HONORING
Senator Dick Durbin
Senate Democratic Whip
Progressive champion Senator Dick Durbin has represented Illinois in the Senate since 1997. He has served as the Senate Democratic whip since 2005 (the second-highest position in the Democratic leadership in the Senate) and as the Senate majority whip since 2021. Durbin earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969 and was admitted to the Illinois bar later that year. After graduating from law school, Durbin started a law practice in Springfield. He was legal counsel to Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon from 1969 to 1972, and then legal counsel to the Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee from 1972 to 1982. He served in the US House from 1983 until 1997. During his time in the Senate, he pushed for criminal justice reform, human rights at home and abroad, and universal access to child care.
FEATURING
Jeremy Ben-Ami
J Street President
Jeremy Ben-Ami is the President of J Street with a background of deep experience in American politics and government and a passionate commitment to the state of Israel. His political background includes serving mid-1990s as the Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor in the White House to President Bill Clinton and working on seven Presidential and numerous state and local campaigns. He was Howard Dean’s National Policy Director in 2004 and helped manage a Mayoral campaign in New York City in 2001. He has been recognized for his leadership including being named one of 50 “People of the Decade” by Ha’aretz, the influential Israeli daily newspaper, and by the Jerusalem Post, which included him in its list of the 50 Most Influential Jews in the world.
Dr. Philip H. Gordon
Former National Security Advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris
Dr. Philip H. Gordon is the Sydney Stein Jr Scholar at the Brookings Institution. He has served in numerous senior foreign policy positions in the U.S. government, including as Assistant to the President and National Security Adviser to the Vice President in the Biden Administration and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Region under President Barack Obama. In those roles he worked on issues including Iran, Middle East peace, the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, and U.S. relations with Israel, the Gulf States, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and North Africa. Dr. Gordon has a Ph.D. and MA in international relations and international economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and a BA from Ohio University. He is the author of numerous books and articles about world affairs, including Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East, named as a “book of the century” by Foreign Affairs and “book of the year” by the Financial Times and CNN. He has published articles in major newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Atlantic, Politico and Foreign Affairs.
Talia Winiarsky
Northwestern student
Talia Winiarsky is a senior at Northwestern majoring in American Studies, and is originally from New York City. She leads J Street U at Northwestern and writes a weekly column on politics for the Daily Northwestern. She writes often about her Judaism, and her essays have been featured in The Chicago-Sun Times, The Forward, and Hey Alma. She has interned at the US House of Representatives, New York City Council, and the American Jewish Committee. She hopes to pursue a career in democratic politics after she graduates next June.