Rachel Vogelstein

Iris Ferguson is president and founder of IAF Strategies, where she advises on Arctic security, energy security, and geopolitical risk, and holds affiliations as a visiting scholar at Penn Washington and a senior associate, non-resident, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience from 2022 to January 2025, advising the Secretary of Defense on protecting U.S. and allied interests in the Arctic, oceans policy and the Freedom of Navigation Program, critical minerals, and energy security. Previously, Ferguson served as an advisor for the U.S. Air Force, where she authored the Air Force’s first Arctic Strategy. Earlier in her career, she worked at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, helping establish SelectUSA, and as a legislative aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She holds a BA from the University of Arkansas and an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and completed a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship on Arctic and space security in Canada.

Alexis Prieur L’Heureux is Vice President at WestExec Advisors.

Prior to joining WestExec, Alexis most recently served as Chief of Staff for Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06). Alexis ran his congressional office, including his work on the House Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Budget Committees, and was also a Senior Advisor for his political action committee, Serve America. Alexis also served on President Joe Biden’s Presidential Transition Team as the lead for Department of Defense appointments. Before working on the Hill, Alexis served in President Obama’s Administration as a national security policy advisor at the Department of Defense (2009-2012, 2014-2017) and as a Deputy Executive Secretary at the U.S. Department of Treasury (2013-2014).

In addition to her government experience, Alexis has also worked to protect the vote for numerous campaigns at both the state and national levels, starting with then-Senator Obama’s 2008 primary campaign in New Hampshire. In 2017, Alexis co-founded All Voting Is Local, which is a non-profit that works to increase access to voting by improving how elections are run at the local level.

Caroline Zier has over 15 years of experience in defense and national security, and is currently the Deputy Lead for National Security Policy at OpenAI. She previously served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense, where she was responsible for helping manage the Secretary of Defense’s executive staff and providing counsel and advice to the Secretary on all matters concerning the Department.

From 2021 to 2023, Caroline was the Senior Advisor and Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense with responsibility for policy and national security matters. From 2018 to 2021, Caroline was the Director for Global Posture within the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy, leading a team responsible for providing oversight and management of the forces, footprint, and agreements that support the Department’s global operations and activities.

From 2016 to 2018, Caroline served as the Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs. She joined the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy in 2009, and held several other positions in the organization.  Prior to her government service, Caroline worked at Morgan Stanley in New York as an analyst. She graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts and received a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award and the Meritorious Civilian Service Award. She is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Amanda Simpson is an advisor and consultant on aerospace, energy, and DEI as the CEO of Third Segment LLC. She is a nationally renowned speaker and has presented at corporations, government agencies, civic organizations, conferences, and colleges around the country on technology and aerospace innovation as well as gender and diversity.

Formerly she was Vice President for Research and Technology and Head of Sustainability at Airbus Americas, responsible for  coordinating technology development, research activities, and innovation for Airbus in the western hemisphere. She was also the Head of Sustainability efforts for Airbus in the Americas and has been an outspoken advocate for future flight concepts and clean aviation.

Ms. Simpson joined Airbus following government assignments in the United States Department of Defense. She was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy, responsible for developing the strategy for the utilization of energy for military operational forces worldwide and was the senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all matters pertaining to energy in our military.

Mariah Sixkiller is a Director at Hakluyt & Co, a strategic consulting firm based in London.  She works in the San Francisco office and specializes in tech policy and regulatory matters for corporate and investor clients. Before joining Hakluyt in 2023, Mariah was the General Manager for Strategy in Microsoft’s US Department of Defense business. She also served as Director of Government Relations for Microsoft’s National Security Government Affairs team, focusing on public policy related to cloud, AI, quantum, and national security matters.

Bess Dopkeen is the founder of Keen Edge Strategies, LLC and has worked for over two decades in Defense. She advises small and nontraditional companies as they work to provide their innovative technology to the Department of War.

Bess was the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering for three years. At R&E she championed and guided policy, issues, and programs spanning from basic research through prototyping, experimentation, and transition. Previously Bess was a professional staff member on the House Armed Services Committee and the majority’s lead for the Science and Technology and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction portfolios. Before the Hill she was a senior analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation. She led the Defense Innovation Board’s 2018 congressionally mandated Software Acquisition and Practices study for the Under Secretary of Acquisition and Sustainment, was the Program Manager for the Cost Assessment Data Enterprise, and ran the Better Data for Acquisition effort for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition. She worked on major analyses for the Secretary including CAPE’s national security space launch study, evolutionary satellite acquisition-efficiency project, and National Nuclear Security Administration’s national labs labor-cost analysis.

Bess holds degrees from Tufts University and the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at National Defense University, where she was a distinguished graduate. She is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Bess was a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member, a Center for a New American Security Next Generation fellow, a Truman National Security Project fellow, and a Tufts University Dutko fellow. Bess helped create Tufts’ Tisch College of Civic Life’s summer DC fellowship and mentorship program and created and led the Tufts Fellowship program in the Pentagon for over a decade. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Paul Voosen, a science journalist for Science Magazine, and their two children.

Beth Roberts is a foreign policy, international trade, and development finance leader with nearly two decades of experience navigating complex geopolitical, regulatory, and investment environments to foster economic growth. In her current role as Senior Manager, Global Strategic Initiatives within Global Public Policy at General Motors, Beth focuses on advancing policies that bolster GM’s supply chain resilience efforts. She specializes in translating big-picture global dynamics into actionable strategies, detailed project management, and diplomatic advocacy to advance policy objectives and drive growth.

During the Biden Administration, Beth served as Vice President of the Office of Foreign Policy at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), where she launched and led a team of regional and sector policy experts focused on aligning DFC’s $50 billion global investment portfolio and business development strategy with U.S. foreign policy priorities. She served as the senior foreign policy advisor to DFC’s CEO, drove strategic diplomatic engagement, and helped integrate geopolitical risk and opportunity analysis across business lines.

Before joining DFC, Beth spent a decade at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), where she developed and managed infrastructure, energy, and agribusiness projects across Africa and South Asia. She also served as an advisor to MCC’s CEO, launched MCC’s Private Sector Advisory Council and led the Corporation’s first trade mission to Africa. Beth’s career began as a public affairs consultant at APCO, supporting domestic and global health care clients. Her service in the Peace Corps in Mali sparked her passion for working at the nexus global business, foreign policy, and sustainable development.

Beth is a graduate of Elon University and is a Truman National Security Project Security Fellow. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Washington, D.C.

Nilmini Rubin is the Chief Policy Officer for Hedera, a fast and energy-efficient global blockchain platform. She co-founded Fix the System, a coalition of organizations committed to election integrity and democracy strengthening in the U.S. Previously, Nilmini headed Tetra Tech’s global team implementing energy and internet projects that resulted in millions of people gaining access to electricity for the first time. For twelve years, she served as a senior aide on both the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee where she spearheaded the passage of legislation to provide electricity access in Africa, increase global internet access, reduce corruption through transparency, and reform U.S. foreign assistance. As a Director at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, Nilmini helped secure agreements on non-proliferation, international health and foreign aid. Nilmini was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and is a member of its Experts Network. She is an advisor to the Women’s Democracy Network and Energy Growth Hub, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Academy of the Global Teacher Prize and the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.

Deirdre M. Walsh is the Executive Vice President for Strategy and Government Affairs for ARKA Group. ARKA combines the strength of visionary aerospace and defense companies, bringing unparalleled innovation, expertise, and capability to the needs of the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense. Walsh brings her recognized leadership in the IC and the broader aerospace and defense industry to this position, along with her reputation for steadfast commitment to serving the nation and warfighter throughout her career. Prior to ARKA, Ms. Walsh served as Vice President of Strategic Operations for Ball Aerospace & Technologies. In this position, she led the creation and execution of government relations strategies to enhance Ball Aerospace’s reputation and strategic positioning in the industry as a trusted mission partner.

In her government career, she served as the first chief operating officer (COO) for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Walsh led the ODNI in its transformation to better integrate and unify the nation’s intelligence priorities and strategies. From 2014 to 2018, Walsh was director of legislative affairs for the ODNI. In this position, she managed ODNI’s interaction with Congress, supported Congressional oversight requirements, and advised ODNI senior leaders on Congressional priority interests. Walsh was appointed to the Senior National Intelligence Service in 2013. She served as deputy director of Congressional and public affairs at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Preceding her assignment to NRO, she supported the Intelligence Community Chief Financial Officer in strategic budgeting and communications. Additionally, Walsh provided strategic counsel and support to the revision of Executive Order 12333, entitled “United States Intelligence Activities,” and served as director of Policy Management, driving foundational IC policy in response to the Executive Order. Before joining the IC, Walsh served as House liaison to the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. She began her career on Capitol Hill, on the legislative staffs of Reps. Sherwood Boehlert and Felix J. Grucci Jr.

Walsh holds a Master of Arts in legislative affairs from the George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science in international studies from the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Nicholas Rasmussen was the Executive Director at Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT). Previously, he was the Senior Director for National Security and Counterterrorism Programs at the McCain Institute for International Leadership. Rasmussen is a national security professional with over twenty-seven years in U.S. government service, including in senior counterterrorism posts at the White House and in the U.S. Intelligence Community from 2001 to 2017. He concluded his government career as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), leading more than 1,000 professionals from across the Intelligence Community, federal government, and federal contractor workforce.

Rasmussen served in senior posts across three administrations, including as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council staff under Presidents Bush and Obama before being appointed Director of NCTC by President Obama and continuing his tenure at the request of President Trump’s administration. From 1991-2001, he served in policy positions at the Department of State, focused on the Middle East.

Mary Beth Bruggeman spent eight years as an active-duty Marine combat engineer. Upon leaving active duty, Mary Beth worked for iRobot Corporation for four years, advancing their work on counter-IED robotics, spent time as a stay-at-home mom and Marine wife, and then started a fitness and nutrition coaching business.

Mary Beth joined the Mission Continues team in 2015 as the Executive Director for the Southeast Region. In 2019, Mary Beth assumed the role of President of The Mission Continues. Mary Beth has degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy (BS) and Georgetown University (MPP), and is an alum of the George W. Bush Institute’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program. She lives in Fairfax Station, VA, with her husband Brian, a retired Marine, and their three kids.

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Former Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malta and Former President of the Middle East Policy Council.

Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley is the Non Resident Scholar of the Middle East Policy Council, a think tank that contributes to American understanding of the political, economic and and cultural issues that affect U.S. interests in the Middle East, Senior Advisor at the strategic advisory firm, West Exec Advisors, a BBC Contributor and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Before her current appointments, she held a series of senior positions that included Ambassador to the Republic of Malta, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of U.S. cyber forces, Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism for the Department of State where she negotiated the establishment of the International Institute for Justice and Rule of Law, and Country Director for Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley was the first woman to lead a diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia as the Principal Officer in Jeddah after taking on the position of Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for the Middle East and Africa.

Johnnie Kaberle is a Senior Vice President at WestExec Advisors, where she helps clients navigate the intersection of Congress, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community.  Prior to joining WestExec, Johnnie spent over three decades on Capitol Hill, culminating as Staff Director of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and Deputy Staff Director of the full Appropriations Committee. In that role, she led bipartisan negotiations and shaped hundreds of billions in national security funding—playing a central role in advancing innovation, acquisition reform, and capability delivery to the warfighter.  Today, Johnnie draws on that deep institutional experience to help clients understand how decisions are made in Washington, identify and pursue strategic opportunities, and build lasting relationships with key stakeholders. She also teaches legislative negotiation and is known for her ability to help clients “decode” complex government processes and deliver impact where it matters most.

Laura A. Dickinson is the Oswald Symister Colclough Research Professor of Law and Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School. Her work focuses on national security, human rights, the law of armed conflict, and foreign affairs privatization. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters, including scholarship that has appeared in the American Journal of International Law, the Yale Journal of International Law, the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, the William & Mary Law Review, the Emory Law Journal, and the Southern California Law Review. She also contributes regularly to the national security blog, Just Security. Professor Dickinson’s prizewinning book, Outsourcing War and Peace, published by Yale University Press, examines the increasing outsourcing of military and security functions, considers the impact of this trend on core public values, and outlines mechanisms for protecting these values in an era of privatization.

In addition to her scholarly activities, Professor Dickinson has a distinguished record of government service.

Alyssa Ayres was appointed dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs and professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University effective February 1, 2021. She is the first woman to serve in the role of permanent dean at the school.

Ayres is a foreign policy practitioner and award-winning author with senior experience in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. From 2013 to 2021, she was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she remains an adjunct senior fellow. Her work focuses primarily on India’s role in the world and on U.S. relations with South Asia in the larger Indo-Pacific. Her book about India’s rise on the world stage, Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2018 and was selected by the Financial Times for its “Summer 2018: Politics” list. An updated paperback edition was released in 2019. Ayres is also interested in the emergence of subnational engagement in foreign policy, particularly the growth of international city networks, and her current book project (working title, “Bright Lights, Biggest Cities: The Urban Challenge to India’s Future,” under contract with Oxford University Press) examines India’s urban transformation and its international implications.

From 2010 to 2013 Ayres served as deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia. During her tenure at the State Department in the Barack Obama administration, she covered all issues across a dynamic region of 1.3 billion people at the time (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and provided policy direction for four U.S. embassies and four consulates. Before serving in the Obama administration, Ayres was founding director of the India and South Asia practice at McLarty Associates, the Washington-based international strategic advisory firm, from 2008 to 2010, and served as a part-time senior advisor to the firm from 2014 to 2021. From 2007 to 2008, she served as special assistant to the undersecretary of state for political affairs as a CFR international affairs fellow. Prior to that she worked at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Advanced Study of India and at the Asia Society in New York. Originally trained as a cultural historian, Ayres has carried out research on both India and Pakistan. Her book on nationalism, culture, and politics in Pakistan, Speaking Like a State, was published worldwide by Cambridge University Press in 2009 and received an American Institute of Pakistan Studies book prize for 2011–2012. She has coedited three books on India and Indian foreign policy: Power Realignments in Asia; India Briefing: Takeoff at Last?; and India Briefing: Quickening the Pace of Change.

Ayres has been awarded numerous fellowships and has received four group or individual Superior Honor Awards for her work at the State Department. She speaks Hindi and Urdu, and in the mid-1990s worked as an interpreter for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She received an AB from Harvard College and an MA and PhD from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Halifax International Security Forum agenda group, and she serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group. In 2021 and 2022, the Washingtonian included her as one of their “most influential people shaping policy.”

Victoria J. Taylor is director of the Iraq Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East program.  A national security leader with over two decades of experience in the Middle East and Europe, she led large interagency teams and advanced U.S. economic and national security interests as a Deputy Assistant Secretary, Deputy Chief of Mission, and at the White House National Security Council.

Prior to joining the Council, Taylor served as a career Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister Counselor.  She served most recently as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, where she advised senior State Department leaders on Iraq and Iran in the aftermath of the Gaza conflict.  She was the Director for North African Affairs from 2021 to 2023 and the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Croatia from 2018 to 2021. She has served as the Deputy Director for Western Europe in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and as the Director for Balkans, Caucasus, and Black Sea Affairs at the National Security Council, where advanced Montenegro’s NATO accession and strengthened U.S. defense cooperation with Georgia. Other Washington assignments include positions in the Office of Iranian Affairs, on the Turkey Desk in the Office of Southern European Affairs, and as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Taylor has served overseas at U.S. Embassies in Georgia, Tunisia, and Pakistan, as well as at the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan.

Taylor hails from Springfield, Missouri. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and diplomatic history from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in development studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She speaks French, Mandarin, Russian, and Urdu. She served as Chair of the American International School of Zagreb’s Board of Trustees from 2019-2021.  She is member of the Council of Foreign Relations.  She has been featured on BBC, CNN, Al Sharqiya, Iran International and other international media outlets.

Ambassador (ret) Laura Kennedy served almost four decades as a U.S. career diplomat. She spent much of her career working in or on the former Soviet Union and served multiple assignments in Geneva and Vienna on multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation (conventional, nuclear and biological) as well as a number of temporary assignments in New York, including the 2010 and 2015 NPT Review Conferences and heading the U.S. delegations to the UN Committee on Disarmament. She retired in 2013 but was recalled to service in 2014 to head the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan and then the U.S. Mission in Vienna where she served as the U.S. Governor on the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency. She retired again in 2015.

Kennedy’s assignments included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus 2004-5, Ambassador to Turkmenistan 2001-3, Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva 2010-13 with concurrent service as U.S. Special Representative for Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention issues, Deputy Commandant of the National War College where she also taught for two years 2007-9, Charge d’Affaires in Armenia, and Deputy Political section chief in Moscow and Ankara. She is a member of the Leadership Council of Women in National Security (LCWINS) and the trilateral US-Germany-Russia Deep Cuts Commission. Kennedy has been a frequent press commentator and has lectured at various U.S. and international institutions including the Foreign Service Institute, the U.S. Army War College, the Army Command and General Staff College, universities and regional international affairs councils. She serves as an expert for the NewYork Times and Smithsonian Institution Silk Road travels to Central Asia. She has participated in a number of track two dialogues on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation and Asia. She is currently a member of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board.

After receiving her B.A. from Vassar College, Kennedy did graduate work at Stanford and American (M.A.) universities and is also a graduate of the Senior Seminar of the Department of State for which she later served as Dean.

Jen Daskal is a Partner at Venable LLP. She is a national security legal and policy expert, with years of experience managing crisis, mitigating risk, and working at the intersection of technology, policy and law. From October 2023 to January 2025, Daskal served as the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the White House. Before that, she was the Principal Deputy Legal Advisor at the National Security Council and served as Acting General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, where she oversaw over 3,000 attorneys, including the Department’s cybersecurity, intelligence, litigation, and law enforcement legal teams.

Before joining the federal government, Daskal was a tenured law professor at American University Washington College of Law (WCL) until February 2021. In 2020, she founded and served as the first Faculty Director of WCL’s Tech, Law & Security Program. As a law professor, she wrote extensively on issues of data security and data privacy, testified multiple times before Congress, and won several awards for her work.

Eileen O’Connor is the senior vice president for Communications, Policy, and Advocacy, a member of the Foundation’s executive team, overseeing all government relations and strategic communications for all program priorities. Before joining the foundation, O’Connor spent her career as an attorney and award-winning journalist, serving as vice president of Yale University, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Obama administration, for South and Central Asia, and White House and foreign correspondent for CNN and ABC news. As an attorney, O’Connor specialized in complex litigation, political investigations, multi-party dispute negotiations, and crisis management in the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine. In government, O’Connor was awarded several Superior Honor awards for her work in Afghanistan, where she was posted for 14 months, Pakistan and South and Central Asia, countering violent extremism and building democratic institutions, including a focus on women’s peace and security programs. As a journalist she earned the Peabody Award, the DuPont Award, multiple Overseas Press Club awards, an Emmy, Cable Ace, and National Headliner awards for her documentary, investigative, and war-zone coverage in the former Soviet Union, Africa, and the Middle East. Her documentary on Russian organized crime garnered a NY Film Festival Golden Eagle award.

Heather Samuelson is an attorney and strategic advisor with nearly two decades of experience in government, politics and the non-profit sector. She most recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Confirmations Counsel in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, guiding hundreds of Biden-Harris Administration nominees through the Senate confirmation process. Heather also served in the Obama-Biden Administration, first as White House Liaison at the U.S. Department of State, and then as Assistant Counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office. In these roles, she directed recruitment and vetting for national security positions and advised officials on federal ethics compliance.

Prior to rejoining government, Heather was the first General Counsel for the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) overseeing all legal matters for NDWA and its sister organization Care in Action. Heather also served as a longtime attorney and advisor to Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, including representing the Secretary before the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi, and serving as Chief Counsel for the 2016 Clinton-Kaine Pre-Election Transition team.

Beverly Kirk is the Director of Washington Programs at Syracuse University. She was most recently the Executive Director of JOURNEY, a diverse, intergenerational community that connects preeminent emerging talent with women at the top. Prior to JOURNEY she was a fellow and director for outreach in the CSIS International Security Program and director of the CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative. She previously was director of the iDeas Lab, the multimedia production and design studio at CSIS. Before joining CSIS, Kirk was a journalist and worked for local and national news organizations, including NBC, NPR, and PBS. She spent much of her career focused on domestic and international politics and government. She also founded a media consulting company and has expertise in media curriculum design. She is a member of the adjunct faculty at the American University School of Communication. Kirk holds an M.A. in diplomacy and international commerce with a concentration in international politics and national security from the University of Kentucky and is a summa cum laude graduate of Western Kentucky University with degrees in history and broadcast journalism.

Ambassador Nina Hachigian (ret) was the first U.S. Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State from 2022 to 2025 in the Biden Administration.  Before that, Amb, Hachigian served as the first Deputy Mayor for International Affairs for the City of Los Angeles for five years. From 2014 to 2017, Ambassador Hachigian served as the second U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Obama Administration.  Earlier, she was a Senior Fellow and a Senior Vice President at the Center for American Progress focused on Asia policy and U.S.-China relations. Before that, Ambassador Hachigian was the director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy for four years. 

Ambassador Hachigian served on the staff of the National Security Council in the Clinton White House from 1998-1999. She is the editor of Debating China: The U.S. – China Relationship in Ten Conversations (Oxford University Press, 2014) and co-author of The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise (Simon & Schuster, 2008).  She went to Yale University and got her JD from Stanford University.

Ambassador James O’Brien most recently served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs after previously serving as Head of the Office of Sanctions Policy prior to this role.

Mr. O’Brien was Vice Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG) and led the firm’s Europe practice. A founder of the firm, he has worked extensively on issues affecting consumer goods, health, entertainment, environment, media (including free speech), information technology, telecommunications, and finance sectors. Mr. O’Brien is also a member of the management and investment committees of Albright Capital Management LLC, an affiliated investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets.

Mr. O’Brien has served two U.S. administrations as special presidential envoy, securing the release of Americans held hostage abroad and overseeing U.S. policy planning towards the Balkans. He has been senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State and served as the principal deputy director of policy planning at the State Department. He worked to end armed conflicts in Europe, helped develop non-proliferation initiatives after the Cold War, negotiated environmental agreements, and supported initiatives to investigate and prosecute persons responsible for war crimes.

Christine Abizaid led the United States Government’s counterterrorism enterprise while serving as the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) from June 2021 to July 2024. She was the eighth Senate confirmed Director and the first woman to lead NCTC, the primary U.S. intelligence organization that integrates, analyzes, and shares terrorism information.

Before joining NCTC, Abizaid was as an executive at Dell Technologies in its Global Operations organization, where she led and advised on geopolitical and strategic risk analysis; supply chain security; sustainability and transparency initiatives; compliance; and global inventory management. While in the private sector, Abizaid was aboard member for the Responsible Business Alliance; a board member at the Middle East Policy Council; and an inaugural Steering Committee Member for the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS).

Carole House is a strategic technology executive who has spent her career focusing on leveraging innovative technologies to combat national security threats. She is the founder and CEO of a strategic technology and national security advisory practice, Penumbra Strategies, and serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Association for Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center.  Carole recently departed the White House National Security Council (NSC) as Special Advisor for Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure. She previously served as the NSC Director for Cybersecurity and Secure Digital Innovation.  During her time at the White House, Carole architected two Executive Orders driving critical steps to promote innovation in cybersecurity, digital identity, artificial intelligence, and digital assets. Carole has held positions in the private sector as an Executive in Residence at Terranet Ventures, Inc., co-founder and interim COO for a stealth fintech startup, and served on advisory boards for three financial regulatory agencies and three non-profits.  She also has been recognized for her leadership in cyber and emerging tech initiatives, including the prestigious “Fed100” award and AFFIRM’s “Leadership in Crisis” award, in addition to various publications across the Atlantic Council, Bloomberg, the Small Wars Journal, and the Military Review.  Carole’s prior government experience includes service as a U.S. Army Captain as well as positions leading emerging tech, cybersecurity, and national security initiatives across the White House, Senate Homeland Security Committee, and the U.S. Treasury.

Susan Hennessey is a Counsel in WilmerHale’s Defense, National Security, and Government Contracts practice group. In private practice, she focuses on national security, technology and defense-related matters. Previously, Ms. Hennessey served as Chief Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and Chief of Staff of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

In 2022, Ms. Hennessey served as the Director of National Intelligence’s representative on the Senior Steering Group examining the relationship between the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command. She began her legal career as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the NSA.

Before joining the Justice Department, Ms. Hennessey was a Senior Fellow of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, where she published influential legal and policy analysis on topics including surveillance law, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies and served as Executive Editor of Lawfare. As a Brookings scholar, she provided nonpartisan expert advice, briefings, and testimony to Congress, senior government officials, non-governmental organizations, business leaders, and other stakeholders.

Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez is president and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue. She is formerly a senior fellow in the Dialogue’s Rule of Law Program. She is a member of the Truman Center for National Policy Board of Directors, the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS) Steering Committee, the Princeton University Institute for Regional and International Studies Advisory Board, and the Foreign Policy for America Advisory Board.

Dr. Chavez served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2013 until 2016 where she prioritized Women, Peace, and Security initiatives, combatting the militarization of law enforcement, and expanding defense institution building programs. Her areas of focus included shaping Defense Department contributions to President Obama’s Central America Strategy, moving the U.S.- Mexico relationship beyond the narrow counternarcotics focus, supporting the Colombian peace process, resetting defense relations with Argentina and Brazil, and establishing a productive dialogue with Cuba on humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

Alexis Lasselle Ross is the President of Apex Defense Strategies, LLC, a strategic advisory firm that guides companies as they navigate the defense market. Ross founded Apex after more than two decades as an executive in the public and private sectors. Her consultancy draws upon this experience to offer companies a unique blend of strategic planning and executive advising on the  Department of Defense’s acquisition system, the U.S. defense industrial base, and the planning and execution of large-scale change.

Most recently, Ross performed strategic planning at General Dynamics, advising corporate leadership on managing critical issues and navigating government business. Prior to entering the private sector, Ross served in a variety of senior positions in both the  executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. She served as the deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense,  advising the secretary and ensuring execution of Department of Defense policy, programs, and organizational restructuring.  During her tenure, she performed the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, leading the  department’s healthcare and human resources systems during the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Ross served as the deputy assistant secretary of the army for strategy and acquisition reform, where she designed and implemented improvements to the Army acquisition system, including new policies on intellectual property and advanced manufacturing.

Prior to her appointments to the Department of Defense, Ross served on the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives as a professional staff member writing legislation on government procurement and acquisition reform. Ross also worked at the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission as a deputy director responsible for designing alternatives to the DOD healthcare system. Prior to her work on the Commission, Ross served for seven years as a civil servant advising senior Army leadership in the Pentagon. Ross began her career at the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives where she served in several capacities, including as a professional staff member on the Readiness Subcommittee.

Ross is active in both the public policy and business communities. She is a board director for MxD, a member of the Army Science Board, a non-resident senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a senior fellow at the National Defense Industrial Association, a member of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS), and a principal at Pallas Advisors. Ross received a doctorate in public policy from George Mason University and a Master of Science degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.

Anne Witkowsky previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations.

Previously, Witkowsky served as the Co-Director of the Task Force on U.S. Strategy to Support Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism, a partnership of Freedom House. From 2014-2016, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). She held policy responsibility for peacekeeping and stability operations; humanitarian assistance and disaster response; DoD support to the security of U.S. embassies; and international humanitarian law, rule of law and protection of human rights. Her office coordinated the DoD policy role in key Administration initiatives, such as the U.S. Ebola response, strengthening United Nations peace operations, and support to embassy security.

From 2009-2013, she served as the Deputy Coordinator for Homeland Security and Multilateral Affairs (DAS equivalent) in the Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT), U.S. Department of State, with responsibility for terrorist designations and sanctions; strengthening international transportation security; developing bilateral information sharing agreements; and building CT cooperation within multilateral organizations. In 2012-2013, she also served as the CT Bureau’s Acting Principal Deputy Coordinator.

A retired career diplomat from the US Department of State, Annie is a Senior Non-Resident Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York, and a public commentator on foreign policy. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and active on non-profit boards relating to NewYork City and Afghanistan advocacy.

As a self-employed consultant, Annie works with non-profits and think tanks on issues relating to US policymaking and fragile states, international organized crime, Afghanistan, and Latin America.

Her thirty-year diplomatic career focused on security, rule of law, and human rights policy. She was the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan and Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul; Office Director for UN Peacekeeping and Sanctions; head of the $700 million security assistance program in Mexico; the lead human rights officer in Turkey and South Africa; and a Director at the National Security Council implementing policy on Central American migration. Ms. Pforzheimer is a graduate of Harvard, with a Masters in National Security Studies from the National Defense University.

Kimberly Lehn is the Senior Director at the Pacific Forum, in charge of the Honolulu Defense Forum (HDF). HDF seeks to facilitate dialogue and solutions between a wide range of actors from the private and public sectors to bolster deterrence in the Indo-Pacific in the face of an increasingly contested regional security environment.

She is a national security professional with over 20 years of experience in the U.S. federal government and in the private sector. She is the Founder of Diamond Pacific Strategies LLC in Honolulu, and a Senior Advisor at Beacon Global Strategies, a strategic advisory firm in Washington, D.C. advising leading companies on national security issues. She previously served in management and analytic roles at the Central Intelligence Agency as well as on assignments to the National Security Council’s Directorate of East Asia, the Department of State’s Intelligence and Research Bureau, and on the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee as a professional staff member with a focus on the Indo-Pacific, strategic competition with China and Russia, and the important role alliances and partnerships play to build collective security.

Colonel (retired) Patricia Mulcahy is an accomplished human resources leader and senior executive with a career that spans over 40 years as an Army officer and a civil servant.  In her culminating assignment with the Department of the Air Force, Pat was the first Chief Human Capital Officer of the newest military service – the U.S. Space Force.  She was responsible for creating the Space Force’s first comprehensive human capital strategy, including establishing core values, talent management goals, uniform design, motto, and logo, and conducting the most extensive transfer plan for military members since the Air Force was established in 1947.

Pat was commissioned into the Army from the Siena College Reserve Officer Training Corps program.  She served at every level in the field of military personnel management and personnel service support including command of a company at Fort Devens and in Germany; a battalion at Fort Stewart; and a brigade in 18^th Airborne Corps that deployed to Iraq, as well as key staff assignments as the G-1, 3^rd Infantry Division; XO, Army G-1; and J-1, European Command.  Following her retirement from the Army in 2009, Pat served as a federal civilian employee as well as a member of the Senior Executive Service in several military personnel policy positions in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness including the Director of Officer and Enlisted Personnel Management.  Pat also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Force Management Integration.

Asha Castleberry is a distinguished national security & foreign policy expert, a public speaker, television media commentator, a United States Army Veteran, and a former U.S. Congressional Candidate. She is an author of a memoir titled, “ Why National Security Matters.” Castleberry has over a decade of experience working as a Middle East Policy Expert in the public and private sectors. For the Biden-Harris Administration, she served as a Senior Official (Senior Executive Service) in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (Middle East Policy) in the U.S.State Department. From 2012-2015, Castleberry served in Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan. She previously served as the Kuwait Desk Officer in the U.S. Army Central. She also served as a Senior Key Leader Engagement Officer for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. Before her deployment, Asha worked in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she worked on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Africa.

Castleberry is a sought-after expert globally and has worked with many U.S. Ambassadors. This year, Asha served on a panel with high-level Iraqi officials (with Senior officials from members of Parliament and military officers) to discuss combating ISIS and the role of China at the Erbil Security Forum in Iraq.