Westley Moore

Afghanistan War veteran, Investment Banker, Citigroup Global Markets, Member of IAVA's Board of Directors

Presenter of the 2009 IAVA Civilian Service Award

Wes Moore is an investment professional for Citigroup, working directly for the head of the Global Banking Division. A Former White House Fellow, 2006-2007, Wes served as Special Assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A paratrooper and Captain in the United States Army, he served a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan with the elite 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. Wes spearheaded the American strategic support plan for the Afghan Reconciliation Program that unites former insurgents with the new Afghan Government. Wes completed an MLitt in International Relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 with a degree in international relations. He is authoring a book published by Random House due for a highly anticipated 2010 release. Wes was recently named one of Ebony Magazine’s Top 30 Leaders Under 30 for 2007 and one of Crains New York top 40 young business leaders under 40.

Chris Mortensen

Senior NFL Analyst

Presenter of the 2009 IAVA Veterans Leadership Award

Chris Mortensen, an award-winning journalist and one of the most respected and accomplished reporters covering the NFL, joined ESPN in 1991 and appears on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown and SportsCenter. He also has contributed to Outside the Lines and coverage of the NFL Draft.

Previously, Mortensen served as the NFL columnist for The Sporting News and was a contributing writer for Sport magazine. He covered the NFL for The National (1989-90), where he was one of the first writers hired by editor Frank Deford.

From 1983-90 Mortensen filed investigative reports and covered the Braves (1983-85), Falcons (1985-86) and the NFL (1987-89) for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In 1987 he was honored with the George Polk Award for his reporting, and he remains the sole sportswriter to receive the award since Red Smith in 1951. Since starting his career with the South Bay (Calif.) Daily Breeze in 1969, Mortensen has received 18 awards in journalism and been nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes. In 1978 he won the National Headliner Award for Investigative Reporting in all categories.

The author of Playing for Keeps: A True Story About Football, Playoffs and the Mob, Mortensen attended El Camino College before serving two years in the Army.

Brian Williams

Anchor & Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News

The Third Annual Heroes Gala Master of Ceremonies

Brian Williams is seen by more Americans on a daily basis than any other individual in the news media. NBC Nightly News is the single largest daily source of news in the United States, and Brian Williams is only the seventh Anchor and Managing Editor in its history. In his first two years on the job, he became the most highly awarded network evening news anchor of the modern era. He has received six Edward R. Murrow Awards, 10 Emmy Awards, the duPont-Columbia University Award and the industry’s highest honor, the George Foster Peabody Award. Most were awarded for his work in New Orleans while covering Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Vanity Fair magazine later called his work "Murrow-worthy", and The New York Times said his reporting of Katrina was "a defining moment as a network reporter and anchor." In 2006, Time magazine named Brian Williams one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Williams is a former NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, and former Anchor and Managing Editor of The News With Brian Williams on MSNBC and CNBC. He has traveled the world extensively, including two years with the President on board Air Force One. He has covered numerous nominating conventions and presidential campaigns and elections, and has moderated several presidential debates. He was the first NBC News correspondent to reach Baghdad during the 2003 war in Iraq, and was part of a U.S. Army helicopter mission that was forced down by enemy fire south of Najaf. He nonetheless has returned to Iraq several times.

He is a native of Middletown, New Jersey, where he spent many years as a volunteer firefighter, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. He attended Catholic University and George Washington University, both in Washington, D.C. He is a former White House intern, and has been awarded seven honorary degrees. Williams is a frequent guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and has often appeared with David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. He has written for The New York Times, Time, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. After hosting Saturday Night Live in November, Entertainment Weekly said his name belongs alongside SNL’s all-time greats. He is married to Jane Stoddard Williams, and the couple has a daughter in college and a son in high school. Brian Williams was named "Father of the Year" in 1996 by the National Father's Day Committee.

The PS22 Chorus

Led by Gregg Breinberg

The PS22 Chorus is comprised of 60-70 fifth graders from a Staten Island public school. Despite the fact that PS22 is not a magnet school for the arts, the group has been recognized internationally and has been prominently featured on national television, including ABC's Nightline and Good Morning America. The program has been lauded by NYC Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Chuck Schumer, US Congressman McMahon, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The group has performed with some extremely distinguished musicians in the business, including Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Stevie Nicks. The chorus has been instrumental in inspiring at-risk students to succeed in all other areas of curriculum.