Gabriel Lerner is the former Editor-in-Chief of the daily La Opinion in Los Angeles and continues to write editorials as editor emeritus in his column, Gente de Los Angeles. He is also the founder and editor of HispanicLA – www.hispanicla.com, a collective Spanish blog which started in January 2009. Gabriel has also written four books and is the proud father of four boys.

Benjamin Torres is the President and CEO of the Community Development Technologies Center (CDTech), where his work addresses issues of community and economic development in low-income areas of Los Angeles through a social justice lens that empowers residents and communities to rebuild them. Benjamin is recognized as a major social justice leader both locally and nationally through his extensive background and work in developing grassroots and youth leadership, school and community partnerships as well as shaping community benefits agreements.

Sara Hernandez brings years of experience as a public policy advocate through her work as an educator, non-profit leader and public servant. She currently serves as a member of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees in California. Sara's career has focused on advocating for local policies that improve public education, develop public infrastructure, promote economic development and provide access and opportunities to under-resourced communities. Sara also works regularly with organized labor, community and business leaders in connection with many of these projects and issues.

Laura Castañeda, EdD, an award-winning professor of professional practice in the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, has been a member of the faculty since 2000. Before joining USC Annenberg, she taught at Temple University and worked as a staff writer, editor and columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, and The Associated Press in San Francisco, New York and Mexico. Her freelance work has appeared in The New York Times, TheAtlantic.com, and Columbia Journalism Review magazine, among others. She is the co-author of The Latino Guide to Personal Money Management, which was published by Bloomberg Press in May 1999, and was released in Spanish by Seven Stories Press in 2001.

An attorney and racial-justice advocate, Jessica advances Free Press’ mission of building media and technology that serve truth and justice. A former Lifeline recipient, Jessica has helped fend off grave Trump-administration cuts to the program, which subsidizes phone-and-internet access for low-income people. She was part of the legal team that overturned a Trump-FCC decision blessing runaway media consolidation. Jessica is a leader in the fight to push tech companies to crack down on hate and disinformation. She co-founded Change the Terms, a coalition of more than 60 civil- and digital-rights groups that works to disrupt online hate, helped lead the Stop Hate for Profit campaign’s Facebook advertising boycott and sits on the Real Facebook Oversight Board. Previously, Jessica was the executive vice president and general counsel at the National Hispanic Media Coalition, where she led the policy shop and coordinated campaigns against racist and xenophobic media programming. Prior to that she was a staff attorney and teaching fellow at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Public Representation. Jessica has testified before Congress on multiple occasions on issues including Net Neutrality, media-ownership diversity and affordable internet access.

Efrain Escobedo is a dynamic organizational leader and strategist. For nearly two decades, he has worked within the philanthropic, government, and nonprofit sectors to advance his professional mission. Escobedo currently serves as the president & CEO of the Center for Nonprofit Management. Previously, he served as vice president of public policy and civic engagement at The California Community Foundation.