CREW
We are always looking for new crew members! If you are interested in being a part of our team please contact us.
Laura Seelie is the Co-Founder of The Imagine the World Project. As a K-8 educator who was inspired by The Whole Human Race, she presented its author with a challenge; how can we get the important message of this book to as many kids as possible in a way that will resonate with them? Together they created this project that uses the words of the book to inspire kids to create! Laura is a wife, a mother of four terrific kids and is active in her community, works as a substitute teacher and is devout in her faith. She is also the lead Project Director for the Imagine The World Project and an inspiration to our team.
Kelly Smith is our Project Coordinator. She has been delivering the message of The Whole Human Race for over twenty years now. It all started when she read to her first classroom of 18 second-graders and realized how quickly and easily the kids connectioned to the book’s powerful message. She volunteers her time because she “believes the messages of diversity and inclusion in this book are more important now than they’ve ever been.”
Kelly and her husband strive to create thoughtful and open dialgoue with their two children about the issues facing the world. She is a volunteer 4H Counselor and they are active members in their church and community.
Kristin Thompson-Smith is a K-8 art teacher and an Art Professor at the Cleveland Insitute of Art. Kristin kicked off our pilot project with her art class creating the very first Special Edition of The Whole Human Race. An enthusiastic supporter of our vision, she hopes to bring the Imagine The World Project to aspiring art teachers as part of a community outreach program. She is a wife and a devoted mom and we are fortunate that she found time in her hectic schedule to be a part of the project.
ADVISORY BOARD
We are working on putting together our Advisory Board. If you are interested in being a part of our board please contact us.
Steven C. Rosenthal — Cross Cultural Solutions Founder and Advisor
We are excited to welcome Steve Rosenthal, a visionary whose hands-on approach to make the world a better place has taken him all over the planet. Steve was an early supporter of The Whole Human Race. He and his team used the book as a teaching tool across the globe and distributed copies to kids in places like China, India, Africa, and Peru.
Steve founded Cross-Cultural Solutions in 1995, and as its director, has traveled extensively throughout the world making frequent trips to the field. He has worked with at-risk youth in the United States and been a consultant for numerous international volunteering organizations in the domestically and abroad.
He is on the Executive Committee of the International Volunteer Programs Association and is the Chairman of the Building Bridges Coalition, a project of the Brookings Institution focused on expanding international volunteer service, improving service quality, and ensuring positive impacts in communities throughout the world. Steve also serves on the advisory boards of More Peace Corps, Atlas Corps, and Global Citizen Year. He co-chairs the National Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy Task Force on Voluntary International Service and serves on the Roundtable Consortium for the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange.
“I believe passionately that when people come together across cultures to work side-by-side we build bridges of understanding that are powerful and essential to a building a safe and healthy future for all people.”
Photo by Perry Hagopian
Sunny Hostin — Co-host of The View, Senior Legal Correspondent for ABC News.
We are thrilled and honored to have the incomparable Sunny Hostin join our advisory board. When Sunny and her family first read The Whole Human Race, her enthusiasm for its messages was followed quickly by the comment that this book should be in Spanish! Yes, it should and we are working on it!
Sunny Hostin is the Emmy nominated co-host of The View and the Emmy-winning Senior Legal Correspondent for ABC News. From 2007 to 2016, Sunny was a host and legal analyst at CNN. Prior to working at CNN, Sunny filled in as co-anchor for ABC News’ “World News Now” and “America This Morning.”
A gifted storyteller, Sunny has an impressive depth of knowledge about the criminal justice system. She has brought clarity and context to some of the biggest stories of the past decade, including the Bernie Madoff scandal, the George Zimmerman trial, the unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore, the AME church shooting in Charleston, and the Bill Cosby rape allegations. She has won two Emmys for her work as a correspondent for ABC’s Good Morning America and as a Correspondent for the ABC News Special, The President and the People.
Sunny was born in the South Bronx and became the first in her family to attend college. She began her career as an appellate law clerk after graduating from Notre Dame Law School and went on to become a trial attorney for the Justice Department and a federal prosecutor. During her time as Assistant U.S. Attorney, Attorney General Janet Reno awarded the Special Achievement Award to Sunny for her prosecution of child sexual predators.
Sunny currently resides in Westchester, NY with her husband and two children.
A.J. Hammer — TV Anchor
Our Board wouldn’t be complete without A.J., who has long been a vocal and tireless supporter of The Whole Human Race, sharing our message and connecting us with good people like Steve Rosenthal and many others. He also spread our message as a Birch Family Camp veteran, where he worked with kids and families affected by HIV and AIDS.
A.J. began his career at WNBC Radio in New York City at the young age of fifteen and has covered all facets of the entertainment industry ever since. He is perhaps best known for hosting HLN’s entertainment news show, Showbiz Tonight, throughout its entire, incredible nine-year run and as the face of all things entertainment for CNN and HLN for much of the past decade firmly establishing A.J. as a trusted fixture in the entertainment industry. Beyond what he may be best known for, A.J. simply loves immersive story-telling in all kinds of situations and bringing everyone along for the ride.
A.J. joined HLN and CNN after hosting Court TV’s crime and justice entertainment show, Hollywood Heat. As one of VH1’s most recognizable personalities, A.J. hosted the network’s Top Ten Countdown and a variety of shows and specials, special events and live awards show coverage as well as a daily music and entertainment show. His radio career includes longtime stints at New York City’s Z100 and WPLJ as well as SiriusXM Satellite Radio. A.J. has also served as a special correspondent for EXTRA and as an entertainment correspondent for Good Day New York.
In addition to his dedication to several important causes over the years, A.J. is a devout animal lover and activist and believes positive messages that embrace diversity are the answer to a unified world.