Thirty finalists of the art contest will be reviewed by the public and a panel of qualified judges to include Arianna Huffington, Margaret Cho, Jesse Dylan, Marshall Ganz, Arlene Holt Baker, and Aaron Rose. Read more about our judges below.

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that has quickly become one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet.  She is also a nationally syndicated columnist and author of twelve books. In 2006, she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics.

Margaret Cho

Revered for her crass in-your-face style, Margaret Cho burst onto the scene in 1994 with her sitcom, “All American Girl,” and has since become one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed comedians of our time. In 1999, she chronicled her legendary struggles with network executives over her weight and ethnicity into a groundbreaking one-woman show, “I’m The One That I Want,” praised by Entertainment Weekly as one of the “Great Performances of the Year!” In her following stand-up concert tours and films, “Notorious C.H.O.,” “Revolution,” “Assassin,” and “Beautiful,” Margaret’s has tackled sexism, organized religion, homophobia, sex, racism, revolutionizing one’s self-esteem, her loser ex-boyfriends, and of course, her now world-famous mother. A brilliant, taboo-busting comedian in the spirit of Lenny Bruce, Margaret Cho is known as much for her contributions as a social equalizer as she is for her raunchy humor. She has been honored by the ACLU of Southern California, the National Organization for Women (NOW), GLAAD, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and PFLAG for making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Margaret is currently working on a forthcoming comedy music album, “Guitarded/Leotarded,” a release she is writing for with Patty Griffin, Jon Brion, Andrew Bird, Ani DiFranco, and Grant Lee Phillips, among others. Her new stand up concert film, “Beautiful,” is airing on Showtime and will be available on DVD on November 17th. She can also be seen in the new comedic drama series, “Drop Dead Diva,” on Lifetime, Sundays at 9pm ET/PT.

Jesse Dylan

Much of Jesse’s work is devoted to telling the stories of innovative projects, people, and organizations worldwide through his company, FreeForm. His most recent projects include a film communicating the mission of the Clinton Global Initiative; a series of PSAs for the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s national iParticipate campaign, which encourages national volunteerism; and the Emmy Award-winning video, YES WE CAN SONG, inspired by Barack Obama. Additionally, he creates media projects for a diverse group of organizations including (RED), the campaign to fight AIDS in Africa, and KIVA, a non-profit micro-lending organization dedicated to alleviating poverty. Other projects have included a short film featuring Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the topic of reconciliation, and a short film exploring innovation at Harvard Medical School.

As a feature-film director, Jesse has directed Kicking and Screaming, How High (starring Method Man and Red Man), and the third installment of the hit American Pie series, American Wedding. In addition, Jesse has been behind some of the most successful commercial campaigns in television, print, and interactive advertising, and he has created award-winning commercials for clients including Nike, Nintendo, Motorola, American Express, NFL, and MTV.

Marshall Ganz

Marshall  Ganz  advised the Obama campaign on organizing, leadership development, and training.  He spent 16 years with Cesar Chavez in his effort to unionize farm workers, and worked on numerous political campaigns where he developed new techniques for mobilizing citizen participation.  His new book, Why David Sometimes Wins: leadership, organization and strategy in the California farm worker movement was published in May, 2009. He currently serves as a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Aaron Rose

Aaron Rose is a film director, art show curator, Musician and writer who is most responsible as the cornerstone of the Beautiful Losers art movement and world tour, which has featured and helped notarize the work of artists such as Barry McGee, Steven “Espo” Powers, Harmony Korine and Shepard Fairey.  Rose directed the documentary films Beautiful Losers and Become a Microscope – 90 Statements on Sister Corita.  Rose created Alleged Press, which has released books featuring the art of Ari Marcopoulos, Ed Templeton, Mike Mills, Barry McGee and Chris Johanson. He is also co-editor of ANP Quarterly.  In 2009, he joined Wieden+Kennedy and helped create WKE (WKEntertainment), a content-driven entertainment channel and production house.

Robbie Conal

Political artist Robbie Conal grew up in New York City.  His parents were union organizers who considered the major art museums in Manhattan to be day care centers for him. He attended the High School of Music and Art, received a BFA at San Francisco State University in 1969; a Master of Fine Arts degree at Stanford University in 1978. In 1984 he moved to Los Angeles and began making satirical posters of  politicians and bureaucrats who, by his acerbic standards, had abused their power in the name of representative democracy.

Beginning with, “MEN WITH NO LIPS.” in 1986, he and his very irregular guerrilla army of volunteers have been putting up posters on the streets of major cities around the country. Since then, he’s made over 60 posters satirizing politicians from both parties, televangelists, global capitalists, and life-style gurus—also taking on censorship, the Supreme Court and environmental issues.

Arlene Holt Baker

Arlene Holt Baker’s outstanding leadership since being appointed to replace retired AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez Thompson was rewarded with election by acclamation to serve a full term in the office by delegates to the AFL-CIO’s 26th convention on September 16, 2009. Arlene’s commitment to activism on behalf of working families has been a source of strength that has empowered her to overcome challenges and disappointments that might have deterred a leader of lesser mettle. With more than 30 years of experience as a union and grassroots organizer, Holt Baker began her work in the union movement with AFSCME, and as an organizer and international union representative, she helped public-sector workers in California form a union and win contracts that provided better wages and pay equity for women.