Amb. Swanee Hunt and Lina Sidrys Nealon

Swanee Hunt is the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. From 1993 to 1997, she served as ambassador to Austria, where she hosted negotiations and international symposia focused on stabilizing the neighboring Balkan states. Prior to that, she made her mark as a civic leader and philanthropist in Denver, where she led initiatives on public education, affordable housing, women's empowerment, and mental health services for two mayors and the governor. In 2007, Hunt was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She is a widely published columnist and has authored two books: the award-winning This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace and a memoir, Half-Life of a Zealot. A composer and photographer, her world includes her husband (symphony conductor Charles Ansbacher), their three children, three grandchildren, horse, cat, and parrot.

Lina Sidrys Nealon is the manager of the new modern-day slavery project at Hunt Alternatives Fund. Through research, advocacy, and convening, the Modern-Day Slavery project aims to eliminate the demand for sex trafficking in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Previously, Lina was a policy specialist and trainer with The Initiative for Inclusive Security, an advocacy organization that promotes the full participation of all stakeholders, especially women, in peace processes. Her work has led her to conflict areas such as Afghanistan, Liberia, and Palestine, where she has conducted workshops for leaders in government, law enforcement, and civil society. Ms. Nealon's dedication to eradicating slavery was inspired through her volunteer work with the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers and in Lithuania for a children's rights organization combating trafficking. Ms. Nealon graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame, earning a BA in political science with a concentration in international peace studies. Along with her husband, Boston bookstore owner Brian, Lina has organized over 10,000 books to be sent to libraries and schools in Liberia and Afghanistan. Lina is fluent in French and Lithuanian.