Dr. Emmanuel Agogo

Dr. Emmanuel Agogo is Nigeria country representative at Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of global public health organization Vital Strategies, where he oversees efforts to prevent epidemics and improve cardiovascular health in that country. With over 20 years’ experience in public health, he previously served in leadership roles at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, where he was deputy director and senior technical advisor, and Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, where he was assistant director. Agogo is a subject matter expert on WHO Joint External Evaluation missions and has practiced primary care and family medicine in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Emmanuel earned a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Abadan, a master’s in tropical medicine and infectious diseases from the University of Liverpool, a postgraduate certificate in medical leadership from Keele University and an M.Sc. in primary and community health from the University of Birmingham. He was a Kofi Anan Public Health Leadership Fellow at the Africa Centre for Disease Control among many other awards and recognition for his service and innovation.

Delawar Barekzai

Delawar Barekzai is a public policy and global governance professional focused on managing aid effectiveness, the sustainable development agenda 2030, and crisis management. Delawar started his career in development sector of Afghanistan in 2005 and worked in multiple strategic development initiatives in the framework of United Nations programs and projects. He has previously held positions at GIZ, the World Bank and Deloitte. Besides Afghanistan, Delawar also worked in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Germany, Ethiopia, and Syria. Delawar did his undergraduate studies in strategic management and business in Goa University in India and master's in global public policy at the University of Potsdam in Germany. His main interest in the professional field is building the resilience of crises affected populations in some of the poorest countries of the world through understanding and connecting them to multilateral aid platforms.

Jennifer Counter

Jennifer Counter is a vice president at Orbis Operations where she advises friendly foreign governments on national security issues. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense Program where she looks at hybrid warfare, influence networks, mis- and disinformation, and women in national security. Prior to her current work, Jennifer was an Air Force intelligence officer, served as a State Department regional affairs officer, and led teams at the intersection of technology and big data with Ipsos, Evince Analytics, and within start-ups at a private equity firm. She is a lecturer at Northeastern University in the global studies and international relations department and a course associate in the strategic communications program at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. She volunteers with Girl Security as a mentor and enjoys running and yoga.

Mari Faines

Mari Faines just began a new role as Partner for Mobilization at Global Zero, where she co-leads the organization with the central governance team, overseeing movement building strategies and supporting rapid-response operations. Previously, she was director of communications and outreach for Physicians for Social Responsibility. Mari is also a podcast host and a diversity and equity activist. Mari holds an M.Sc. in the politics of conflict, rights, and justice from SOAS University of London. Her academic research focuses on conflict resolution, transitional justice, and racial disparities in the U.S., sub-Saharan Africa, and throughout the diaspora. Mari serves on the board of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation, U.K., and as steering committee member for their global DEI initiative, Organizations in Solidarity. Mari also serves as the founder and host of the WCAPS-UK podcast, Got Melanin. Mari’s current political and advocacy work includes being a member of Foreign Policy for America’s NextGen Initiative, serving as co-lead for the DEI working group. Previous political and advocacy activities include work with Democrats Abroad, African Development Forum, the London Conversations and as a UNITE 2030 youth delegate lead for the 2021 program focused on UN Global Goals.

Leigh Fisch

Leigh Fisch is the chief of staff to Bridgewater’s co-CEOs, focused on driving the execution of the company’s strategic priorities. She has developed a passion for and expertise in organizational design – how to weave together work, people, and targeted outcomes to advance the company agenda, shift the organization as needed, and simultaneously ensure stability and structure. Prior to this role, Leigh served as a manager in Bridgewater’s Investment Engine where she managed the implementation and successful delivery of the department’s top research and strategic management priorities. She spent her childhood in Israel, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Middle Eastern studies from Colgate University, and currently resides in New York City.

Marc Germain

Marc Germain is senior program manager at DAI Global, LLC, responsible for managing one of DAI’s flagship programs focused on promoting sustainable economic growth and increasing global export competitiveness of targeted southern and east African countries – the USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment Hub. Previously he served as regional advisor for the $42 million flagship USAID Water and Sanitation Project in Haiti.

Connie Gonzalez

Connie Gonzalez is senior program officer for the Center for Women’s Economic Empowerment at CIPE, based in El Salvador. Before joining CIPE, she served as partnership for growth and alliance for prosperity lead and senior strategic advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in El Salvador. Previously, she worked at USAID El Salvador on monitoring, evaluation, and learning and as a gender advisor. Prior to joining USAID, Connie served as gender consultant at the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) Latin American and Caribbean Regional Office in Costa Rica; director for Latin America, Portal de Microfinanzas at the INCAE Business School Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development in Costa Rica; and managed a World Bank-funded microfinance education management project in Costa Rica, among other roles. Connie earned her B.A. in Spanish from Dartmouth College, an M.A. in Latin American studies from George Washington University, and a certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Udo Jude Ilo

Udo Jude Ilo works to expand the space for social innovation and champions the use of entertainment as a tool for shaping narratives, supporting new voices, and engaging with the youth population in Africa. Jude’s focus has been about creativity and finding new tools for democracy promotion. As the Nigerian representative for the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) for nine years, Jude supported civic mobilization and media campaigns on political participation, natural resources management, and rule of law. By building partnerships with local and regional groups that promote inclusive democratic governance, Jude helped advocate for an empowered citizenry that holds political institutions accountable. In the last 19 years, he has worked to support a framework of democratic accountability that allows for the primacy of citizens’ voices through his professional roles and writings as a social commentator. Jude has built up skills in philanthropy management, organizational strategy development and international advocacy. He is an Eisenhower Fellow, Stanford, Draper Hills Fellow, and Yale World Fellow. He also the founder of the Natasha Ilo Foundation and has spent the last couple of years reflecting on loss, resilience, and overcoming pain. His poetry collection ‘Kasie’ (2021) focuses on these themes.

Daniel Köster

Daniel Köster is an expert in communications and European Union politics with more than 20 years of international experience. He is multilingual and was born in Germany. Currently, he is head of communications of the EPP Group, the biggest caucus in the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. His areas of expertise include media relations, EU law, Central and Eastern Europe, European history, energy, and environmental policy. His interests include flaws in democratic systems, incentives in politics, and history.

Christine A. LoCascio

Christine A. LoCascio joined the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) in 2001 and is now responsible for coordinating and implementing the Council’s federal, state, and international trade public policy objectives. Christine has led successful lobbying efforts on behalf of DISCUS and U.S. business coalitions supporting passage of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act; Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Korea, Colombia, Panama, Australia, Chile and Singapore; and other trade legislation, including the WTO accessions of Vietnam, Russia and China, and Trade Promotion Authority. Christine is a lecturer on the role of trade associations and advocacy at the Washington Campus and a member of Women in Government Relations, Women in International Trade, and the Washington International Trade Association. Christine received her B.A. in History and Italian language and literature from Washington University in St. Louis and her M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Rachael Masey

Rachael Masey is a director in DT Global’s stabilization and transition practice area, leading a portfolio of programs across the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern and Eastern Africa with USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives. She has more than eleven years of experience supporting technical and operational implementation of USAID, Department of State, Department of Defense, and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development projects. She specializes in the implementation of large-scale programs in conflict and post-conflict zones, having designed and led programs across Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Lake Chad Basin, and Syria. Rachael has contributed to the design of strategic interventions in both disinformation and conflict and climate change. She has served in leadership roles in both Washington, D.C., and field locations including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria. Her work has resulted in the design, development, and implementation of initiatives to support vulnerable populations both in conflict and recovering from conflict, working with diverse local actors to implement diverse and locally resonant programs to facilitate stabilization. Rachael received her M.A. in history from the University of Cape Town and her B.A. in history and international development from McGill University.

Dr. Ranit Mishori

Dr. Ranit Mishori is a physician and public health expert who currently leads the COVID-19 response for Georgetown University as the university’s inaugural chief public health officer. She is also a professor of family medicine at the School of Medicine. Ranit has worked globally for over 3 decades, first as a journalist covering conflict and international affairs, and subsequently as a physician, an educator, and researcher. Her medical and public health expertise covers a broad range, including refugee and migrant health, health and human rights, health inequities, primary care, and global health. As a physician and advocate, she is widely recognized for her work with forced migrants, torture survivors, asylum seekers, and people affected by conflict and sexual violence, primarily through her role as senior medical advisor at Physicians for Human Rights. Ranit has served on multiple national and international advisory boards and committees. Her medical education includes an M.H.S. in international health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine (where she also completed her family medicine residency). She is currently pursuing an M.St./LL.M. in international human rights law at Oxford University.

Brent Neiser

Brent Neiser is host and CEO of What’s Next with Money, a bi-monthly YouTube program on personal finance, foresight, and public issues. Brent was senior director of strategic partnerships and alliances for the Denver-based National Endowment for Financial Education, creating national programs on personal finance as well as over 100 partnerships with groups like Sesame Workshop and Habitat for Humanity. He led strategic intelligence, foresight, public policy and innovation including working with executive agencies and testifying before Congress. Brent holds a master’s in global studies from the University of Denver, a master’s in urban studies from Occidental College, an M.B.A. from the University of Louisville School of Business, and a bachelor’s in public affairs from George Washington University. Brent was a CORO Foundation Public Affairs Fellow where he worked with Walt Disney Imagineering. He also has a Kellogg School of Management certificate in nonprofit management. His media appearances include NBC’s “Today,” PBS’s “NewsHour” and The Wall Street Journal. He has spoken at OECD conferences in Rio de Janeiro and Washington and at financial summits in Seoul and Beijing. He was appointed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Consumer Advisory Board and served as chair in 2020. He enjoys paddleboarding, snowboarding, jazz drumming and Latin percussion, and modern design.

Amy Min Jung Paik

Amy Min Jung Paik is an associate research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA). Since 2013, she has been a tenured government think tank researcher. Selected as a Munich Young Leader by MSC and Körber-Stiftung, Amy participated in the 2018 Munich Security Conference, appearing in the nuclear security session. Before joining KIDA, she worked at Microsoft Korea as a business and communication associate. Amy also worked in government, having interned at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul where she won Ambassador Alexander Vershbow’s Appreciation Award. Since 2020, she has been a committee member of space law and use of force at the U.S. branch of the International Law Association. Amy has produced many articles on the ROK-US alliance, North Korea, cyber security, and maritime issues related to international law. Amy received her B.A. from Wellesley College in political science and her LL.M. from Korea University in international law. Currently, she is pursuing a doctoral degree in international affairs at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies with an international law concentration.

Monica Real

Monica Real is the deputy secretary of the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications National Corporation in Ecuador. She is a seasoned M.B.A. lawyer with experience across multiple senior management positions including advisory roles to senior executives and national authorities. She is skilled in public procurement, innovation policies, communications/public relations, and compliance across the public-private sector. Her former positions include senior advisor at the Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador, chief of staff of the Minister of Culture, regional director of the Public Procurement National Service, general counsel of Electrical Conglomerate, and EY international tax consultant. Monica is passionate about innovation, AI, digital transformation, and compliance with an international focus. She designed and implemented innovative projects such as the centralized purchase of medicines for the Ecuadorian public health sector (winner of the World Bank Procurement Innovation Challenge Award 2012), Open Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenges for creative industries, Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (with U.S. Embassy), and led the first MOU with the Smithsonian Institution.

Motria Savaryn-Roy

Motria Savaryn-Roy is a manager and senior economist with the Economics department at Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit agency. She manages the Market and Industry Center of Expertise. For close to a decade, she has specialized in analyzing economic and political risk in Asia. Prior EDC, she worked as an economist at Global Affairs Canada where she had the opportunity to work on the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), as well as a specialist in the Office of the Chief Economist. Before working for the federal government, she worked for the Government of Alberta’s Department of Finance. Motria holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, as well as an M.A. in Economics from the University of Ottawa.

Anna Sevortian

Anna Sevortian is executive director of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, responsible for the overall management, development, and representation of the organization. Before joining the Forum, Anna worked as Russia Director at Human Rights Watch. She has over 15 years of experience in working on civil society and human rights in the Eurasia region. Anna was a Galina Starovoitova Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., and deputy director of the Centre for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights in Moscow, Russia. Over the years, she has contributed to 40 research and evaluation projects and publications in Russian and English. Anna holds a mid-career M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a degree in journalism from the Moscow State University. 

Melisa Stivaletti

Melisa Stivaletti is a lead associate with Booz Allen Hamilton and currently serves as an Open Source intelligence (OSINT) advisor at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Prior to working at ODNI, Melisa worked as a task lead for multiple projects at the Defense Intelligence Agency where she established OSINT teams embedded with all-source analysts and spearheaded interdisciplinary projects. Melisa also served as a regional desk lead at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency where she led efforts around partner information sharing in the unclassified domain and provided near real time support to warfighters. In 2010-11 while serving as a Department of Army Civilian (DAC) in Afghanistan, Melisa worked as a field socio-cultural researcher and regularly briefed findings to key decision makers. Prior to her time as a DAC, Melisa served at the Department of Commerce working on a joint task force for economic development in Iraq and Afghanistan. She also has experience working on Capitol Hill, in academia contributing to Minerva projects, and as a university lecturer teaching political science. Melisa is active in mentoring and training the next generation of analysts and leaders. She is a certified project management professional, holds a B.A. in international relations from Liberty University and an M.S. in public policy from George Mason University, and completed coursework for a Ph.D. in public policy at the University of North Carolina. Melisa and her husband live in Alexandria, VA. They have a five-year-old son and enjoy spending time with their dog and cat. Melisa is a certified yoga instructor and is passionate about travelling and exploring the world.  

Michael Symonanis

Michael Symonanis has worked for over ten years at Louis Dreyfus Commodities, a privately held global commodity trading and merchandising firm. He is based in Memphis, Tennessee, the global headquarters for the largest cotton merchant in the world and the North America dairy business headquarters. Prior to joining Louis Dreyfus Commodities, Michael worked with NOL/APL for fourteen years in sales and operations roles. Michael completed his undergraduate degree at Iowa State University in business and international studies. He earned a Master of Professional Studies in supply chain management at Penn State University, a Master of Arts in organizational leadership at Gonzaga University, and a health and humanitarian supply chain management certificate from Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute. Michael remains actively engaged with industry organizations and stakeholders on U.S. cotton shipper issues including the American Cotton Shippers (ASCA), Texas Cotton Association (TCA), Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) and the Trade Stabilization Agreement (TSA) Shipper Advisory Board. In these roles, Michael furthers his organization’s commitment to actively address industry opportunities and challenges led for so many years by his colleagues Sheila Bracken and the late Steve Wyman.

Liang Wang

Liang Wang is currently the senior country officer for China, Korea,and Mongolia at the World Bank. In this role, he serves as the coordinator for the World Bank’s program in these three countries and lends the anchor unit in Washington, D.C. Since 2007, Liang has worked on the operational policy of the International Development Association, the concessional finance window of the Bank; led tasks to formulate the Bank’s strategies in Tanzania, Burundi, Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso; and advised the managing director overseeing the Bank’s operations in Africa, South Asia, and Europe and Central Asia regions. Prior to the World Bank, Liang has worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Greenpeace in Hong Kong, and the UN Development Programme and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. His writings have appeared in The Washington Quarterly, The International Herald Tribune, The South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, and others. Liang holds double master’s degrees from the George Washington University and the University of Hong Kong and a B.A. degree from the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. He has also studied at Sciences Po in France and the University of Oslo in Norway.