The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Learn about energy issues and policies. Participants will visit state of the art facilities in and around Charlotte. A policy discussion will provide international delegates with best-practices from Charlotte's energy sector and debate policy issues in the context of the presidential campaign.
Sponsor: Duke Energy
Panelists:  Kateri Callahan, president, Alliance to Save Energy; David G. Dalton, president and CEO, General Microcircuits; Thomas R. Kuhn, president, Edison Electric Institute; James E. Rogers, chairman, president and CEO, Duke Energy
Moderator: Kevin Massy, associate director of the Energy Security Initiative, Brookings Institution

Please note: You must wear pants and flat shoes to participate in this site visit.

Learn about education issues and policies. Participants will visit primary, secondary and collegiate institutions and meet with local and national policy makers to discuss issues facing the North Carolina community in the context of the presidential campaign.
Panelists: Ronald L. Carter, president, Johnson C. Smith University; Ann Blakeney Clark, deputy superintendent, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; Philip L. Dubois, chancellor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Malcolm Graham, senator, North Carolina Senate; Heath Morrison, superintendent, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; Denise Watts, zone superintendent, Project L.I.F.T
Moderator: Maria Voles Ferguson, executive director, Center on Education Policy

Learn about health issues and policies. Participants will visit Charlotte's leading medical training and service institutions and meet with local and national policy leaders to discuss issues facing the North Carolina community in the context of the presidential campaign.
Panelists: Elizabeth Coté, White House fellow, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Nancy Fey-Yensan, dean, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Louis J. Foreman, founder and chief executive, Eventys, CEO, Edison Nation; Roger A. Ray, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Carolinas HealthCare System; Stephen L. Wallenhaupt, chief medical officer, Novant Heath
Moderator: Kavita Patel, Brookings Institution

Speakers: Madeleine K. Albright, former secretary of state and chairman, NDI; Kenneth Wollack, president, NDI; Dan Murrey, executive director, Charlotte in 2012 Host Committee

Panelists discuss important facets of the 2012 presidential selection process.
Panelists: Frank Fahrenkopf, former chairman of the RNC and co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates; Paul Kirk, former U.S. senator, co-chairman emeritus of the Commission on Presidential Debates and former DNC chairman; Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont and former DNC chairman; and Elaine Kamarck, Harvard lecturer, former Clinton White House senior policy advisor
Moderator: Eugene Robinson, columnist and Pulitzer prize winner, The Washington Post

Please Note: Supplementary reading materials for this panel can be found here.

MSNBC talk show hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski recreate the "Morning Joe" show featuring regular contributors discussing the campaign period, including how the nominations and campaigns have been covered from a media perspective.
Panelists: Mark Halperin, senior political analyst for TIME magazine, Time.com and MSNBC, co-author of Game Change; John Heilemann, national affairs editor and columnist for New York magazine and NYMag.com, and co-author of Game Change; Sam Stein, political reporter at Huffington Post; Michael Steele, former chair of the RNC
Hosts: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski

Dynamic global thought leaders discuss and demonstrate how information communications technology (ICT) is being used to strengthen democracy.
Sponsor: Google
Speaker: Marietje Schaake, European Parliament

Panelists cover how a next administration would turn campaign promises into reality, including working with Congress and setting priorities, all within the context of our contemporary political process and challenges in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Sponsor: Amgen
Panelists: Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senate majority leader, co-chair, ONE Vote 2012 and vice chair, NDI; Vin Weber, former U.S. representative and former chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy; John Podesta, chair and counselor of the Center for American Progress, former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton; Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent for The New Yorker; Scot Lehigh, columnist for The Boston Globe
Moderators: Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute; John Fortier, director of the Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center

Relax, network, eat and drink at the ILF Hospitality Center. Convention credentials will be distributed at the Hospitality Center.

Leading pollsters and analysts will discuss findings of public opinion research regarding the 2012 presidential election. They will review and analyze how voter sentiment is shaping the campaigns and, in turn, how the campaigns are trying to influence voter sentiment when it comes to defining issues, characterizing candidates, and communicating messages. The panel will feature clips from a nonpartisan focus group in the swing state of Wisconsin.
Panelists: Whit Ayres, president, North Star Opinion Research; Stan Greenberg, CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner; Peter Hart, chairman of Peter D. Hart Research Associates; Andrew Kohut, president, Pew Research Center
Moderator: Katty Kay, BBC

The most innovative campaigners, including social media and data management experts, discuss how new techniques are reshaping how political campaigns are run.
Sponsor: Google
Panelists: Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge; Mindy Finn, strategic partnerships, Twitter, 2008 Romney campaign and Republican digital strategist; Andrew Bleeker, global digital practice director, Hill & Knowlton, 2008 Obama for America and former DNC digital strategist
Moderator: Riz Khan

Private luncheon honoring former vice presidential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro.
Sponsors: Coca-Cola, Chevron

Dynamic global thought leaders discuss and demonstrate how information technology is being used to enhance citizen participation, improve government accountability and strengthen government transparency.
Sponsor: Google
Speaker: David Drummond, senior vice president, corporate development and chief legal officer, Google

By the year 2050, two-thirds of the world's population is expected to live in urban areas. This panel of innovative urban leaders will share their strategies and person experiences in building vibrant, thriving 21st century cities.
Panelists: Anthony Foxx, mayor of Charlotte; Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia; Matteo Renzi, mayor of Florence; Annise Parker, mayor of Houston
Moderators: Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School; Neera Tanden, Center for American Progress

Relax, network, eat and drink at the ILF Hospitality Center. Convention credentials will be distributed at the Hospitality Center.
Sponsor: American Federation of Teachers

With nearly 1.5 billion people living in absolute poverty, the United Nations has declared that poverty eradication efforts remain "the most significant challenge facing humankind." Inadequate access to education, basic health services and means to sustainable livelihoods impedes development and leads to low living standards. This panel of "influence shapers" will share innovative ways that governments, corporations and average citizens can make a difference in ending poverty, inequality and barriers to opportunity for the world's poor.
Sponsor: Duke Energy
Panelists: Morgan Tsvangirai, prime minister of Zimbabwe; Ashley Judd, actor, humanitarian, delegate to the Democratic convention and board member, Population Services International; Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senate majority leader, co-chair, ONE Vote 2012 and vice chair, NDI; David Miliband, former British foreign secretary, member of parliament;
Moderator: Michael Elliott, CEO and president, ONE Campaign

Dynamic global thought leaders discuss and demonstrate how information technology is being used to enhance citizen participation, improve government accountability and strengthen government transparency.
Sponsor: Google
Speaker: Tim O'Reilly, founder, O'Reilly Media; David Eaves, public policy entrepreneur

Experts discuss global challenges facing a next administration and their vision for America's role in the world, including opportunities on development, democracy and the economy.
Panelists: Madeleine K. Albright, former secretary of state and chairman, NDI; Michèle Flournoy, former U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy; Tim Roemer, former U.S. ambassador to India and former member of Congress; James Steinberg, former deputy secretary of state and dean of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. Jack Lew, White House chief of staff, will make opening remarks.
Moderator: Richard Wolffe, MSNBC contributor and author