Co-Founder of LinkedIn, Co-Founder of Inflection AI, Partner at Greylock 

An accomplished entrepreneur, executive, and investor, Reid Hoffman has played an integral role in building many of today’s leading consumer technology businesses and is currently leading the charge to use AI to help humanity.

In 2003 Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking service. LinkedIn is thriving with more than 700 million members around the world.

In 2009 Hoffman joined Greylock. He focuses on building products that can reach hundreds of millions of participants and businesses that have network effects. 

In 2022, Hoffman co-founded Inflection AI, an artificial intelligence company that aims to create software products that make it easier for humans to communicate with computers.

He currently serves on the boards of Aurora, Coda, Convoy, Entrepreneur First, Joby, Microsoft, Nauto, Neeva, and a few early stage companies still in stealth. In addition, he serves on a number of not-for-profit boards, including Kiva, Endeavor, CZ Biohub, New America, Berggruen Institute, Opportunity@Work, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, the MacArthur Foundation’s Lever for Change.

Hoffman is the host of Masters of Scale, an original podcast series and the first American media program to commit to a 50-50 gender balance for featured guests as well as Possible, a podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. He is the co-author of five best-selling books: The Startup of You, The Alliance, Blitzscaling, Masters of Scale, and Impromptu.

Hoffman earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in symbolic systems from Stanford University.

U.S. Senator Charles Ellis “Chuck” Schumer has dedicated his career to fighting for New York. 

He visits all 62 counties every year and has delivered countless large and small victories across the state, including delivering \$20 billion to rebuild after the 9-11 terror attacks and passing a \$63 billion relief package to help New York recover from Superstorm Sandy. From massive snowstorms in Western New York to numerous floods across Upstate, Chuck has delivered aid and support to New Yorkers in their time of need. From authoring a permanent tax credit to offset the rising costs of college tuition, to protecting Social Security and Medicare and encouraging job-creating infrastructure projects, Senator Schumer has made it a hallmark of his career to protect the middle class and those working to reach it – including finding common sense solutions to national issues. 

Chuck was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where his dad, Abraham, owned a small exterminating business and his mom, Selma, was a housewife. He attended public school and graduated from James Madison High School before heading to Harvard University, and then Harvard Law School. Chuck has two daughters, Jessica and Alison, and he still resides in Brooklyn with his wife, Iris Weinshall.

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1974, Chuck was elected to the New York State Assembly. He quickly made a mark with his trademark vigor and relentless advocacy. In 1980, at 29, Chuck was elected as a congressman from the 9th Congressional District. Chuck represented the 9th CD in Brooklyn and Queens for eighteen years. In an era of sky-high crime and murder rates plaguing communities throughout America, Chuck established his reputation as a consumer advocate and a pioneer in the fight against crime. He was the leading sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act to combat domestic violence and sexual assault, and the Brady Bill, instituting mandatory background checks for handgun purchases. He championed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which organized data on crimes of bigotry and allowed federal authorities to prosecute these crimes. He also sponsored legislation requiring banks and credit card companies to provide consumers with more transparent disclosure. 

In 1998, Chuck was elected to the U.S. Senate, and he became New York’s senior senator when Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan retired in 2000. Chuck kicked off his first Senate term by announcing he would visit each of New York’s 62 counties every year to keep in touch with voters from every corner of the state. A tradition he continues to this day.

Throughout his time in the Senate, Chuck has made improving New York’s economy his top priority.

He worked to bring affordable air service, like JetBlue, to Upstate New York. He has helped retain New York jobs at risk of leaving and attract new firms to New York—creating many thousands of family-supporting new jobs. Chuck authored legislation to eliminate barriers that delayed low-cost generic medications from entering the marketplace and led the charge to make college tuition tax deductible. He aggressively championed agricultural measures to preserve vital market support programs for New York’s dairy farmers and crop growers. In 2013, Chuck worked across the aisle to pass a comprehensive immigration reform package: the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.

New York’s Senator Chuck Schumer was first elected to the Senate in 1998. After New Yorkers re-elected him in 2004, Chuck secured two powerful posts: a seat on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the nation’s tax, trade, social security and healthcare legislation, and the Chairmanship of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Chuck successfully led the DSCC for two consecutive cycles and greatly expanded the number of seats in his conference. Following the elections of 2006, then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appointed Chuck to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic Conference, the number three position on the Democratic Leadership team. In 2016, Chuck was again re-elected by the people of New York. At the same time, his colleagues elected him to serve as Leader of the Democratic Caucus, the first time a New York Senator has held the position. In 2021, Chuck became the first New Yorker to serve as Senate Majority Leader. As Majority Leader, Chuck has led the Senate through one the most productive periods in its  history, ushering landmark legislation through the Senate including the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS And Science Act, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the American Rescue Plan, and much more. These accomplishments are delivering meaningful results for families, businesses, and communities across New York State and around the country. In 2022, Chuck was re-elected by the people of New York to an unprecedented fifth term. As senator, Chuck has made it a hallmark of his career to protect the middle class and those working to reach it. He continues that mission every day as leader of the Senate Democratic Majority.

Condoleezza Rice is the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and a Senior Fellow on Public Policy. She is the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, she is a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm.

From January 2005 to January 2009, Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first black woman to hold the post. Rice also served as President George W. Bush’s Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor) from January 2001 to January 2005, the first woman to hold the position.

Rice served as Stanford University’s provost from 1993 to 1999, during which time she was the institution’s chief budget and academic officer. As Professor of Political Science, she has been on the Stanford faculty since 1981 and has won two of the university’s highest teaching honors.

From February 1989 through March 1991, Rice served on President George H.W. Bush’s National Security Council staff. She served as Director, then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs, as well as Special Assistant to the President for National Security. In 1986, while an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, Rice also served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

She has authored and co-authored numerous books, most recently To Build a Better World: Choices to End the Cold War and Create a Global Commonwealth (2019), co-authored with Philip Zelikow. Among her other volumes are three bestsellers, Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom (2017); No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington (2011); and Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family (2010). She also wrote Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity (2018) with Amy B. Zegart; Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft (1995) with Philip Zelikow; edited The Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin; and penned The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army; 1948-1983: Uncertain Allegiance (1984). 

In 1991, Rice co-founded the Center for a New Generation (CNG), an innovative, after-school academic enrichment program for students in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California. In 1996, CNG merged with the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula, an affiliate club of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BCGA). CNG has since expanded to local BGCA chapters in Birmingham, Atlanta, and Dallas. Rice remains an active proponent of an extended learning day through after-school programs. 

Since 2009, Rice has served as a founding partner at Rice, Hadley, Gates, & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm based in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm works with senior executives of major companies to implement strategic plans and expand in emerging markets. Other partners include former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, and former diplomat, author, and advisor on emerging markets, Anja Manuel. 

In 2022, Rice became a part-owner of the Denver Broncos as a part of the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group. In 2013, Rice was appointed to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, formerly the Bowl Championship Series. She served on the committee until 2017. 

Rice currently serves on the boards of C3.ai, an AI software company; and Makena Capital Management, a private endowment firm. In addition, she is Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and a trustee of the Aspen Institute. Previously, Rice served on various boards, including Dropbox; the George W. Bush Institute; the Commonwealth Club; KiOR, Inc.; the Chevron Corporation; the Charles Schwab Corporation; the Transamerica Corporation; the Hewlett-Packard Company; the University of Notre Dame; the Foundation of Excellence in Education; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and the San Francisco Symphony. 

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Rice earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver; her master’s in the same subject from the University of Notre Dame; and her Ph.D., likewise in political science, from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. 

Rice is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded over fifteen honorary doctorates. 

Jensen Huang founded NVIDIA in 1993 and has served since its inception as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.

Starting out in PC graphics, NVIDIA helped build the gaming market into the largest entertainment industry in the world today. The company’s invention of the GPU in 1999 made possible real-time programmable shading, which defines modern computer graphics, and later revolutionized parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI — the next era of computing — with the GPU acting as the brain of computers, robots and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand the world.

Huang is a recipient of the Semiconductor Industry Association’s highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award; IEEE Founder’s Medal; the Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award; and honorary doctorate degrees from Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan University, and Oregon State University. He has been named the world’s best CEO by Harvard Business Review and Brand Finance, as well as Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year and one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people.

Prior to founding NVIDIA, Huang worked at LSI Logic and Advanced Micro Devices. He holds a BSEE degree from Oregon State University and an MSEE degree from Stanford University.

Sir Alex Younger was for 30 years a career intelligence officer in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. He served in Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan. He was appointed as Director of Counter Terrorism from 2009 to 2012, Head of Operations from 2012 to 2014 and then Chief of the Service from 2014 to 2020. Prior to SIS, Alex served in the British Army as an infantry officer. He attended St Andrews’ University, where he read computer science, among other things.

Alex led MI6 during a period of unprecedented technological change, when both digital threats and opportunities intensified.

Antony J. Blinken is the 71st U.S. Secretary of State.

He was nominated by President Biden on November 23, 2020; confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 26, 2021; and sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris the following day.

Over three decades and three presidential administrations, Mr. Blinken has helped shape U.S. foreign policy to ensure it protects U.S. interests and delivers results for the American people. He served as deputy secretary of state for President Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017, and before that, as President Obama’s principal deputy national security advisor. In that role, Mr. Blinken chaired the interagency deputies committee, the main forum for hammering out the administration’s foreign policy.

During the first term of the Obama Administration, Mr. Blinken was national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden. This was the continuation of a long professional relationship that stretched back to 2002, when Mr. Blinken began his six-year stint as Democratic staff director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Then-Senator Biden was the chair of that committee from 2001 to 2003 and 2007 to 2009.

During the Clinton Administration, Mr. Blinken served as a member of the National Security Council staff, including two years as the senior director for European affairs, the president’s principal advisor on the countries of Europe, the European Union, and NATO. He also spent four years as President Clinton’s chief foreign policy speechwriter, and he led the NSC’s strategic planning team.

Mr. Blinken’s public service began at the State Department. From 1993 to 1994, he was a special assistant in what was then called the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs. Now he is proud to lead the department where he got his start in government nearly 30 years ago.

Outside of government, Mr. Blinken has worked in the private sector, civil society, and journalism. He was a founder of WestExec Advisors, an international strategic consulting firm focused on geopolitics and national security. He was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2001 and 2002. Before joining government, Mr. Blinken practiced law in New York and Paris. He was also a reporter for The New Republic magazine and is the author of Ally Versus Ally: America, Europe and the Siberian Pipeline Crisis (Praeger, 1987).

Mr. Blinken attended grade school and high school in Paris, where he received a French Baccalaureat degree with high honors. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School. He and his wife Evan Ryan have two children.

As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009, Michael Chertoff led the country in blocking would-be terrorists from crossing our borders or implementing their plans if they were already in the country. He also transformed FEMA into an effective organization following Hurricane Katrina. His greatest successes have earned few headlines – because the important news is what didn’t happen.

At Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff provides high-level strategic counsel to corporate and government leaders on a broad range of security issues, from risk identification and prevention to preparedness, response, and recovery. “Risk management has become the CEO’s concern,” he says. “We help our clients develop comprehensive strategies to manage risk without building barriers that get in the way of carrying on their business.”

Before heading up the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Chertoff served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Earlier, during more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, he investigated and prosecuted cases of political corruption, organized crime, corporate fraud, and terrorism – including the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Chertoff is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1975) and Harvard Law School (1978). From 1979-1980 he served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Jr. In addition to his role at Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff is also a senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group.

He is author of the book, Exploding Data: Reclaiming Our Cyber Security in the Digital Age.

Previous Government Service

• Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2005 – 2009)
• Federal Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2003 – 2005)
• Assistant Attorney General of the United States, Criminal Division (2001 – 2003)

Avril Haines was sworn in as the Director of National Intelligence on January 21, 2021. She is the seventh Senate-confirmed DNI in our nation’s history and the first woman to lead the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Director Haines has deep national security experience. During the Obama administration, she served as Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor from 2015-2017, during which time she led the National Security Council’s Deputies Committee. From 2013-2015, Haines was the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. She was the first woman to hold both of these positions. She initially joined the federal government as a civil servant and over the last two decades has worked in all three branches of government, in and outside of the intelligence community, and in academia as a research scholar at Columbia University and a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Haines most recently led the Transition’s National Security and Foreign Policy Team and served as a member of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service.

Haines received her bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Chicago and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Eric J. Holcomb, 51st Governor of the State of Indiana, is a lifelong Hoosier and veteran of the U.S. Navy. Elected by his fellow Hoosiers to a second term in 2020, he received the most votes for governor in Indiana history.

Earning a reputation as a pragmatic consensus builder, Holcomb frequently travels throughout the state, visiting with Hoosiers about how to make Indiana the best place in the world to live, work, study, play and stay. Under Holcomb’s leadership, Indiana’s economy is strong, the state’s finances are honestly balanced, and the state is streamlining government services and returning dollars to Hoosier taxpayers, while simultaneously delivering significant investments and advancements in infrastructure, education, workforce, quality of life and public health.

During Holcomb’s terms, Indiana employees and employers are enjoying consecutive record-breaking years of job commitments. In 2022, companies committed a record-breaking \$22.2 billion in capital investment. In 2023, Forbes ranked Indiana the number one best state in the U.S. to start a business. Actively seeking to build global relationships and attract investments in Indiana’s economic growth, Holcomb has made 14 international trips as governor, visiting more than 20 nations.

Maintaining Indiana’s “Crossroads of America” infrastructure and strengthening Indiana’s connections between our communities is a top priority for Holcomb. He implemented a long-term, fully-funded 20-year, \$60 billion Next Level Roads program. In 2019 and again in 2022, CNBC ranked Indiana number one in the nation for infrastructure.

Holcomb has worked to align Indiana’s K-12, higher education, workforce and economic development efforts to empower Hoosiers with the necessary skills to succeed in the economy of the future. He signed into law historic, increased investments in education, including a record \$1.9 billion in new funding for education in the current budget. He unveiled the Next Level Jobs program to prepare and connect more Hoosiers to high-demand, high-wage careers.

Holcomb created the Governor’s Public Health Commission in 2021 to study and make recommendations about how Indiana can improve the delivery of public health services throughout the state. For his efforts in the public health arena and focus on helping Hoosiers with substance use disorder recover, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation honored him with the Circle of Hope Award in 2019.

Holcomb serves on the Executive Committee of the Republican Governors Association and previously served as its policy chairman. In 2018, The Hill named him one of ten governors shaping the future of politics. An article in Governing magazine read, “Indiana’s governor doesn’t scream, doesn’t threaten, and doesn’t even complain. He just wins.”

A lifelong basketball fan, Holcomb has made a basket in each of Indiana’s 92 counties. A collector of presidential signatures, he has documents signed by every U.S. president. He is a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis and Hanover College in southeastern Indiana. Prior to his election as Governor in 2016, following an unprecedented 106-day campaign, Holcomb served as Indiana’s 51st Lieutenant Governor.

Holcomb and his wife, Janet, live with their Miniature Schnauzer, Henry, and cat, Topper, in the Governor’s Residence in Indianapolis.

H.R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years. He retired as a Lieutenant General in June 2018 after serving as the 25th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. From 2014 to 2017 McMaster designed the future army as the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and the deputy commanding general, futures, of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). As commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, he oversaw all training and education for the army’s infantry, armor, and cavalry force. He has commanded organizations in wartime including Commander, Combined Joint Inter-Agency Task Force—Shafafiyat in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012; Commander, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq from 2005 to 2006; and Commander, Eagle Troop, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Operation Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991. McMaster also served overseas as advisor to the most senior commanders in the Middle East, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

McMaster holds a PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an assistant professor of history at the United States Military Academy. He is author of the bestselling books Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World and Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam. His many essays, articles, and book reviews on leadership, history, and the future of warfare have appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, SurvivalNational Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

McMaster is the host of Battlegrounds: International Perspectives on Crucial Challenges and

Opportunities and is a regular on Goodfellows. He is a Distinguished University Fellow at Arizona State University.

Eric Schmidt is an accomplished technologist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He joined Google in 2001 and helped grow the company from a Silicon Valley startup to a global leader in technology alongside founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Eric served as Google’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman from 2001-2011, as well as Executive Chairman and Technical Advisor. Under his leadership, Google dramatically scaled its infrastructure and diversified its product offerings while maintaining a strong culture of innovation. In 2017, he co-founded Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative that bets early on exceptional people making the world better. His most recent initiative,  the Special Competitive Studies Project, was founded in October 2021 and is a bipartisan, non-profit initiative with a clear mission: to make recommendations to strengthen America’s long-term competitiveness for a future where artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies reshape our national security, economy, and society. 

Dragoș Tudorache is a Member of the European Parliament and Vice- President of the Renew Europe Group. He is the LIBE rapporteur on the AI Act, former Chair of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age (AIDA), and he sits on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), and the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the United States (D-US).

Dragos began his career in 1997 as a judge in Romania. Between 2000 and 2005, he built and led the legal departments at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN missions in Kosovo. After working on justice and anticorruption at the European Commission Representation in Romania, supporting the country’s EU accession, he joined the Commission as an official and, subsequently, qualified for leadership roles in EU institutions, managing a number of units and strategic projects such as the Schengen Information System, Visa Information System, and the establishment of eu-LISA1.

During the European migration crisis, Dragos was entrusted with leading the coordination and strategy Unit in DG-Home, the European Commission Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, until he joined the Romanian Government led by Dacian Ciolos. Between 2015 and 2017, he served as Head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, Minister of Communications and for the Digital Society, and Minister of Interior. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2019. His current interests in the European Parliament include security and defence, artificial intelligence and new technologies, transatlantic issues, the Republic of Moldova, and internal affairs.

Governor Kristi Noem is a rancher, farmer, small business owner, and New York Times bestselling author of Not My First Rodeo: Lessons Learned From the Heartland. In 2010, after serving in the South Dakota legislature for several years, Noem was elected to serve as South Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives. During her time in Congress, in addition to many other successes, Governor Noem helped pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which put \$2,400 back in the pockets of the average South Dakota family. In 2018, with the platform of protecting South Dakotans against tax increases, government growth, federal intrusion, and government secrecy, she was elected as South Dakota’s first-ever female Governor. In 2022, Governor Noem was re-elected with the largest vote total in the history of South Dakota. As Governor, Noem has respected the rights of her people by trusting them to exercise their personal responsibility to make the best decisions for themselves, their loved-ones, and – in turn – their communities. She has focused on building stronger families and keeping South Dakota “Open for Business.” Despite all of this, Governor Noem often says that her greatest accomplishment is raising her three children, Kassidy, Kennedy, and Booker, with her husband Bryon. All have a deep love for their family and an even deeper love for the Lord.

Eva Maydell is a Member of the European Parliament and President of European Movement International, the largest organisation of associations and civil societies in Europe.

Maydell´s policy priorities include innovation and the use of new technologies as well as supporting entrepreneurs and sustainable investments in Europe. In the European Parliament, she is a member of the Industry and Economic Affairs Committees, Vice-Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Japan and member of the Delegation for Relations with the U.S.

MEP Maydell is the EPP Group Rapporteur on the Chips Act and the rapporteur on the Chips Joint Undertaking, a massive new planned EU public-private partnership for microchips. MEP Maydell is also the lead rapporteur in the Industry Committee on the AI Act, the first-ever general law on Artificial Intelligence, the Single Market Emergency Instrument as well as the EPP Group rapporteur on the NIS 2 Directive on cybersecurity.

Eva Maydell is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She is also a Board Member for WEF’s Digital Europe program and a member of the WEF Global Future Council of Europe. Maydell has been awarded the European Parliament’s MEP of the Year Award twice and has been featured in FT’s ‘New Europe 100’ ranking of CEE’s emerging change-makers, European Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, POLITICO’s 40 most influential MEPs and “POLITICO 28” list of people who shape Europe.

 Evan Spiegel is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Snap Inc. Snap is a technology company that empowers people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world and have fun together.

Evan and Snap co-founder Bobby Murphy created Snapchat while at Stanford University. Today Snap is a publicly traded company with over 750 million monthly active users around the world.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi was elected to Congress in 2016 and is now in his fourth term representing Illinois’ 8th District, which includes Chicago’s west and northwest suburbs as well as the 41st ward of the city. He serves as Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, making him the first South Asian American in history to lead a Congressional Committee. He also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability as a member of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs. The Congressman is a Vice-Chair of the Equality Caucus and Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Immigration Task Force. In addition, he is the founder and Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to End the Youth Vaping Epidemic and the bipartisan Solar Caucus.

Representative Krishnamoorthi is the child of immigrants and was raised in Peoria, Illinois. He attended public schools in Peoria and was a valedictorian of his high school class. Scholarships and student loans allowed him to graduate summa cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in mechanical engineering and a certificate from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He then graduated with honors from Harvard Law School and clerked for a federal judge before practicing law in Chicago.

Representative Krishnamoorthi pursued public service while practicing law and was appointed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan as a Special Assistant Attorney General to help start the state’s Public Integrity Unit created to root out corruption in Illinois. As a member of the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Congressman chaired the Audit Committee, helping to provide thousands of low and moderate-income families across the state with affordable housing. Congressman Krishnamoorthi also served as Illinois Deputy Treasurer, where he oversaw the state’s technology venture capital fund and helped make programs such as the state’s unclaimed property program leaner and more efficient.

After his time in the Illinois Treasurer’s Office, Representative Krishnamoorthi returned to the private sector, serving as president of research-oriented small businesses developing technology in the national security and renewable energy industries. Representative Krishnamoorthi also served as the Vice-Chair of the Illinois Innovation Council and co-founded InSPIRE, a non-profit that provides inner-city students and veterans with training in solar technology.

The Congressman resides with his wife Priya, a physician, and 3 children in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Jonas Parello-Plesner is Executive Director of the Copenhagen-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation founded by former NATO-Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen since 2018. The Foundation seeks to advance democracy and strengthen the alliance between the world’s democracies. Parello-Plesner has been instrumental in making the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, the foundation’s annual event bringing together world-class speakers and important annual publications such as the Democracy Perception Index. He has written about how to create an international pathway to an alliance of democracies.

He has long-standing experience working with the power centres in Washington, Brussels and Beijing. He writes op-ed for Danish dailies Berlingske and Altinget and for international outlets, such as Politico:  Europe can stop Taiwan from becoming the next Ukraine – POLITICO

 Jonas Parello-Plesner is also a non-resident senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund. His research focuses on Asia and China and relations with EU and the U.S and he has provided commentaries for Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, the American Interest, Newsweek and Politico. A well-received report published by the Hudson Institute from 2018 was on “The Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Interference Operations: How the U.S. and Other Democracies Should Respond.” 

Parello-Plesner has also worked at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) as a senior policy fellow with a focus on European-Chinese relations (2010-13) where he co-authored a seminal report on the strategic significance of German-Chinese economic relations for transatlantic relations and EU-policy.

He has long-standing diplomatic experience including as Senior Advisor on EU-China with the Danish MFA from 2005-09 where he also was representative in COASI (capitals). He started his diplomatic career in 2001 working on the Danish EU-presidency in 2002 leading to the large enlargement of the EU.  He returned to diplomatic service in 2013 and he was leading the foreign policy department at the Embassy of Denmark in Washington DC until 2017 bridging the Obama and Trump-administrations.

His co-authored book, China’s Strong Arm: Protecting Citizens and Assets Abroad, was published in 2015 by IISS/Routledge in the Adelphi series and launched at the annual Shangri-La security Dialogue in Singapore. In August 2023, his book “the Battle for Taiwan” is published by Danish renowned publisher Gyldendal, arguing why Taiwan matters on values, economic and military impact, based on months of recent interviews on Taiwan with policymakers, microchips tycoons and military leaders.

Parello-Plesner is a graduate from école nationale d’administration (ENA) in Paris from 2004 with a ‘mention très bien’. As part of those studies, he worked in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the policy planning unit (centre d’analyse et prévision). He also holds master degrees from London School of Economics and the Copenhagen University. 

Former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Mathematics Aggregation, Bachelor of Economics, Diploma from the National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilizations (Serbo-Croatian), Former student of the National School of Administration, promotion “Voltaire”, 1980, French Ambassador.

Positions held

teaching services, 1974-1977 at the National School of Administration, 1978-1980 at the central administration (Europe), 1980 second secretary in Belgrade, January 1981 first secretary in the same position, 1981-1983 at the central administration (Methods-Training-IT), 1983-1984 at the central administration (Archives and documentation), 1984-1985 first secretary in Bonn, 1985-1987 technical adviser to the office of the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in charge of European Affairs, 1987-1988

Second Counselor at the Permanent Representation of France to the European Communities in Brussels, 1988-1991 head of cultural, scientific and technical services in Moscow, 1991-1994 at the central administration (European Cooperation), deputy director for external relations of the community, 1994-1995, deputy director of the cabinet of the minister, 1995-1997

First Counselor at the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union in Brussels, 1997-1999, minister-counsellor in the same position, 1999-2002, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Bucharest, 2002-2005 at the central administration (International Cooperation and Development), Director General, 2005-2007

Director of the Minister’s Office, 2007-2009

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the European Union in Brussels, 2009-2014, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Berlin, 2014-2017 made available to the Presidency of the Republic as diplomatic adviser to the President of the Republic, Sherpa G7 and G 20 May 2017-June 2019.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Washington, since June 2019

Honors

Commander of the Legion of Honor

Commander of the National Order of Merit

Spoken languages

German

English

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Jeanne Meserve is host of the Special Competitive Studies Project’s NatSec Tech podcast which explores the impact of technology innovation on security, economics and democracy. She’s an expert interviewer, sought-after moderator, and award-winning journalist.

Jeanne interviews top leaders in industry, government and academia, moderating discussions on a wide array of topics. Engagements have included the White House Summit on Democracy, the Munich Security Conference, AtlanticLIVE events, the Copenhagen and Denver Democracy Summits, the Halifax International Security Forum and the global conferences of the International Women’s Forum.

During her career as an anchor and correspondent with CNN and ABC News Jeanne earned her profession’s highest honors, including two Emmys and the Edward R. Murrow Award. She also contributed to two CNN Peabody Awards.

At CNN Meserve anchored worldwide coverage of the Yitzhak Rabin assassination and the death of Princess Diana. She created the network’s homeland security beat and was the first to report on the devastating flooding in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. She was also a key member of the CNN political team during the 1996 and 2000 elections. While at ABC News she covered the State Department and reported from the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Jeanne has provided communications coaching to leaders in the corporate, government, academic and non-profit world. She is a member of the Homeland Security Experts Group and the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity and is on the board of the non-profit Space Foundation.

Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, 62, is the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He has helmed Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since October 2015. He previously served as Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative; Minister for the Environment and Water Resources; Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports; Second Minister for Trade and Industry; Minister-in-charge of Entrepreneurship; Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts and Minister of State for National Development. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2001. Dr. Balakrishnan studied Medicine at the National University of Singapore after being awarded the President’s Scholarship in 1980. Following post-graduate specialist training in Ophthalmology, he was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1991.

Patrick (Pat) Gelsinger is chief executive officer of Intel Corporation and serves on its board of directors. He has more than four decades of technology leadership and experience driving innovation, with 30 of those years serving in Intel engineering and executive roles. 

Before rejoining Intel in February 2021, Gelsinger was CEO of VMware. In that role, he transformed VMware into a recognized global leader in cloud infrastructure, enterprise mobility and cybersecurity – almost tripling the company’s annual revenues. Gelsinger was also ranked the top CEO in America in 2019 in Glassdoor’s annual employee survey. Prior to joining VMware in 2012, Gelsinger was president and chief operating officer of EMC’s Information Infrastructure Products business, overseeing engineering and operations for information storage, data computing, backup and recovery, RSA security and enterprise solutions.

Gelsinger began his career in 1979 at Intel, becoming its first chief technology officer and serving as senior vice president and the general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. He managed the creation of key industry technologies like USB and Wi-Fi. He was the architect of the original 80486 processor, led 14 microprocessor programs and played key roles in the Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon® processor families, leading to Intel becoming the world’s preeminent microprocessor supplier.

Gelsinger earned degrees in electrical engineering: an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree from Stanford University. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in February 2023. Gelsinger holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture and communications, is an IEEE Fellow, and serves as a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. He also sits on the Business Council, Business Roundtable, CEO Council, CEO Forum, Global Semi Alliance, Tech Council CEO and U.S. Chamber China Center Advisory Board. 

Gelsinger and his wife have been married for more than 30 years; they have four children and eight grandchildren. He is also a published author and speaks frequently on faith, work and philanthropy.

Counselor – Beacon Global Strategies and former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Michael Morell, the former Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, is one of our nation’s leading national security professionals, with extensive experience in intelligence and foreign policy.  He has been at the center of our nation’s fight against terrorism, its work to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and its efforts to respond to trends that are altering the international landscape—including the rise of China, a revanchist Russia, and the cyber threat. Politico has called Michael the “Bob Gates of his generation.”

During his 33-year career at CIA, Michael served as Deputy Director for three-and-a-half years, a job in which he managed the Agency’s day-to-day operations and analysis, represented the Agency at the White House and Congress, and maintained the Agency’s relationships with intelligence services and foreign leaders around the world.  Michael also served twice as Acting Director, leading CIA when Leon Panetta was confirmed as Secretary of Defense and again after David Petraeus left government. 

Michael’s senior assignments at CIA also included serving for two years as the Director of Intelligence, the Agency’s top analyst, and for two years as Executive Director, the CIA’s top administrator—managing human resources, the budget, security, and information technology for an agency the size of a Fortune 200 firm.

Michael has been a witness to history on multiple occasions. He is the only person who was both with President Bush on September 11th, when al-Qaida burst into the American consciousness, and with President Obama on May 1st, when Bin Laden was brought to justice. Michael played a major role in the Bin Laden operation.

Michael was known inside CIA for his leadership. He inspired individuals and work units to perform beyond expectations. He mentored many Agency officers into the senior leadership ranks, including a significant number of women and minorities. When he departed CIA, thousands of officers wrote Michael notes of thanks.

Michael is the recipient of many awards.  He received the Presidential Rank Award for exceptional performance – the nation’s highest honor for civilian service. He also received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, CIA’s highest award, for his role in the Bin Ladin operation. Michael is also the recipient of the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and the Department of Defense Service Medal.    

Today, Michael is involved in a wide range of activities. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fortress Investment Group; a member of the Board of Directors of Orbis Operations; Senior Counselor and Global Chairman of the Geopolitical Risk Practice at Washington’s fastest growing consulting firm, Beacon Global Strategies; and an advisor to a large number of private sector entities.

Senator Todd Young represents the state of Indiana. He currently serves on the U.S. Senate Committees on Finance; Foreign Relations; Commerce, Science & Transportation; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Previously, in the House, he served on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Budget Committee, and most recently the House Ways and Means Committee.

Anna Makanju is OpenAI’s Vice President of Global Affairs, leading the company’s policy and engagement strategy. She previously worked on technology regulation at Facebook and taught at Princeton. Anna spent eight years in the Obama/Biden administration, where she served as a senior policy advisor to the Vice President, and in a number of national security and foreign policy roles at the White House, Department of State, and Pentagon. She received her law degree from Stanford, and has worked at international criminal tribunals in the Hague, on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and in the international arbitration group of Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP.

Oliver Dowden CBE was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25 October 2022. He was appointed Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office on 9 February 2023. He was additionally appointed Deputy Prime Minister on 21 April 2023. He was previously Minister without Portfolio, Cabinet Office between 15 September 2021 and June 2022, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport between 13 February 2020 and 15 September 2021, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office from 24 July 2019 to 13 February 2020, and Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office from 9 January 2018 to 24 July 2019. He was elected Conservative MP for Hertsmere in May 2015.

Bonnie Glick is an American diplomat and businesswoman who served as the Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2019 to 2020. Nominated for the post by President Donald Trump in April 2018, she was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent in January 2019. Glick’s prior experience includes 12 years as a US Foreign Service Officer in the Department of State with overseas tours in Ethiopia and Nicaragua and domestic tours in the State Department, the NSC, and the US Mission to the UN. She spent 12 years with IBM, including five years in IBM’s R&D Division where she co-authored three patents related to semiconductors and emerging technologies. Her career spans public, private, and non-profit sectors. 

Glick has a BA in Government/International Relations from Cornell University, an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, and an MBA from the University of Maryland. She advises numerous companies and non-profits and serves as an Independent Board Member and investor. She speaks seven languages including English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hebrew, Russian, and Amharic.

Michael Bennet has represented Colorado in the United States Senate since 2009. Recognized as a pragmatic and independent thinker, he is driven by an obligation to create more opportunity for the next generation. Michael has built a reputation of taking on Washington dysfunction and working with Republicans and Democrats to address our nation’s greatest challenges— including education, climate change, immigration, health care, and national security. Before serving in the Senate, Michael worked to restructure failing businesses and helped create the world’s largest movie theater chain. As superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, he led one of the most extensive reform efforts in the country, resulting in substantial, sustained academic improvement for Denver’s children. He lives in Denver with his wife and three daughters.

Mick spent 35 years in the Australian Army and had the honour of commanding soldiers at troop, squadron, regiment, task force and brigade levels. He has a long-standing interest in military history and strategy, advanced technologies, organizational innovation, and adaptation theory. He was inaugural President of the Defence Entrepreneurs Forum (Australia) and is a member of the Military Writers Guild. He is a keen author on the interface of military strategy, innovation, and advanced technologies, as well as how institutions can develop their intellectual edge. In February 2022, Mick retired from the Australia Army. In the same month, his book War Transformed was published by USNI Books. He is an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, and a non-resident fellow of the Lowy Institute in Sydney. In January 2023 Mick was also appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He runs his own strategic advisory company and is a regular columnist in the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC Australia. He also has frequent commentary appearances on ABC TV and CNN. His latest book, White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan, was published on 4 May 2023 by Casemate Books.

Shanthi Kalathil is founder and principal at MDO Advisors, which helps organizations plan for geopolitical risk, become more resilient and achieve greater impact in an era of strategic and technological competition. She is also a senior fellow with USC’s Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. Under President Biden, Kalathil served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights at the National Security Council. In this capacity, she oversaw the organization of the inaugural Summit for Democracy and the development of the first U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, among other initiatives. Prior to joining the administration, Kalathil served as a national security policy advisor on the Biden-Harris Transition team. Previously, she was the senior director of the National Endowment for Democracy’s International Forum for Democratic Studies, a leading think tank exploring such emerging challenges to democracy as digital authoritarianism, foreign interference, disinformation and kleptocracy. She has also held positions at the US Agency for International Development, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the World Bank and other international affairs organizations. A former Hong Kong-based reporter for the Asian Wall Street Journal, Kalathil has long focused on China, technology and international affairs, and has authored and edited numerous policy and scholarly publications including Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, 2013); Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance (The World Bank, 2011); and (with Taylor C. Boas) Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2003), which was cited by Foreign Policy as one of “Ten Books To Learn How Technology Shapes the World.” She sits on the boards of Radio Free Asia and the National Democratic Institute, and holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

United States Senator Bill Hagerty was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020 and is currently serving his first term representing the state of Tennessee. His committee assignments include: U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs; U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations; and the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules & Administration. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Hagerty served as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, the world’s third largest economy and America’s closest ally in the region. Hagerty is a life-long businessman. He started his business career with the Boston Consulting Group, where his work took him to five continents, including three years based in Tokyo, Japan. He later became a venture capital and private equity investor where he invested in and served as an executive and board member of a wide range of companies, including ones listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. From 2011 to 2014, Hagerty took leave from his business career to serve as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet and Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. During his tenure as commissioner, Hagerty reorganized the department, eliminating over 40 percent of the positions and saving millions of taxpayer dollars. At the same time, the new approach helped spur the strongest economic transformation seen — taking Tennessee from an unemployment rate higher than the national average when he arrived to become the number one state in the nation for jobs created through foreign investment and being named State of the Year for Economic Development an unprecedented two years in a row during his tenure. Hagerty, an Eagle Scout, is originally from Sumner County, Tennessee. Today, he and his wife Chrissy are both active volunteers in several community and civic organizations, and live in Davidson County, Tennessee. They are the parents of four children.

Leopoldo López is a Freedom Activist from Venezuela. He was a political prisoner from 2014 to 2020 after being sentenced to fourteen years in prison for leading non-violent street protests and civil resistance in 2014. After spending seven years in confinement, he managed to escape the autocratic regime of Nicolas Maduro in October of 2020 and was able to travel to Spain where he lives with his family.

From 2000 to 2008 Leopoldo López was mayor of the Municipality of Chacao in Caracas and was later illegally disqualified to run for office. He won his case at the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In 2009, he founded the political party and freedom movement called Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) and became its national coordinator.

Leopoldo López is the co-founder of the World Liberty Congress (www.worldlibertycongress.org), an organization launched in 2022 that seeks to serve as the counterweight against the global autocratic alliance by connecting non-violent, pro-democracy activists from across the globe with the goal of having them share information and tactics that meaningfully further their nonviolent cause at home. Also, presently Leopoldo López is a visiting fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C and has also been a lecturer in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies in Stanford University.

Studies: Bachelor ́s degree cum laude in Sociology and Economics from Kenyon College (1993). Master ́s degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1996). Lopez was awarded a honoris causa doctorate in Law from Kenyon College in 2007.

Books: Venezuela Energética. Oil and energy proposal to leverage the well-being and progress of the citizens of Venezuela. (2017). Preso pero Libre (Freedom Confined) Reflections of Lopez experience in prison (2016).

Awards: NED ́s 2013 Democracy Award and Sakharov (2017) among others.

Leopoldo López is married to Lilian Tintori and has three children.

Dr. Daniel Twining joined the International Republican Institute as president in 2017, where he leads the Institute’s mission to advance democracy and freedom around the world.  He heads IRI’s team of nearly 1000 global experts to link citizens and governments, motivate people to engage in the political process, and guide politicians and government officials to be responsive to citizens. IRI works in over 100 countries and is a core institute of the National Endowment for Democracy. 
Previously, Dr. Twining served as counselor to the president and director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund, as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, as the foreign policy advisor to U.S. Senator John McCain, and as a staff member of the U.S. Trade Representative. He has been an associate of the National Intelligence Council, taught at Georgetown University, and served as a military instructor associated with the Naval Postgraduate School. He serves on the Bush Institute’s Human Freedom Advisory Council, the Wilson Center’s Asia Advisory Board, and the USAID Administrator’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid. He has been a columnist for Foreign Policy and Nikkei and served as an advisor to six presidential campaigns. From 2004-7, he was the Fulbright/Oxford Scholar at Oxford University.

Jamil Anderlini is Editor-in-Chief of POLITICO Europe, a role he took up in October, 2021. He joined POLITICO from the Financial Times, where he was chief editor for Asia starting in January, 2016.

Jamil is an award-winning journalist. He is fluent in spoken and written Mandarin Chinese. Over two decades working as an editor and journalist in China and Asia, he cultivated a deep knowledge of the political and economic situation in the region.   

Jamil joined the FT in 2007 and worked as Beijing Correspondent and Deputy Beijing Bureau Chief before he was named Beijing Bureau Chief in 2011, with overall responsibility for China coverage at the FT. Jamil has won numerous reporting prizes, both individually and as part of FT teams.

In 2010, he was named Journalist of the Year at the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Editorial Excellence Awards and won the Best Digital Award at the Amnesty International Media Awards. Other prizes include a UK Foreign Press Association Award in 2008, several individual SOPA awards, including best feature of the year in 2017 and best opinion writer in 2020. He won the inaugural Jones-Mauthner Award in 2012, which recognises outstanding reporting of international affairs by a young reporter at the Financial Times. In 2013, Jamil was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and short-listed for Foreign Reporter of the Year at the Press Awards in the UK as well as the Orwell Prize, the UK’s most prestigious prize for political writing.

In April 2016, Jamil was awarded a certificate of completion for the Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21 st Century Programme, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Education. In November, 2018, he was invited to Yale University as a Poynter Fellow and Cowles Visitor to participate in public conversations with professors and President of the University Peter Salovey. Jamil is a member of the advisory board for the Edward R Murrow Center for a Digital World at Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In 2019, Jamil was named a Finance Leaders Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Prior to joining the FT, he was Beijing Business Correspondent for the South China Morning Post for two years. Before that, he was Chief Editor of the China Economic Review. Born in Kuwait, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and a post-graduate diploma in journalism from the Auckland University of Technology.

He is the author of the e-book The Bo Xilai Scandal, published by Penguin and Financial Times in 2012.

On January 6th, 2015, Senator Marion Michael “Mike” Rounds was sworn into the United States Senate. Senator Rounds serves on five committees: Senate Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Indian Affairs; Veterans’ Affairs; and the Select Committee on Intelligence.Rounds previously served as the 31st governor of South Dakota from 2003 – 2011, easily winning reelection in 2006. From 1991 to 2000, he was elected five times to the South Dakota State Senate. In 1995, his colleagues selected him to serve as Senate Majority Leader, a position that he held for six years. During his time in state government, Rounds was committed to growing the economy, keeping taxes low and strengthening South Dakota families.

A lifelong South Dakotan, Senator Rounds was born in Huron, the eldest of 11 children. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from South Dakota State University. In the private sector, Rounds built a successful insurance and real estate business with offices throughout the state. He resides in Fort Pierre and is the proud parent of four grown children and 10 grandchildren.

Congressman Mike Gallagher has represented Wisconsin’s 8th District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017. Mike was born and raised in Green Bay, where he now lives with his wife Anne and daughters, Grace and Rose. 

Mike served for seven years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, including two deployments to Iraq. Mike also served as the lead Republican staffer for the Middle East and Counterterrorism on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and worked in the private sector at an energy and supply chain management company in Green Bay.

Mike earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University, a second in Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University, and a PhD in International Relations from Georgetown.

In the 118th Congress, Representative Gallagher serves as Chairman of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, as Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, and on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  From 2019-2021 he served as Co-Chairman of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.  

Sara Fischer is a senior media reporter for Axios and a founding staff member at Axios. She is also a media analyst at CNN. Fischer authors a must-read weekly newsletter on media trends that reaches over 100,000 professionals across the media, tech and entertainment industries. Beyond her weekly column, Fischer oversees Axios’ media coverage for the newsroom, and steers the company’s products and events around that topic. Her coverage spans corporate media, advertising and marketing, technology, social media, deals, entertainment, media regulation, policy and consumer habits. She was named to Mediaite’s “Most Influential in News Media” list for 2022. She was also named to The Washingtonian’s list the 500 “Most Powerful People in Washington D.C.”  in 2022 and 2023. Fischer was named to Forbes “30 Under 30” Media list in 2019.

Prior to launching SCSP, Ylli served as the Executive Director of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. Prior to joining NSCAI, he served as Chief of Staff to the National Security Advisor LTG H.R. McMaster held a variety of leadership roles for former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, and served as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dempsey. Originally joining the Department of Defense in 2010, he served in the Office of the Undersecretary for Policy as a country director for Afghanistan, and later India. Mr. Bajraktari is the recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Medal – the highest award given to career DoD civilian employees.

Ylli received his undergraduate degree from The George Washington University and master’s degree from Harvard University.

Andrey Liscovich is the President of Ukraine Defense Fund. He advises the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on commercial, non-lethal technology. Ukraine Defense Fund is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that, to date, has helped facilitate the transfer of \$90M+ in private and government-funded non-lethal aid to Ukraine’s defense forces. Liscovich holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University, is a dual U.S.-Ukrainian citizen, and is currently based in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 25 miles from the front.

Congressman Rob Wittman was first elected to the United States Congress to serve Virginia’s First Congressional District in 2007. While in office, he has focused on strengthening our military and supporting our nation’s veterans, promoting a flourishing economy through fiscal responsibility and pro-growth policies, fixing our crumbling infrastructure, increasing access to high-speed internet, and promoting workforce development through Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs.

In the U.S. Congress, Congressman Wittman serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee, where he is well-positioned to represent the needs of Virginia’s First District. He has earned a strong reputation for being an advocate for our men and women in uniform and for being a champion of the Chesapeake Bay.

On the Armed Services Committee, Congressman Wittman serves as vice chairman of the full committee and the chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. On the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, Congressman Wittman oversees the largest portfolio of modernization programs on the House Armed Services Committee, with vast ramifications for the future of the U.S. military’s ground and air forces and munitions stockpiles. Congressman Wittman also serves on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As co-chair of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, he is a staunch advocate for a robust naval fleet and a healthy domestic shipbuilding industry. He also currently serves on the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.As a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Congressman Wittman serves on both the Energy and Minerals Subcommittee, as well as the Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee, where he brings his professional expertise in water quality, fisheries, and other natural resource issues. He is a proud champion of the Chesapeake Bay for its environmental and economic attributes and has introduced legislation that will increase the accountability and effectiveness of cleaning up the bay. He serves as co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus, which brings the bay’s issues into focus for Members of Congress.

As a co-chair of the House Rural Broadband Caucus, Congressman Wittman is leading the way to bring high-speed internet to the unserved areas of the First District and the nation. His Serving Rural America Act served as a model for the NTIA Broadband Infrastructure Program, a \$288 million funding program for partnerships between localities and providers of fixed broadband service to support broadband deployment. His other infrastructure priorities include deepening and widening the Port of Virginia, easing congestion on I-95, improving traffic and safety concerns along I-64, improving and expanding the Long Bridge, expanding the capacity of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), and providing sustainable funding mechanisms to Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA).

Congressman Wittman was re-elected for his eighth full term in the House of Representatives in November 2022 and prior to that, he served in several levels of government. Congressman Wittman won his first campaign for public office in 1986 when he was elected to the Montross Town Council, where he served for 10 years, four of them as mayor. In 1995, he was elected to the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors and was elected its chairman in 2003. In 2005, voters in the 99th Legislative District elected Rob to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007.

Prior to his election to Congress, Rob spent 26 years working in state government, most recently as field director for the Virginia Health Department’s Division of Shellfish Sanitation. Earlier in his career, he worked as an environmental health specialist for local health departments in Virginia’s Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula regions.

He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.

Congressman Brendan F. Boyle was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia. The son of an immigrant, Congressman Boyle’s father was a janitor for SEPTA and his mother was a school crossing guard.

The first in his family to attend college, he attended the University of Notre Dame and later graduated from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government with a master’s degree in Public Policy.

He was elected to the Pennsylvania state legislature in 2008, becoming the first Democrat to ever represent his legislative district. Two years later his brother, Kevin, was also elected to the state legislature, making them the first brothers to serve together in the state House. In 2014, Congressman Boyle pulled off a major upset win over three better funded rivals to be elected to Congress. Now in his fifth term, Congressman Boyle is the Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee. He is also Chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Political Committee.

Nadia Schadlow is a National Security Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Previously, Dr. Schadlow served as a Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy and Assistant to the President of the United States.  As the architect of the 2017 National Security Strategy, Dr. Schadlow coordinated strategic analysis and forged consensus across multiple government departments. She also oversaw the development of regional and functional strategies to deal with complex national security challenges. Prior to her most recent period of government service, she served as an executive at Smith Richardson Foundation where she directed assets to catalyze new thinking and analysis to improve the security and competitiveness of the United States. Her 2017 book, War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success into Political Victory, explored the challenges of undertaking post-conflict operations and identified optimal practices.  Her writings have appeared in The Hill, The Wall Street Journal, The American Interest, War on the Rocks, and several edited volumes.

She serves on several boards and commissions, including the National Endowment for Democracy and the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, Working Group on Innovation. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Schadlow received a B.A. from Cornell University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Elected in 2012, Martin Heinrich is a United States Senator for New Mexico. Heinrich serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources, Appropriations, Intelligence, and Joint Economic Committees. Senator Heinrich is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Military Construction (MILCON), Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which oversees funding for new military construction and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Heinrich is the founder and co-chair of the bicameral Electrification Caucus. He is also a member of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, Senate Outdoor Industry Caucus, Senate Climate Action Task Force, Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force, National Service Congressional Caucus, Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus, and the founder of the Congressional Directed Energy Caucus and the Senate Artificial Intelligence (AI) Caucus. Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate, Heinrich served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before he was elected to Congress, Heinrich served four years as an Albuquerque City Councilor and was elected as City Council President. After completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Missouri, Heinrich and his wife, Julie, moved to Albuquerque where he began his career as a contractor working on directed energy technology at Phillips Laboratories, which is now Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base. Heinrich later served in AmeriCorps for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was the Executive Director of the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation. He also led the Coalition for New Mexico Wilderness and founded a small public affairs consulting firm.

Audrey Tang is Taiwan’s digital minister in charge of moda (Ministry of Digital Affairs). Audrey is known for revitalizing the computer languages Perl and Haskell, as well as building the online spreadsheet system EtherCalc in collaboration with Dan Bricklin. In the public sector, Audrey served on Taiwan national development council’s open data committee and the 12-year basic education curriculum committee; and led the country’s first e-Rulemaking project. In the private sector, Audrey worked as a consultant with Apple on computational linguistics, with Oxford University Press on crowd lexicography, and with Socialtext on social interaction design. In the social sector, Audrey actively contributes to g0v “govzero”, a vibrant community focusing on creating tools for the civil society, with the call to “fork the government.”

Taro Kono is a Japanese politician serving as the Minister of Digital Transformation and Minister for Digital Reform of Japan since August 2022. A nine-term representative and member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he previously served as Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform from 2015 to 2016 and from 2020 to 2021; he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He was also the minister in charge of COVID-19 vaccine rollouts in 2021. Kono was first elected to the Japanese House of Representatives in October 1996. Kono graduated from Georgetown University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service. He previously worked for Senator Alan Cranston’s presidential campaign and former Representative Richard Shelby of Alabama. He and his wife Kaori have a son, Ippei.

Demetri Sevastopulo is the Financial Times’ US-China correspondent. Over two decades at the FT, he has also served as Washington Bureau Chief, US Politics Correspondent, Pentagon & CIA Correspondent and South China Correspondent. He also ran the paper’s Asia news operations for four years from Hong Kong. Demetri began his career as a currency derivatives trader at Citibank in Tokyo before becoming a journalist. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a degree in finance and has an MA in East Asian studies from Harvard University. He also studied at Beijing University and at Sophia University in Tokyo. He speaks fluent Japanese and rusty Chinese. He was born and raised in Ireland.

His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama was appointed as the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence in 2017, becoming the world’s first minister in this field.  In July 2020, his role was expanded to include Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. In 2023, he was also appointed as the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs

His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama holds numerous other leadership positions. He serves as a Board of Trustees member and Deputy Managing Director of the Dubai Future Foundation, Vice Chair of the World Government Summit, Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, and Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Council. Additionally, he is a member at MBZUAI’s Advisory Board, Chairman of the Digital School’s Board of Directors, Vice Chairman of Dubai’s Higher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy, and Vice Chairman of the Higher Committee for Government Digital Transformation. He is also a member of the Emirates Competitiveness Council, the UAE Genomics Council, and the Future of Digital Economy and Society Council at the World Economic Forum.

His Excellency, as the driving force behind the UAE’s AI strategy and digital economy initiatives, has a clear vision for establishing the country as a global leader in AI and technology. His focus areas include fostering a fertile AI ecosystem, enhancing the UAE’s competitive advantage in priority sectors, attracting and nurturing talent for future AI-enabled jobs, and promoting cutting-edge research collaborations with target industries. His Excellency’s commitment to strong governance, effective regulation, and the provision of essential data and infrastructure positions the UAE as a prime test-bed for AI innovations. With initiatives like personal data protection law, the National Program for Coders, and the UAE Council for Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, he aims to accelerate the growth and transformation of the digital economy, ultimately doubling its contribution to the UAE’s non-oil GDP within the next decade.

During his work in the Future Department at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, His Excellency participated in developing the UAE Centennial 2071 strategy that aims to position the UAE as the best country in the world. He also participated in creating the structure of the UAE’s digital infrastructure, developing the UAE Fourth Industrial Revolution Strategy that aims to promote the UAE’s status as a global hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and develop a national economy based on knowledge, innovation, and future technologies. Prior to his appointment, His Excellency accomplished digital achievements and developed future strategies such as the UAE’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the first of its kind globally.

His Excellency worked in several sectors including finance, telecommunications, private enterprises, and government. He also developed and executed strategies, risk analysis, change management and scenario planning.

His Excellency holds a Diploma in Project Management and Excellence from the American University of Sharjah and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the American University of Dubai.

Dr. Eyal Hulata is a senior international fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and the first foreign visiting fellow at FDD headquarters.

From July 2021 to January 2023, Dr. Hulata served as Israel’s national security advisor and head of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC). Eyal served under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Yair Lapid. During his tenure, Eyal coordinated the national effort on Iran, coordinated the maritime border agreement with Lebanon, and co-headed the Strategic Consultation Group with his American counterpart, Jake Sullivan. 

Between February 2021 and July 2021, Eyal served as the chief product officer of the Israeli fintech company PAGAYA and entered the field of Climate Tech.

Earlier in his career, Eyal served for more than 20 years in Israeli national security roles.  For his  achievements, Eyal was awarded the prestigious Israeli Defense Award.

Eyal is a graduate of the Israel Defense Forces elite technology leadership program “Talpiot,” with a B.S. in physics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He also holds a PhD in physics from Tel Aviv University and an M.A. in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Maria Pevchikh is the head of the investigation department at the Anti-Corruption Foundation, a Russian non-profit organization founded by opposition politician Alexei Navalny to investigate and expose the cases of corruption among the Russian elites. During her twelve years of work, she authored over one hundred investigations, most famously of Vladimir Putin’s private palace on the Black Sea which has gained over 120 million views on YouTube. The investigations of the Anti-Corruption Foundation have led to freezing of assets of Russian officials and oligarchs in excess of 1 billion euros, including the seizure of Vladimir Putin’s private yacht in Italy.

Pevchikh is also the editor-in-chief and a presenter of Navalny team’s Youtube channels, with a monthly audience of 12 million viewers, and the executive producer of the Oscar-winning CNN/HBO documentary ‘Navalny’.

Dror Bin is the CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, an independent government agency that operates to nurture and develop the Israeli innovation ecosystem, while enabling progressive governmental policy, creating vital infrastructures and making direct investments in the industry.

Investments are carried out via various programs designed for the entire Israeli innovation ecosystem, starting with researchers in academia, single entrepreneurs, all the way to startups and growth companies. Furthermore, the Authority promotes collaborations of the Israeli industry and academia with corresponding counterparts from around the globe.

Prior to his role at the Innovation Authority, Dror Bin has served since 2012 as President and CEO of RAD, a leading global telecom network solutions company, headquartered in Tel Aviv, with a manufacturing center in Jerusalem and R&D center in Beer Sheva as well as dozens of corporate branches around the world.

Mr. Bin also served close to a decade in a series of positions at Comverse, the latest being a member of the management team and R&D EVP and member of the management team and Global Sales EVP. Previously, Mr. Bin served as a venture partner at Viola Ventures, and prior to that, Mr. Bin served as a partner at Shaldor, a leading top management consulting firm, where he led the development and implementation of business and marketing strategies for organizations in various sectors such as high-tech, industry, commerce, services and more.

Mr. Bin holds two Bachelor degrees from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology: a BSC in information systems engineering and another BSC in industrial engineering, he also holds an MBA (marketing and financing) from the Tel Aviv University.

Dasha (Daria) Navalnaya, 22, is an activist and rising senior at Stanford University, studying psychology and political science. Born and raised in Moscow, daughter of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, Dasha has used her platform to raise awareness for the corruption, silencing, and political persecution in Russia. Her opinion pieces have been featured in The New York Times and Time magazine.

Joan O’Hara is Senior Vice President for Public Policy at the XR Association (XRA), a trade association focused on the responsible development and use of immersive technology. In this role, Joan works with lawmakers and thought leaders to help shape policy on issues including industry responsibility and government regulation, both in the U.S. and overseas. An attorney, Joan also has an extensive background in public service, having served at the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary of the National Security Council, and as acting National Security Advisor to the Vice President. On Capitol Hill, Joan served as General Counsel of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.  Before beginning her career in Washington, Joan was Head Coach of the NCAA Division I Women’s Rowing Team at the University of San Diego, and Head Coach of the Women’s Rowing Team at Wellesley College. She is a retired elite rower and U.S. National Champion.

Dr. Lee Jong-Ho has served as Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT since May 2022. Previously, he was director of the Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center at Seoul National University, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Vice Dean for Planning and Strategy at the College of Engineering at Seoul National University. Since 1994, Dr. Lee has taught and researched engineering at a variety of universities and institutions, including Seoul National University, Kyungpook National University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wonkwang University. He is the recipient of various honors and awards, including the Nokjo Geunjeong Medal, the highest honor for civil servants from the Korean government, in 2015. He holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in electronics engineering from Seoul National University and a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering from Kyungpook National University.

Christopher Darby serves as Global Head of Venture Investments and Senior Managing Director at Cerberus Capital Management. Prior to joining Cerberus, from 2006 until 2023 Mr. Darby was the President and CEO of In-Q-Tel, the independent strategic investment firm supporting the missions of the Central Intelligence Agency and the broader Intelligence Community. Mr. Darby was previously Vice President and General Manager at Intel overseeing their Middleware Products Division. At Intel, Mr. Darby had responsibility for the Corporation’s Infrastructure Software business including Open Source and Commercial Products. He joined Intel in August 2005 with the acquisition of Sarvega Inc. where Mr. Darby had been the president & CEO.

Prior to Sarvega, Mr. Darby was the Chairman and CEO of @stake, the well-known internet security consulting firm ultimately acquired by Symantec (SYMC). While at @stake, he assembled the world’s leading collection of security researchers with a business that spanned North America and Europe.

Before @stake, Mr. Darby served as President and CEO of Interpath Communications, a facilities-based ASP later acquired by US Internetworking (USIX). Mr. Darby also held several executive positions at Digital Equipment Corporation (now Hewlett-Packard) with responsibility for telecom industry initiatives, corporate strategy, and alliances. He began his career at Bell Northern Research.

Jonathan Ross is the CEO and founder of Groq. Today, Groq offers the LPU™ System to power the growing AI economy with a mission to raise the expectations for what’s possible with AI, and to advance what humanity is capable of.

Prior to founding Groq, Jonathan created Google’s original AI chip, the TPU, which is now used to power the majority of their AI services.

Daniel B. Shapiro was appointed Senior Advisor for Regional Integration in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs on July 2, 2023. He previously served as Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy for Iran.

Senior Advisor Shapiro served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017. He was the Director of the N7 Initiative and Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs prior to joining the Biden administration. Shapiro has served in numerous senior foreign policy positions in the Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress. He was Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council from 2009 to 2011, and was Director for Legislative Affairs at the National Security Council from 1999 to 2001. He previously served in senior advisory positions to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.

A graduate of Brandeis University, he holds a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. He speaks Hebrew and some Arabic.

Damon Wilson is president and chief executive officer of the National Endowment for Democracy. Prior to joining NED, Mr. Wilson served as executive vice president at the Atlantic Council, as special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), as executive secretary and chief of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and as deputy director in the private office of the NATO Secretary General. Mr. Wilson began his career with Save the Children in Rwanda. He is a graduate of Duke University and Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Lord Sedwill is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords. He is Chairman of the Atlantic Future Forum, Chairman of Geopolitical Advisory and a non-executive director of Rothschild & Co. He is also a non-executive director at Lloyd’s of London and BAE Systems.

Lord Sedwill was Cabinet Secretary & Head of the Civil Service (2018-2020), National Security Adviser (2017-2020), Permanent Secretary at the Home Office (2013-2017), and British Ambassador and NATO Representative in Afghanistan (2009-2011). He chaired the 2021 G7 Panel on global economic resilience. Before that he had a diplomatic and security career serving in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, and Pakistan.

Educated at St Andrews and Oxford Universities, Lord Sedwill is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Institute of Directors, an Honorary Fellow of Oxford University and of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and a Distinguished Fellow of RUSI. He is President of the Special Forces Club, a trustee of IISS and the RNLI, an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Marines, and an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple. He is also the recipient of several awards and honours for national and international public service.

Tom M. Mitchell is the Founders University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where he founded and chaired the world’s first Machine Learning Department, and where he served as Interim Dean from 2018 to 2019.  His research interests include machine learning, artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, and the impact of AI on society.  Mitchell is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow and Past President of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). Mitchell advises a variety of government, for-profit and non-profit organizations regarding their AI strategies and AI-related business opportunities. He has testified to a variety of U.S. congressional committees regarding potential uses and impacts of AI, and is currently co-chairing a U.S. National Academies study on AI and the future of work. He recently co-chaired the Task Force on Large Language Models for the Special Competitive Studies Project.

Ryan Heath is global technology correspondent at Axios, and co-author of the Axios AI+ newsletter. He moderated the first presidential debate of the 2019 EU election, and between 2015 and 2023 wrote POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook, Davos Playbook and Global Insider newsletters and hosted podcasts. He’s the author of two books on politics, and worked for the European Commission in Brussels as a presidential speechwriter and later as the Commission’s tech spokesperson.

Mounir Ibrahim is the Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Impact for Truepic, an award-winning technology company specializing in provenance and image authenticity. From 2009-2017, Mounir was a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State and a key Syria adviser to various Ambassadors and Presidential Cabinet Members. Mounir served in Damascus, Washington, Istanbul, Bogota, and New York at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Mounir is an adjunct professor at Columbia University, TEDx speaker, term member with the Council on Foreign Relations, and his writing has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, World Economic Forum, and The Hill. Mounir received his BA in International Relations and Political Science from American University and his MA in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Michael Froman is president of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He previously served as vice chairman and president, strategic growth, at Mastercard, chairman of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and a distinguished fellow at CFR. 

Ambassador Froman served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as the U.S. trade representative from June 2013 to January 2017. Major initiatives under his leadership included the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in the Asia Pacific and negotiations toward a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union; the negotiation of agreements on trade facilitation, agriculture and information technology products at the World Trade Organization; the monitoring and enforcement of U.S. trade rights; and congressional passage of Trade Promotion Authority, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the Generalized System of Preferences program, and the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act.

From January 2009 to June 2013, Froman served at the White House as assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs, where he was responsible for coordinating policy on international trade, finance, energy, climate change, and development issues. He served as the U.S. sherpa for the Group of Twenty and Group of Eight Summits and staffed the president for the APEC Leaders Meetings. In addition, he chaired or co-chaired the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, the Transatlantic Economic Council, the U.S.-India CEO Forum, and the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum. He played a leading role in the launch of several of the Obama administration’s development initiatives, including Power Africa and Trade Africa.

Prior to joining the Obama administration, Froman served in a number of roles at Citigroup, including as chief executive officer of its international insurance business, chief operating officer of its alternative investments business, and head of its infrastructure investment business. He also has served as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a resident fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

In the 1990s, Froman spent seven years in the U.S. government. He served as chief of staff and deputy assistant secretary for Eurasia and the Middle East at the U.S. Department of Treasury. He also worked at the White House, where he served as a director for international economic affairs at the National Security Council and National Economic Council.

Dr. Froman received a bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University, a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, and law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

He has published a book and several articles on international relations, international law and trade. He has received numerous fellowships and scholarships, including a White House Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Fellowship in International Law, a Social Science Research Council/MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in International Peace and Security, and a Fulbright Scholarship. In 2016, he was selected by Fortune magazine as one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” and by Politico as one of the “50 thinkers, doers and visionaries shaping American politics in 2016.”

Froman was born in California. He, his wife, Nancy Goodman, and their two children, Benjamin and Sarah, currently reside in Washington, DC.

Director for Western Balkans at Plug and Play

Fmr. Executive Director of Innovation Centre Kosovo (currently Board support)

• Currently highly engaged with other partners on enriching the Western Balkans tech entrepreneurial ecosystem and supporting Innovation, through:
• Plug and Play as a Director for Western Balkans
• Supporting Innovation Centre Kosovo as a Board Member
• Organizing Global Entrepreneurship Week Kosovo in partnership with Kauffman Foundation
• Chapter Director of Startup Pristina
• World Bank Consultant
• Lead delegate of Kosovo to Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Moscow 2014, Milan 2015. Medellin 2016, Johannesburg 2017, Istanbul 2018, Bahrain 2019
• Participant of several Strategy Development initiatives, initiated by OECD, Prime ministers Office of Kosovo, Ministry of Economic Development & STIKK etc.
• Speaker and mentor , panelist of many local and international events, conferences, workshops such as TNW Conference, Startup Weekend Pristina, Mobile App Camp Skopje, KOSICT Conference Prishtina, CMO Conference Zurich, Digital Pristina, Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2016 Medellin etc.
• University Lecturer of Entrepreneurship and Marketing
• Judge in numerous global startup competitions, Startup Open, EU Youth Award, Startup Weekend, Krypto Labs Contes

Santiago Lyon is the Head of Advocacy and Education for the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative, working to combat misinformation through digital content provenance. 

He has more than 35 years of experience in photography as an award-winning photojournalist, photo editor, media executive and educator. 

As a photographer for Reuters and the Associated Press for 20 years he won multiple photojournalism awards for his work between 1989-1999 where he photographed 8 wars on 4 continents.

In 2003/2004 he was a Nieman Fellow in journalism at Harvard University before being named VP/Director of Photography at the Associated Press, a position he held until 2016. 

Under his direction the AP won three Pulitzer Prizes for photography as well as multiple other major photojournalism awards around the world. 

He was Chair of the Jury for the 2013 World Press Photo contest. 

Lyon serves on the board of directors of the Eddie Adams Workshop and the advisory board of the VII Foundation. He also teaches regularly at the International Center of Photography in New York.