university, has an Interdisciplinary Poverty Initiative that focuses on engaging students in the issues of poverty, civic engagement, and social and economic justice. Contact project coordinator Kayla Mize.

Elliot Aronson is emeritus professor of psychology at University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of Nobody Left to Hate: Teaching Compassion After Columbine. 

Fred Plumer, a retired minister, is head of The Center for Progressive Christianity, a web-based network of progressive faith communities. It is based in Gig Harbor, Wash.

Adam Cohen is an assistant professor of social psychology at Arizona State University in Tempe. His interests include moral judgment.