Erie County, Pa. (WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com) — The 15th Jefferson Educational Society (JES) Global Summit is underway, featuring a lineup of groundbreaking researchers, writers and presenters.

The JES Global Summit XV kicked off Monday, Oct. 23 and runs through Nov. 13, 2023 at the Jefferson Educational Society and Gannon University.

Monday kicked off the summit with Peter Baker, the Chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times, who spoke on “U.S. Foreign Policy, Russia-Ukraine, Putin, and Campaign 2024.”

Tuesday’s event — “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City” — will be led by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the Associate Dean for Public Health and C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Admission for this event is free.

Wednesday features Brian Freedman on “Crushed: How a Changing Climate is Altering the Way We Drink—and Eat.”

Thursday of this week — Richard Florida, university professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and School of Cities, and author — will hold “An Afternoon with Richard Florida.“

Friday — Matt Weidinger, senior fellow and Rowe Scholar in opportunity and mobility studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) — will be talking “Poverty in America: Measurement, Politics, and Progress.“

And Sunday this week, David Urban, American lobbyist and political commentator for CNN, will be covering “2024: Politics, Pennsylvania, the Status of the GOP, and ‘the Race.‘”

The event closes out on Nov. 13 with Val Demings and Michael Steele on “The State of American Politics: A Conversation with Val Demings and Michael Steele.”

Click here for a full lineup of speakers.