Mark V. Bensen
Mr. Bensen is executive vice president of MDC. Before coming to MDC, he served as executive director of the Lucy Daniels Foundation. At NC State University, he served as associate director of the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science and founding director of the Park Scholarships. At UNC-Chapel Hill, he was director of the Global Education Initiative for the School of Education, and from 1984 to 1989 he was executive director of Operation Raleigh, an international youth leadership program. He has served on the boards of numerous charitable organizations.

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Janet H. Brown
Ms. Brown is executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates in Washington, DC. She served previously on the staff of Senator John Danforth and in the Office of Management and Budget under the Reagan administration.

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Anita Brown-Graham
Ms. Brown-Graham joined the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) as director in January 2007. Before joining IEI, she served as a Professor of Law and Government at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's School of Government. In 2004, Governor Easley appointed Brown-Graham to the board of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center. She also serves as a Trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and is active on boards and committees of several not-for-profit organizations.

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John F. Burness
Mr. Burness is senior vice president for public affairs and government relations at Duke University. Prior to coming to Duke in 1991, he held positions as the senior public affairs officer at Cornell University, the University of Illinois, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He heads the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership.

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J. Haywood Davis
Secretary/Treasurer
Mr. Davis is managing director of Atlantic Trust Company in New York City. Prior to joining Atlantic Trust, Mr. Davis spent 30 years with JP Morgan in a variety of corporate finance and private banking positions in New York, Miami, Caracas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.

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David L. Dodson
Mr. Dodson is president of MDC. Prior to his appointment in 1999, he served as executive vice president for 12 years. He formerly served as executive director of the Cummins Engine Foundation and director of corporate responsibility for Cummins Engine Company. He is a member of the boards of The Hitachi Foundation, Center for Law and Social Policy, Corporation for Enterprise Development, and Dwight Hall at Yale-the university center for community service and social justice.

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Otis Johnson, PhD
Dr. Johnson is mayor of Savannah, Georgia.  He formerly served as chair of the board of trustees of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.  A longtime neighborhood leader on issues of youth development, he led the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Youth Futures Commission in Savannah.  He also was dean of the School of Social Work at Savannah State and is a member of the Aspen Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Change.

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James A. Joseph
Chair
Mr. Joseph is Professor of the Practice of Public Policy Studies and executive director of the United States-South Africa Center for Leadership and Public Values at Duke University in Durham, NC, and a fellow at the National Humanities Center. He most recently served as United States Ambassador to South Africa and formerly served as president of the Council on Foundations, president of the Cummins Engine Foundation, and U.S. undersecretary of the Interior in the Carter Administration.

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Don Munro
Mr. Munro is owner, chair, and CEO of Munro & Company, Inc., and lives in Hot Springs, AR. Mr. Munro is president of the American Apparel and Footwear Association and has served on numerous boards including the Foundation for the Mid South, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, Arkansas Nature Conservancy, and the Hot Springs Area Community Foundation.

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Sally D. Robinson
Vice Chair
Ms. Robinson is a trustee emerita of Duke University, chair of the advisory board of the North Carolina Humanities Council, a founder of the Museum of the New South, and a civic leader in education, employment, and antipoverty efforts in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. She serves on the boards of the Foundation for the Carolinas, the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, the Center for Documentary Studies, and the Robertson Scholars Program.

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Juan Sepúlveda
Mr. Sepúlveda is executive director of The Common Enterprise in San Antonio, TX, a community problem-solving initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation. He is a board member of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the National Civic League, the Center for Policy Alternatives, the Alliance for National Renewal, the Civic Practices Network, Civic Network Television, and the White House Presidential Internship Fund.

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Minor M. Shaw
Ms. Shaw is president of Micco Corporation and Mickel Investment Group and resides in Greenville, SC. She is a trustee of The Duke Endowment and a member of the board of directors of The Palmetto Institute. She is chair of the board of trustees of Wofford College and serves on the boards of numerous other educational and public service organizations.

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David Wilson, PhD
Dr. Wilson is chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin Extension, a post he assumed in May, 2006.  For the past decade, he was associate provost and vice president of Auburn University. Prior to his position at Auburn, he served as associate provost at Rutgers-The State University. His particular interests include community planning, youth leadership, economic development, and higher education issues.