CLick Here to BUY Tickets to the 2023 Annual Benefit!

Adams Street Foundation
2023 Sponsors

To join our community of sponsors, please complete and return the form below.

ABOUT THE HONOREES AND HOST

Honoree

James Cole Jr.

James Cole, Jr. is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Jasco Group, a multidimensional investment management firm based in New York City.

James has held several previous positions focusing on educational achievement, access and opportunity for students. From January 2016 through January 2017, James was the US Delegated Deputy Secretary of Education and General Counsel. As Delegated Deputy Secretary, he served as the chief operating officer and chief legal officer at the US Department of Education, and oversaw a broad range of operational, management, policy, legal and program functions. James also oversaw the Department's work on President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Task Force, which sought to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color.

From 2004 to 2011, James served on the board of directors of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. From 2005 to 2011, he also served on the board of trustees of Prep for Prep, a New York City-based youth leadership development program that identifies and prepares students of color for the rigors of independent day and boarding schools.

Prior to joining the US Department of Education, James served as the Deputy General Counsel at the US Department of Transportation.

Prior to joining DOT, James was a partner in the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City, where his practice focused primarily on advising corporations in the US and around the world on mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance.

James is currently a member of the board of directors of American International Group. 

James also currently serves on the National Board of Directors of Jumpstart, which provides language, literacy, and socio-emotional programming for preschool children from under-resourced communities; the Advisory Board of the National Student Legal Defense Network, which, through litigation and advocacy, works to advance students’ rights to educational opportunity and to ensure that higher education provides a launching point for economic mobility; and the Board of Directors of Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow, which provides accessible business education for at-promise Black and Brown youth.

James lives in New York City with his young son.

Poppy Harlow (Host)

Poppy Harlow co-anchors CNN This Morning alongside Don Lemon and Kaitlan Collins weekday mornings from 6-9am ET. She is also the creator and host of the CNN podcast "BossFiles with Poppy Harlow." She previously anchored CNN Newsroom alongside Jim Sciutto weekdays from 9-11am ET.

Harlow imparts her deep economic knowledge by interviewing the world's top business leaders and CEOs including Warren Buffett, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Jay-Z, CZI co-founder and co-CEO Dr. Priscilla Chan, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Robin Hood CEO Wes Moore, among others. She has also interviewed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and moderated two CNN Presidential Town Halls.

She has been nominated for multiple Emmy awards throughout her career and her reporting has won numerous industry awards, including the Gracie Award for Best online investigative feature on financial fraud, and SABEW's Best in Business award for online video.

In addition to co-anchoring her show, Harlow often reports from the field during breaking news. She was sent to cover the 2015 Paris terror attacks and anchored from the ground there for two weeks focusing her coverage on the personal stories of the victims and their families.

Harlow anchored extensive coverage of the Boston marathon bombings and for years following the attacks she reported on the recovery and resilience of several women who lost limbs in the bombing.

Harlow is deeply focused in her reporting on income inequality and solutions to closing the opportunity gap for women and minorities. She launched the multi-media series "American Opportunity" shining a light on disparity across America.

Harlow joined CNN in 2008 after serving as an anchor for the Forbes Video Network and previously an anchor and reporter for NY1 News. Born and raised in Minnesota, Harlow graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Columbia University. She holds a Masters in Studies of Law from Yale Law School and has also studied at King's College London.

She is the proud mother of daughter Sienna and son Luca with her husband Sinisa. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as a member of the 2019 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute. Harlow previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in New York City. Harlow was the 2020 recipient of the John Jay Award, Columbia College alumni for distinguished professional achievement.

You can find her on social media @poppyharlowcnn.