Celina Stewart is the chief executive officer of the League of Women Voters of the United States. In this role, she is charged with executing the mission to empower voters and defend democracy and managing the century-strong voting rights organization’s operations and resources. She joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series to discuss the League’s work to combat democratic backsliding and protect voters’ rights, opening a week exploring “The Global Rise of Authoritarianism.”

Stewart first joined the League in 2018 as director of advocacy and litigation and was promoted to senior director in April 2019 and to chief counsel in July 2020. In these roles, she worked to incorporate broader strategic vision and implementation by building stronger relationships with legal partners, strengthening relationships and visibility of the League on the Hill; executing the League’s redistricting initiative, People Powered Fair Maps; and launching the League’s multi-decade One Person One Vote campaign to end the Electoral College.

Prior to joining the League, she was acting chief operating officer and director of philanthropy at an electoral reform nonprofit. Other previous positions include litigation consultant to several Am 100 law firms handling complex merger and acquisition transactions; legislative aide at the Michigan legislature handling the public interest portfolio for the House Tax Chair; legal counsel to the Minority Leader Stacey Abrams at the Georgia House of Representatives; and executive director for the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s 21st Century program. She earned her J.D. from Western Michigan University Law School and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Spelman College.

This program is made possible by The Richard Newman Campen “Chautauqua Impressions” Fund.

Press freedom advocate and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty editor Alsu Kurmasheva joins Almar Latour, the CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, in conversation for the Chautauqua Lecture Series to close a week on “The Global Rise of Authoritarianism.”

Alsu Kurmasheva is a journalist and editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), where she has reported extensively on cultural and human rights issues in Russia’s Volga-Ural region. She first joined RFE/RL in 1998 as a radio program moderator and has since built a career covering the experiences of ethnic minorities in Russia. Her reporting has also focused on gender issues, with in-depth investigations into domestic violence and women’s rights.

In October 2023, Kurmasheva was detained in Russia and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent. Two months later, she was accused of spreading “false” information about the Russian military, a charge linked to her alleged role in distributing a book featuring accounts from Russians opposed to the invasion of Ukraine. Held for more than nine months, in July 2024, Kurmasheva was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. In August 2024, she was released as part of a prisoner exchange that also saw the return of fellow American journalist, The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Following her release from detention in Russia, she has emerged as a vocal advocate for press freedom, drawing on her own experience of imprisonment to highlight the risks journalists face in authoritarian regimes.

Almar Latour is publisher of The Wall Street Journal and CEO of Dow Jones, a world-leading news and business information services company. He was named CEO in 2020 and, under his leadership, Dow Jones has delivered record financial results, more than doubling profitability in four years, with significant growth in subscriptions and business information services. The company has doubled digital subscriptions, while safeguarding The Wall Street Journal’s reputation as one of the world’s most-trusted news organizations. Dow Jones’ portfolio of business information offerings including Factiva, OPIS and Risk & Compliance provide businesses with key data and insights to make better decisions.

Latour has an extensive track record of building successful news media businesses in the digital age. He oversaw the creation of the Barron’s Group, quadrupling the group’s digital audience at Barron’s and MarketWatch, and led the modernization of The Wall Street Journal’s website. He also led the development of The Wall Street Journal in Japan, Korea and China.

Latour has been stationed as a journalist in Brussels, London, Stockholm, New York and Hong Kong. He has also served as a bureau chief in New York, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal online, and the editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones in Asia-Pacific before being appointed its executive editor.

This program is made possible by The Higie Family Lectureship.