Olivier Kamanda is the Director of Learning and Impact Strategy [1] at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. He is a former Presidential Innovation Fellow and previously served as speechwriter and senior advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. [2]
He obtained a bachelor of science degree from Princeton University in 2003 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2009. It was during his third year at Penn Law that he founded the Foreign Policy Digest. Also while in law school, he was executive editor of the school's Journal of International Law and a columnist for The Huffington Post . [3]
He is the founding editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy Digest. [4] Kamanda is a former Trustee of Princeton University [5] and a fellow with the Truman National Security Project.
Kamanda was president of the Montgomery County Young Democrats from 2004 to 2006. [6]
Since 2010, he has been an associate lawyer at White & Case in Washington, D.C. In 2011, Kamanda was named one of Washington, D.C.'s "Most Influential Leaders Under 40" by Washington Life Magazine. [7]
The George Washington University is a private federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress and is the first university founded under Washington, D.C.'s jurisdiction. It is one of the nation's six federally chartered universities.
The Medill School of Journalism is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the United States. Medill alumni include over 40 Pulitzer Prize laureates, numerous national correspondents for major networks, many well-known reporters, columnists and media executives. Founded in 1921, it is named for publisher and editor Joseph Medill.
John David Podesta Jr. is an American political consultant who has been serving as Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy since 2024, having previously served as the Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation from 2022 to 2024. Podesta previously served as White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001 and counselor to President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2015. Before that, he served in the Clinton administration as White House staff secretary from 1993 to 1995 and White House deputy chief of staff for operations from 1997 to 1998.
William Anthony Kirsopp Lake is an American diplomat and political advisor who served as the 17th United States National Security Advisor from 1993 to 1997 and as the sixth Executive Director of UNICEF from 2010 to 2017.
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive coursework in the fields of international development, foreign policy, science and technology, and economics and finance through its undergraduate (AB) degrees, graduate Master of Public Affairs (MPA), Master of Public Policy (MPP), and PhD degrees.
Stephen John Hadley is an American attorney and senior government official who served as the 20th United States National Security Advisor from 2005 to 2009. He served under President George W. Bush during the second term of his administration. Hadley was Deputy National Security Advisor during Bush's first term.
Marvin Henry "Mickey" Edwards is an American politician who was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving Oklahoma's 5th congressional district from 1977 to 1993.
Peter Berkowitz is an American political philosopher and legal scholar. In 2019–2021, he served as the Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State. He currently serves as the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and as director of studies for The Public Interest Fellowship. He is also a columnist for RealClearPolitics.
John Bellinger Bellinger III is an American lawyer who served as the Legal Adviser for the U.S. Department of State and the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration. He is now a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm Arnold & Porter, and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Pablo Samuel Eisenberg was an American scholar, social justice advocate, and tennis player. He played in Wimbledon five times, making the quarterfinals once, and won a gold medal at the 1953 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He was a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. Prior to his role at Georgetown, he served for 23 years as executive director of the Center for Community Change, a progressive community organizing group.
David Mark Rubenstein is an American lawyer, businessman, and philanthropist. A former government official, he is a co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C. Rubenstein is also the principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB), acquiring them in 2024 for $1.7 billion.
Barton David Gellman is an American author and journalist known for his reports on the September 11 attacks, on Dick Cheney's vice presidency, and on the global surveillance disclosure. Beginning in June 2013, he authored The Washington Post's coverage of the U.S. National Security Agency, based on top secret documents provided to him by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden. He published a book for Penguin Press on the rise of the surveillance-industrial state in May 2020, and joined the staff of The Atlantic.
Karl E. Meyer was an American-based journalist. The third generation of his family to be engaged in that occupation, Meyer's grandfather, George Meyer, was the editor of the leading German language newspaper in Milwaukee, the Germania; his father, Ernest L. Meyer, was a columnist for The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin and then the New York Post. In 1979, he joined The New York Times as the senior writer for foreign affairs, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.
The Stanton Foundation is a private foundation established by Frank Stanton, a long-time president of Columbia Broadcasting System ("CBS"). The Foundation focuses primarily on three areas in which Stanton was unable to complete his philanthropic plans within his lifetime: (1) supporting the First Amendment and creating a more informed citizenry, particularly in regard to civic issues, (2) supporting policy research in international security, with special emphasis on nuclear security and (3) advancing canine welfare. The Stanton Foundation is primarily a "no unsolicited proposals" foundation, although it operates several open application programs as detailed on its website.
Neal Steven Wolin is the CEO of the corporate advisory firm Brunswick Group, an equity partner of Data Collective, a board partner of Social Capital, and a limited partner advisor of Nyca Partners. He was the longest-serving Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and also served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury in early 2013.
Knight Austin Kiplinger [KIP-ling-er] is an American economic journalist who heads the Kiplinger financial media company in Washington, D.C., publishers of business forecasts and personal finance advice.
The RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service is a research center at University of Texas at Austin located in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. The teaching and research of the RGK Center are focused in the areas of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and volunteerism.
Gilbert F. Casellas is an American lawyer and businessman. He is a private investor and business consultant in the Washington, D.C. area, a director of Prudential Financial, trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, and advisor to Toyota Motor North America, T-Mobile US, and Comcast Corporation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Law Institute, trustee of the Pan American Development Foundation and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Workplace Harassment Second Edition 2018 published by Bloomberg Law.
Wendy W. Luers is the founder and president of The Foundation for a Civil Society, a democratization and non-profit organization.
Kathy "Coach" Kemper is an American executive, tennis coach, writer, and philanthropist. Kemper rose to prominence in the tennis scene, eventually heading the women's tennis team at Georgetown University, where she earned the nickname "Coach". Kemper has spent more than 30 years coaching movie stars, professional athletes, monarchs, Supreme Court Justices, Ambassadors, members of Congress, intelligence agency directors, and individuals from seven White House administrations.