Stephen Wessler is the former executive director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, based in Portland, Maine. Before it closed, the center offered anti-bullying workshops in schools across the nation. Wessler is now training and consulting on a variety of civil rights and human rights issues both in Maine, elsewhere in the US and in Europe.

Finn Laursen is executive director of Christian Educators Association International, which endorsed the Common Ground guidelines.

Eliza Byard is executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, which endorsed the Common Ground guidelines. The network, based in New York City, has registered more than 3,000 Gay-Straight Alliance student clubs in schools nationwide; coordinates an annual No Name-Calling Week and organizes the national Day of Silence.

Gene R. Carter is executive director of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, which endorsed the Common Ground guidelines.

Daniel A. Domenech is executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, which endorsed the Common Ground guidelines.

Yaakov Ariel is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880–2000, and teaches several courses on contemporary Judaism.

Ilan Troen is a professor of Judaic studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. He is the founding editor of the journal Israel Studies, published three times a year, and has written 10 books on American, Jewish and Israeli history.

Kenneth Stein is a professor of contemporary Middle Eastern and Israeli studies at the Tam Institute of Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. He is one of the foremost authorities on the history of modern Israel and has written numerous books on the subject, including one in collaboration with former President Jimmy Carter.

Calvin Goldscheider is a professor of Judaic studies and sociology at Brown University in Providence, R.I. He is also a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Israel Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. He is the author of many books, including Cultures in Conflict: The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Studying the Jewish Future.