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Jim Himes represents Connecticut’s 4th District in the United States House of Representatives where he is serving his eighth term. He serves as Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and on the House Financial Services Committee.

Jim grew up as the child of a single working mom in a small town. As a member of Congress, Jim works hard to provide all American children the same opportunities he had to succeed: access to a first-rate public school, affordable and effective health care, a decent and safe home, and a supportive community.

Born in Lima, Peru in 1966 to American parents, he spent the early years of his childhood in Peru and Colombia while his father worked for the Ford Foundation and UNICEF. As an American abroad, Jim grew up fluent in both Spanish and English and was raised with an awareness of the unique position of the United States in the world. At the age of ten, Jim moved with his mother and sisters to the United States.

Jim graduated from Hopewell Valley Central High School and then attended Harvard University. After completing his undergraduate work, Jim earned a Rhodes Scholarship, which enabled him to attend Oxford University in England where he continued his studies of Latin America, including research in El Salvador.

Prior to his service in Congress, Jim ran the New York City branch of The Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the unique challenges of urban poverty. Jim’s team led the way in financing the construction of thousands of affordable housing units in the greater New York metropolitan region, often using new green technologies to achieve energy efficiency and reduce utility costs.

Jim’s experience at Enterprise spurred his involvement in politics. Putting his expertise in affordable housing to work, Jim served as a Commissioner of the Greenwich Housing Authority, ultimately chairing the board and leading it through a much-needed program of reforms. Jim went on to become an elected member of his town’s finance board, setting tax and budget policy for Greenwich. Jim has also served as Chair of his local Democratic Town Committee, organizing others in the community to become more active in the political process.

Jim began his professional career at Goldman Sachs & Co. where he worked his way up to Vice President over the course of a 12-year career. He worked extensively in Latin America and headed the bank’s telecommunications technology group there. Jim and his wife Mary live in Greenwich (with not frequent enough visits from their daughters Emma and Linley).

Local author Tim Manners will give a special talk about his book, Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero (University of Nebraska Press). Manners, who was a recent guest speaker at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., co-authored the book with Waite “Schoolboy” Hoyt, using a trove of records and writings from Hoyt, who passed away in 1984. Hoyt’s improbable baseball journey began when the 1915 New York Giants signed him as a high school junior, for no pay and a five-dollar bonus. After nearly having both his hands amputated and cavorting with men twice his age in the hardscrabble Minor Leagues, he somehow ended up as the best pitcher for the New York Yankees and teammate with such legends as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. You don’t have to be a fan of baseball to be fascinated by Hoyt’s astonishing life story!

Tim Manners is a writer, communications consultant and baseball fan. A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University with a BA in history, he is a former FM-radio disc jockey, publicist and magazine publisher. Currently an essay specialist with The Manners Group, he is co-author of “Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero” (2024) with baseball great Waite Hoyt (University of Nebraska Press) and “Relevance: Making Stuff That Matters” (2008), published by Penguin/Portfolio.

Arranged by Frank DeLeo

Person to Person

Person to Person (P2P) supports families and individuals as they move toward stability with healthy food, clothing, housing assistance, and a path to economic opportunity.

Each person P2P has the opportunity to serve has a unique story. Whether it’s a single mother struggling to work enough hours to provide for herself and her children, an elderly man living alone on disability, or a young family looking for guidance to navigate housing expenses in Fairfield County, each person has a unique reason for calling on P2P and P2P is there to serve them all, no questions asked.

Nancy Coughlin, CEO, Person to Person

Nancy joined Person to Person in June of 2019, bringing expertise and experience in food insecurity, anti-poverty, and women’s and children’s issues. Prior to joining P2P, Nancy served for seven years as the Executive Director at Neighbor to Neighbor, a Greenwich-based organization dedicated to providing food and clothing to low-income families and children, and prior to that, practiced employment litigation with Baker McKenzie in NYC.

Nancy received a BA in psychology from the University of New Hampshire, and a J.D. from the Suffolk University Law School.

Arranged by Alex Garnett

One of the basic premises of the Bystander Initiative is that there is an entire systemic framework around sexual and other abuse, which Guiora has labelled the ecosystem. Guiora’s work focuses on bystanders – individuals who witness the crime – and enablers – individuals and institutions who are in positions to prevent the crime but do not do so. He has previously written books about bystander and enabler complicity in the Holocaust and in sexual abuse in USA Gymnastics and other athletic programs.

Amos N. Guiora is Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the University of Utah. He is a Distinguished Fellow at The Consortium for the Research and Study of Holocaust and the Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and a Distinguished Fellow and Counselor at the International Center for Conflict Resolution, Katz School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. Professor Guiora is on the Board of the Lauren McClusky Foundation.

For the past 10 years Guiora has been researching-writing-lecturing on the question of bystanders (originally in the Holocaust) resulting in his books, The Crime of Complicity: The Bystander in the Holocaust and Armies of Enablers:Survivor Stories of Complicity and Betrayal in Sexual Assaults. 

Professor Guiora’s most recent article, Holding Enablers of Child Sexual Abuse Accountable: The Case of Jeremy Bell,  addresses the role of enablers in sexual assault of children.

Professor Guiora Directs the SJ Quinney College of Law Bystander Initiative,  a publicly funded student-staffed initiative.

Professor Guiora has an A.B. in history from Kenyon College, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a Ph.D. from Leiden University.

Connecticut, as we all know, is actually a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Yet only half of Connecticut residents said they were proud of the state in a recent survey, even though 73% felt it was a good place to live. Part of the challenge is that Connecticut has not defined itself around its resources and attributes; there are few who can describe  what’s wonderful about our state and those in Fairfield County might see it merely as a suburb of New York. Governor Lamont is determined to change that so that people know better what makes Connecticut special.

Anthony M. Anthony is an executive marketing and communications professional currently serving as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the State of Connecticut. As the first CMO, he oversees the newly created Office of Statewide Marketing and Tourism, working tirelessly to shape and promote a compelling narrative about Connecticut as an exceptional place to live, work, and play.

Previously, Anthony served as the Special Advisor and Communications Director to Governor Ned Lamont, where his storytelling skills and strategic guidance contributed to Governor Lamont’s high approval ratings.

Anthony’s expertise was built over the years in the private sector as a creative director and strategist at boutique brand communications agencies in New York City guiding Fortune 500 brands across the tech, media, consumer packaged goods, hospitality, and healthcare sectors.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Anthony enjoys a good cup of coffee, cooking for his wife and two children, and voraciously consuming pop-culture from the last 70 years.

Aaron Cooper has dedicated his career to pre-k through grade 9 independent school education.  He has been a teacher, coach, advisor, and administrator for the last 22 years.  Aaron Cooper joined New Canaan Country School in July 2018.

Aaron earned an Ed.M. in Private School Leadership and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University; he received his B.A. in the Growth and Structure of Cities from Haverford College, and a diploma from Groton School.

Juliet Cain is a cofounder of the Darien Pollinator Pathway with Deepika Saksena. The DPP seeks, through events and publications as well as through advocacy at the state and local levels, to help eliminate the use of pesticides in our yards and public spaces and to restore pollinator populations with native plantings. As former Chair of the Darien Beautification Commission, Juliet spearheaded the native plantings on the slopes at the Darien Town Hall.

Darien Pollinator Pathways is a part of a larger undertaking to create a corridor of adjacent properties—private residences and public spaces—that provide safe habitat for birds, bees, butterflies and other insects. The goal is to make Darien one big pollinator pathway with private, commercial and municipal spaces being pesticide free and hosting native plants. Native plants, as opposed to invasives, are plants that existed before Europeans arrived. These plants will be more resilient, low-maintenance and healthy choices for gardens, and will support native insects and birds—enhancing our natural ecosystems.

Even while veterans are often welcomed home from combat tours as heroes, they also may encounter long term neglect in health care, disorientation and PTSD, and even homelessness. This presentation will address these challenges, their scale, their conditions, and programs that seek to address them.

Brigadier General, (Ret.), USA, Ronald P. “Ron” Welch is the Connecticut Commissioner of the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs. Ron enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 22, 1978, and served on active duty with the 2 Ranger Battalion of the 75 Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis Washington. During his active-duty service, he attained the rank of sergeant and completed Basic Airborne School, Ranger School, Jungle Warfare Course, USMC Amphibious Recon Scout Swimmer Course, Jumpmaster Course, Primary Non-Commission Officer Course, USMC Scout Sniper Course, Emergency Medical Technician Course, Special Operations and Tactics Course, and the Pathfinder School. On May 4, 1981, he sustained serious injuries during a line of duty parachute accident. He left active service after completing his tour of duty on October 2, 1982.

He returned home and joined the Connecticut National Guard and eventually attended Officer Candidate School and on August 11, 1984, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. He then served full-time in numerous positions in the Connecticut National Guard’s Infantry units as a rifle platoon leader, company commander, and various staff positions. He was promoted to Colonel on October 1, 2004, and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2005 to 2006 as a senior American advisor to an Afghan National Army, Infantry Brigade located in Eastern Afghanistan, providing training, advice, and conducting combat operations.

He retired from military service in 2017. Following his retirement, General Welch sought opportunities to provide support for veterans and active-duty service members and families, and he accepted a position as Vice President of Military and Family Services for Veterans Rally Point with Easterseals Capital Region and Eastern Connecticut, a nonprofit organization that provides expanded access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities for those with disabilities and the veteran population.

Brigadier General Welch is a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992 and a Master of Science degree in organizational management in 2007. He also earned a Master of Strategic Studies in 2011 from the U.S. Army War College.

He resides in southeastern Connecticut. His oldest son Stephen is a combat veteran with three tours. He is a full-time Physician Assistant for the CT National Guard, previously serving in the ED at Yale, a daughter Katherine is attending Quinnipiac University in the Occupational Therapy master’s program. And his youngest son Ethan is entering his senior year at Pennsylvania State University majoring in Public Health.