John Isaacs is the Executive Director of the Council for a Livable World where his work focuses on national security issues in Congress, Iraq, missile defense, and nuclear weapons.

Isaacs is one of the leaders of the nation's arms control community and has long been an expert on the workings of Congress. He has represented the Council on Capitol Hill since 1978. Isaacs previously served as a Legislative Assistant on foreign affairs to Representative Stephen Solarz (D-NY), a Legislative Representative on foreign policy and defense budget for Americans for Democratic Action, and a Foreign Service Officer in Vietnam.

Isaacs has published articles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Christian Science Monitor, Nuclear Times, Arms Control Today, American Journal of Public Health, and Technology Review.

Isaacs holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Katherine Silverthorne leads E3G’s climate change program in the U.S. In this role she will work to internationalise the U.S. debate in order to identify key areas of conflict and cooperation, build trust among the major actors, and promote a coalition for the passage of ambitious climate change legislation in the U.S. and ratification of an ambitious Copenhagen agreement. Immediately before joining E3G, Katherine served as the director of policy for U.S. Climate Action Network (CAN). CAN is a network of more than 400 non-profit organisations around the globe established nearly twenty years ago to promote sound policy on climate change. As policy director, Katherine provided general strategic guidance for advocacy by CAN members and led efforts to develop collaborative positions, including submissions to Congressional committees and the UNFCCC on U.S. and international climate policy issues.

Prior to joining U.S. CAN, Katherine served as the director for the US Climate Change Program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Before joining WWF, she established the first climate change program for U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Washington, DC, which represents the interests of a nationwide network of Public Interest Research Groups active in more than 30 states.

Katherine has served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. She has a Juris Doctor and Masters in environmental law from Vermont Law School and is a member of the bar in New York and Washington, DC.

Sharon directs Human Rights First’s We Can End Torture Now campaign, an HRF advocacy initiative focused on ending the use of torture and official cruelty by the United States.

Before joining Human Rights First, Sharon worked for the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, as the research director and policy advisor for the Senate Democratic Communications Center. In addition to her experience on Capitol Hill, Sharon has worked on numerous political campaigns at the national and state levels.

Sharon graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1998 and received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2004. She is a member of the bar of the state of New York.

Todd Shelton is the Senior Director of Public Policy and External Relations at InterAction. He supervises the Public Policy Unit on budget and policy advocacy related to the goals of InterAction’s 165 member relief and development organizations. Prior to joining InterAction, Todd served in the position of Senior Legislative Associate and lead lobbyist for the Sheridan Group. He was also a Congressional Liaison Officer for USAID from 1998 to 2002, as well as Deputy Research Director for Policy and Public Affairs from 1996-1998 for Mathis & Associates. Todd also worked as Deputy to the Chief of Staff in the Office of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Todd joined InterAction in 2005.