Charles Suitt

Publisher & Patti’s Good Life Partner

Charles M. Suitt joined Gallery Books in 2021 as Publisher of 13A, a new imprint publishing renowned and relevant Black voices in culture and politics. Charles began his career in entertainment after attending St. John’s University and The City University of New York. In 2008, Charles partnered with Simon & Schuster, co-founding Karen Hunter Publishing. The imprint's New York Times bestsellers included Janet Jackson's True You; Patti LaBelle’s Recipes for the Good Life; Congressman Keith Ellison’s My Country, Tis of Thee; Kris Jenner’s, Kris Jenner... and All Things Kardashian; and E. Lynn Harris’ Mama Dearest.

Cherelle Parker

Mayor of Philadelphia

On January 2, 2024, Cherelle Parker made history when she was sworn into office as the City of Philadelphia’s 100th Mayor, becoming the first woman elected as mayor in the city’s history. Born to a single mother and raised by her grandparents, Parker attributes her success to the community that raised her in Philadelphia. She went to public school her whole life, and was the first in her family to attend college, graduating from Lincoln University for her bachelor’s degree and the University of Pennsylvania for her Master’s of Public Administration.

In 2005, Parker made history as the youngest African-American woman elected to the Pennsylvania State Legislature. She served as a State Representative representing Northwest Philadelphia for 10 years, eventually becoming the Chair of the Philadelphia Delegation. During her time in the General Assembly, Parker fought to secure funding for public education, defended working families, and protected victims of sexual assault.

In 2016, Parker was elected to the Philadelphia City Council representing the 9th District. She was later elected to be the Council Majority Leader, and spent her time focusing on issues such as public safety, economic mobility, cleaning the streets, and making a city government that functioned for the people. As she steps in the city’s highest office, as mayor, Cherelle Parker plans to bring these priorities with her in her goal to make Philadelphia the “safest, cleanest, and greenest big city in the nation with economic opportunity for all.”

Richard Vague

Economist and Author

Richard Vague is Secretary of Banking and Securities for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is the author of A Brief History of Doom, a chronicle of major world financial crises, The Next Economic Disaster, a book with a new approach for predicting and preventing financial crises, and the Illustrated Business History of the United States.

Vague was co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Energy Plus, an electricity and natural gas supply company operating in states throughout the U.S. that was sold to NRG Energy in 2011, and also co-founder and CEO of two banks – First USA, a consumer-oriented bank which grew to be the largest Visa issuer in the industry and which was sold to Bank One in 1997, and Juniper, a bank that was the fastest growing credit card issuer in its era, which was sold to Barclays PLC in 2004.

Richard currently serves on the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees and the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees, and on a number of business boards. He is chair of FringeArts Philadelphia, chair of the University of Pennsylvania Press, and chair of the Innovation Advisory Board of the Abramson Cancer Center. He also serves on the Governing Board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking and the board of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. Vague is the founder of the economic data service Tychos (tychosgroup.org), which specializes in analyzing private debt trends and also the email newsletter service Delanceyplace.com, which focuses on non-fiction literature.

Jordan Jackson

Global Market Strategist with JP Morgan Chase

Jordan Jackson, Vice President, is a Global Market Strategist on the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Global Market Insights Strategy Team. Jordan is responsible for delivering timely market and economic commentary to clients across the country and is a frequent guest on Bloomberg, CNBC, and other financial news outlets.

He has authored several papers on the economy and markets, with a focus on public fixed income and monetary policy, and is often quoted in the financial press. In addition, Jordan is responsible for conducting research on the global economy and capital markets as well as publications such as the Guide to the Markets and weekly blog posts.

An employee since 2015, prior to his role on Global Market Insights, he worked on the Global Consultant Strategy Group based in New York where he was responsible for serving the investment needs of institutional asset management consultants in North America and Canada.

He earned a B.A. in African-American Studies from the University of Virginia.