Tamar Frankel is Professor of Law at Boston University and the Chairwoman of the Institute’s Board of Advisors. A leading expert of fiduciary law, finance law, corporate governance, mutual funds and the regulation of the financial system, she is the author of numerous books, including: Fiduciary Law (2010), Trust and Honesty, America’s Business Culture at a Crossroad (2006), Securitization (2006). Frankel has published more than 70 articles and book chapters.

Brooksley Born is a retired partner of Arnold & Porter where she practiced for more than thirty years and was head of the firm’s derivatives practice. From 1996 to 1999, Ms. Born was chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that oversees futures and commodity option markets, and strongly advocated the need for federal regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market, which played a significant role in the 2007-2008 financial crisis. She also served as a Commissioner on the U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission from 2009 until early 2011, when the Commission issued its report on the causes of the financial crisis and resulting economic crisis. Currently, she is a member of the Systemic Risk Council, an independent non-partisan group dedicated to regulatory reform of U.S. financial markets.

Phyllis C. Borzi is Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security of the U.S. Department of Labor. Prior to serving as Assistant Secretary, Borzi was a research professor in the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University’s Medical Center’s School of Public Health and Health Services where she was involved in research and policy analysis. She was also of counsel to the Washington, D.C. law firm of O’Donoghue & O’Donoghue LLP, specializing in ERISA and other legal issues affecting employee benefit plans.

Dan Solin is the New York Times bestselling author of the Smartest series of investing books and The Smartest Sales Book You’ll Ever Read. He blogs regularly for Advisor Perspectives. Dan’s books have been enthusiastically endorsed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Vanguard founder John Bogle. Kiplinger’s listed The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read on its top ten list of the best financial books ever written. A former securities attorney, Dan graduated from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Dan is a sales coach to advisory firms throughout North America. He gives presentations to large groups, conducts workshops and engages in one-on-one coaching either in person or via teleconferencing platforms like Skype.

Dr. Woodrow W. Leake was Edwin Lawrence Professor of [Political and Ideological] Communication at the University of Vermont. After leaving academe, he served as Executive Director and CEO of both the Brain Injury Association of Georgia and the Institute of Industrial Engineers, not-for-profit professional associations, and as Vice President for the Benjamin Franklin Center of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Leake was actively involved in politics, both state-wide and local races. He was a strategic and tactical advisor to then-Governor Jimmy Carter for his second debate with President Gerald Ford. He moderated debates among contenders for the U. S. Senate and governor in two states. He also led campaigns for state races in the northeast, Georgia, and Florida. Dr. Leake is now retired and lives in Florida.

Michael E. Kitces is partner and Director of Research for Pinnacle Advisory Group, a private wealth management firm in Columbia, Maryland that oversees approximately $1 billion in client assets. He is the practitioner editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, and publisher of the e-newsletter The Kitces Report. He is also publisher of the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View through his website www.kitces.com, dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning. Michael is an active writer and editor across the industry and has been featured in publications including Financial Planning, the Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Retirement Planning, Practical Tax Strategies, as well as The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, CNBC PowerLunch, and NBC Nightly News.

James H. “Jamie” McLaughlin founded J. H. McLaughlin & Co., LLC, in 2010 – a strategy and practice management consulting firm serving the wealth management industry and family offices. Previously, he was CEO of Geller Family Office Services, the New York-based MFO. Before that he was a partner at three wealth management firms: Convergent Wealth Advisors where he built the firm’s New York office, Mellon where he was the regional president of Mellon Private Wealth Management’s New York region, and Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc. where he began his career in the industry as a financial advisor in the Private Client Group. From 1981 to 1991 Mr. McLaughlin served in both the House and Senate of the Connecticut General Assembly. Mr. McLaughlin received his Bachelor’s degree in History from Lafayette College and his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Deborah S. Bosley, Ph.D., is the Owner and Principal of The Plain Language Group, LLC. For the past twenty years, she has worked primarily in the financial services sector to create written information that meets regulatory requirements while being easy for customers to understand. Using proven writing and design strategies, training tools, and research results, she helps organizations achieve a number of critical goals. Bosley is the former President of the Plain Language Association International (PLAIN), and former board member for the Center for Plain Language in Washington, D.C. She has been an expert witness in three lawsuits that included her testimony on the “understandability” of ERISA’s required Summary Plan Description and voting materials.

John C. Bogle was the founder of The Vanguard Group, Inc., and President of Vanguard’s Bogle Financial Markets Research Center. He created Vanguard in 1974 and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until 1996 and Senior Chairman until 2000. He had been associated with Wellington Management, a predecessor company, since 1951, and served as its CEO from 1965 to 1974. Bogle wrote ten books; his most recent, The Clash of Cultures: Investment vs. Speculation, was published in August 2012.