Laura Liswood
Secretary General, Council of Women World Leaders

Laura Liswood is Secretary General of the Council of Women World Leaders, a
network of current and former presidents and prime ministers. She also holds
the position of Senior Advisor at Goldman Sachs, a premier global investment
bank. Liswood, an internationally recognized speaker and advisor, holds
positions on many boards and advisory groups, including the World Economic
Forum's Women's Programme and the International Museum of Women. She has
contributed to leadership in the women's community for more than 20 years.

Liswood holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a BA from California
State University, San Diego, and a JD from the University of California,
Davis, School of Law. She is also a Sergeant in the Washington DC
Metropolitan reserve police force.

Elizabeth Edwards shares her husband's deep commitment to improving the daily lives of all Americans and making sure that everyone in this country has the opportunity to succeed. A passionate advocate for children and families, as well as an accomplished attorney, she has been a tireless advocate for many important causes.

Elizabeth is the daughter of a decorated Navy pilot. In her early years, she attended school in Japan, where her father was stationed with a reconnaissance squadron, flying missions over China and North Korea.

As an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Elizabeth majored in English. She went on to study American literature but then switched to law, graduating from UNC Law School in May 1977. She met John in law school, and they got married the Saturday after they took the bar exam. Like her husband, Elizabeth has an impressive legal background. Following law school, she clerked with U.S. District Court Judge Calvitt Clarke, Jr. in Norfolk, Virginia. Later, she worked for the North Carolina Attorney General's office and then was a bankruptcy lawyer in Raleigh, North Carolina. Elizabeth also taught legal writing as an adjunct instructor at UNC Law School for two years, and in 1997-98, she was a member of the first group of Public Fellows at the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC.

Both Elizabeth and her husband are strongly committed to strengthening communities and expanding educational opportunities for all children. She volunteered with the Parent Teacher Associations at her children's schools, and has been active in their youth soccer leagues in several roles.

In 1996, John and Elizabeth helped establish the Wade Edwards Foundation, and helped build a free computer lab—the Wade Edwards Learning Lab—for high school students in Raleigh. Recently, the foundation opened a similar computer lab in Goldsboro. Elizabeth volunteered at the lab in Raleigh nearly every day, until the family came to Washington following her husband's 1998 election to the U.S. Senate. The Wade Edwards Foundation also runs a statewide short fiction contest for North Carolina's high school juniors, awarding scholarships and grants to high school English students.

The country has gotten to know Elizabeth as she has campaigned extensively across the country during her husband's presidential and vice-presidential campaigns. The day after the general election in 2004, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Elizabeth was in remission until March 2007 when she discovered her cancer had returned. Elizabeth's courageous battle with breast cancer has served as an inspiration to women across the country.

John and Elizabeth have four children, including: their eldest daughter, Catharine, who is attending law school; nine-year-old Emma Claire; and a seven-year-old son, Jack. Their first child, Wade, died in 1996.

Chief Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes of The Georgia Court of Appeals was the first woman to be elected in a state-wide judicial race without having been first appointed to the bench, and she won that election without a runoff. She was re-elected, without opposition, to a second term in 2004, and was unanimously elected by her fellow judges to serve as the court=s Chief Judge for the term 2007-2008.

Chief Judge Barnes received her bachelors degree from Georgia State University, her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, and her Master of Laws in the Judicial Process from the University of Virginia. She has been recognized for her service by the organization Justice Served, and serves on numerous committees, including the Judicial Council of Georgia=s Standing Committee on Policy.

Chief Judge Barnes belongs to many professional organizations, and also serves on the Judicial Advisory Board of the AEI-Brookings Judicial Education Program and the Commerce Club Operating Board. She serves on the boards of the Judicial Section of Atlanta Bar Association, Forever Family, Inc., and the Atlanta Metropolitan College Foundation and volunteers with the Truancy Intervention Project. She is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2006, and frequently participates in professional seminars as a panelist and author.

Carol Hunstein
Presiding Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia

Carol W. Hunstein is the Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Appointed in 1992, she is only the second female Supreme Court Justice in the State's history. In 2006 Justice Hunstein was challenged in the statewide race for her seat by an opponent financed largely by a nationwide coalition that sought to obtain control over the appellate court in Georgia and at least three other states. Justice Hunstein's campaign to maintain judicial impartiality and independence galvanized the state's voters and led to a landslide victory over her opponent. Justice Hunstein is a tireless champion of racial, ethnic and gender equality and has worked on Georgia's state and local domestic violence task forces and countless training programs for judges, lawyers and court personnel. Her personal story as a cancer survivor and amputee makes her a compelling role model for those attempting to overcome adversity.

Justice Hunstein received her B.S.from Florida Atlantic University, and is a member of the University’s Hall of Fame. She received a J.D. from Stetson University School of Law, where she also received an honorary LL.D. and serves as an honorary member of its Board of Overseers.

Born and raised in Georgia, Wilson has five children and four grandchildren. She resides in New York City.