Greg Lucas was appointed California State Librarian in 2014, and like institution he leads, he's a valuable archive of information & perspective about California's history. A former journalist, a Grateful Dead fan and an avid reader, Greg is also, professionally and personally, a passionate advocate for California's 1100+ community libraries. "Everybody has a cool library story; is there a single person out there who doesn't like libraries?"

Hannah Broyles-Grundy is a Northern California funeral director and apprentice embalmer. Having dealt with much loss and grief in her young life, Hannah brings to her work not only a licensed skill at handling 'dead bodies' but an instinctive sensitivity to helping and caring for mourning families. And she wants to change the perception the public may have that morticians don't care; "You can't see this side of people without feeling for them, without understanding what they're going through..."

Nesar Ahmad served as a battlefield interpreter for the US military in Afghanistan, Yalda Rahmatee graduated with a college degree in business administration; they secretly fell in love as Afghan teenagers, married, then immigrated to the US in 2014. Now, as American citizens and sucessful professionals in their respective fields, Nesar and Yalda share their story of leaving their 'home country' and making a new life with their children here in Northern California, balancing respect and obervance of their Afghan culture with the joy and hope of seeking continued opportunities for the future.