Ripple of Hope Special Guests

2022 Special Guests

2024Michael Beschloss

Michael Beschloss is a historian specializing in the United States presidency. He has been a frequent commentator on the PBS NewsHour and is the NBC News Presidential Historian.

2022Rocky Dawuni

Rocky Dawuni is a singer, songwriter, and record producer who performs in a signature Afro Roots style. He is the first native of Ghana to be nominated for a Grammy.

2022Thomas P. DiNapoli

Thomas P. DiNapoli is the comptroller of the State of New York.

2022Trevor Donovan

Trevor Donovan is an actor and model who played Teddy Montgomery on the series 90210.

2022Kathryn Erbe

Kathryn Erbe is an actress, best known for her role as Alexandra Eames on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz.

2022Giancarlo Esposito

Giancarlo Esposito is an actor best known for his roles in Breaking Bad and its prequel series Better Call Saul. He has appeared in a number of roles on both television and film.

2022Rachael Harris

Rachael Harris is an actress and comedian. She's best known for her television roles, which include Dr. Linda Martin on Lucifer, and her guest appearances on TV shows such as Sister, Sister, Reno 911!, New Girl, Suits and The Good Wife.

2024Van Jones

Van Jones is widely known as a U.S. media personality, an entrepreneur and a world-class change maker.

2022Richard Kind

Richard Kind is an actor known for his roles in the TV shows Mad About You, Spin City, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He has been a voice actor for films such as A Bug’s Life and Toy Story 3.

2024Nicholas Kristof

Nicholas Kristof is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He is a regular CNN contributor and has written an op-ed column for the New York Times since 2001.

2022Don Lemon

Don Lemon is an American television journalist and the host of CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight. He is a #1 best selling New York Times author of This Is The Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism.

2022Chad Lowe

Chad Lowe is an actor and director with recurring roles on ER, Melrose Place, and Now and Again.

2022Matt McCoy

Matt McCoy is an actor who has appeared in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, and Seinfeld.

2022Ari Melber

Ari Melber is an attorney and journalist who is the host of MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber.

2024Natalie Morales

Natalie Morales is a journalist who is currently a co-host and moderator of the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk.

2022Rob Morrow

Rob Morrow is an actor and director. He appears in the TV drama Billions, acted in and directed episodes of Numb3rs, and portrayed Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure.

2022Kate Mulgrew

Kate Mulgrew is an actress and author. She played Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager and Galina “Red” Reznikov on Orange Is the New Black.

2022Mandy Patinkin

Mandy Patinkin is an actor and singer. He played Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride and Saul Berenson in the long-running Showtime series Homeland.

2022Gloria Reuben

Gloria Reuben is an actress, producer, and singer, well-known for her role as Jeanie Boulet on the medical drama ER, and for portraying Elizabeth Keckley in the 2012 Academy Award–winning, Steven Spielberg–directed film Lincoln.

2022Yolonda Ross

Yolonda Ross is an American actress, writer and director.

2022Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

2022Bradley Whitford

Bradley Whitford is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama The West Wing.

2022Alfre Woodard

Alfre Woodard is an actor, producer, and political activist. She has appeared in Empire, 12 Years a Slave, State of Affairs, and Desperate Housewives.