After service as an Army Security Agency cryptographer, in the Philippines and Thailand, Al returned to civilian life.

While attending Rutgers University (nights), he began a career in corporate finance at several multinational corporations After 13 years, he began an insurance career, eventually becoming self-employed specializing in employee benefits programs.

In addition to Bienstock Financial Services, Al has active ownership interests in BATGA, LLC (security products and services) and Patriot K-9 Services, Inc. -- AK9A (high-tech training of dogs to detect various substances). He is an Advisory Board member of the National Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (worldwide port security training) and an associate at International Protective Service Group, LLC (security training and operations).

A Hampden Township commissioner since 2001, he previously volunteered on the Zoning Hearing Board and Planning Commission. He has worked on many political campaigns. He served on Governor-elect Tom Ridge's transition team, Governor Ridge's management review task force on banking and insurance and the Governor's Advisory Committee for Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

Public service includes Board membership on Pennsylvanians for Right to Work, treasurer of Taxpayers of America and many charitable and civic organizations.

A hobby led to Right Wing Limericks (www.RightWingLimericks.com). These "verbal cartoons" have been E-mailed, free of charge, to subscribers since August 2000. Another hobby is performing magic.

Al and Elyse Bienstock, married in 1968, have two daughters.

Toggle bio

David N. Taylor is Executive Director the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association (PMA), a statewide trade organization representing the interests of manufacturers in the state's public policy process since 1909.

In addition to overseeing the association's daily operations, he is editor of the PMA Legislative Bulletin, Webmaster of www.pamanufacturers.org, association spokesman, legislative lobbyist, and liaison to PMA members and allied organizations. He is also a columnist for the Pocono Business Journal and host of "Capitol Watch" on Lincoln Radio Journal.

A 1990 graduate of Dickinson College, Taylor previously worked for the Research Department of the Republican National Committee in Washington DC, state Sen. John J. Shumaker (R-Dauphin), and the Pennsylvania Leadership Council.

Immediately prior to joining PMA, he worked in the Washington DC office of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Allegheny), where he served as the staff writer for issues before the U.S. Senate Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Intelligence, and Veterans' Affairs committees.

Toggle bio

Simon Campbell is head of the grassroots, nonprofit organization, StopTeacherStrikes. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Simon immigrated to the U.S. with his family in the summer of 2004 to settle in Pennsylvania. Simon graduated from the University of Hull, England, with a degree in Management Systems and is an independent futures trader by profession. It was at Hull that Simon met his future wife, a native New Yorker, who was studying abroad on an exchange program from the University of California Los Angeles.

Following graduation, the US-UK duo took to the road with careers leading them to live in five countries over the next fifteen years. Prior to settling in Pennsylvania, the Campbells lived in Switzerland for five years where two of their three daughters were born, and where their eldest daughter attended Swiss public school.

In October 2005, a 21-day teacher strike began in the Pennsbury School District, Bucks County, affecting 11,500 students including the Campbell family and their cultural exchange student from Germany. With little money, no political connections, and no background in grassroots campaigning, Simon launched the website www.stopteacherstrikes.org, to reach out to other Pennsylvanians. In Simon's words: "there's nothing special about me. I'm just a parent who got fed up."

Simon's goals include trying to explain to his Swiss-born dual US/UK citizen children where they are from, without getting confused himself, and trying to understand how teacher union bosses at the PSEA could spend money at golf clubs.

Toggle bio

Chester County native Curt Schroder is serving his seventh term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He was first elected to represent the 155th Legislative District in November 1994.

As a member of the General Assembly, Schroder serves on the newly formed House Gaming Oversight committee, which is responsible for oversight of the Commonwealth's gambling industry, as well as the House Liquor Control, Urban Affairs, and Insurance committees.

Throughout his legislative career Schroder has been a leader in the fight to lower malpractice insurance costs to keep good doctors practicing in the Commonwealth.

In 2006, Schroder led legislative efforts to reform the General Assembly as a founding member of the Jefferson Reform Initiative (JRI) and the Bipartisan Reform Group. In 2007, Speaker Dennis O'Brien appointed Schroder to serve on the Speaker's Bipartisan Commission on Legislative Reform. The commission is charged with reforming the legislative process and bringing greater openness to the legislature.

A dedicated public servant, Rep. Schroder has been the recipient of several awards including the Matthew J. Ryan Legislator of the Year Award (2004) and the TriCounty Chamber Foundations's Legislator of the Year Award (2004, 2006). Most recently, Schroder was named the first recipient of the Sen. Robert J. Thompson Public Service Award by the Exton Regional Chamber of Commerce.

He and his wife, the former Deanna K. Doty, reside in Downingtown with their two children, Mark and Kristen.

Toggle bio

Joe Sterns is State Senator Mike Folmer's director of policy and communications.

For the last decade, Sterns has been active in Republican politics as a speechwriter, spokesman, consultant, and issue advocate. He has worked on numerous campaigns at the local and state level, including a role as press secretary for Pat Toomey's U.S. Senate campaign.

In 2006, following the aftermath of the pay raise scandal, Sterns penned the "Promise to Pennsylvania," and consulted two of its sixteen signatories to historic primary victories over powerful incumbents.

A graduate of California University of PA with a degree in public relations, Sterns worked for four years in Harrisburg as a communications specialist for House Republicans.

He is a former state chairman of the Young Republicans, and a founding father of the Young Conservatives.

Sterns lives in Deer Lake with his wife, Gretchen, and their sons, Samuel and Luke.

Toggle bio

Lynn A. Marks is the Executive Director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a statewide nonpartisan organization working to improve the court system in Pennsylvania, particularly in the areas of judicial selection, judicial discipline, jury service, court administration and financing, and increasing racial and gender fairness.

Ms. Marks serves on the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, the Pennsylvania Commission on Justice Initiatives, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association's House of Delegates. She also serves on the American Bar Association's Standing Commission on Judicial Independence and its Commission on the American Jury.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Ms. Marks has taught college courses in the justice system and is the author of a legal treatise on the rights of victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Ms. Marks was named one of 50 Pennsylvania "Women of Influence in The Legal Profession" by American Lawyer Media. She sits on several non-profit boards and has received numerous awards, including a Philadelphia City Council Proclamation "in tribute to her life's work."

Toggle bio