Jack Abernethy is Chief Executive Officer, Fox Television Stations, Inc., a unit of News Corporation that includes the Fox Television Stations group and Twentieth Television.  He has held the position since December 2004.  In this capacity, he oversees the 27 FOX owned-and-operated stations in the nation’s largest television markets.  His oversight responsibilities extend to Twentieth Television, which distributes a wide array of network programming and feature film packages. This includes the court shows “Divorce Court” and “Judge Alex,” game shows “Are You Smarter Than a Fifith Grader” and “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” animated sitcoms “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons,” sitcoms “How I Met Your Mother” and “Modern Family,” as well as the procedural drama “Bones” and “Glee.”

Prior to this position, Mr. Abernethy served as the Executive Vice President of FOX News, where he helped build the business platform and execute plans for the successful launch of what is today the number-one rated cable news channel. Before joining FOX News, Mr. Abernethy had a long and distinguished career with General Electric and held a variety of executive finance management positions at NBC.  He was also part of the management team that launched the cable business news channel, CNBC. Mr. Abernethy was born and raised in Kingston, NY.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Georgetown University and his MBA degree from New York University.

Madelyn Antoncic, Ph.D. is the former Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, where in addition to her financial responsibilities, she oversaw technical assistance and capacity building programs working with developing and emerging economies.

Dr. Antoncic has held leadership roles spanning global markets for more than 30 years. She began her career as an Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She advanced in responsibility through 12 years at Goldman Sachs, followed by two years at Barclays Capital and 10 years at Lehman Brothers, where she built and managed a staff of 480 professionals located in New York, Denver, Texas, Miami, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore. Always active as a mentor, she was a founding member of Lehman’s Women’s Network. She was named among the “100 Most Influential People in Finance” by Treasury and Risk Management. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics with a minor in Finance from the New York University Stern School of Business.

She is a longtime member of the Board of Overseers of the Weill Cornell Medical College and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York as well as a member of the Economic Club of New York and of its Centennial Society. In May 2017, Dr. Antoncic was honored at One To World’s annual Fulbright Dinner.

Esther Benjamin has been a global executive in the public, private, and civil society sectors over 25 years. She has led programs in over 100 countries worldwide. Esther is currently CEO and Executive Director of World Education Services, Inc., a non-profit social enterprise that evaluates and advocates for the recognition of international education qualifications. Esther was SVP for Global Public Affairs at Laureate Education, Inc., the global leader in providing access to high quality, innovative institutions of higher education. She was integrally involved in Laureate becoming the largest certified B Corp in the world, and the first Public Benefit Corporation to IPO on any stock exchange globally. She was previously Laureate’s CEO for Africa Operations and CEO of Monash South Africa, Laureate’s first university in Sub- Saharan Africa, with nearly 4,000 students from every country in Africa. 

Esther served in President Obama’s Administration as Associate Director for Global Operations for the Peace Corps. She was a member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service and a Presidential Appointee. She oversaw Peace Corps programs in nearly 80 countries. Following the 2008 elections, she served on the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team. She was Executive Director for Resource Development at the International Partnership for Microbicides, a global biotechnology organization developing products for women in developing countries to protect themselves from HIV. In 1999, President Clinton appointed Esther a White House Fellow. In this capacity, she worked with Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman on international policies and programs. In 1994, Esther was appointed United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Officer, responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid in Somalia. Esther earned master’s degrees from American University in International Affairs and Applied Economics. In 2009, she was awarded American University’s Cyrus Ansary Medal, the highest university honor for public service, as well as the Outstanding Alumna Award by the School of International Service, where she serves on the Board of Advisors. She is a Trustee of North Central College, where she was a College Scholar and earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and English.

Ennius Bergsma is a Senior Managing Director with Brock Capital and focuses on Corporate Advisory including Strategic Planning, Valuations and Organic Growth. He also advises clients on general finance matters and e-commerce opportunities.

In his 25 years at McKinsey & Company, Inc., where he was Senior Director, Mr. Bergsma founded and led the Firm’s global Corporate Finance Practice and was Co-Founder and Co-Leader of McKinsey’s E-Commerce Practice. He initiated McKinsey’s Marketing Sciences Practice, led the effort that synthesized McKinsey’s approach to Business Strategy, was a leader of McKinsey’s Consumer and Telecommunications sectors and was core member of the McKinsey Strategy Initiative that crafted the Firm’s priorities. Mr. Bergsma’s client service has focused on the development of new businesses in e-commerce, financial services, consumer goods and telecommunications. He led numerous teams creating new businesses, with values ranging from $500 million to $5 billion. Mr. Bergsma is still associated with the Firm as member of the McKinsey Advisory Council.

He is Chairman of the Netherland-America Foundation, Trustee of the Hewitt School, Honorary Board Member, past Chair and President of the Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York and past member of Harvard Business School’s Executive Council. Mr. Bergsma holds a Candidate and Masters Degree with distinction in Corporate and Commercial Law from the University of Leiden in The Netherlands, and an M.B.A. with distinction from the Harvard Business School.

Erica Berthou is a senior partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Born in Sweden, she is a dual Swedish – American citizen and a graduate of Stockholm University, Kings College London and New York University School of Law. Erica is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading attorneys in the field of private investment fund formation, and represents many premier global alternative asset management firms, including Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, The Carlyle Group, EQT Partners and Oaktree Capital Management. Most recently, Erica was selected as a “2018 Distinguished Leader” by the New York Law Journal—Erica was the only fund formation attorney to be so recognized. A competitive cyclist, Erica is also a member of the board of directors of USA Cycling Foundation. Erica lives in New York City with her husband and their two sons.

Frank Brown is an Advisory Director at General Atlantic. He previously served as a Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer, leading the firm’s global risk management program. Prior to that, he served as Chief Operating Officer for nine years.

Before joining General Atlantic in 2011, Frank served as Dean of INSEAD, a leading international business school, from 2006 to 2011. Under his leadership, the school increased participation of female students in the M.B.A. program by more than 50%, and established the Abu Dhabi campus, the Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, and the Social Innovation Centre.

Prior to INSEAD, Frank had a distinguished 26-year career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, including leading its $3.5 billion Advisory Services practice.

Frank is the author of The Global Business Leader: Practical Advice for Success in a Transcultural Marketplace, and is a frequent speaker on leadership topics.

Henry Buhl is the Founder of the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless. In 1992, Mr. Buhl saw a need to provide a job training and job placement program for homeless men and women living in New York City shelters. The initial program formed the basis of the Soho Partnership, now completing its tenth year of operation. It is supported by over one thousand Soho based businesses and residents who contribute annually as members of the Partnership. Mr. Buhl has also provided the seed capital and annual subsidies for each homeless initiative since the start. Soho Partnership’s program, “Project Comeback,” covers a six to nine month period during which participants are required to perform community improvement services; consisting of cleaning neighborhood streets, caring for trees, and seasonal snow and ice removal. Participants attend weekly life skill and job training classes as well. Furthermore, as a result of the two year after-care program, where graduates return for focus nights revolving around recreational activities and group meeting twice monthly, 86% of all graduates have held their jobs for one and a half years or longer, a statistic that no other training program in New York City has come close to achieving.

Christopher Burnham is the current Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Deutsche Asset Management. Mr. Burnham left his post at the United Nations in November where he was the UN’s Under-Secretary-General of Management. Mr. Burnham is the highest-ranking American in the UN Secretariat, has served as Treasurer of the State of Connecticut, and completed three terms as a Connecticut State Representative. Mr. Burnham has been lauded as a “beacon of hope for international cooperation which Senator Fulbright championed in his lifetime.” As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps Reserve who served as a platoon commander in the Gulf War, Mr. Burnham understands the importance of cultivating peace through international cooperation.

Didric Cederholm is a Founding Partner and the Chief Investment Officer of Lion Point Capital. Prior to founding Lion Point, he spent nearly eight years at Elliott Management and was previously a Principal at Eos Partners. He has worked on large restructurings including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler Automotive, Kaiser Aluminum, Ormet Corporation, and Parmalat.

He graduated in 2003 with honors from Columbia Business School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, and has a LLM, summa cum laude, from Stockholm University, where he graduated in 2001 with a focus on bankruptcy and contract law. From 1997-1999, Didric served in the Swedish Armed Forces, first as an Interrogation Officer and later as a 2ndLieutenant in Swedish Military Intelligence.

Audrey Choi is a Senior Advisor at Morgan Stanley. Beginning in 2017, Audrey served as Morgan Stanley’s first Chief Sustainability Officer overseeing efforts to promote global sustainability through the capital markets. For four years she simultaneously held the position of Chief Marketing Officer where she stewarded the brand to reflect the Firm’s core values of leading with integrity and exceptional ideas.

In a career spanning the public, private and nonprofit sectors, Audrey has become a proven thought leader on how finance can be harnessed to protect the environment, strengthen communities, and create economic opportunity. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Audrey held senior policymaking positions in the Clinton Administration, including serving as Janet Yellen’s Chief of Staff at the Council of Economic Advisers and Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Gore.

Previously, Audrey was a foreign correspondent and bureau chief at The Wall Street Journal. She serves on the boards of several national nonprofit organizations focused on sustainability, community development and social justice.  Audrey is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.  She was a Fulbright Scholar and a White House Fellow.

Jennifer Cohan is president of Edelman New York, the firm’s largest office with over 800 employees and deep communications expertise. She advises clients, develops new products and leads a group of professionals who evolve, promote and protect many of the world’s most progressive companies and brands.

Jennifer creates real-time, measureable engagement and activations for clients in the food, personal care, financial services, consumer health, retail, apparel, household, technology and automotive sectors. She is the chief author of brandshare, Edelman’s study of people’s evolving relationship with and expectation of brands.

Jennifer joined Edelman in 2013 after serving as managing director of GolinHarris New York and deputy managing director of Cohn and Wolfe London. Her work has been recognized for efficacy and innovation by PRWeek, The Holmes Report, AdAge Campaign and Marketing. Jennifer serves on the board of One To World.

Creighton Condon is Partner and Former Senior Partner of Shearman & Sterling LLP, a multinational law firm whose lawyers from 80 countries speak 62 languages, operating in offices spanning the U.S., Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. He is a partner in the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice, advising and collaborating across cultures on notable transactions around the globe. Mr. Condon has been with Shearman & Sterling for 36 years, and served for three years as the firm’s European Managing Partner, based in London. His clients have included Cadbury, Citigroup, Fenway Sports Group (owner of the Boston Red Sox and the Liverpool Football Club), Georgia-Pacific, Royal Bank of Scotland, Synthes, Viacom, and WebMD. Mr. Condon also represents a number of the firm’s investment banking clients.

Barbara Crossette has fostered an informed global citizenry for nearly four decades through cutting edge reporting on policies, leaders, conflicts, and peoples around the world. She was a Fulbright teaching fellow in journalism at Punjab University in Chandigarh, India in 1980-81. In her books on Asia and in writing on international affairs for a variety of publications, she brings firsthand insight to the page, increasing the exchange of knowledge and understanding across borders. For a more detailed biography of Ms. Crossette, please go to: http://members.authorsguild.net/bcrossette.

Edward Elson is the former Ambassador of the United States of America to Denmark, serving from 1993 through 1998. During his tenure, Ambassador Elson helped strengthen the bonds of the Nordic-Baltic region and secure U.S alliance in the region. Prior to joining the diplomatic corps, he served as the 34th Rector of the University of Virginia.

Ambassador Elson was a business entrepreneur who pioneered retail stores in airports and hotels. In addition to his entrepreneurial successes, he was involved in government activities, starting as a member of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography under the Lyndon Johnson administration in the late 60s. He continued political involvement through promoting civil rights in the as Chairman of the Georgia Advisory Commission to the United States Civil Rights Commission and the Chairman of the Southeastern Civil Rights Commission.

Ambassador Elson was also the Founding Chairman of National Public Radio (NPR) in 1977 and played a pivotal role in the establishment of public radio in the U.S. He was involved from the initial process of merging local public radio stations into one network, promoting and advocating for public telecommunication, to creating the NPR Foundation which is a major vehicle for funding public radio today.

Ambassador Elson has served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Jewish Committee, Chairman of the Jewish Publication Society, a Trustee of the American Federation of the Arts and Founding Chairman Carlos Museum of Art and Antiquities at Emory University, and has served as a trustee at many educational institutions including Brown University, Phillips Academy Andover and Spelman College.

Gianluigi Esposito is a founding partner of Altieri Esposito & Minoli PLLC, a New York-based law firm specializing in International corporate transactions. Mr. Esposito’s practice concentrates primarily in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters. Prior to forming Altieri Esposito & Minoli PLLC, Mr. Esposito opened the New York office of Chiomenti Studio Legale, one of Italy’s premier corporate law firms, in collaboration with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Chiomenti’s alliance partner.

Mr. Esposito’s experience includes work on a variety of cross-border merger and acquisition transactions, primarily in the financial sector. Mr. Esposito regularly provides corporate and international legal advice to domestic and foreign-based clients operating in the United States, and Italian law advice to Fortune 500 companies transacting business abroad. He is currently serving on the Liquidation Committee of a major US hedge fund on behalf of a large European financial institution. Mr. Esposito regularly assists several major European broker-dealers in their US operations and has considerable experience in transactions among FINRA registered broker-dealers.

He lectured at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and at the University of Bologna, Italy. in 1995, Mr. Esposito was awarded a Fulbright grant to Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

Feigen Advisors counsels CEOs and Boards of large, global companies on matters of strategy, organization, capital planning and performance transformation. Marc Feigen, an expert in the role of the Chief Executive, advises Chief Executives on CEO performance, and counsels boards on governance.

Marc Feigen’s clients include the CEOs of Fortune 250 media, consumer goods, banking and insurance companies; top tier private equity and hedge fund CEOs; and the managing partners of several leading global professional services firms in law, PR and executive search. Mr. Fiegen’s clients in the public record include advising Aetna during their hugely successful turnaround and counseling Bill Gates during the Microsoft anti-trust matter. Pro Bono clients include Cambridge University and The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Marc is Executive Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Cambridge in America.

Between 1998 and 2010, Marc founded, built and sold Katzenbach Partners LLC, a 200 person management consulting firm that focused on helping clients “achieve breakthrough organizational performance.”

Marc has a BA with honors in History from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.Phil. on Internal Relationships from Cambridge, and an MBA from Harvard.  Before starting his own firms, he was an Associate at McKinsey & Company, where he wrote a best-selling business book with 6 colleagues called Real Change Leaders: How You Can Create Growth and High Performance at Your Company. Marc has appeared on CBS and has published articles in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Vikram Gandhi is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse and Global Head of the Financial Institutions Group. He has responsibility for the integration of the Bank’s financial institutions’ capabilities into the Global Financial Institutions Group. Mr. Gandhi joined Credit Suisse First Boston in April 2005 from Morgan Stanley, where he served as Co-Head of FIG since 2003, managing many of that firm’s top client relationships in the U.S. and Europe. Heserved as President of Morgan Stanley – India from 1997 until 1999, Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley’s e-commerce initiatives from 1999 through 2001 and head of strategy for the institutional securities business from 2001 until 2003. Mr. Gandhi has a B.Com from the University of Bombay and an MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was designated a Baker Scholar.

Don Garber has spent his entire career in the sports industry, working in a variety of capacities in marketing, television and league administration. Since 1999, Mr. Garber’s vision and leadership have enabled Major League Soccer (MLS) to build a strong foundation for professional soccer in the United States. Garber has guided MLS through decisions that have solidified the League’s core business, guaranteed its long-term viability and positioned it for growth.

Prior to becoming Commissioner of MLS, Garber spent 16 years with the National Football League, finishing his tenure as the senior vice president/managing director of NFL International, where he was responsible for managing all of the NFL’s business outside the United States.

Mr. Garber serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Soccer Federation, The United States Soccer Foundation, FC Harlem Youth Soccer Club and the Board of the Hope and Heroes Foundation at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. He is on the Board of Advisors for New York University’s Tisch School for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, the University of Central Florida, DeVos Sports Business Management Program and the World Congress of Sports.

He was listed among the most influential people in American sports in 2008 by Time Magazine and Business Week, and has been named among the top 50 most influential people in sports business by the SportsBusiness Journal each of the last five years.

Renowned in this country as a trial lawyer and legendary First Amendment attorney, Martin Garbus is currently a partner at Eaton & Van Winkle. He has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court and has written briefs which have resulted in changes in the law on a nationwide basis. He has also played an enormous role on the international legal stage, consulting on constitutional and communications law in countries including China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the former Soviet Union, and Rwanda. In 2007 he received a Fulbright Scholarship to China, teaching not only students in Beijing law schools, but also government officials, judges, and legal professionals drafting new laws in China. He provided legal counsel and representation to Andrei Sakharov, Nelson Mandela and the late Václav Havel.

Mr. Garbus’s skill as a trial lawyer has earned his distinguished reputation as a result of his courtroom skills. He is an expert at every aspect of litigation and trial, from jury selection to cross-examination to summation. His devotion to ethics, justice, free speech and the law has garnered international respect among the legal community, commercial and corporate sectors, and beyond.  In May 2012, Mr. Garbus will be honored at One To World’s annual Fulbright Awards Dinner.

Sonia Gardner is President, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Avenue Capital Group, a global alternative investment manager with over $9.7 billion in assets under management focused on distressed and undervalued debt and equity in the U.S., Europe, and Asia with headquarters in New York and 10 offices across the globe.  

Ms. Gardner is the Partner in charge of managing the firm, and distressed investing has been the focus of her professional career over the last 29 years.  Ms. Gardner also co-founded Amroc Investments, L.P., a boutique distressed brokerage firm, where she was a Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for investing the partners’ capital.  She was the recipient of the 100 Women in Finance 2008 Industry Leadership Award, and previously served as the Global Chair of the Board of Directors.  She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of The Mount Sinai Medical Center. 

Ms. Gardner received a B.A. with Honors in Philosophy from Clark University (1983) and a J.D. from the Cardozo School of Law (1986).

Georgia Garinois-Melenikiotou is the Executive Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Estée Lauder Companies Inc. whose products are sold in over 150 countries and territories under brand names including: Estée Lauder, Clinique, Tommy Hilfiger, M·A·C, La Mer, and Michael Kors. Before joining Estée Lauder, Ms. Garinois-Melenikiotou spent 26 years with Johnson & Johnson, where she held leadership positions in seven different countries, ending her tenure as President for Global Business Strategy and New Growth in the Beauty Global Business Unit. She serves as an External Independent Director at Almirall, S.A., a Spanish pharmaceutical company, and is on the Board of Advisors at Vianair, a software development company for terminal airspace planning and design. Ms. Garinois-Melenikiotou also served as a Director of Bacardi Limited from 2012 to 2016.

Originally from Greece, Ms. Garinois-Melenikiotou holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from National Polytechnic of Athens and received a Master’s Degree in Management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, which she attended as a Fulbright scholar. In 2011, she was named one of Ad Age’s “Women to Watch.”

Karyn Geringer is a Partner and Head of Business Development at East Lodge Capital Partners LLP, a London-based investment management firm specializes in global structured credit and direct lending markets.

Prior to joining East Lodge Capital in July of 2014, Karyn was Principal and Head of Marketing for the Americas at CQS, a London-based multi-strategy firm where she was responsible for expanding the firm’s coverage of institutional and consultant clients and developing the firm’s client service capabilities in the Americas. Karyn also served as co-Head of Marketing for North America at GLG Partners where she helped build and develop the firm’s institutional client base in the U.S. and Canada from 2007 to 2010. Before GLG, she was a Senior Vice President at Pequot Capital Management responsible for marketing and client services in North America. Karyn also worked at Credit Suisse, starting as a coverage salesperson in the equities division and ending her tenure as Vice President and member of the capital introduction team.

Before joining Credit Suisse, Karyn was a member of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette’s Private Fund Group where she was responsible for analyzing and marketing private equity funds. From 1994-1999, Karyn served as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy attaining the rank of Lieutenant. Karyn holds a BS from the United States Naval Academy, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Karyn also serves on the Board of Directors of No Greater Sacrifice Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing scholarships and resources to support the higher education of children of fallen or wounded soldiers.

Congressman Frank Guarini served for two terms in the New Jersey State Senate from 1966 to 1972 and for seven terms as a Member of the United States House of Representative from 1979 to 1993. During his time in office in the U.S. House of Representatives, he served on the Ways and Means Committee and the Budget Committee where he assisted in revising laws on Taxes, Trade, Social Security, and Welfare. Congressman Guarini also served on Congressional trade missions to each continent where he promoted international trade as the “currency of peace.” Congressman Guarini actively participated in establishing free trade agreements with Mexico, Canada, and Israel, as well as developing active trade policy between the United States and the Caribbean and Latin America region. Additionally, he met with the Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission of the Communist Party of China in 1979 to discuss opening its doors to trade with the international world. Following his Congressional career, Congressman Guarini was nominated and appointed as the United States Representative to the United Nations General Assembly.

Congressman Guarini served in World War II as Navigator aboard the U.S.S. Mt. McKinley, one of the first ships to enter the Pacific, and saw active combat as Lieutenant in battles in the Philippines and Japan. He received the Naval Commendation Medal and 3 Battle Stars for his military service. After his military discharge, Congressman Guarini completed his education at Dartmouth College, New York University School of Law and pursued advanced studies at The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands. Throughout his career, he has always maintained a strong interest in education. He founded centers and institutes at Dartmouth College, New York University School of Law, St. Peter’s University, New Jersey City University and John Cabot University in Rome, Italy. Congressman Guarini has received numerous notable honors including the Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and the U.S. Court of International Trade Man of the Year Award. Since his retirement from Congress, he remains active in many civic and social associations and is involved in major real estate development projects.

Gregory H. Gushée is a Senior Vice President of Related Companies. Mr. Gushée has been part of the New York Development team at Related since 1997, and manages developments in New York City including mixed-use, 80/20 residential housing, condominium housing and affordable housing. During his tenure, Mr. Gushée has overseen a diverse portfolio of projects including MiMA, a 1.2 million square foot mixed-use development with residential, hotel and theater uses; the redevelopment of the W Hotel Union Square; the 462-unit One Carnegie Hill hybrid development; the 312-unit The Tate Residences development; and the 478-unit The Caledonia development. He also serves on the board of the Union Square Partnership. Mr. Gushée completed his undergraduate studies in Engineering at Boston University and received his Masters degree in Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

Please join us for an informal lunch with Jacob Haar, co-founder and managing director of Microfinance for Minlam Asset Management, where through the Minlam Microfinance Fund he and his colleagues have created a commercial investment model with the potential to better the lives of low-income communities in emerging markets. He was a Fulbright Scholar to Yemen in 2003 and a University of Chicago Human Rights Intern in Azerbaijan. He has worked for 10 years in emerging markets, including in Azerbaijan with Azeri Star Microfinance, and with international non-government organizations on issues of sustainable economic development and human rights. He received his M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with his B.A. from the University of Chicago.

David Heleniak spent most of his career at New York law firm Shearman & Sterling (S&S), rising to be Senior Partner (CEO) in 2001. In 2005, Morgan Stanley asked him to be its Vice Chairman and a member of its Management Committee. He retired as Senior Advisor in 2018.

While at S&S, Heleniak focused on mergers and acquisitions and headed or co-headed its practice group for ten years. During that time, in addition to approximately $1 trillion of other transactions, he represented Sandoz and Citicorp in the creation of Novartis and Citigroup, the two largest mergers ever done at the time. Earlier in his career at S&S, Heleniak headed the firm’s Hong Kong office from 1981-84 and represented China in its first major transaction with the Western world, a joint venture with Occidental Petroleum.

From 1977-79, Heleniak served the Carter Administration in the Treasury Department, first as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary and then as the Assistant General Counsel. Among numerous other matters, he negotiated “Carter Bonds” with the German and Swiss Central Banks, the first time the United States issued foreign currency denominated bonds publicly abroad.

Heleniak has been active in many not-for-profit organizations: in education, advisory boards at Michigan (LSA, Provost, African Studies Center, University Musical Society), the London School of Economics, Columbia Law School, Emory, and Tulane; in civic affairs, NYC Partnership and its Investment Fund; in bilateral associations, Chairman of the Counsel for the United States & Italy and of Japan Society of New York; in the arts, President of NYC Ballet and of the MacDowell Artists’ Colony; and in social service, Room to Grow (chairman), In Motion, and Legal Aid Society.

He received an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics (LSE) and J.D. from Columbia University. Heleniak is an honorary fellow of the LSE.

An instructor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1969 to 1971, Mr. Heleniak has been active in education in a number of advisory capacities, including President Obama’s education policy committee during the 2008 election. As former U.S. Chairman of the Council for the United States and Italy, he worked to develop positive relations between these two countries, and through board membership and philanthropy to the New York City Partnership, the New York City Ballet, The Japan Society and other vital organizations, he brings a global view to local endeavors as well.

Mr. Heleniak received a BA from the University of Michigan, an MS in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a JD from Columbia Law School. In May 2010, Mr. Heleniak was honored at One To World’s annual Fulbright Awards Dinner.

Jean Karoubi, President and Co-Chief Investment Officer of the LongChamp Group founded the company in 1981.  The firm provides managerial and financial advisory services to families, international banks, corporations, and foundations.  He also serves on the board of PlaNet Finance USA, an international non-profit organization that aims to alleviate poverty by contributing to the development of the microfinance sector.  Born in Algeria and raised in France, he received graduate degrees from the University of Paris in Law and in Economics, as well as the diploma at Institute d’Etudes Politiques.  He also received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania while on a Fulbright in 1973.

Georgia Levenson Keohane is the CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund, the impact investing arm of the Open Society Foundations. She has more than twenty years of leadership experience in the private and nonprofit sectors at the intersection of the capital markets, innovative philanthropy, responsible business and investing, and public policy. Previously, she served as President of the Navab Capital Partners (NCP) Foundation and head of the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practice, and before that Executive Director of the Pershing Square Foundation. A former McKinsey consultant, Keohane has advised CEOs, boards, management teams, and institutional, corporate, and philanthropic investors on strategy, operations, ESG, sustainable and impact investing, and inclusive growth. She is also an adjunct professor of social enterprise at Columbia Business School, where she hosts the Capital for Good podcast. Keohane speaks and writes regularly on social and economic policy, philanthropy, stakeholder capitalism, and the role of business in society, and is the author of two award winning books, Capital and the Common Good: How Innovative Finance is Tackling the World’s Most Urgent Problems (2016) and Social Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century: Innovation Across the Nonprofit, Private and Public Sectors (2013). Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Time, and the Harvard Business Review, among other publications. Keohane serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, and holds a BA from Yale University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an MSc from London School of Economics, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.

Yannis Kotziagkiaouridis is the global Chief Data & Analytics officer at Edelman, where he drives the data strategy for the firm at large and oversees Edelman Data & Intelligence (DxI), the global, multidisciplinary organization that houses, develops and manages all capabilities, products, and technology across research, data, analytics, and machine learning. He has based his 20-year career on the fundamental principle that data can help brands build stronger relationships with people, and advocates for Data with Empathy: that principle that data should be given from people to organizations, freely and purposefully, to drive mutual value exchange. Yannis joined Edelman from Wunderman Thompson, where he was most recently global Chief Analytics Officer, responsible for driving A.I. and machine learning applications into content creation and media activation for some of the largest brands in the world. Prior to joining Wunderman, he was vice president of CRM analytics and strategy at Merkle. Under Yannis’ leadership, DxI has won numerous industry awards and accolades including Data Creativity at I-Com, Top Software PR Company of the Year at Business Insider, AMEC, ARF David Ogilvy’s, and Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year, to name a few.

Roelfien Kuijpers is a managing director and global head of Deutsche Bank Advisors, the institutions business of Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) and a member of DeAM’s Global Operating Committee. She leads a global business that manages assets for institutional investors worldwide, including pension funds, corporations, endowments, foundations and financial institutions. Deutsche Bank Advisors’ range of investment solutions include equity, fixed income and alternative strategies.

Prior to taking her current position in February of 2006, Ms. Kuijpers was global head of strategic planning, communications and marketing for DeAM, a role she held previously in the firm’s Global Equities division. Ms. Kuijpers joined Deutsche Bank in 1995 as managing director and head of European equity sales in North America. Before coming to Deutsche Bank, she was a managing director and head of European equities in North America at SG Warburg Inc.

In addition to directing Deutsche Banks Advisors, Ms. Kuijpers serves on the board of directors of the Deutsche Bank America Foundation, she is active in Deutsche Bank’s Women on Wall Street conference series, is a member of the Women’s Leadership Board of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, serves on the board of the Metropolitan Opera, and most recent, she was appointed to the Pratt Institute’s Board of Trustees in March 2010.

A native of the Netherlands, Ms. Kuijpers holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Leiden.

Born in Paris, and raised there and in Khartoum, Sudan, de Lesseps’ father was the French ambassador to Sudan, and his great-great-grandfather was the French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who supervised construction of the Suez Canal in 1879, began construction on the Panama Canal and presented the Statue of Liberty to the United States in 1886.

His own history includes involvement with the anti-Vietnam War movement (as a student at Northwestern University he was arrested, and then cleared, for involvement in a Students for a Democratic Society action), a career as a Hollywood film producer, and a subsequent career as a fund manager specializing in Asian stocks.  In the 1990s Mr. de Lesseps co-founded the Myanmar Children’s Association, a not-for-profit organization which has built two orphanages, a day care center, a maternity clinic, and a primary school for a Myanmar community. In 2001, Mr. de Lesseps founded BlueOrchard Finance.  BlueOrchard is the first private, worldwide, fully commercial microfinance investment fund. The company invests in well-run financial institutions who lend money to the poorest class of local business owners in developing countries.  Currently, Mr. de Lesseps is the Chairman of Pandaw Investment Holdings in Hong Kong, Yangon and of Coral Capital based in London and Havana.

George Logothetis is Executive Chairman of Libra Group, an international business group whose subsidiaries own and operate assets in nearly 60 countries. The group is predominantly focused in six sectors including aviation, renewable energy, hospitality, real estate, shipping, and diversified investments. In addition, the Group has created 10 social responsibility programs that have a positive impact on the lives of many people around the world. These programs reflect the Group’s values, as well as a deep commitment to sustainability.

George became CEO of his family’s shipping company, Lomar Shipping, at the age of 19 with a portfolio of three ships. In the ensuing years, he presided over the company’s transformation from three vessels into a fleet of 55 before creating Libra Group in 2003.

At the heart of Libra Group’s business is a profound sense of social responsibility. It is woven into every part of Libra and its subsidiaries. The group’s extensive social programs deliver educational opportunity, business opportunity, and acts of humanity towards people who are marginalized or under-served. These programs span internships, educational fellowships, backing for entrepreneurs, and support for charitable institutions and other non-profit organizations. The Libra Internship Program, for example, allows young people from all over the world to undertake a paid placement within the company in varied roles and business sectors, globally. Since 2011, several hundred interns from 44 countries have had the life-changing opportunity to gain global business experience first-hand.

Áslaug Magnúsdottír, Icelandic business woman and entrepreneur, is the Co-Founder and former chief executive officer of Moda Operandi.  Dubbed one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company, and among the “Next Establishment in 2012” by Vanity Fair, she has lived and worked in the worlds of finance and fashion throughout the Middle East and Europe as well as the U.S., and is known as a visionary leader in the fashion industry worldwide.  A Fulbright Scholar, she became the first Icelandic woman to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School, and holds an LL.M from Duke University School of Law and a Candidate of Law degree from the University of Iceland.

Having started out as an Attorney for Deloitte and then an Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Co, Ms. Magnuúdottír began her professional career in fashion by joining the Baugur Group, an Icelandic investment company focused on the fashion and retail sectors. In 2006, she relocated to New York to work for Marvin Traub Associates and help develop a new luxury goods investment entity, TSM Capital. She then proceeded to work as an Executive at Gilt Groupe and in 2010 joined forces with Lauren Santo Domingo to co-found Moda Operandi (M’O). M’O is a business that allows consumers to pre-order designs directly from the runway, long before they are available anywhere else.

Ms. Magnúsdottír has served on the Board of Directors of numerous fashion and retail companies, including Matthew Williamson and Rachel Roy. She was also nominated by the Icelandic Minister of Education, Science and Culture as the Chairwoman of the National Ballet Company of Iceland and has served as Vice-Chairman of the National Youth Organization of the Icelandic Independence Party.

As co-Chief Operating Officer, Neil is responsible for the commercial and technology enablers to help build Thomson Reuters sales capabilities, expand the digital customer experience and deliver simplified approaches to product and content development.

Previously, Neil served as Thomson Reuters Chief Transformation Officer. In this role, he led the company’s Enterprise Technology & Operations organization, bringing together Thomson Reuters Technology, global Operations Centers, Real Estate, Global Sourcing, and Business & Integration Services.

His role as Chief Transformation Officer followed several management positions in the financial business and in the Thomson Corporation, including Managing Director of the Investors segment in the Financial & Risk business. Prior to joining Thomson in 2002, Neil spent two years at Reuters as Senior Vice President of Business Development. Previously, he spent five years working in the UK retailing industry.

Neil graduated from University College, London and began his career at KPMG in London, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Sara Miller McCune is the founder of SAGE Publishing and executive chairman of the company’s board of directors. Guided by an entrepreneurial spirit and an unwavering dedication to academia, the then-24-year-old Sara founded SAGE in 1965 to start a company that would allow scholars to disseminate quality research in their own voices and break new ground in emerging fields of study. Today, Ms. McCune also serves as a director of SAGE Publications Ltd (London, founded in 1971) and Corwin, a SAGE company and leading publisher for educational administrators and teachers. SAGE set up subsidiaries in India in 1981, Singapore in 2006, Melbourne in 2015, and Toronto in 2018. Ms. McCune remains actively involved in the company’s expansion and development.

Reflecting her longstanding interest in philanthropy, especially in promoting social, educational, economic, and environmental justice, Ms. McCune is founder and president of the McCune Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Ventura County, California, where SAGE’s home office is located. The foundation supports productive change through building social capital in two counties on California’s Central Coast.

In 2012, Ms. McCune received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Queens College (CUNY), for her visionary work as publisher, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. In 2014, she was awarded an honorary fellowship from Cardiff University and an honorary doctorate from Bath University and in 2016, Ms. McCune received honorary degrees from California State University Channel Islands and Sussex University. Ms. McCune is also an Honorary Fellow of both the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford and the prestigious Pembroke College of Oxford University. Additionally, she is an honorary alumna of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), as well as a recipient of their highest honor, the Santa Barbara Medal.

In 2018, Ms. McCune was awarded the coveted London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her 50+ years working within the publishing industry. The award is a testament to her tireless support of social science research, her unwavering commitment to the global dissemination of knowledge, and her passionate belief that education is fundamental for the formation of healthy societies. In 2019 she was selected for membership to the highly prestigious American Philosophical Society (founded by Benjamin Franklin), and in April of 2019, she was awarded the Venky Narayanamurti Entrepreneurial Leadership Award from UCSB’s College of Engineering.

An active supporter of the behavioral and social sciences, McCune serves on the New-York based Social Science Research Council’s Board of Directors and is a past chair of their Visiting Committee. Previously, she was a long-serving member of the board of directors of both the American Academy of Political and Social Science and Stanford’s CASBS center.

Robert C. Miller graduated from Cornell University, receiving his B.A. in 1962 and his LL.B. in 1965. Prior to becoming a partner at Davidson, Dawson & Clark, he was a partner in several prominent New York City and international law firms. Mr. Miller has organized numerous private and public non-operating and operating foundations and devised innovative solutions to the organization of their grant administration activities.

Mr. Miller is a longtime member of the New York City, State and American Bar Associations, where he has been active on various estate planning and tax committees and served as the chair of several. He has also been active in civic and foundation activities. For nine years he served on the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy, a congressionally-funded but private grant-making institution that has the mission of supporting people around the world who are struggling for freedom and working to build successful democratic societies. Through his active role in this institution he is known for his unwavering commitment to democracy and human equality.

He currently serves as Senior Vice Chairman of the Foreign Policy Association, as a trustee of the Brooklyn Public Library and as Chairman of the Hurford Foundation, among others.

Allison Gushée Molkenthin began her career at Bankers Trust in 1984 and was in their New York office until late 1986 when she obtained experience on European transactions by working at the bank’s offices in London, Milan and Paris. Returning to New York in 1988, she continued to work on a variety of international as well as domestic merger and acquisition assignments. In 1989, Ms. Gushée Molkenthin joined UI USA, the US subsidiary of Union d’Etudes et d’Investissements, the merchant banking arm of Credit Agricôle, the largest bank in France. Promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of UI USA in 1995, she worked as both an agent and principal on a variety of projects at UI USA before joining Bentley in early 1999 as a Managing Director.

Ms. Gushée Molkenthin earned two A.B. degrees from Brown University, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Morocco, and earned her M.B.A. from INSEAD in France.

Thomas M. Moriarty is an accomplished strategy, legal and policy executive who has held leadership positions at some of the largest and most innovative health care companies in the country. At CVS Health, he serves on the Executive Leadership Team and is responsible for external affairs including reputation, communications, policy and government affairs, as well as the legal and regulatory function.

Recognized as a health policy expert, Tom has effectively worked in a bipartisan fashion to advance health care solutions and leverage public and private partnerships. Tom is a trusted advisor within CVS Health, helping transform the rapidly evolving health company. He is committed to serving members, patients and customers, helping advance CVS Health’s strategy to make health care more accessible and affordable, and to deliver better health outcomes. Leveraging the capabilities of his teams, he is consistently able to bring together the often conflicting forces of law, policy, regulation and public opinion to create a unified strategy that advances the business on multiple levels.

Tom joined CVS Health in 2012 as General Counsel when the company had approximately a third of its current revenues. He served in a variety of roles including Chief Strategy Officer, developing and executing the expansion of the company’s health care services beyond pharmacy. This ultimately led to the historic acquisition of Fortune 50 health insurer Aetna as well as five other publicly traded and privately held companies. He is accomplished in transaction structures and has worked on more than $150B of mergers and acquisitions transactions. Additionally, Tom was head of Retail Networks and the Global Pharmaceutical Strategies group, which included creating Red Oak Sourcing, the largest Global Generics Sourcing venture with Cardinal Health, as well as leading a team designing CVS Health’s business strategy outside of the United States.

During the pandemic, Tom worked closely with health officials at the federal and state level to bring vaccinations to millions of Americans, including those in disadvantaged communities. He also led a comprehensive approach to the opioid crisis including medication disposal units and the rollout of time-delay safes in 45 states. Tom is Chair of the Chief Legal Officer Roundtable for the Business Roundtable and is a frequent contributor to World Economic Forum, Milken Institute and global think tanks. He serves as a member of the Board of the Northside Center for Child Development. Tom has been consistently honored by his peers and industry groups for his legal aid, pro bono dispute resolution and international educational development as well as his mentoring and development of diverse talent.

Earlier in his career, Tom held senior roles at Merck and Medco Health Solutions. Tom received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Lafayette College.

Robert Moritz is the Global Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Prior to this appointment, Mr. Moritz led PwC U.S. as its chairman and senior partner from 2009-2016. During his tenure, the US firm focused on increasing quality service and enhancing its brand and reputation by developing and retaining key talent and expanding its capabilities across all areas of the business. Bob Moritz also served as the assurance leader of the U.S. firm from 2006 to 2009, and from 2004 to 2006 was the managing partner of the New York office and Metro region. Mr. Moritz joined the firm in 1985 and became a partner in 1995. From 1998 to 2001, he served as the Metro Regional Financial Services Leader. From 2001 to 2004, he led the Financial Services Audit and Business Advisory practice, which includes the banking, capital markets, insurance, investment management, and real estate sectors. He also served a three-year tour in PricewaterhouseCoopers—Tokyo, providing audit and advisory services to numerous European and U.S.-based financial services organizations operating in Japan. He is a graduate of SUNY—Oswego and certified by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State Society of CPAs, and the New Jersey State Society of CPAs.

Mr. Moritz sits on the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council, chairs the Governing Board of the Center for Audit Quality and is on the board of trustees of The Conference Board. In addition, Bob Moritz is a member of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, serves on the board of directors of the Oswego College Foundation and is a partner of the Partnership for New York City, a partnership of businesses dedicated the economic enhancement of New York’s five boroughs.

Gary Mueller has recently joined Eagle Capital Management as a Managing Director. Prior to working with Eagle Capital Management, he served as the Chairman and CEO of Institutional Investor, a premier media company covering the financial service industry. Institutional Investor has over 20 publications, 10 institutes and numerous conferences events and website. Its titles include Institutional Investor, Alpha, The Journal of Portfolio Management and Global Money Management.

Mr. Mueller is also the founder and Chairman of ISI Emerging Markets, one of the most comprehensive and widely-used online financial and business information services for the emerging markets. Mr. Mueller founded ISI in 1994 and served as  chairman and CEO until 2002 and as chairman until 2010. ISI is headquartered in New York City and has offices in thirty countries. Mr. Mueller is also Chairman of Information Management Network, a leading conference company serving various areas of finance, including the high-network growth index and ETF investment management market, as well as the real estate finance sector.

Mr. Mueller is a founding director of Endeavor, a non-profit organization supporting entrepreneurship in emerging markets, and a founder of The Fund for Civil Society in Russia. He also serves on the Board of Advisors of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Mueller is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. He was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in Frankfurt, Germany in 1988.

Clarke Murphy is a leadership expert who advises the world’s top companies on leadership strategies that fuel profitable growth and value for all stakeholders. Known for his authenticity and integrity, he is a trusted advisor on issues of diversity, sustainability, board formation, and succession. He has particular expertise helping boards include sustainable competencies and track record into multi-year CEO succession processes. As the former CEO of Russell Reynolds from 2011-2021, he spearheaded a purpose-driven approach to business and led the firm through its greatest period of growth.

In his book, Sustainable Leadership: Lessons of Vision, Courage, and Grit from the CEOs Who Dared to Build a Better World, Clarke tells the stories of dynamic business executives who are using their position to solve the most complex social and economic challenges of our time.

Since 2021, Clarke has co-hosted the Redefiners podcast, interviewing courageous leaders who are redefining their organizations—and themselves—to deliver extraordinary results. He is a regular speaker at business schools and headline leadership events, including the United Nations Global Compact Leaders’ Summit and the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit. His insights have also featured in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, the Economist and Financial Times.

Before joining Russell Reynolds in 1988, Clarke was a commercial banking officer at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (now part of JPMorgan Chase) in New York. Clarke holds a BA in history from the University of Virginia​.​​​

Fred Nazem, entrepreneur and philanthropist, has founded or financed several multi-billion dollar corporations. He began his career in the financial industry in the late 1970’s, founding Nazem & Company to manage seven private venture capital funds and a joint venture in partnership with Banque National De Paris of France. In the four decades since its founding, Mr. Nazem has started, financed or guided more than three hundred cutting edge enterprises. With an ever-expanding width of experience, he has defined new fields and ideas in finance, high technology and healthcare. Mr. Nazem is also well-known for his role as a turnaround specialist. In 1997, as Chairman of Oxford Health Plans, he led the reorganization and successful reversal as the company experienced operational and financial difficulties.

Mr. Nazem devotes much of his time and energy to philanthropic concerns. Primarily working through the Nazem Family Foundation, he has supported many civic, educational and healthcare-related cases. He currently serves on the Science and Technology Advisory Board of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Furthermore, he is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts and the Economic Club of New York. Mr. Nazem is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award granted to American citizens of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to the United States. Fred Nazem received a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from The Ohio State University, a Master of Science in physical chemistry from University of Cincinnati and an MBA in finance from Columbia University. He has completed doctoral work in nuclear physics at Washington University.

Daniel O’Donnell, the first openly gay man elected to the New York State Assembly, has been a progressive voice advocating fair and sensible legislation since he was elected to represent the 69th District in 2002. His district includes Manhattan Valley, Morningside Heights, and the Upper West Side.

Born in Queens and raised with his four siblings in Commack, Long Island, Mr. O’Donnell put himself through college and law school, earning a B.A. in public affairs from George Washington University and a law degree from CUNY Law School. After seven years as a public defender at the Legal Aid Society, he opened his own public interest law firm on the Upper West Side. His community practice helped clients with tenant representation, as well as civil rights litigation ranging from employee discrimination to First Amendment rights.

During his tenure in the Assembly, he has been the prime sponsor of several trailblazing bills, most notably the Marriage Equality Act. Mr. O’Donnell led the bill to passage in the Assembly five times before it was finally signed into law in June 2011. He was also the prime sponsor of New York’s anti-bullying legislation, the Dignity for All Students Act, which requires public schools in New York to combat bias-based bullying and harassment.

Mr. O’Donnell currently serves as the Chair of the Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development Committee and the Chair of the Codes Subcommittee on Criminal Procedure. His other Standing Committee Assignments include: Codes; Education; Environmental Conservation; and Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force. He and his husband, John Banta, live in Morningside Heights.

Kevin Parker has over 35 years of investment experience and is currently responsible for all strategic and business aspects at Sustainable Insight Capital Management (SICM). Prior to SICM, Mr. Parker was a Member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank for 10 years and the former Global Head of Deutsche Asset Management from 2004 to 2012. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, he was at Morgan Stanley & Co. where he was named the youngest Managing Director in the bank’s history in 1991. He is a leading voice in the asset management industry advocating investment in market-based solutions for global climate change.

He is also the owner of Chateau Maris, named one of the five most environmentally friendly wineries in the world by Wine Spectator Magazine and the Founder and Developer of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, a New York City Economic Development Corporation that recently received approval to build the world’s largest ice sports facility at Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. Mr. Parker holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from New York University.

Morgan Radford is a correspondent for NBC News and anchor for NBC News NOW based in New York City. Her work frequently appears on TODAY Show, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Noticias Telemundo and MSNBC. Radford also co-anchors a daily news program from 11am-1pmET on NBC’s new digital streaming service, NBC News Now.

Since joining NBC News in 2015, Radford has covered the country’s biggest stories including the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on low-income communities, and America’s racial reckoning following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Her coverage of the immigration debate over the U.S. southern border was part of the MSNBC “Border Special” nominated for a 2020 “News Discussion and Analysis” Emmy Award. Radford also won the 2021 Gracie Award for National TV News On-Air Talent.

Prior to joining NBC News, Morgan was an anchor for Al Jazeera America and previously worked for ABC News at their headquarters in New York City.

Originally from Greensboro, NC, Morgan received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and a Fulbright Fellowship from the United States State Department, where she spent one-year teaching in Durban, South Africa. Radford is fluent in Spanish and certified by the French Chamber of Commerce for business proficiency in French. She currently serves on the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism’s Board of Visitors (J’10).

Mr. Rhee is an impact-focused entrepreneur, investor, operator and educator. As both CEO and investment firm founder, Mr. Rhee has generated market-leading returns by creating bespoke capital and operational solutions through the contemporaneous application of algorithmic, technological and cultural change. At Ashley Stewart, as Chairman & CEO & Owner, Mr. Rhee has authored and executed upon an innovative complement of CRM, digital and organizational changes that have transformed a twice bankrupt, unprofitable retailer with decades of operating losses into an industry leader founded upon a values-based, social commerce paradigm. FirePine Group, the investment firm he founded in 2009, invests the capital of some of the world’s most sophisticated investors to fuel transformative and impactful change in multiple enterprises, including Ashley Stewart.

Prior to this, Mr. Rhee was a senior investment professional at two leading, Boston-based private equity firms (growth and distressed), stewarding billions of dollars of enterprise value.

Mr. Rhee is a visiting lecturer at Duke Law School and teaches his proprietary money/happiness class at leading educational institutions and professional organizations. Awards include: regional 2016 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner; 2016 NRF Power Player Award; 2017 Black Retail Action Group Business Achievement Award, 2018 Temple Fox School of Business IT Innovator Award; and Essex County Urban League Centennial William M. Ashby Community Builder Award. He is a member of the NRF Board. His story has been chronicled in the world’s leading publications and media outlets, including the Good Business Issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, Harvard Business Review, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, Thrive Global, Forbes + USA Today.

Mr. Rhee received his AB with honors from Harvard College and his JD with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of Harvard Law Review.

Steve Ross was appointed Director of the recently formed Book Division at Abrams Artists Agency. In this role, he is expanding the talent agency’s involvement in the book agenting and publishing field, and at the helm of the newly formed Abrams Author Services, expanding under Abrams’ aegis the wide range of consulting services he’s been providing to a select list of clients.

He was previously the President and Group Publisher of the Collins Division of HarperCollins and Publisher of Random House’s Crown Division. A 22-year veteran of the industry, Ross has been involved in publishing such bestselling authors as Barack Obama, Arianna Huffington, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Russell Brand, Sir Roger Moore, Joni Mitchell, Gene Simmons, Erik Larson, Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Pete Sampras, Spike Lee, Max Brooks, Suze Orman, and Charles Schwab.  He received a James Thurber Award for the publication of Our Dumb Century by The Onion, was named by New York Magazine as one of seven “Influentials” in Books in 2006, and holds a Master’s Degree from NYU, where he is a faculty member of NYU’s Graduate Program in Publishing.

Paul N. Roth is a founding partner of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. He heads the firm’s private investment funds’ practice, an area in which he has 40 years of experience and which involves over 90 attorneys and approximately 1500 hedge funds, private equity funds and offshore funds. His practice focuses primarily on investment advisers and broker/dealers, cross-border acquisitions to the United States, securities regulation, mergers and acquisitions and financial transactions. Mr. Roth chairs the Subcommittee on Private Investment Entities of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Federal Securities Regulation. He is also the past President and member of the Board of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association of New York City. A magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College, Mr. Roth graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and received a Fulbright Fellowship for Study of Law in The Netherlands during 1964-65. He is listed in the International WhoWho’sLegal, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers.

Aaron Schlaphoff is a partner in the Corporate Department and a member of the firm’s Private Funds Group. He regularly represents many of the industry’s largest asset managers on a wide range of legal, regulatory and compliance matters. Aaron previously served as an attorney fellow in the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Aaron has unique expertise in the broad spectrum of legal, regulatory and compliance regimes that apply to asset managers, including the Investment Advisers Act, Investment Company Act and the Commodity Exchange Act, as well as related securities and banking laws and regulations. He advises his clients on a wide range of matters. As a former regulator, Aaron offers invaluable insight into the SEC, including its policies, procedures, operations and processes. During his tenure, Aaron contributed to a wide range of matters relating to investment advisers and vehicles subject to SEC regulation, including private funds, registered funds, BDCs, mutual funds, and exchange traded funds and products (ETFs/ETPs). In addition to his work in the Rulemaking Office of the Division of Investment Management, Aaron also advised other SEC divisions and offices on matters specifically relevant to the private funds industry, including the Division of Examinations (formerly OCIE) and the Division of Enforcement. He also represented the SEC in its interactions with the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) relating to U.S. and international financial stability and systemic risk. Chambers USA recognized Aaron as an industry leader in Investment Funds: Regulatory & Compliance, being described as adept at advising on “complex regulatory issues” with “considerable experience” in all types of fund products. Aaron is an active writer and speaker on issues pertaining to investment funds and regulatory compliance, including panels hosted by the Practising Law Institute and the New York City Bar Association, among others. He earned his B.A., cum laude, in Mathematics and Political Science from Macalester College and was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Cologne in Germany. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School.

Jonathan Schwartz is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Univision Communications, Inc., the leading Spanish language media company in the United States. Prior to joining Univision, Mr. Schwartz served as managing director and general counsel for JPMorgan’s Investment Bank. Previously, he spent six years at Cablevision Systems as executive vice president and general counsel. Prior to that, Mr. Schwartz held various roles including senior vice president and deputy general counsel of Time Warner Inc., and as general counsel of online music company Napster.

Early in his career, Mr. Schwartz worked as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for five years. He then joined the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he worked for Attorney General Janet Reno and then Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder. Mr. Schwartz was also a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., and for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Schwartz is a recipient of the prestigious Edmund J. Randolph Award, presented by the attorney general for outstanding service to the Department of Justice.

Mr. Schwartz received his juris doctorate degree from Stanford Law School in 1986 and graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983 with a bachelor’s of science degree in economics. He was also awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to attend Cambridge University, where he earned a master’s degree in international relations.

Dr. Marjory Searing has a wide range of experience in both the public and private sectors, capping her 33-year long government career as Assistant Secretary and Director General of the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Clinton, prior to her appointment at Pfizer, Inc. Until recently, Dr. Searing served as Vice President of Public Affairs at Pfizer, Inc. where she oversaw the companies relations across the globe, specifically focusing on Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Dr. Searing has travelled extensively and is particularly knowledgeable about Japanese market and trade policy.

Isaac Shapiro is a partner in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Europe) LLP, and Of Counsel to the firm in New York and is admitted as an avocat honoraire in France. He is involved in the business development of the partnership’s Vienna office, with an emphasis on transactions in Russia and the former Soviet Union as well as Eastern Europe.

Mr. Shapiro, who was born in Japan and raised there and in China, came to the firm in April 1986 with 30 years’ experience in litigation, corporate law, antitrust law and international business transactions. Previously, he was the resident partner in the firms Tokyo and Paris offices.

From 1982 to 1991, Mr. Shapiro served in public office as a member of the Services Policy Advisory Committee to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. He was also a director of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Trust Company and Cal Zeiss, Inc. and enherent Corp. He is a trustee of the Asian Cultural Council, Inc., the Isamu Noguchi Foundation (New York), the Isamu Noguchi Zaidan in Japan, the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music in Russia and the Trust for Mutual Understanding.

Mr. Shapiro is fluent in English, French, Russian and Japanese. He has taught Soviet and Russian Law at the New York University School of Law and at Columbia Law School. He is also a co-author of the Soviet Legal System, a law school textbook. He has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America.

In 1956, Mr. Shapiro was awarded a Fulbright grant to Institut de Droit Compare, University of Paris, France.

Suzanne Siskel,  Ford Foundation’s Director of Social Justice Philanthropy since 2009, was previously based in Jakarta, as the Foundation’s representative for Indonesia from 1990-2005. Prior to that, she had been the Foundation’s representative for the Philippines and a program officer for rural poverty and resources in Jakarta. Before relocating to the Ford Foundation’s headquarters in New York City, Suzanne lived and worked in Indonesia for 3 decades, first as a Luce Scholar at Airlangga University in East Java from 1974-1975, and later as a Fulbright scholar from 1983-1984 for research on the island of Madura. Ms. Siskel was a social science advisor to development projects in West Timor and Flores Islands in east Indonesia before joining the Ford Foundation in Jakarta in 1990. Previous research projects took her to northeast Brazil, Andros Island in the Bahamas and highland Chiapas, Mexico during the 1970s. She studied Social Anthropology at Harvard and Johns Hopkins University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. Siskel has served as secretary and president on the Fulbright Association’s Board of Directors. She currently chairs the Board’s Development and Recognition Committee. Ms. Siskel is also a member of the governing council of the European Foundation Centre.

Dr. William Paul Sterling is the Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, Managing Director, and Senior Portfolio Manager at Trilogy Global Advisors, LLC. He founded the firm in 1999. Dr. Sterling is also the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer at BPI Global Asset Management LLC. Previously, he was at Credit Suisse Asset Management, where he was an Executive Director and served on the firm’s operating committee as Global Head of Equities. Dr. Sterling was a Managing Director and Head of International Equities at BEA Associates. Previously, he was a First Vice President at Merrill Lynch. He was Head of Economic Research in Tokyo and later Chief International Economist at Merrill Lynch. He is the Co-Author of Boomernomics: The Future of Your Money in the Upcoming Generational Warfare. Dr. Sterling holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He holds an M.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Economics from Carleton College. Dr. Sterling studied at the University of Tokyo in the early 1980s as a Fulbright Scholar.

Mr. Washington SyCip is a distinguished international businessman, CEO, and philanthropist from Manila, Philippines. As the founder and former CEO of SyCip, Gores, Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.), Mr. SyCip transformed what was a one-man office in 1946 into the first successful company of its kind in the Philippines and Asia’s largest accounting and consulting firm with over 2,000 employees and partnerships throughout Asia, the United States, and the world. He also helped start one of Asia’s first U.S.-style graduate business schools, the Asian Institute of Management, in 1969. Mr. SyCip holds a BS and MS from the University of Santo Tomas. He also obtained a Master’s of Science in Commerce from Columbia Business School. Since his retirement, Mr. SyCip had dedicated a lot of time to supporting organizations working to improve the quality of public education in the Philippines.

Whitney Tilson is the founder and Managing Partner of Kase Capital Management, which manages three value-oriented hedge funds. He is also the co-founder of Value Investor Insight, an investment newsletter. He spent much of his childhood in Tanzania and Nicaragua (his parents are both educators, were among the first couples to meet and marry in the Peace Corps, and have retired in Kenya). Consequently, he is involved with a number of charities focused on education reform and Africa. Mr. Tilson received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was elected a Baker Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in Government. Before business school, in addition to Teach for America, he spent two years as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Prior to launching his investment career in 1999, he spent five years working with Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter studying the competitiveness of inner cities and inner-city-based companies nationwide. He and Professor Porter founded the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, of which Mr. Tilson was Executive Director. He also led the effort to create ICV Partners, a national for-profit private equity fund focused on minority-owned and inner-city businesses that has raised nearly $500 million.

Hamdi Ulukaya was raised in a dairy-farming family in a small village in eastern Turkey. After moving to the United States, he launched Chobani in 2007 with the mission and vision of making good-quality food more accessible. Five years after selling the first cup of yogurt, Chobani was a billion-dollar brand, and today is the #1 selling yogurt brand in the U.S. The company has since expanded to an innovative modern food portfolio, adding dairy and plant-based creamers, oat milk, and coffee.  

As a leader in the food manufacturing industry, Ulukaya built Chobani on the foundation that it would do well by doing good. In 2020-2021 alone, the company donated 10.5 million products to fight food insecurity across America, and advocated for policies that work toward ending hunger for 17 million American children.  

Ulukaya is well-known for his employee-first policies, including instituting innovative profit-sharing and paid parental leave programs for Chobani’s 2,000-plus employees, and implementing competitive hourly wage increases well above the federal rate. He has also become a leading voice in the movement to hire refugees, having discovered through his own experience hiring them that “the minute a refugee gets a job is the minute they stop being a refugee.”  

That inspired him to start the Tent Partnership for Refugees in 2016, a foundation that mobilizes the business community to connect refugees to work. Tent’s 300 corporate members include Amazon, H&M, adidas, Hilton, L’Oréal, and Pfizer. Ulukaya also signed the Giving Pledge, committing the majority of his personal wealth to help bring an end to refugees’ crisis.  

For those efforts, Ulukaya was named an Eminent Advocate by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and received the United Nations Foundation Global Leadership Award, among other recognitions. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also named him as a Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. Ulukaya has received the Oslo Business for Peace Award and George H.W Bush Points of Light Award, is a Global Citizen Prize winner, and was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for his work on the refugee crisis and his innovative approach to business.

Toni Verstandig is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Verstandig Family Foundation (VFF). Mrs. Verstandig has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs where she focused on the Middle East specifically the Israel-Palestinian Conflict and ways to create a pathway to broaden the aperture for enhanced Arab-Israel normalization and support for the two-state solution. She also covered the Arabian Gulf portfolio. Ms. Verstandig chaired the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Program which developed several innovative programs, Partners for New Beginning, and the Aspen-Abu Dhabi Next-Gen Leadership and Innovation Program.  

Mrs. Verstandig is actively engaged in the Washington community and serves on the National Democratic Institute Board, University of Denver’s Korbel Graduate School for International Affairs, the National Cryptologic Foundation, the Institute of Peace’s International Advisory Board, and the Risk and Return Foundation, and the Mount Vernon Washington Cabinet.   She is a Member of  Washington’s Cabinet at Mount Vernon.  She recently completed a 20 year-Board tenure at Children’s National Hospital where she was Chair of the Children’s National Hospital Foundation and served on the Parent Board.  She also recently completed board service on the Center for Global Development Board.

She is a graduate of Boston University and received an Honorary Doctorate from Seton Hill University.

She is married to The Honorable Lee L. Verstandig.

Alberto Vitale is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Random House, Inc., having served in that position from 1989 to 1998. Random House, a division of Bertelsmann AG, is the world’s largest English-language general trade book publisher. Through its many prestigious imprints, it publishes some of the foremost writers of our time in hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, electronic, multimedia, and other formats.

Mr. Vitale was born in Italy in 1933 and educated in both French and Italian schools; he then went on to receive his doctorate in economics from the University of Turin. In 1957, he attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania as a Fulbright Scholar. After completing his education, Mr. Vitale went on to an accomplished career in the publishing industry, with positions at Olivettie, Bertelsmann Publishing Group, Inc., Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., and Random House, among others. He has received many accolades and was honored at the inaugural One To World Fulbright Awards Dinner in 1991.

Peter M. Wolf is an investment manager, author, land planner, and urban policy authority. His books and professional reports confront issues in American urbanism and investment strategy at every scale from raw land to densely inhabited cities.

A Yale, Tulane and New York University graduate, after earning his Ph.D. Wolf was elected Chairman of the Board of Fellows of the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, and appointed Adjunct Professor in the School of Architecture at Cooper Union. Over the years he has received honors, awards and grants from the Fulbright Commission (Fulbright Fellow to Paris), the National Endowment for the Arts, The Ford Foundation, The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, The National Research and Education Trust Fund, and has been a short-term visiting artist/scholar at the American Academy in Rome.

His prior books constitute a suite of interrelated inquiries which confront problems in American planning and resource management in the cities, in the suburbs, in small towns, in the sparsely settled countryside and on the open land. Beginning with The Evolving City: New Directions in Urban Planning (1974) and then continuing through to Land in America: Its Value, Use and Control (1981), and Hot Towns: The Future of the Fastest Growing Communities in America (1999), Wolf addresses central issues confronting America. Along the way he offers experience-based investment suggestions and design guidance. Mr. Wolf’s latest book, a memoir of his life, My New Orleans, Gone Away: A Memoir of Loss and Renewal (2013) is featured on the New York Times Bestsellers list.

Mr. Wolf’s philanthropic activities began immediately after college when he served as a trustee of the New Orleans Public Library and the fledgling New Orleans educational television station. More recent commitments include Founder and first Chairman of the Thomas Moran Trust, and a member of the Board of Directors of One To World, and in East Hampton of Guild Hall and the Village Preservation Society. He is a past Chairman of the Van Alen Institute and served as an advisory board member of the National Academy of Design.

Peter Wolf Associates, Inc. provides investment management services on behalf of individuals, trusts and families.

John Zogby, founder of the Zogby Poll and the Zogby companies, is an internationally respected pollster, opinion leader and best-selling author. His presidential polling remains among the most accurate through the last five elections. He has served as an on-air election analyst for NBC News, BBC, CBC, ABC (Australia), and has been featured by the Foreign Press Center in Washington every election night since 1998.

In addition to the global reach of his brand, Zogby Polls have been cited frequently in popular culture, including in CW’s Gossip Girls and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He is also the author of the best-selling The Way We’ll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream and is co-author of the forthcoming First Globals: Understanding, Managing, and Unleashing Our Millennial Generation. His analytical expertise has been published on the opinion pages of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times. He has polled and consulted for a wide spectrum of business, media, government and political groups including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, CISCO Systems, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and the U.S. Census Bureau.

A senior advisor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Zogby also serves on the boards of the Arab American Institute, Upstate Venture Connect (which links young entrepreneurs with venture capital in Upstate New York), and Freedom Guide Dogs. As Chairman of Sudan Sunrise, Zogby works to continue the vision of NBA player Manute Bol to bring peace to Sudan through education. Zogby holds degrees in history from Le Moyne College and Syracuse University and has been awarded three honorary doctorates from the State University of New York, the College of St. Rose, and the Graduate School of Union University. In 2008 he was awarded the Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellows Award from the University of California Irvine.