Congressman Marty Russo: As you will hear from his accent, Marty hails from the great town of Chicago, Illinois and he grew up in a big Italian family where he learned the value of hard work and getting an education.

After graduating from DePaul Law School, Marty started his professional career in the State’s Attorney office of Illinois. His first work assignment was to tackle one of the most difficult problems facing Chicago – the violent street gangs that roamed the streets.  Marty spent 3 years in this dangerous job — gathering evidence and prosecuting gang members to put them behind bars.

At the age of 30, Marty was elected as a moderate Democrat in the 3rd District of Illinois. When he arrived at the United States House of Representatives, he brought the same tenacity that it took to fight street gangs and used it to achieve compromise in Washington. Over the next 18 years Marty was involved in all the major issues facing Congress:  tax reform, saving social security and Medicare, the energy crisis, national security challenges and ever growing fiscal issues.

Marty was best known for his many close relationships on both sides of the political aisle. He keeps in touch with more than one former president.

After leaving Congress Marty went into the lobbying profession and quickly rose to become CEO of one of the most powerful firms in Washington.

Now, in his “third career” Marty gives back by speaking and lecturing on how to make a positive difference in our Democracy by getting involved.

You can learn more about Cong. Russo here.

Philanthropist, Anthony Melikhov is founder of unite4:good, a groundbreaking new movement to inspire and empower positive, global change through acts of kindness.

Melikhov gathered a network of celebrities and leaders, among others to stand with unite4:good when it launched in 2013.  The mission:  One small act — if through kindness, charity, awareness or love — can change the world, still stands.

His drive to impact humanity for the greater good did not start there, as three years prior, Melikhov founded the non-profit organization, Bright Future International or BFI in 2010.  There, educational programs that promote empathy, understanding and morality for children and adults are created.  Funding also is provided.

The inspiration toward launching first, BFI and then the unite4:good global movement stemmed from spending an enlightening and educational year deep in the jungles of Panama.  The journey left Melikhov with a new focus toward positivity as a source of overall well-being.

A native of Minsk, Belarus, Melikhov came to the U.S. in 1989 when he co-founded and served as president of the Illinois-based pharmaceutical company, Sagmel, Inc., in which he later sold.

Melikhov has pledged his resources, as well as time and energy to the movement, in which he serves as a hands-on, visionary leader.  The social and digital platform unite4good.com is expected to launch later this year.

Melikhov lives by the principle that if his recourses are used for promoting every day kindness, the positivity will come back to him infinitely.

You can learn more about Anthony here.