Virginia Film Festival

Ian H. Solomon is a professor of practice and dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

For four years, Solomon served in the U.S. Senate as legislative counsel to then-Senator Barack Obama. Later, under the Obama administration, he was confirmed unanimously by Congress as the U.S. Executive Director for the World Bank Group. Solomon has also been a consultant with McKinsey & Company, an associate dean and visiting lecturer at Yale Law School, and a vice president and lecturer in law at the University of Chicago. Before joining the Batten School, he led his own international consulting practice focused on conflict and collaboration.

Originally from New York City, Solomon earned his AB from Harvard University and his JD from Yale Law School. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration​.

Film: No Ordinary Campaign

Jim Plews-Ogan is a recently retired pediatrician in Charlottesville, Virginia who spent the majority of his career at the private practice he started in 2002, offering highly personalized care (including house calls!) for adolescents and children. Plews-Ogan is an Emeritus Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia. He has published articles on the care of children with medical complexity and disability. His blog, Offering Kindness, gave voice to families facing medical complexity and disability. Now, the blog reflects his own journey with ALS.

The Hummingbird Fund was born in April 2022, with a kickoff event in Charlottesville including family, friends, patients, neurologists at UVA, a local live band, and of course, an ice bucket dousing. The event was an astounding success: The Hummingbird Fund immediately raised nearly $150,000 and the focus for Plews-Ogan’s retirement came into being—ALS advocacy.

Film: No Ordinary Campaign

Like many of Brian Wallach’s college classmates, Chris always looked forward to voting for Brian for President one day.  As it turned out, he wound up supporting Brian in a very different kind of campaign—remaking the fight against ALS.

A veteran of documentary, TV and commercial production across genres, Chris won an Emmy for directing the PBS documentary Bloody Thursday about the hard-fought struggle of Pacific Coast longshoremen to unionize in Depression-era San Francisco. He has created shows for networks including Discovery, A&E, Turner and Food Network, as well as produced content for Showtime Sports, FOX Sports and more. Chris has been documenting Brian and Sandra’s fight since before the launch of I AM ALS in early 2019.

Film: No Ordinary Campaign

Andrea Goodman is an experienced public health leader with a passion for patient power and health equity. As CEO of I AM ALS, she helms the strategy for the organization’s future from start-up to sustaining movement, all with a laser focus on treatments and cures for ALS. Previously Goodman was SVP of Patient Support & Research Strategy at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. She also served as the VP of Patient Engagement for Genetic Alliance as well as Maternal and Child Health Director for the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, where she led consumer content and partners for the award-winning Text4baby service. She has supported public health campaigns across a variety of populations and disease areas. Goodman holds a Master of Public Health from The George Washington University and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University.

Film: No Ordinary Campaign