Our Steering Committee

Steven A. Culbertson

Steven is President and Chief Executive Officer of Youth Service America, an international nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally. For two years in a row, the Nonprofit Times named him to its list of "The 50 most powerful and influential leaders" in the sector, saying, "Culbertson has helped to position volunteering and young people as an issue and a national priority."

Founded in 1986, Youth Service America's mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with communities, schools, corporations, and governments. Youth Service America envisions a global culture of engaged youth who are committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership and achievement.

Mr. Culbertson has been an active volunteer since childhood with service organizations ranging from Rotary International and the Boy Scouts of America to the Episcopal Church and the Lawrence Hall School. He is a Trustee for America's Promise, and serves on the boards of the National Service-Learning Partnership, America's Fund for Communities, and Youth Service America. He was born in Bitburg, Germany, grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, and has a degree in both English and French from Hamilton College.

Dawn Halfaker

Army Captain Dawn Halfaker, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, sacrificed her right arm and suffered numerous other wounds while leading troops in combat in Baquba, one of the most volatile cities in Iraq’s dangerous Diyala Province.

Dawn’s platoon saw significant combat during the five months she spent in Iraq. In addition to nearly constant rocket and mortar attacks on the police station where they were stationed, their patrols hit several improvised explosive devices. On June 19, 2004, she rolled out with one of her squads at about 1 a.m. in one of four up-armored Humvees with lots of mounted weaponry. They responded to some fire from enemy forces, and continued on their patrol. Later that night, they were hit by a barrage of small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades as they turned a corner.

When she arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she was in terrible shape. But, after 12 days in a coma, she turned the corner. Dawn spent a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and estimates she has had 20 surgeries.

Dawn attacked her civilian career with the same determination she brought to the basketball court as a guard on the Army’s Division 1 team. After brief stints as a Legislative Assistant with Congressman Douglas Hunter and a Technical Consultant with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, she started her own national security consulting company in 2006. She serves as Chief Executive Officer of Halfaker and Associates, LLC, which works in the areas of security policy, physical security, emergency management services at military bases, administrative and technical support, and training. From its start-up, the company demonstrated remarkable success.

Shortly after Dawn became a member of the Board of Directors of the Wounded Warrior Project in 2007, her fellow Board Members elevated her to the position of Vice President.

From her first contact with the organization, Dawn has been one of its most ardent champions. “The Wounded Warrior Project brings a lot of support to the table,” she said. “They really inspire our wounded war fighters, motivating people to reach new goals. The people at WWP help you figure things out when your whole life has suddenly changed and you’re dealing with your losses.”

Kaj Larsen

Kaj is an award winning producer and correspondent for Current TV.  He has reported from war zones and conflict spots around the world, in places such as Afghanistan, Somalia, Cambodia, and Haiti.  Kaj’s intrepid reporting and powerful filmmaking has put him at the vanguard of new broadcast journalism, and earned him critical acclaim including a Peabody nomination, a Telly award, and several Golden Cine awards. 

Prior to his work in Television journalism, Kaj spent five years serving as a US Navy SEAL.  As a Lieutenant he led a team of special warfare personnel in operations overseas deploying as a detachment Commander in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

Kaj received his Masters degree in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  He is a joint fellow at the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism studies and the Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics, and Public Policy. His focus includes international security policy, media politics, and political affairs.

Matthew Russell

Matthew works as a systems and management consultant in the greater Washington, DC area. He is currently developing the technology strategy for the U.S. Forest Service's National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) processes and leading the implementation for a document management system. Past projects include developing the migration strategy for a secure intranet for the DoD community, implementing a financial management program at the Department of Energy to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, and designing a DoD system to resolve one of its material weaknesses.

Previously, Matt worked at Military.com , a website aimed at the military community , where he was a member of the launch team. There he designed the back-end database that formed the core of Military.com's revenue streams and managed the News and History content on the site.

Originally from St. Louis, Matt graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a dual B.A. in Italian Literature and Classics. He also has a graduate certificate in Information Design from the University of Baltimore.

Mubuso Zamchiya

Mubuso is the Founder and CEO of Create! Education Solutions, a start-up company focused on providing life-transforming educational opportunities in Africa. He was previously an Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation, the Director of Special Operations at AES Corporation, and a Strategic Consultant at Barclays Bank.

Mubuso is Founder of the BOOST Fellowship, a nonprofit organization, launched in the year 2000 and based in Zimbabwe and South Africa, that equips university students to be purposeful people who can serve Africa's needs for sustainability through the principles of possibility-oriented living, entrepreneur intelligence, and servant leadership.

Mubuso has an LL.B, and LL.M in Commercial and International Law, from Bristol University, England. He also read for an MPhil in Development Studies at Wadham College, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar.

Jimmy Soni, Director

Jimmy’s research and community activities have focused on gang violence and juvenile justice issues, and he has worked with Durham Public Schools and community organizations to design youth workshops on community leadership. His research explored the right to mental health treatment for juvenile delinquents and the relationship between juvenile justice institutions and gang violence. On the basis of this work, Jimmy was awarded the John Kenneth Galbraith Scholarship to study social policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the awarded the 2006 Newhouse Prize from the Asian-American Journalists Association for columns on gang violence, urban development, and related topics.

Jimmy has presented to international audiences on academic integrity and honor code issues, and his commentary on these topics has appeared in several print publications and on National Public Radio. At Duke, he was responsible for designing and implementing a new Honor Code, and in 2007, Jimmy was invited to serve a three-year term on the Kenan Institute of Ethics Board of Trustees.

In 2007, Jimmy was awarded the prestigious Baltimore City Mayoral Fellowship, to work with the Baltimore Mayor’s Office on prisoner re-entry and juvenile justice issues.