CLASSNOTES
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Jacob Driker MCP entered the Graduate School of Design’s City Planning Program in 1950 and received his master’s degree in 1952. He served in the U.S. Navy for 40 months and then started his professional career. He did extensive consulting work and became director of the Oakland County economic development department. Close friends at Harvard GSD died in recent years: George Skrubb, Jim Rossant, and Gino Valle.
Stephen Sloane MPA retired as a captain in the U.S. Navy in 1983. He subsequently received his doctorate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and presently serves as a professor at Saint Mary’s College of California. He has published two works of nonfiction (Gold Stripe on a Jackass; The Quest for Moral Efficiency) and a novel (Cohen’s Law). In addition, he has, as the director of a nonprofit organization, provided therapeutic equestrian experience for people with disabilities.
Jack Wofford IOP, and associate director of the IOP from 1967–1970, recently received the first “Spirit of Mediation” award from the Community Dispute Settlement Center, a mediation and training program offering low-cost, high quality conflict resolution services, for his 16 years on its board of directors and his 40 years of consensus building in the Boston area. Jack continues his practice as mediator, arbitrator, and facilitator in a wide range of types of disputes, including commercial, development, environmental, family enterprise, public policy, and transportation. He was previously deputy general counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation and director of long-range transportation planning for the Boston region.
L. Michael Hager MC/MPA retired as president of the nonprofit Education For Employment Foundation last year. He has published a novel and plays on aging (thequeueandwarriors.com). And he is promoting the “End the Wars” petition on MoveOn.com.
Geoffrey Dutton MCP works as a technical writer and editor. Previously he developed software for encoding and visualizing geospatial data, beginning his career in the GSD’s Lab for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis. He is excited by the Occupy Wall Street movement, and has contributed commentaries and satires on political and economic issues to publications and web sites. Geoff lives in Belmont, Massachusetts, with his wife, Aygul, a neuroscientist, and their 10-year-old daughter, Deniz, also a writer.
O. Ralph Raymond II PHD has retired to Fort Lauderdale after serving as a member of the DePauw University faculty in Indiana for 35 years. Ralph also taught at Harvard and Brandeis Universities. At DePauw he chaired the Russian Studies program and was named distinguished professor of political science. Ralph also studied at Oxford and Moscow State University before beginning his academic career.
Michael Eliastam MC/MPA, MPP 1973 continues to serve as the dean of clinical medicine at Saba University School of Medicine, based on Saba Island, near St Maarten in the Caribbean, though it is the only island without a beach. He lives outside Boston and visits the school’s Caribbean campus for a few days, three times a year! He now has three grandsons living in San Jose, California; their mother, Taylor, and her husband, Justin, are ‘planting’ a new church out there. His younger daughter, Monet, revels in the Upper West Side of Manhattan at Barnard College/Columbia, while his son, Jordan, lives with him in Weston, Massachusetts, working in the city. He wishes he could see what everyone else is doing, almost 40 years later.
Clarence Cooper MC/MPA is a retired professor of the Suffolk University Sawyer Business School, but continues as a senior fellow at the Moakley Center for Public Management. He recently stepped down as chairman of the board of Associated Early Care and Education of Massachusetts, but continues to serve on the board. He is also a founding incorporator and board member of Boston Higher Ground, which is the Boston version of the Harlem Children’s Zone.
Anthony Parga MC/MPA was reelected to the New York State Supreme Court for a second term
Richard Broinowski MC/MPA was Australian ambassador to Vietnam (1983–85), Republic of Korea (1987–89), and Mexico, Central American Republics, and Cuba (1994–97). He retired from the Australian diplomatic service in 1998 and was appointed adjunct professor of media and communications, first at the University of Canberra (2000–2003), and since 2004 at the University of Sydney. He sends senior students in journalism as interns to media organizations in Asia. He has published three books in retirement, and is currently writing a fourth on the nuclear disaster at Fukushima.
Eric Hirschhorn HKSEE was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as undersecretary of commerce for industry and security on October 31, 2011. He had been serving in the position under a recess appointment since early April 2010.
Hilary Rowen MPP is still practicing insurance regulatory law in San Francisco. Recently, she has focused her writing and speaking on the impact of federal healthcare reform on health insurers and health insurance markets. Hilary and her husband, Gordon Lewin, are currently living in San Francisco with a view of the San Francisco Bay. (Their short term stay in the ‘City’ while remodeling has been relabeled an ‘urban sabbatical.’) Hilary has started learning how to home-brew beer.
Regina Glenn HKSEE is president of Pacific Communications Consultants (pccus.com), where she continues to champion public policy and programs that assure full participation of women and small and minority businesses. Her Kennedy School training continues to serve her well in forging public/private partnerships. As president of the MBE-PAC (mbepac.org ), she is overseeing one of the few minority business PACs in the country. Regina will lead outreach efforts for BCC Research & Consulting on the $1 million Washington State Disparity Study.
Alexandra Schweitzer MPP works at Tufts Health Plan, a regional HMO ranked second in the country. She leads a team building a new health plan/program for people who are on Medicare and Medicaid — some of the most vulnerable members of society. In addition, Alexandra directs THP’s health reform program, covering 50 federal and state reform initiatives. In her previous work at Health Dialog, she worked closely with Larry Gottlieb MPP 1980. Alexandra is the board vice chair of the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston and chairs its strategic planning committee. She lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, with her husband and enjoys long bike rides and Pilates.
Henry Smith MC/MPA and his wife, Laurie, visited classmate Kevin Kiley MPA 1980 and his wife, Mary Lynn, at their lovely home on the Cape this past July. Not invited to stay on indefinitely in Hyannis, the Smiths went home to Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Henry returned to the Johns Hopkins University School of Education where, using all the skills he acquired at HKS, he continues working on national and international partnerships for educational access and reform.
Clarence Sundram HKSEE has been appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as special advisor on vulnerable persons to assist in strengthening the state’s systems of protection and safety for vulnerable New Yorkers in residential care settings. Governor Cuomo defined this role broadly to evaluate and provide recommendations concerning state programs related to developmental disabilities, mental health, alcohol and substance abuse, children, and the elderly. Clarence continues to serve as special master and court monitor for the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC.
George Atta MCRP wishes all “a warm aloha from the Hawaiian Islands, a continent and half an ocean away. Still, we remain connected and the unity of the planet becomes obvious. The Sendai earthquake and tsunami certainly impacted us and continues to impact with the drift of the debris from the disaster. Look to the past for inspiration into the future and know that we become what we believe. Aloha pumehana."
Larry Deetjen HKSEE writes that his website is larrydeetjen.com.
Edward Edelson MC/MPA was elected first selectman (CEO) of Southbury, Connecticut, in November. He ran against a Republican incumbent in a town that has seen a Republican First Selectman as far back as anyone can remember. Southbury is a town of 20,000 residents in the northwest corner of Connecticut.
Kay Rubin Kinney MPP has joined TD Bank as vice president in its regulatory relationships and government affairs group. Previously, Kay was managing director of public policy for GMAC Mortgage Corp. She also is a member of the board of directors of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association and chairs its Philadelphia area chapter. She lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Robert, who is a deputy attorney general in New Jersey, and their two children. Their son, Matthew, began studies this fall in commercial music at Belmont University.
Wei Yao HKS Visiting Scholar was Deng Xiaoping’s press officer when he visited the United States in 1979. Since then, he has been a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, a fellow of the Institute of Politics in 1980, and at the Center for Strategic Studies, Stanford University, in 1982. He represented China’s foreign investment operations in North America from 1984–1990. After retirement, he lectured at the University of Washington and assisted in the management of a helicopter company in Texas. He is now a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Jeffrey Amestoy MC/MPA has been awarded the Hughes-Gossett Prize by the board of editors of the Journal of Supreme Court History. Amestoy’s article, “The Supreme Court Argument That Saved the Union,” was selected as the Journal’s best essay of 2010. Chief Justice John Roberts presented the award to Amestoy in a ceremony at the Supreme Court. Amestoy is a fellow at the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership and former chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.
Frank De Rosa MPP, senior vice president of North America project development for First Solar, was quoted in the news reports of the company’s sale of its Topaz Solar Farm Power Plant to Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings. “MidAmerican’s purchase shows that investors are becoming more comfortable with solar,” he said. Frank has worked in the energy field since his days at HKS under Bill Hogan and Graham Allison. In 2008 he founded a utility-scale solar energy development company, NextLight Renewable Power, which was sold to First Solar in 2010.
Robert Griffiths MPP, HKSEE 2002 is a career Foreign Service officer who now serves as U.S. Consul General in Shanghai, China.
Gathoni Mungai MC/MPA is a financial and private sector specialist in international development, promoting economic development in Asia and Africa. Gathonii is currently working on an agricultural program in food security that covers most of the African countries under President Obama’s Feed the Future Program. She has also spent several years in Afghanistan supporting Afghan entrepreneurs developing the private sector, who are creating and strengthening the value chain in specific sectors such as the carpet and gemstone sectors. She is a strong supporter of entrepreneurs and especially women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan.
Alexandria Panehal MC/MPA is serving as acting deputy assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development in their Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade Bureau in Washington, DC. She will serve as the mission director to the Dominican Republic starting in the summer of 2012. She has two daughters, Kristi, 20, and Dani, 17, and Pumpkin, her catatonic golden retriever.
Ann Ziebarth MC/MPA is a full professor in the Housing Studies Program at the University of Minnesota. She continues to teach and conduct research on housing as an indicator of social, economic, and policy change in rural America.
Sarmila Bose MPA has been at the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford for the past several years, first as inaugural director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and then as senior research fellow doing research, teaching, and supervision on South Asian politics. Her book Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War (Hurst and Co., Columbia University Press, Hachette India, and Oxford University Press Pakistan) was published this year.
Jane Burnes MC/MPA has been acting assistant deputy minister of competitiveness and innovation, a new division that includes responsibility for science and technology, venture capital, economic analysis, and small business in the government of British Columbia. In October 2011, she became the lead for another new initiative, a hosting program designed to welcome incoming international business visitors who offer potential investment of strategic importance to the province.
Janet Corcoran MCRP became executive director in August of EverybodyWins! New York, a children’s literacy and mentoring organization which pairs elementary school children in the New York metropolitan area with corporate volunteers for one-to-one read-aloud sessions throughout the school year.
Denise Fort HKSEE has been appointed director of the Utton Transboundary Resources Center at the University of New Mexico School of Law. The center addresses sustainability in the Southwest, with projects in areas such as western water policy, tribal water rights, and state adjudication processes. She remains part of the law school faculty.
Kenneth Hughes MPA continues to provide public service in Canada while an active entrepreneur. He has been the founding chair of Alberta Health Services Board since 2008, with a budget of $12 billion and 90,000 employees. In August he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with his 16-year-old son, Aidan, and helped raise $1 million for orthopedic services. In October he served on the transition team for the new Premier of Alberta, the Honourable Alison Redford.
James Pivonka MC/MPA has retired from the minimal consulting activity he engaged in after early retirement from work in Strategic Issues Management at the IRS. At 72, he has concluded he is not only old enough to retire — which he never really wanted to do — but is also old enough not to worry about dying young. Right now he’s living on the farm in West Central Kansas where he grew up. He enjoys time with his 94-year-old father, and with his daughter and granddaughters in California, as the opportunity arises. He’s stopped blogging, but posts frequently on Facebook.
Steven Block MPP, PHD 1993 has been promoted to full professor of international economics at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, where he has been teaching development economics since joining the faculty in 1995.
Vicki Hill MC/MPA recently celebrated the 25th year of her environmental planning consulting business. She continues to support public agencies on environmental impact assessment and environmental policy issues. Vicki has served for six years as the environmental services manager for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) passenger rail project in the northern San Francisco Bay region of California. In summer 2010, Vicki, husband, Bruce Goldstein, and son Griffin, 15, continued their travel adventures and were joined by fellow HKS classmate Kimberly Schizas MPA 1984 for a two-week rafting and hiking trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
John King MC/MPA, president and CEO of Vermont Public Television, was inducted into the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame at the Association’s Annual Awards Dinner on November 19. John joined VPT in 1987 and has served as president and CEO since 1998. He also serves on the PBS board of directors and has served as chairman of the Vermont Television Broadcasters Co-location Association. He is credited with helping to form a strong bond between public and private broadcasting in Vermont.
Frank Ostroff MPP recently became an executive advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton.
J. Gregory Payne MC/MPA was editor of five editions of the American Behavioral Scientist on the presidential election of 2008. He also spoke at Iceland’s Foreign Ministry on public diplomacy and was a State Department scholar in Spain in the fall on visual communication and presidential politics.
Thomas Rabon Jr. HKSEE recently retired as executive vice president of corporate affairs for Red Hat. He has joined with some former colleagues to create New Kind (newkind.com), a business whose main emphasis is bringing open source principles and community building skills to businesses and organizations outside of the software sector. He serves as chairman and partner of New Kind.
Darryl Garrett HKSEE early retired as a senior executive from the CIA in 2000, receiving the Career Intelligence Medal. His last assignment was as chief technology officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Currently he is an independent consultant to the intelligence community and several technology companies. He cofounded the D’ArchAngels, a group of angel investors with backgrounds in national security. He lives with his wife in Washington, DC.
James Gruber MC/MPA is focusing his current research and academic work at Antioch University New England on climate change. As a professor, he directs the recently developed Sustainable Development and Climate Change MS Degree Program that emphasizes community-driven adaptation and mitigation. He frequently refers to principles from his leadership course with Ron Heifetz in his adaptation work. He just celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary to Patience Stoddard, whom he met in 1984 while attending HKS.
Alison Hughes MC/MPA was recognized in November by Tucson Business Magazine as one of Tucson’s 10 most influential women in 2011. Alison was also recognized this year by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, which presented her with that organization’s 2011 Jim Bernstein Mentoring Award. She retired from the University of Arizona in June, after serving more than 26 years on that university’s faculty and administering the Arizona rural health office located within that academic institution. Alison has served on a number of national, state, and local boards over the past two decades and remains active on many boards and committees.
Kevin Lamb MPP writes that, in a year of transition, he received an MS in organization development from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and established the Keystone Global Consulting Group, based in Qatar. As managing partner, Kevin leads the firm’s work on organizational development, with particular focus on higher education planning. For the past 18 years, Kevin directed university planning at Carnegie Mellon, including the past 7 years helping to establish CMU’s campus in Qatar.
Diane Landau MPA was selected by the Financial Times in November as a member of its Agenda Diversity 100 — a list of quality minority and women candidates chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of corporate governance experts as top prospects for boards that require international management savvy. Diane’s selection to the Diversity 100 cements her place among those best-equipped to meet the multidimensional challenges of board service today. Also, Global Resources — her professional services firm that works exclusively with developing and emerging nations in the Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) and infrastructure fields — celebrated its 20-year anniversary in April.
Gabriela Romanow MC/MPA is loving her family’s move to Cambridge. She and her partner at Double Exposure, Photographing Climate Change, are working on a coral reef exhibit to follow their glacier exhibit now in its third year (doublexposure.net). She is also development director at Living on Earth, a news and information program about the environment aired on public radio (loe.org). Son Jake is a sophomore at Yale, and son Max is a senior at Brooks School.
Jim Shultz MC/MPA continues to serve as executive director of the Democracy Center, the global advocacy organization he founded in 1992. His recent work has included leading advocacy development projects for United Nations staff in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and at UNICEF headquarters in New York, as well as the launch of two new global projects on climate and democracy and corporate power. Jim lives with his wife and youngest daughter in rural Bolivia.
Hamidon Bin Ali MC/MPA is currently chairman of the National Authority on the Chemical Weapons Convention of Malaysia. Before that he was ambassador and permanent representative of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York. As permanent representative he has inter alia served as chairman of the fifth committee of the 62nd UN General Assembly (2007–2008), vice president of the executive council of UNICEF (2008), vice chairman of the UN Forum on Forests, and 66th president of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Rajkumar Chellaraj MPA is the new CFO and associate dean for finance and administration at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He would love to hear from classmates when they visit the Bay Area.
Thomas Keane MC/MPA was recently appointed assistant majority leader of the New Hampshire House. He also serves as a member of the House finance committee. In his local community, Keane is a selectman and school board member. His wife, Mary Anne McGinn, is joining the Air National Guard as a physician for a Homeland Defense fight wing based in western Massachusetts. They are first-time grandparents of London Keane.
Richard Kiy MC/MPA has completed his tenth year as the president and CEO of the San Diego area-based International Community Foundation where he continues to work at expanding charitable giving to NGOs in Mexico as well as other countries in Latin America.
Cady Landa MPP is a doctoral student in social policy at Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
Felisa Tibbitts MPP is back at the Kennedy School this academic year as a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and is coteaching a clinical course called Tools for Human Rights Practice. She welcomes the opportunity to reminisce with classmates over a coffee in the Forum (her treat!).
Champak Zohra Chatterji MC/MPA, HKSEE 2004 did her undergraduate degree in physics and masters in English literature and belongs to the 1979 batch of the Uttar Pradesh Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service. She is currently serving as additional secretary in the Ministry of Coal of India after previously holding the post of member secretary at the National Commission for Women, the premier autonomous organization for protection of women’s rights. At the level of joint secretary she headed the broadcasting wing of the Indian government’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, where she was associated with the drafting of the Broadcasting Bill and Content Code. Her son Varun Chatterji is a computer science graduate from the National University of Singapore. He is a successful entrepreneur and cofounder of the startup tenCube, recently acquired by McAfee.
Janice (Hearty) DayMC/MPA lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, Jim Day MC/MPA 1987. They have three children: Owen, 23, Grace, 21, and James, 10.
Nadine Hack MC/MPA was named one of Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior in 2011. Nadine is President/CEO of beCause Global Consulting and first woman executive-in-residence at IMD, ranked top in executive education globally by the Financial Times, The Economist, and Forbes. Nadine also was awarded the “Inspiration Award” for life-time achievement at a Womensphere Summit hosted by the Said Business School of Oxford University.
Josef Reum MC/MPA was named senior associate dean at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and promoted to Professor of Health Policy and Health Services Management and Leadership.
Marilyn Bok MC/MPA writes that October 28, 2011 was designated as ‘Marilyn Bok Day’ by the five Valley municipalities and she was honored at an appreciation banquet. After having researched and starting the organization in 2001, she has announced her retirement as president and CEO of the Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers serving five area counties. A native of Oswego, New York, Marilyn holds a BA in Chemistry from the College of St. Rose.
Takeo HirataMC/MPA writes that his greatest professional moment was not in his career as a high level Japanese government official or as a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, but rather in watching the Japan Women’s football team win the FIFA World Cup this year. As general secretary of the Japan Football Association in 2004, he had the privilege of helping design and build the system that would later support the great women champions of Nadeshiko 2011.
Dave Jones MPP/JD California State Insurance Commissioner, has been named one of California’s Top 100 Lawyers by the Daily Journal, the state’s preeminent legal newspaper. Dave was selected based on the strength of his efforts to protect consumers through new regulations, enforcement actions, and civil lawsuits initiated since he was sworn into office as the California State Insurance Commissioner in January 2011. To see his profile in the ‘Top 100 Lawyers’ issue, please visit dailyjournal.com.
Alan Loeb MC/MPA is living in Washington and practicing law but has found time to teach regulatory economics and to do deep research, including a paper recently delivered in Amsterdam regarding the reanalysis of the theory of environmental economics and policy.
Robert McClure MC/MPA has been serving as president and CEO of the West Point Association of Graduates since January 2007. Go Army!
Ole Gunnar Austvik MC/MPA is now professor of political economy at Lillehammer University College and professor of petroleum economics at BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo.
Jonathan Gould MPP recently joined American University as professor and inaugural director of the Washington Institute for Public and International Affairs Research. Previously, he was on the faculty of George Mason University. He and his wife, Ann Springer, continue to live in Arlington, Virginia, with their children Michael and Emily. Although he sees former classmates from time-to-time, he must concede the charge from Henrike Garkisch Mobed MPP and Robin Farley MPP that he remembers little from his time at the K School.
Frederic Hassani MC/MPA started a consulting firm in 2001 that designs and implements software for the intelligence and national security communities. At the state and defense departments he developed systems that improved the management of official internal communications. His company is currently working on a commercial product — code-named BORG — that allows large, hierarchal organizations to use social software principles to solve common business problems and improve the efficiency of their internal operations.
Russell Hawkins Jr.MC/MPA recently earned a promotion with Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Johannesburg. He also met with former KOTRA CEO & President Sukwoo Hong MPA 1987, who participated in Korea’s first trade expo in Africa and is now Korea’s minister of knowledge economy. Russell also attended a dinner in honour of the late Kader Asmal, former South African minister of education and water affairs and forestry. Russell served with Minister Asmal on the U.S./South African BiNational Commission. Also present was Kader Asmal’s widow, Louise, Minister of Planning Trevor Manuel; and prominent South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa.
Natalie Jaresko MPP was featured in the inaugural issue of Forbes Woman Ukraine magazine in an article called ‘Natalie: A Leader Who Inspires.’ It tells the story of Natalie’s successful career path and her remarkable contribution to Ukraine’s economy as well as her community contributions since her arrival in Kyiv in 1992. The article focuses on her leadership, achievements, and input into Ukraine’s process of transformation. Currently, Natalie is a founding partner and CEO of Horizon Capital, a private equity fund manager that invests into Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, with over $600 million under management.
Yvonne Thayer MPA works on refugee issues for the State Department when not enjoying retirement on a sailboat in the Caribbean or kayaking in Baja or Georgian Bay. She interviewed refugee applicants in Havana, Cuba, during the summer of 2011 and monitored refugee admissions in nine U.S. cities.
Christopher Callahan MC/MPA, of Scottsdale, Arizona, has been appointed vice provost of Arizona State University for the Downtown Phoenix Campus. He takes on these new duties in addition to his role as dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.
Joyce Chupka MC/MPA was honored at the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region Resourceful Women of the Year on November 3, 2011. She was selected in recognition of her service to the community, her mentoring work, and for the positive impact she has had on the lives of others. The Resourceful Women Awards were established in 2000 to recognize and honor those whose community and professional pursuits advance the empowerment of women, a core value of the YWCA mission. Joyce is the coauthor of It Went Without Saying, A Family’s Journey from Addiction to Recovery.
Jeffrey Fowler MC/MPA recently retired from the U.S. Navy as a vice admiral following 32 years of service. He is currently the senior vice president of university admissions at Strayer University.
Mark Francis MPP has shifted to a new role at Intel Corporation. He is now serving as an entrepreneur-in-residence in the New Business Initiatives (NBI) Group. In this role, Mark works with internal colleagues to identify and develop growth business opportunities for Intel.
Merritt Helfferich MC/MPA continues education administration and grant project evaluation consulting in Alaska. “With my wife, April Crosby MPA, we are snowbirds for 4 months annually from Alaska to New Mexico. I also am a long-term member of the Society of Research Administrators and made a session presentation at their 2011 Long Beach conference. We also do a lot of hiking and biking for fun. In spring 2010 we hiked 180+ miles of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain to the burial place of the Apostle Saint James. In spring 2011 we did some canyon hiking in New Mexico, lots of bicycling in Alaska during the summer, spent some time bareboat sailing in Alaska’s Resurrection Bay, and in the fall we bicycled in Poland with a bunch of friends. We have stayed in touch with several KSG classmates much to our pleasure.”
Linda Killian MC/MPA has a new book, The Swing Vote: The Untapped Power of Independents, published in January 2012 by St. Martin’s Press. She is a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a national political writer and columnist for Newsweek/The Daily Beast, Politics Daily, U.S.News & World Report.com, and Politico. She is the creator and former director of the Boston University Washington Journalism Center.
Mark Levin HKSEE is the 2011 recipient of East West Gateway Council of Government’s Lifetime Public Service Award in recognition of his accomplishments as city administrator of Maryland Heights, Missouri, since the city’s incorporation in 1985, and his commitment to the development of the next generation of public administrators and elected officials through his teaching and training activities.
Leslie Loble MC/MPA was appointed chief executive of the Office of Education in New South Wales, Australia.
Richard Noriega MC/MPA, as part of his continued dedication to serve our country, just completed the 2011 U.S. Army War College Fellowship program with the University of Texas. He concentrated on border security. His recent fellowship was designed to study and evaluate national security policy, strategy, and operational issues so as to enhance his future ability as a senior Army leader and so he can participate more effectively in the formulation and implementation of national security policy. Richard’s impressive career spans over 30 years of military, business, and public service, and as a graduate of University of Houston and HKS, he continues to live as a model of servant leadership. He returned to his civilian job as the President/CEO of Avance, Inc., and returns to his current position in the Texas Military Forces as the deputy commander for the Joint Interagency Task Force for Texas where he is awaiting his future assignment.
Julian Yulin Yang MC/MPA, the founder of Li-an Associate, is a legal counsel and practice arbitration serving internationally. He manages an international team for investments, mergers and acquisitions, and companies going public. He devotes himself to public charity and social development. He is a visiting scholar of HKS. He works in Beijing, China. For more information please visit julianyulinyang.webs.com.
Stephen Facey MC/MPA has just completed 20 years at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City, first as vice president of planning and special projects and now as executive vice president, managing an array of arts, education, and civic programs — including an eight year project to restore the Cathedral after a devastating fire in 2001, and the development of a real estate initiative aimed at sustaining the cathedral’s endowment and finances for future generations.
Marjorie Kline MC/MPA taught ethics in communications and public relations this summer at George Washington University in Washington, DC, at the Graduate School of Professional Studies. Last November, Marjorie introduced Marvin Kalb, her former professor and the Edward R. Murrow Professor Emeritus at HKS, when he was honored as the recipient of the 2010 Public Service Award by the Harvard Club of Washington.
David Shactman MC/MPA has recently published a book with coauthor Stuart Altman entitled, Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care: The Inside Story of a Century-Long Battle (Prometheus Books, September 2011). The book is written for a general audience and is the first of its kind to place the Obama health plan in historical perspective. Information about the book, including authors’ appearances can be found on the book’s web page, powerpoliticsanduniversalhealthcare.com.
Paul Tauber MPP, a partner and corporate practice chair at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP, has been tapped to serve on the Pacific Council on International Policy. The Pacific Council is the premier international affairs organization focused on policy issues of special resonance to the West Coast.
Lonnie WelchMC/MPA has written a new book, Beautiful & Abundant: Building the World We Want, which won a Nautilus Book Award for important books about social change. Lonnie runs Ogden Publications, publishers of Mother Earth News, Utne Reader, Natural Home & Garden, and several other national magazines about sustainability, self-reliance, and rural lifestyles. He and his wife, Carolyn, live on a 50-acre farm near Lawrence, Kansas, where they raise grass-fed cattle, sheep, and goats. His book is available from Amazon or at beautifulandabundant.com.
Faith Breen MC/MPA is a management professor focusing on online education. She has developed eight online courses including strategic management, emergency management, and health care management. In addition to teaching, writing, and presenting at conferences, she and her husband live in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Reuven Carlyle MPA was reelected to a second term in the Washington State House of Representatives in 2010. On the Ways & Means Committee, Reuven has been active in tackling the state’s severe budget crisis. Recently, he successfully sponsored the largest state reform of higher education finance in decades. Professionally, Reuven works as an entrepreneur in the software industry in Seattle. He and his wife, Wendy, have four kids from pre-school through high school age.
Cynthia ‘Cindi’ Chinnock HKSEE retired after 31 years of service to the state of Oregon. She continues her service though volunteer organizations. She is the president of the board of directors for Path Ministries International. Path Ministries provides services to the people of Northern Uganda. They operate an orphanage and school for children who lost parents due to the LRA rebel activity and disease. Path also protects natural springs in the area to provide clean water to thousands of villagers.
Walter Earle HKSEE is currently principal director for western hemisphere policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. “In addition to overseeing the development and implementation of U.S. western hemisphere defense policy, I represent the department in a variety of interagency and international meetings. On many occasions, I meet with visiting U.S. and foreign students, both military and civilian, at a professional level. My wife, Stella, and I recently attended my 40th undergraduate reunion at the College, and briefly stopped by HKS. Best regards to all.”
Joseph Guirreri HKSEE retired from the Air Force in 1997. He currently is the director of technology for PESystems. He has lead the TechAmerica DHS 60-person Vision Team (industry volunteers) for the last five years. Joe has presented findings of study teams at conferences each year. He was also elected to the Tidewater Gov/Industry Council. He chaired the Industry Advisory Council Information Assurance Shared Interest Group for three years.
Colin Jackson MC/MPA says, “There is a small group who are doing early work on our reunion in the spring of 2013. We are Birgit Wolz Queen, Communications; Amy Pearlmutter, Cambridge Point Person; Kevin Knobloch and Mary Lawlor, Party Hearties; Linda Gilday, Class Note Book Publisher; and Colin Jackson, Big Nag. Our goals are to do what we can to encourage attendance and to enhance the core program which HKS will provide. So, the purpose of this note is to plant the seed of your attending and, if so moved, participate in the planning. Step one, please make sure that Brigit Wolz has your current email.”
Richard C. Locke MC/MPA is currently CEO of DataWeb, producing web data base software for nonprofits across the globe.
Stamen Stanoev Tassev MC/MPA writes that for the past five years, as executive director of Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum, he succeeded in convincing the government and the parliament to adopt a law towards limiting the cash payments in Bulgaria as a measure against tax avoidance, corruption, and crimes. He pushed similar laws to be introduced in all countries in the European Union and supports attempts to decrease the bureaucratic and financial burdens of the Bulgarian and European administration that humiliate Bulgarian citizens and businesses. His study at HKS in 1993 was financed by the U.S. Treasury Department and therefore any American who has been a taxpayer in previous years and visits Sofia may rely on his generous hospitality, especially Harvardians.
Gwen Young MPP is currently country director for Africare in Dakar, Senegal. She is responsible for the oversight of five offices which manage community health, agriculture, and microfinance programs. She maintains her participation in several boards such as the American Society for International Law and looks forward to organizing a Kennedy School group in Dakar (current members = 4). Any Kennedy School colleagues who are in the neighborhood or passing through should contact Gwen.
Joanne Adams MC/MPA, HKSEE 1990 has joined Tetra Tech ARD, a U.S. Agency for International Development contractor, as a senior associate in democracy and governance. After a year in Afghanistan heading up the UN Development Programme’s Subnational Governance Programme, Joanne has settled in Burlington, Vermont. She now oversees USAID’s Kabul City Initiative which provides capacity building, infrastructure, financial management, and revenue collection improvements to the city of Kabul.
Jesse Gordon MPP spent this summer getting engaged to Kathleen Camara, who said yes after he brought her to Paris, Venice, and Niagara. They bought a home together in Randolph, Massachusetts, where they reside with Kathleen’s son, Derek; Jesse’s son, Julien; their cat, Chanel; and Chanel’s six pet fish. Jesse’s day job is public relations for PerkinElmer, a chemoinformatics company. This year, he’s spending all other waking hours covering the presidential and congressional races for OnTheIssues.org.
Reinhard Junghanns MPA 1994 was head of cooperation at the European Union’s delegation to El Salvador until August 2011. During his four years on the job, he worked on a host of projects, including contributing to establishing sector budget support as the preferential aid delivery modality of the EU to El Salvador, and implementing a project on social prevention of youth violence. In September 2011, Reinhard set up shop as head of cooperation at the European Union’s delegation to Venezuela.
Philip Ting MPP and David Chiu MPP wanted to share that they both ran for mayor of San Francisco. David serves as the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Phil is the assessor/recorder for the County of San Francisco. David was endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, the largest newspaper in the City and Bay Area.
Andrew Yarrow MC/MPA recently published his third book, Measuring America: How Economic Growth Came to Define American Greatness in the Late 20th Century.
Leela Batuwitage MC/MPA has three master’s degrees in engineering, science, and public administration. Her PHD is on ‘Sustainable Production and Consumption.’ She has been actively involved in sustainable development issues in the last 20 years at local and global levels. At present she is an honorary advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Sri Lanka. She believes that learned societies should sustain efforts towards complete synchronisation to see a healthy planet with smiling people everywhere in the world.
Jennifer Fearing MPP has worked for The Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest animal protection organization, since 2006 and has directed HSUS’ California efforts since leading a successful 2008 statewide ballot measure to stop the extreme confinement of animals raised for food. She lives and works in Sacramento, and is focused on advocating for animal protection reforms including California’s new ban on shark fin use.
Kamuron Gurol MC/MPA writes that while professional endeavors continue to offer both the challenges and rewards of public service, Kamuron is especially proud of his two kids, who were 3- and 5-years-old during his year in Cambridge. Son Nate graduated with a double major in history and political science and will be attending law school, while daughter Maia is a sophomore considering environmental sciences. Both want to pursue truth and make the world a better place.
Stephen Hendricks MC/MPA currently serves as board member on the South African Institute for Health Care Management. He is professor of public health policy and management in the faculty of health sciences at the University of Pretoria. He teaches postgraduate level fields of health, policy and management, quality assurance, and human resources. He is currently the principal investigator for WHO/AFRO Multi-country Study on Primary Health Care.
Tami Kesselman MPA is cochair of the high profile United Nations UNWired 4 MDG Solutions global campaign, a multi-agency UN initiative bringing social media and mobile technology solutions to Millennium Development Goal challenges. UNWired culminates in the March 2012 Leaders’ Summit at the United Nations in New York.
Jeffrey Tryens MC/MPA was recently appointed deputy director of operations for performance management in the office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Carlos de la Torre HKSEE is a regional public financial management advisor with CAPTAC-DR, an IMF center providing technical assistance to authorities in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.
Stephen Groff MPA was appointed vice president of operations of the Asian Development Bank in September. In this position, he is responsible for the full range of ABD’s operations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. He is also responsible for the Central Operations Services Office. His mandate includes establishing strategic and operational priorities, producing investment and technical assistance operations amounting to $4–5 billion annually, managing an existing portfolio of about $23 billion, and leading about 700 staff.
Winston Holliday Jr. MPP, on May 29, 2011, ran the Comrades Marathon, a 54-mile race from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in 9 hours, 52 minutes.
Vincente Juaristi MPP returned in October 2011 from a one-year mission in Afghanistan for the U.S. State Department. On the day after his return, he met in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to receive appointment to the board of directors of Digital Promise, a new corporation established by Congress to help teachers teach and students learn through better technology. A week later, Vince celebrated the release of his first book, Back to Bizkaia, which chronicles a trip with his father to the Basque lands of Spain, the place of his birth.
Natalie Keng MPP, funder and owner of Chinese Southern Belle LLC founder/owner, is having a great time taking folks eating, shopping, and exploring, using food to connect people and issues, like health and wellness, sustainability, and diversity —“opening minds, one mouth at a time. The vision is a culmination of my passions and HKS experience.” Help her spread the word! Follow her food and cultural adventures on ChineseSouthernbelle.com, ChineseSoBelle (Twitter), Facebook, and YouTube!
Patrick Mendis HKSEE received the diplomatic and friendship award by the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou, in China, and the international understanding award from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines during his 8-nation international book tour in Asia and is selected to serve as an advisor and author to the Encyclopedia of Sri Lankan Diaspora project at the National University of Singapore.
James Nicholson MPP is a managing director in FTI Consulting’s Paris office, specializing in the quantification of damages and related issues in the context of international legal disputes, including investor-state disputes — often acting as an expert witness. James met his wife, Jennifer, in 2000, while they were both at Bain & Co, and they have two sons — Luke (July 2008) and Oscar (December 2009). James would be pleased to hear from any former classmates based in or passing through Paris.
Amy Gray MPA has, since graduation, worked at bi- and multi-lateral development agencies and with INGOs in solidarity with global social movements. Specifically, Amy designs and facilitates workshops for citizens and public officials examining neo-liberal economic policies — formulated and coerced by the WB/IMF — and their devastating impact on essential public services and all things ‘common’. Most recently, Amy is participating in a global campaign calling for G20 to adopt a financial transaction tax and in the Occupy movement.
Dirk Petersen MPA moved back stateside in August to (re-) join the World Bank as senior human resources officer in its corporate team. As Dirk writes, “Moving back to the States feels like homecoming and the work at the Bank is great.” He’s spending most weekends at their place in the Shenandoah’s and hopes to reconnect with DC-based classmates.
Mark Ferguson III NSF was promoted to the rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy and was named the vice chief of naval operations. Recently, he served as the chief of naval personnel, and participated in the negotiations and ceremony for the formal return of Navy ROTC to the Harvard Campus. Mark lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, Lauré. He also celebrated finishing his first Boston Marathon in 2011!
Corazon Juliano-Soliman MC/MPA hosted World Bank President Robert Zoellick last October 26 in a visit to an urban poor community in Metro Manila in the Philippines. Corazon is currently a senior member of the cabinet of President Benigno Aquino Jr., as the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Her department is implementing the conditional cash transfer program for the very poor, with an emphasis on health and education.
Regina Ryan HKSEE, MC/MPA 2004 is the director of strategic partnerships for World Computer Exchange (WCE). WCE is a social enterprise incubated by Timothy Anderson MC/MPA 2000 while at HKS. Regina serves on the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs Board and was recently appointed to the HAA Board Club and SIGS subcommittee. In December, Regina is heading up a tech team traveling to Zimbabwe as part of Computers for Girls, a WCE initiative. Her team will be providing tech and teacher training and troubleshooting assistance to schools in the Harare area. The Zimbabwe project will connect 5,000 girls. Twenty countries will be part of this initiative.
Jamal Simmons HKSEE, MPP was recently engaged to Ayanna Dunn, both of Washington, DC.
Linda Freeman MC/MPA has received her PHD degree from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Communication Studies. The title of her dissertation is “Wall of Me: Facebook self-disclosure and partner responsiveness resulting in confirmation or violation of expectations and consequences for intimacy and relationships.” She sends warmest regards to her Harvard Kennedy School classmates.
Thomas Hurley MC/MPA recently assumed the role as deputy vice president for compact operations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington, DC. Thomas oversees the development and implementation of MCC’s compacts in Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America.
Laura Sarlo and Michael Rodman both MPP, are happy to announce the arrival of Caroline Claire Rodman on July 1.
Cynthie Tin MC/MPA writes, “We moved to Santa Barbara a year ago after my husband retired from 27 years’ service at CDC, Atlanta. We do enjoy our new home with nice weather and environment. Anyone visiting California is most welcome to stay at our home in Santa Barbara. We both are now working as consultants for local NGOs in Myanmar/ Burma and have been recently in Yangon/Rangoon to provide technical assistance to a local nonprofit organization on its HIV/AIDS projects. I am also serving in the board of the Thabyay Education Foundation (providing educational services for disadvantaged people of Myanmar) based in Thailand. As you may know, in Myanmar, for the first time in nearly 50 years, the situation has been changing with a newly elected government having dialogue with the opposition party. People have so much hope for the country to be a democratic country with freedom from fear. It is an interesting time to visit Myanmar/Burma.”
Clayton Bond MPP is managing public affairs and public diplomacy for the U.S. Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He is based in Jakarta with his spouse, Ted Osius, and their black labrador retriever.
Robert La Mont MC/MPA writes, “Between 2001 and 2006 I ran the Judicial Reform Program in Mongolia, helping institute reforms of the courts, prosecutors, attorneys, and police. I received a medal from the president of Mongolia. From 2006 to 2009, I was in Indonesia to help the prosecutor general’s office transform itself to work for a new democratic Indonesia. Then I worked short-term in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and lived in Hawaii. I proposed to David Jones and we will wed next year.”
Cecilia Lonning MPA is living in Copenhagen with Anders and their children, Camille, age 3, and Carl-Christian, age 1. She recently joined RSA’s Scandinavian branch as head of Rewards and Recognition. Furthermore, she is a member of the Copenhagen City Council, representing the Liberal Party.
R.B. Michael Oliver MC/MPA released a CD of new music. His classmates and schoolmates might remember how he entertained so many during his time at HKS. The new CD, Yin & Yanxiety, by Michael Oliver & The Sacred Band, is available from iTunes.
Mark Wood MC/MPA is pleased to announce the opening of his legal practice, The Law Offices of Mark Wood, PC. Mark specializes in criminal defense. He is particularly aware of issues that confront the Queer community in New York City. Mark continues to preach most Sundays in parishes throughout the Diocese of New York.
Gerard Bautista HKSEE is the chairman of the University of Baguio Foundation. He is also a product of the Graduate School of Design of Harvard and is a partner at BNN Bautista Associates. He specializes in school planning and design. He is also an active member of Harvard Serves, Harvard’s public service community. He is a Jaycee Senator and Jake Gonzalez Fellow of Rotary International. He lives in Manila with his wife and two children. His wife, Valerie, is an entrepreneur and director of Baguio Ice Plant and Storage and Topaz Realty. His daughter Adelenne, 23, is a major accounts executive at Unilever. His son Adrionne, 20, is a junior in college studying management at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Hank Dorochovich HKSEE 2002 retired from the Central Intelligence Agency in February 2011. As a senior intelligence service officer, he spent most of his career in the National Reconnaissance Office building, launching, and operating satellite intelligence systems. He also served at CIA’s Langley headquarters, and traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan during the conflicts there. He is currently chief mission officer at the SI Organization in Virginia, a system engineering and integration company (thesiorg.com).
Mark Fedor MC/MPA assumed command of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913), homeported in Key West, Florida, in August 2011. The Mohawk interdicted two drug-laden self-propelled semi-submersibles in the Caribbean recently. The submersibles are essentially drug submarines capable of carrying between 6–10 tons of cocaine from Colombia to Central America. The subs were carrying cocaine with a street value of $180–$200 million dollars so the Mohawk was incredibly proud of its efforts.
Cynthia Hogle MC/MPA is currently serving as a Department of Army civilian on a Human Terrain Team in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. She is specifically focused on interviewing Afghan women to learn how much they can influence young men in regard to their support of the Taliban. The women are vehemently anti-Taliban and despite threats, have asked for a women’s center and girls’ school. Cynthia has partnered with Afghanistan World Foundation (AWF) to raise funds for such a center.
Marco Lazo de la Vega Duran MC/MPA, HKSEE 2005 is a founding partner of Lazo de la Vega Abogados S.C., a major law firm in La Paz Bolivia (energy, immigration, and corporate law). In addition, Marco is a professional negotiator and lectures law at Catholic University. He is vice president of the Arbitration Commission of the Bolivian Chamber of Commerce, and comptroller of Crecer, the biggest microfinance entity in Bolivia. His hectic professional life is colored by his 9-year-old son Diego, who at the moment is learning Latin by his own choice!
Eva Shinagel MPA has returned from two years embedded with U.S. military units in eastern Afghanistan, most recently as the senior civilian representative with 4th IBCT-10th Mountain Division, based in Logar province. She will be a student this year at National War College in Washington, DC.
Doug Shipman MPP serves as the CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. The Center will break ground this year on a new $70 million exhibition and event facility showcasing the stories of the American civil rights movement and exploring contemporary issues of national and international human rights. Doug recently joined the Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors. He lives near downtown Atlanta, with his wife, Bijal Shah.
Jim Smith MPA is a consultant with the Smith Group in Chevy Chase, Maryland, managing the development of new approaches to government relations for educational institutions. Previously, Jim was a senior policy advisor with Americans for Energy Independence, a senior staff analyst on the advisory committee of HUD, and a board member of the think tank Digital Information Exchange.
Michael Baumgartner MPA/ID is a Washington state senator, representing the 6th District of Spokane. He serves on the Senate Ways & Means Committee and as ranking Republican on the Economic Development Committee. Michael is also an announced candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2012 election. His wife, Eleanor, whom he met while working together on a counter-narcotics team in Helmand, Afghanistan, in 2009, gave birth to their first child this past summer.
Maria Castro Barajas HKSEE is director of programs for Smart-Girl, Inc. Smart-Girl is a research-based, gender-specific, enrichment and prevention program that is curriculum driven and developed around emotional intelligence. Mission-Smart-Girl empowers pre-teen and teen girls to make smart choices and become confident, capable and self-reliant young women (smart-girl.org).
Maria Fernanda Levis HKSEE founded Impactivo Consulting, which supports leaders at the forefront of social innovation in developing institutions that achieve exceptional results. “We are dedicated to the development of initiatives that improve health status and educational attainment by engaging in systems level thinking, on the ground action, and funding model strategy development. Visit us at impactivo.com.” Maria will also begin teaching a course on social entrepreneurship at the University of Puerto Rico in spring 2012.
Scott Ferris HKSEE was appointed in August 2010 to serve as cochair of the Partners for Ohio’s Families. Funded by a national grant, the goal of the partnership is to reform how the state provides technical assistance and support to Ohio’s 88 County Child Protection Agencies. As cochair, he represents Ohio’s 88 counties in the review, development, and implementation of a new model of technical assistance. He is an adjunct faculty member at Bluffton University in the departments of social work and psychology and serves on the university’s social work advisory board. Scott has been employed as the executive director of Public Children Services Agencies since 1996, and for the last six-and-a-half years has been with the Allen County Children Services Board.
Matt Hennessy HKSEE launched a new venture this past August. Tremont Equity Advisors, LLC (Tremontequityadvisors.com), with offices in mid-town Manhattan and Hartford, Connecticut, advises firms and organizations on the integration of sustainable environmental, governance, and societal practices into core business functions. Matt will continue to serve as the managing director of the public affairs firm Tremont Public Advisors, counseling clients on public policy issues in Washington, DC, and Hartford, Connecticut.
Matthew Stumpf MPP has been named director of the Washington office of the Asia Society.
Donna Tesiero MC/MPA has released a new book, The Choosing Time, a young adult historical novel set in 16th-century France in a time of religious and technological upheaval. Published in e-book format, the book is available from all major book retailers. For more information visit the-choosing-time.com.
Marcelo Drago Aguirre Sr. MPA is an international consultant to the IDB and legislative advisor who created a civil rights defense NGO in his hometown. This organization, called Agrupación Maipo Contigo, has achieved national impact, after winning several legal battles on environmental, quality of life, and public transparency issues. Marcelo is married and has two children.
Scott Avedisian HKSEE 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, was awarded a MPA degree from Roger Williams University in May 2011. Scott also was awarded a Heroes of Faith Award from the Rhode Island State Council of Churches in October 2011.
John Bridges III HKSEE served as president and CEO for the American College of Forensic Examiners and continues to serve as vice chairman of the board of trustees for the National Graduate School of Quality Management. Prior to departing the government in 2010, he was the assistant administrator for the Department of Homeland Security (FEMA) and served as a senior executive for 10 years. John recently completed his dissertation defense and obtained a Doctor of Business Administration.
Jing Gayle Gao MC/MPA and Hermann Liu MC/MPA 2004 moved to Shanghai in 2011. Gayle is working for Beiersdorf ag (the holding company of NIVEA and La Prairie) as human relations vice president for Asia and Australia. When classmates and friends visit Shanghai, please drop them a note for dinner or a cup of coffee. By the way, Gayle travels to Hamburg quite often; please let her know if any classmates are there.
Maria del Rosaria Guerra-Mesa MC/MPA, a Mason Fellow, was appointed director general of COLCIENCIAS, the Colombian Institute for Science and Technology, after graduation. After that, former president of Colombia Alvaro Uribe appointed her as minister of Information and Communications Technologies until January 2010. Since then, she has been working as independent consultant and professor at the Universidad del Rosario and CESA in Bogotá, where she lives.
Hashima Hasan HKSEE 2003, 2004 was appointed the program scientist at the James Webb Space Telescope in January 2011, and is responsible for monitoring and managing its science program. The scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb Telescope will study every phase in the history of our universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth to the evolution of our own solar system. In her personal life, she welcomed a new daughter-in-law, and attended 4 other family weddings this year in the UK, India, Germany, and Rhode Island.
Francis Paganelli MC/MPA serves as chief operating officer for Seattle-based Full Circle Farm, Inc. Full Circle is a leader in the emerging sustainable food movement, delivering 10,000 boxes per week of local and organic produce to customers across the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and California. Frank loves living in Seattle with his wife, Tia, and daughter, Bess, age 3.
Janet Pau MPP, program director at the Asia Business Council, is the coauthor of a new book, Through the Eyes of Tiger Cubs: Views of Asia’s Next Generation, published by John Wiley & Sons in October 2011. The book offers insights into the minds of young Asians and their concerns about long-term challenges in Asia, ranging from education to the environment to governance.
Wolf Plesmann MC/MPA writes, “After having served for 14 months in ISAF’s Reintegration Cell, dealing with transparency and fiscal issues in the initial stages of the Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program, for the next two-and-a-half years Wolf will be coordinator for a project aiming to strengthen the higher public administration education in Afghanistan. This project is set out to support the Afghan people in the struggle for better governance and includes building a school of public administration in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Ken Biberaj MPP has been busy working to raise the profile of the Russian Tea Room. He recently helped ring the closing bell at the NYSE with NYC & Company in honor of the 20th year of Restaurant Week and also lit the Empire State Building ‘orange’ with Mario Batali in support of the Food Bank for New York City and hunger awareness.
Gerald Culliton HKSEE, director of the VA Hudson Valley Healthcare System in New York, received the VA National Visionary Communications Award at a ceremony at the Boston Park Plaza. Culliton was recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs for his career of transformational work in communications, public affairs, web communications, and social media development across the department. Cited as one of the government’s leading visionary communicators, Culliton received the award at the National VA Communications and Public Affairs Conference.
Regis de Silva MC/MPA writes, “I left Partners Harvard Medical International in May of 2011 after managing programs in Dubai and India where I created leadership training programs, and taught health care policy to foreign physicians, nurses, and administrators. I returned to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to work on developing international medical programs in other countries. I consult on programs in medical education, patient care, and hospital systems management while continuing to serve on the Harvard Medical School faculty.”
James Fleming HKSEE writes, “After 30 years in public service in the Connecticut General Assembly and the governor’s cabinet, I left government and began a second career as president of the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association. I remain involved in public sector issues, including testifying, along with the heads of GM, Ford, and Chrysler, before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee chaired by Senator Dodd concerning the future of the automotive industry in the U.S.”
Ryan Lambert HKS has continued his leadership in the fast-growing laser tattoo removal industry. After selling his chain of laser clinics in a substantial private transaction, he has been growing Astanza Laser into the premier manufacturer of q-switched lasers used by dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and medical clinic entrepreneurs. These responsibilities have allowed him to travel extensively, and he is pleased to have visited his 50th country recently.
Kendric Robbins MPA completed a White House Fellowship and served as an army fellow at the State Department, before taking command of 1st Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker) in July in Vilseck, Germany. The unit has approximately 750 officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers. He will spend the next few years leading and training them for future contingency operations.
Rebecca Schmidt HKSEE, director of congressional affairs at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was awarded a Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award in recognition of her initiatives to improve openness and outreach to various stakeholders in the nuclear field. She has been in the Senior Executive Service since 1999 both at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roger Tansey Jr. MC/MPA was recently elected to serve as a trustee of the Desert Bar Association, the local attorney group for the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area. As a trustee, Roger is working on the provision of legal services to the elderly and educational programs in high schools. He was also recently invited to join the local chapter of the American Inns of Court, a national legal honor society.
Ishmon Burks HKSEE, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Jefferson Community and Technical College, will lead the Louisville Metro Police Department for the next few months. Ishmon is the former Kentucky chief police commissioner and cabinet secretary.
Stephen Buxbaum HKSEE was elected mayor of the City of Olympia, Washington State’s capital. His four-year term began January 3, 2012.
Hien Dao MPP is embarking, after six years in public service, on an entrepreneurial venture of her own. She has recently cofounded Golden Path Academics, an international education firm working in developing countries with high economic growth potential. The company recruits international students for U.S. colleges and graduate schools and brings web-based training to students and young professionals abroad. Golden Path launches its services in Vietnam in April 2012.
Masimo Della Justina HKSEE holds degrees in economics from the London School of Economics, and mathematics and philosophy from the Catholic University of Paraná (Brazil), MSC in social policy and planning for developing countries from the London School of Economics, and a PHD in production engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil). He is a lecturer in international economics and the chief of staff for the rector’s office at the Catholic University of Parana. He has been an active, outspoken critic of Brazilian economic and social problems.
Masimo Thomas DeWolf HKSEE, author of Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History (Beacon Press, 2008), has completed the manuscript for his next book. Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade, coauthored with Sharon Leslie Morgan, will be published by Beacon Press in October 2012.
Johann Guzman MPP, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, recently completed a tour of duty in Guyana, South America, where he coordinated humanitarian missions and security assistance to counter terrorism and drug trafficking in the region. Currently in combat training, Jo reported to the Horn of Africa (HOA) in January of 2012. He will serve with the Combined Joint Task Force-HOA, a multinational coalition working with East African nations to increase stability and security in the region by preventing the spread of Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda affiliates (AQAP, Al Shabaab) in the region.
Thomas Kennedy MC/MPA was recognized for his distinguished public service at the Boston Irish Honors luncheon on October 20, 2011. Representing the 2nd Plymouth and Bristol District in the Senate, Kennedy was hailed as an effective advocate for the poor, the disabled, and the elderly.
Arlene Mulder HKSEE recently returned from Saudi Arabia as a part of a delegation of American mayors invited by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “We met with several government leaders and visited both areas of historical significance as well as new developments of modern architectural interest. The warm and welcoming environment conveyed a strong desire to form better relations with the U.S. and to form partnerships with American businesses. The majority of our hosts held several degrees earned in the U.S. and, yes, Harvard was among those. The world is small when we look at the many similarities as opposed to our differences. Understanding and acceptance of differences can allow for respectful dialog in an environment that can promote positive opportunities for all.”
Nnenna Ofobike MPP happily wed U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Jermaine Lewis in August. She is currently working in the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow. The fellowship offers twenty accomplished Americans a nine-month professional development program in Germany. Previously, Nnenna was a refugee program officer in the U.S. State Department and a Presidential Management Fellow in the Asylum Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Ashley Stewart MPP is a senior associate in the Leadership Development Unit with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, managing existing leadership development and capacity building programs, and developing new leadership initiatives in support of, and in concert with, the foundation’s efforts to impact and influence systems and large scale community change on behalf of vulnerable children and families. Previously, Ashley was a senior director of community initiatives with the National Summer Learning Association and a foreign service officer. Ashley and his wife reside in Baltimore, Maryland, and recently welcomed the arrival of their first child, Coretta Naomi Beth, in September.
Isabel Millan Valdes MPA 2004 has been living in Viña del Mar, on the coast of Chile, since 2007. During this period, she has been leading the Congressional Advisory Service at the Library of Chilean National Congress. Always willing to learn from public policy challenges and successes in other countries, as well as new advances in program evaluation methods, she invites you all to exchange leading and research experiences in these areas.
Phillip Van Saun HKSEE, continuity and emergency services director, led a team of University of California San Diego emergency planners that earned the Award for Excellence in Emergency Management from the University of California Office of the President. The award notes that UC San Diego has successfully leveraged continuity and emergency planning to enhance campus operations, and has been recognized for establishing best practices in the area of behavioral threat assessment and management. “UC San Diego has advanced the process of emergency management and continuity planning through collaboration with the academic community,” he said, “and the efforts of our staff have been validated by this award.”
Warren Wilhide Jr. HKSEE successfully climbed Aconcagua, which at 22,841 feet, is the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, and the second highest of the 7 Summits (the highest mountains on each of the seven continents). For Warren, it was an amazing experience and a special way to remember his mother, Carol, who had died of breast cancer in 2008, having placed his parent’s picture at the top of the mountain to honor her memory; Warren reached the summit on Valentine’s Day!
Brooke Brody-Waite MPP had a lot of changes in the past year: she left OMB for a job on the Hill with the House Intelligence Committee, got married to Scott Eisele in April, moved from DC to Alexandria, changed her name to Brooke Eisele, and adopted two adorable kittens. She has also done quite a bit of international travel, competed in several triathlons, and still really enjoys hanging out with the DC contingent of 2006 MPPs.
Craig Bollenberg Sr. HKSEE has recently retired from the U.S. Army after 32 years of service. He has taken a position as the deputy director of the Security Assistance Field Training Activity with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Craig and his wife, Angela, live in Cobbs Creek, Virginia.
Michael Carrell NSF retired as a colonel from the Air Force in the spring. He is now working as a senior administrator for The Ohio State University and living in Columbus, Ohio.
Sourin Chakravorty HKSEE is senior project manager in the Department of Transport, Melbourne, Australia. Sourin plays a key role in the provision of economic policy and strategic advice on transport infrastructure issues. He also manages the provision of advice to ministers on cabinet and cabinet committee submissions. Previously, Sourin worked in the Department of Treasury and Finance in areas of economics and financial policy, and major infrastructure projects. In 2003, Sourin was seconded as senior adviser to Major Projects Victoria to facilitate key infrastructure projects in Victoria, Australia. Sourin lives in Melbourne with his wife and three children.
Guy William Clinch HKSEE was recently honored by the National Association of State Technology Professionals with lifetime membership for his years of service to the organization. Guy has served in NASTD executive leadership including chairman of the Corporate Affiliate Council. Among his achievements include leading the establishment of NASTD’s annual community service project, leading redrafting of the corporate bylaws, and fostering the use of social media as a tool in achieving the organization’s goals.
Jeffrey FrazierHKSEE 2006, 2007 was named a 2012 Eisenhower Fellow. The Eisenhower Fellow organization is chaired by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and each year selects approximately 10 fellows from the United States for a five-week international fellowship. Next year, Jeff will travel to Australia, Singapore, and likely New Zealand to meet with business and country leaders on the topic of social/public finance (Social Impact Bonds) and technological modernization in the public markets.
Carlos Alberto Rios Henckell HKSEE is an economist with specialization in microfinance. He writes that his participation at Harvard Kennedy School helped to greatly strengthen his knowledge and work practices in microenterprise in Peru. In addition, the program managed to guarantee his relations with other outstanding local and international actors in microfinance. Today, in COPEME, he takes part actively in consultancies and project administration of cooperation of organisms like USAID, BID, HIVOS, NIOVIB, and the Ford Foundation, among others.
Angela Joo-Hyun Kang MC/MPA is founder and executive president of Global Competitiveness Empowerment Forum (GCEF), a nonprofit organization promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) registered under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy in South Korea. She was officially invited as a jury member of the Asia Pacific jury panel of Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards 2012, a CSR initiative by Cartier with support from McKinsey & Co. and INSEAD Business School to empower women entrepreneurs.
Kumar Sanjay Krishna HKSEE is an Indian administrative service officer who attended a program on the practice of trade policy. He believes that he greatly benefited from the course and interactions and intends to spend more time at HKS in the future.
Mark LiedekerkenHKSEE writes, “In the executive education program, Innovations in Governance, we formed a group of individuals with individual problems. At the end of the course we solved several worldwide problems with simple Harvard tools. All the individuals were concentrated as one big knowledge block which could solve the world problems. Reorganize that same group and we will save the world. We are proud to make a difference in the world as Harvard alumni.”
Adeeb Mahmud MPP is still working with FSG, and launched their Washington, DC, office this year. Recently, he’s been advising companies on how to develop new CSR programs, and the Gates Foundation on product access issues for global health. He traveled to Mexico, Brazil, Mozambique, and South Africa over the summer and was pleasantly surprised to run into Almudena Suarez Fernandez MPP at a client organization in Mexico. He also recently hung out with Jacqui O’Neill MPP, Jama Adams MPP, Clare Sanford MPP, and Andrew Stober MPP in DC.
Casey Miller MPA just finished a solo cross-country bicycle trip, starting in Portland, Oregon, on August 16 and ending in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 67 days later. On his journey, he interviewed hundreds of people about how meaningful lives are created. He is currently in the process of writing a book about his findings, building a website that will help others live their dreams, and producing a documentary (caseyamiller.com).
Robbin Elizabeth Peach MC/MPA, who was a Bradford Fellow at HKS, continues her passion for ocean-related issues. After spearheading (at the Kennedy School) the partnership that helped create the nation’s first marine spatial plan, she founded the Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate & Security (umb.edu/ciocs) at UMass Boston. She’s currently working on CIOCS’s Global Conference on Oceans, Climate & Security (gcocs.org) where cross-disciplinary experts will examine how national security interests may be potentially compromised by changing climate and oceans.
Curt Shepard MC/MPA, HKSEE, director of the Department of Children, Youth & Family Services at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, is leading a demonstration project, funded by the largest federal grant ever awarded to an LGBT organization ($13.3 million over 5 years), aimed at improving permanency and other outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) children and youth in the foster care system.
Rodrigo Tavares HKSEE has been nominated head of the Office of International Affairs at the Government of Sao Paulo in Brazil. The State of Sao Paulo is the second largest economy in South America and the 22nd worldwide. The Office of International Affairs is mandated to conduct the foreign affairs of the Government of Sao Paulo. He earned his PHD from Gothenburg University, Sweden, and has been a visiting research scholar at University of California, Berkeley, and at Columbia University, where he conducted his postdoctoral degree. Before joining the Sao Paulo Government, he served as UN consultant to write the UN secretary general’s reports on development in Africa (2008–2010).
Nami Katherine Yoon MPP has recently finished her solo world travel, which was one of her lifetime dreams. Katherine traveled to 19 countries in a year (mainly in Latin America, Africa, and Europe) and met many treasured friends along the way. The major highlights of her journey were exploring Antarctica (and swimming there!!), reaching Mt. Kilimanjaro’s summit, volunteering in South Africa, and adventuring on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Before her trip, Katherine had served at the Seoul Metropolitan Government as a deputy director of strategic policy planning and at the Korea International Cooperation Agency as a senior policy analyst in South Korea.
Eric Brennan MC/MPA is president and cofounder of IC-Haiti, a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation established to provide health and educational support to the people who live in the mountains of southern Haiti. Since 2008, the all-volunteer IC-Haiti has raised more than $400,000 for medicine, infant nutrition, a deep water well, and housing. In 2011, the organization funded construction and operation of a new school in the hamlet of Puit Chacha, where 200 primary-age children regularly receive education and a daily meal.
Luis Eduardo Zavala DeAlbaHKSEE 2007, 2008 is research professor at EGAP ITESM, where he lectures on human rights, including public policy human rights implementation, evaluation, and measurement for the National Human Rights Program, and on human trafficking, and is also involved in human rights education to public officials. As well, he is a research fellow and visiting professor at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University’s Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies.
John Raymond Felix MC/MPA, deputy director of the Municipal Service Division at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, started teaching a new course in January at Northeastern University entitled The Art of Environmental Protection in Today’s Society.
Bec Hamilton MPP saw her first book, Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop Genocide, published by Palgrave Macmillan. Bec has spent the past year covering the Sudan as a special correspondent for the Washington Post, with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. She just concluded a fellowship at the New America Foundation, engaging in public debates around human rights and the use of force. She married fellow human rights lawyer Ben Batros while working at the International Criminal Court in The Hague and they married last year. She has recently joined Reuters, reporting on legal issues.
Muhammad Azam Khan HKSEE writes about his time at HKS, “It was a great learning experience. The innovative sharing of experience of the case study method is really the cornerstone of studies. The leadership development experience is the real focus of all the study exercise. In fact the sharing of experience during the course enables the participants to open up their faculties for future challenges. The rich contribution of such an exchange of experiences for changing the world is a landmark in personality development.”
Richard Mutule Kilonzo HKSEE is chief executive of Export Processing Zones Authority Kenya and is responsible for 42 zones in Kenya that employ over 40,000 people and process $500 million in exports. He has been the lead advisor for the $25 billion multi-modal LAPSSET Corridor Development Project and is a director of the Kenya Investment Authority & Export Promotion Council.
Kai-Yan Lee MPP, despite having moved to New York City a year ago to join the World Economic Forum as a manager and Global Leadership Fellow, has spent about half of his time traveling around the world to advance the most pressing global issues on real estate, infrastructure, and urban development. He is now determined to do a better job in reconnecting with HKS friends when in town and in other cool places around the world.
James Lim HKSEE is a supervisor and senior chief engineer with the U.S. Army’s Program Manager Office–Joint Combat Support Systems, based in Warren, Michigan. The office manages material development in support of Army expeditionary forces material requirements. He completed 30 continuous years of civil service with the Army, and recently led a team in winning the 2011 Assistant Secretary of the Army, on Acquisition, Logistic, and Technology Office on Continuous Performance Improvement, Lean Six Sigma Project Team Award, with cost savings and avoidance of $ 92 million. James lives in Macomb, Michigan, with his supportive wife.
Hennie Lotter HKSEE published a book called Poverty, Ethics and Justice in June (Cardiff: University of Wales Press). In the book, Hennie, a professor of philosophy at the University of Johannesburg, discusses poverty in ways that depict this devastating human condition clearly. He argues that shared ethical values must guide aid. He claims that our society must reevaluate our notions of justice and reimagine the role of the state to enable collective human responsibility for poverty’s successful eradication.
Abdul Malik MC/MPA writes, “This note is addressed to the dean and the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School and also to my colleagues with whom I shared the opportunity to learn from each other’s knowledge and experience and above all culture. Thank you, Kennedy School. We learned from each other under your umbrella of knowledge and courage that we should not claim our values and concepts to be the most correct or most perfect, but rather open ourselves to understanding others.”
Tariq Mohar HKSEE writes, “The FIPED class of 2007 was a unique combination of practitioners, academicians, consultants, regulators, and investors in microfinance, which soon was galvanized into a cohesive forum; that articulated a balanced opinion with dynamic approach for the emerging sector of microfinance. It had the promise of financial inclusion for the disadvantaged and underprivileged at the bottom of the pyramid. The pooling of experience, exposed each member to new dimensions in handling their businesses/organizations which can thwart the impact of recession and contain the social pressures. Every member departed with a great sense of optimism and faith that strong leadership equipped with tested concepts and practices can turn every threat into an opportunity and steer long-term sustainability. FIPED was a wonderful melting pot for all.”
James Moody HKSEE, in his book The Sixth Wave: How to Succeed in a Resource-Limited World (sixthwave.org), describes five distinct waves of innovation since the industrial revolution, each starting with disruptive new technologies and ending with a global depression. We are now on the cusp of another massive transformation — the sixth wave — fuelled by scarcity and resource efficiency, where waste is a source of opportunity and nature a source of inspiration.
Scott Paradis NSF completed a 30-plus year career with the U.S. Army in December 2011. He is launching a new endeavor promoting genuine, positive change, teaching proven, enduring success principles. Through his workshop, SUCCESS 101, Scott helps people uncover their foremost desires, develop their innate talents, and leverage their personal power to create the life of their dreams.
Carmen Porco HKSEE is CEO of Housing Ministries of American Baptists in Wisconsin and president of Porco Consulting. His integrative approach to community management is changing the face of and perceptions surrounding poverty in America. He has gone on to found four large community learning centers and become a national lecturer on education, housing, poverty and theology. HUD modeled a national initiative, Neighborhood Networks, on his work. Carmen lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his family.
Chiradeep “Deep” SenGupta HKSEE and his wife, Anoshua Chaudhuri, are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter, Jia, on April 18, 2011. On a professional note, Deep was appointed by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to the President’s Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA). The PECSEA’s role is to advise the Commerce Department (in particular, the Bureau of Industry and Security) on the administration’s export control reform initiative.
Gerd Schwarz MC/MPA and Susan McDonald MC/MPA, who met in the 2007 MC/MPA class, were married on August 12, 2011, in the medieval cathedral in Graz, Austria, the groom’s hometown. A reception followed at the Schloss (Castle) Dornhofen. The Schwarz family currently resides in Zhejiang Province, China, where they are both on the faculty of the University of Nottingham in Ningbo.
David Bibo MPP and Erin Ward Bibo welcomed their first child, Anna Lucy Bibo, on August 7, 2011. David was also recently selected to join the White House National Security Staff as director of preparedness policy.
Feidhlim Boyle HKSEE recently revised his book, Derivatives: The Tools That Changed Finance. It is available for free download at thederivativesbook.com.
Paula Broadwell MC/MPA had her first book, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, selected by Penguin Press as its lead winter publication for January 2012. Says Pulitzer-prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, “This majestic biography will set the standard for all future works about General Petraeus. With superb narrative skill, Broadwell simultaneously provides an intimate look at Petraeus the man, a fascinating account of modern warfare, and an elegant study of leadership.”
Joe Byker MPP returned from a six-month tour in Afghanistan in July. Shortly thereafter, he separated from the Air Force and he and his lovely wife, Christen, moved to the Dominican Republic where they now work in a dynamic, bilingual environment at Doulos Discovery School, a Christian mission school in the central mountain town of Jarabacoa. Joe is the organization’s finance director and Christen teaches middle school science.
Keith Curry HKSEE 2008, 2011 has been named the director of the Concordia University Center for Public Policy in Irvine, California. Keith, who also serves as a council member and former mayor of Newport Beach, California, recently retired following a 24-year-career as a managing director of the national public finance advisory firm Public Financial Management. Curry will also serve as a visiting professor of public policy.
Jeff Davis HKSEE, a U.S. Navy commander, recently completed an assignment as director of public affairs for the U.S. 7th Fleet based in Japan. He has returned to Washington and is attending the National War College, where he will graduate in 2012 with a master of science in national security strategy.
Elizabeth DayHKSEE has joined Head Lands, a business consultancy that leverages frontier research on nature’s impact on employee productivity and well-being to give companies a strategic edge. Through guided outdoor experiences, Head Lands helps executives and their teams find ways to work better and faster, and gain clarity on strategic issues. Head Lands is based in San Francisco (head-lands.com).
David Diedrich HKSEE writes that N Street Village recently completed the acquisition of Miriam’s House to improve and enhance services for women with HIV who live in Washington, DC.
Tina Doerffer MC/MPA is editor and coauthor of two books on leadership: Leadership & Web 2.0: The Leadership Implications of the Evolving Web, and Leadership — Approaches, Developments, Trends.
Brian Emeott JD/MPP 2008 and his wife, Claudine, moved to Kathmandu, Nepal, in early 2011. Brian is teaching conflict management and negotiation at a local college. After serving as a Kiva Fellow, Claudine has worked as an international development consultant. Both are pursuing entrepreneurial projects in Asia. They chronicle their adventures at thekathmanduo.com.
Emilio Escartin HKSEE is managing director of EBN Capital Private Equity and founder and managing partner of AmonCapital Private Equity SGECR, S.A. He is involved in a new fundraising Infrastructure fund for Europe, including Spain (where they have their headquarters).
Stergos Epsimos HKSEE is an attorney at law in Kos, in the Dodecanese in Greece. At the time of his studies at HKS, he was also an elected member at the Regional Council of the Dodecanese islands. In 2010 he was elected to the Regional Council of the South Aegean. Since his HKS studies, he was also trained on leadership studies at CEIBS (China, 2009) and DSG (UAE in conjunction with HKS, 2010) and on Negotiations at SKOLKOVO (Russia, 2011).
Lynne Esquivel HKSEE oversees the monitoring of contracted mental health and preventive services programs for children and families within the Broome County Mental Health and Social Services Departments. In addition, Lynne provides technical assistance to contract agencies to support ongoing performance improvement. Lynne serves on the Cultural and Linguistic Competence Committee for both Mental Health and Social Services in Broome County. Lynne is a member of the NYS OMH Multicultural Advisory Committee. Lynne received her bachelor’s degree in applied social science and her MPA from Binghamton University.
C. Frank Figliuzzi HKSEE was named the FBI’s assistant director for counterintelligence. He is the head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program worldwide and was recently featured in national and international media in connection with the FBI’s release of videos and documents in Operation Ghost Stories, involving the 10-year-long investigation and arrests of 10 Russian spies, including Anna Chapman.
Mark Ginalski MC/MPA was recently appointed as general counsel/director of governmental affairs for the Marin County-based company SunLink Corporation, an industry leader in the photovoltaic space. Mark continues to serve on several Bay Area boards and foundations, as well as the Marin County Planning Commission. Mark resides in Tiburon (a 15-minute boat ride from downtown San Francisco) with his Australian shepherd, Charlee. Visitors always welcome.
Gonzalo Gutierrez HKSEE, after two successful years as Peruvian representative to the United Nations in New York, Gonzalo has been appointed as the new ambassador of Peru to the People’s Republic of China. He arrived in Beijing on November 1. His experience as SOM Chair of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in 2008 and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, between 2006 and 2009, certainly will be useful for his new posting.
Gustavo Guzman HKSEE was recently promoted to assistant chief of staff for the San Antonio Police Department. He will be charged with developing leadership initiatives and positioning strategies for the department to meet diverse social demands on police.
Hekani Jakhalu HKSEE serves as the founding director of YouthNet in Nagaland, India, which is the host organization for the global Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Inc. (yes, USA) Campaign, providing a platform that has spawned a new generation of young leaders and successful entrepreneurs through support programs and partnership with the government. She continues to achieve recognition for the young Nagas and share her experience at FORA such as the global YES summit, the Aspen Institute, and the Club of Rome.
Hekani Jakhalu HKSEE serves as the founding director of YouthNet in Nagaland, India, which is the host organization for the global Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Inc. (yes, USA) Campaign, providing a platform that has spawned a new generation of young leaders and successful entrepreneurs through support programs and partnership with the government. She continues to achieve recognition for the young Nagas and share her experience at FORA such as the global YES summit, the Aspen Institute, and the Club of Rome.
Kyle Thomas Jones MPP and Amanda Jones celebrated the birth of their daughter, Annamarie, in July. They recently moved to Paris, France, where Kyle works at the American Embassy.
Ric Jones HKSEE writes, “I was prompted to write a small note to highlight the way that my attendance at SEF changed my daily decision making. I regularly work congressional, White House, major military command, state and local government, and international issues for reducing weapons of mass destruction, and this course had a major impact on my leadership style and in turn has created value for hundreds of others who are changing the world. John Quincy Adams said, ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.’ Modeling this idea is implicit in government, right? The impact on the attendees of the Senior Executive Fellows program is greatly multiplied when you consider the myriad of actions, dreams, and contributions to others’ successes that they affect daily. For those of us who were blessed enough to attend Harvard, our time there changed not only the vector of our career but it introduced concepts and disciplines in our leadership that are changing our world one action, one dream, and one leader at a time. Go Crimson.”
Cody Keenan MPP was promoted over the past summer to special assistant to the President and deputy director of speechwriting at the White House.
Janna King MPP and Arman Rezaee MPP 2009 were married on July 9, 2011, at the Michigan League in Janna’s hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Janna and Arman met at the Kennedy School in 2008.
Stanley Chaitt Langfeld HKSEE has been recently appointed special projects executive with the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Office of Emergency Response and Recovery (OERR). He is managing highly complex real property transactions in the areas of acquisition and disposal of real property assets, and providing government-wide technical guidance for these transactions. OERR is a multisite staff office with national responsibilities for maintaining a constant state of readiness in response to natural or man-made disasters, and catastrophic emergencies in support of national continuity in government. Previously, Stanley served in numerous real property-related leadership positions in GSA. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife.
Samuel Mahaney Sr. NSF assumed command of the 459 Air Refueling Wing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on October 15, 2011. The mission of the 459th Air Refueling Wing is to provide combat ready aircraft, aircrews, and airmen and expeditionary support to the War Fighter. Samuel continues to teach law as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
Shannon Music MPA is happy to introduce baby Samantha Lucia to her HKS family. Sam arrived on August 31 and has joined Shannon, Ethan, and big brother Owen into their home in Costa Rica. In addition to enjoying her family, Shannon has also spent time developing a new Global Social Competitiveness Index.
Matthias Nohn MPP and Sabrina married on December 8, 2010. They are proud parents of Ida, born on February 18, 2011. Matt now works on reducing urban poverty with the Gates Foundation and as adjunct professor at German universities in Darmstadt and Berlin.
Colm Ó Floinn HKSEE is now the director general for trade and promotion in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland.
Samuel Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi HKSEE is the deputy police commissioner for operations for the African Union-United Nations Mission (UNAMID) in Darfur, Sudan — the first UN hybrid operation of its kind. He facilitates the protection of the more than 1.7 million civilians in internally displaced persons camps in Darfur and supports capacity building of the Government of Sudan Police to re-establish the rule of law. He had served in other UN missions at a managerial level.
Stephen Ozoigbo HKSEE is currently a trade and investment consultant with the trade office of the government of Catalonia (ACC10) in Silicon Valley, California. In this capacity, he is responsible for a diverse array of international project management and advisory services that are geared towards increasing bilateral trade relations between Catalonia and the United States. At a regional level, he has served as an area manager (2009–2010) for the City of Barcelona in economic initiatives tailored towards exploring strategic opportunities across various industry sectors between Barcelona and the West Coast of the United States.
Roshan Joseph Paul MPP writes, “Since graduating, I have been (nominally) living in DC while working for Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, developing experience in the role of social entrepreneurship in preventing violent conflict and helping create a wonderful new effort to reshape how the social sector answers the million-dollar question of how to scale up what works. While doing so, I have also just launched my own new venture, the Amani Institute, which aims both to lower the bar globally for access to quality education while raising the bar of expectations for what students will do after graduating. This was inspired both by my experience at HKS but also by seeing how most universities are doing a poor job preparing future leaders of social change. Dean Ellwood often says that the most interesting problems cross boundaries. We are intentionally setting out to create the boundary crossers that will solve them. Please get in touch if you’d like to get involved.”
Oraia Reid HKSEE, founder and executive director of NYC-based RightRides for Women’s Safety, attended Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations on a full scholarship from the Harvard Club of New York. Her program focus included managing growth through increasing operational efficiencies and establishing a national expansion model for its award-winning free, late-night ride home program. Thanks to HKS, Oraia is working with activists in the Washington, DC-area, to launch services there in 2012.
Semil Shah MPP works at Votizen (votizen.com), a free service which allows its members, or Votizens, to claim their voter profile, learn about issues, elections, and other voters, and take collective action through social media. Backed by the original investors in Facebook and Twitter, Votizen is an independent company and is not affiliated with any political party, candidate, or special interest group. Semil lives with his wife in Palo Alto, California.
Jamie Snashall MC/MPA is deputy director of government relations for Telstra Corporation, Australia’s largest telecommunications and information services company. Jamie was formerly a federal civil servant, a public affairs/strategic communications consultant and media and political advisor to Julia Gillard MP, now prime minister of Australia. He and his wife, Narelle Luchetti, live in Canberra and welcomed their first child, Darcy William Snashall, on 21 October 2011.
James Patton Tidwell HKSEE now serves as the civilian deputy commander for Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas. He has 34 years of government service and has served in a number of management positions including the director for maintenance logistics and the director for contracting.
Jaime Vargas HKSEE is a risk analyst of the Central Bank of Bolivia. He also teaches economics at the Bolivian Catholic University. Jaime lives in La Paz, Bolivia, with his wife and his lovely dog.
Karen Majlí Vega Coronel MPP had a wonderful Catholic wedding this past August in Lima, Peru. After three years of being based in Washington, DC, working for the World Bank, Karen has moved to Tunisia with her husband. We wish her luck in this exciting part of the world!
Graciela Rosa Yanovsky HKSEE writes, “Work for Peace cannot be done without an Honest Conviction in the heart which loves the Truth and Transparency and, we cannot work for Truth and Transparency, without Great Men and Women of Value, able to humble themselves, so the Truth will come out to light.” Graciela won the Gold Medal 2009 Ligue Universelle Du Bien Public.
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera HKSEE chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency and former chairman of the Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation, has been appointed executive director of the Lakshman Kadiragamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS). He was selected for the position to strengthen and develop the LKIIRSS while implementing innovative practices.
Lupe Torres Alcala HKSEE is a division manager leading a team of 250 individuals who serve in the function of auto risk selection and reselection at State Farm Insurance. Her responsibilities span six states including Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. She serves on the board for KVC, an organization dedicated to improving services for families who serve as foster parents in the Lincoln, Nebraska, area. Lupe and her husband, Rogelio, are the proud parents of two sons, David and Ricardo.
Youssef Mohamad Abed Ali HKSEE is general manager of Hikma Pharmaceuticals in Lebanon, Central and West Africa (hikma.com). Youssef, who has a bachelor’s in pharmacy from the University of Jordan and has been a participant in the World Economic Forum, writes, “I believe that what truly motivates me is leading a change for better opportunities. My fluent languages are English, Arabic, and a little bit French. Married with three boys. Hobbies are golf and fishing.”
Martin Kermit Alintuck MC/MPA was inducted into the Natick (Massachusetts) High School Wall of Achievement honoring alumni for their exceptional achievements and contributions to society. Martin has re-engineered professional services firms in the United States, China, and Japan. He won the 2010 Public Affairs Asia Gold Standard Award for Professional Excellence and was vice chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. Most recently, he was CEO of the USA Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai, the largest World’s Fair in history.
Muhamed Hassan Almaliky MC/MPA writes, “2011 has been a remarkable and a life-changing year as an Arab. Shortly after the toppling of Tunisian and Egypt dictators, I paid my first visit to the Middle East (excluding Iraq) that included Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Lebanon to experience hands-on the palpable changes and be a part of the democratic movement, where I met with religious leaders, young revolutionaries and women activists in Egypt, and where I gave a lecture on Arab Women and Politics; and with political activists and visionaries in Tunisia where we laid down the first block towards establishing an Arab political institute concerned with monitoring the democratization process in the various countries of the Arab Spring.”
Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedi MC/MPA is a senior researcher with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), examining human rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa. He focuses on bringing such abuses to light. PHR is devoted to the concept of ‘medical neutrality,’ where doctors have the obligation to treat all sufferers regardless of religion, sect, political party, etc. The concept has been much abused in many parts of the world, including the Middle East and North Africa. He is also finishing a research paper (affiliated with HKS) exploring the electoral systems employed in Iraq and their impact on the political landscape.
Elena Barmakova HKSEE is founder of Fontvieille Capital Inc., a financial consulting firm that specializes in developing opportunities in Russia for foreign investors, as well as introducing Russian investors to opportunities in other world economies. On some energy-related projects in Russia, Fontvieille Capital is involved with the Abraham Group. She brings to the world of business more than 15 years of international capital market experience. In 2009, Elena was honored by the World Economic Forum as an active member of Young Global Leader (YGL). She has completed the YGL Executive Education Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Bill Daly MC/MPA completed a successful command tour of the U.S. Navy destroyer, USS Farragut (DDG 99) in October 2011. Farragut won several awards during his tour and deployed in support of counter-piracy missions and Operation Enduring Freedom. Bill started a job at Navy headquarters in Washington, DC, in November 2011.
Carmel Dunne HKSEE is the executive director of Ceol Ireland. Ceol (CEOlireland.ie) has produced music programs for pre-schools and primary schools. There are about 400 carers and teachers in Ireland enjoying the Ceol professional development and implementing the lesson plans, covering all the strands and genres of the world class music curriculum, including pitch, rhythm, composition, performance and literacy. The materials comprise lesson plans, DVDs/online training sessions, CDs of songs/activities, CDs for listening and responding, posters, etc.
Thomas Eads MC/MPA has accepted an appointment to the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Tobacco Products, where he will help build the science base for regulation to protect the public health. This is a move from the Florida Department of Health, where he helped launch the CDC-funded Colorectal Cancer Control Program — Screen for Life. Thomas lives in Rockville, Maryland, and is a member of the Harvard Club of Washington, DC.
Brian Shepard Elliot MPA lives in New York City and continues to run Friendfactor, the nonprofit he started in 2009 dedicated to engaging more straight supporters to stand up for their LGBT friends’ rights. Friendfactor played a significant role in the fight for marriage equality in New York and other national campaigns. Friendfactor’s contribution in New York, an innovative personalized click-to-call tool, was featured in The New York Times as a groundbreaking evolution in online advocacy.
Josephine Fowler HKSEE harnessed the ideas taught in the leadership development course at Harvard Kennedy School to implement change in the learning environment at a large public teaching hospital. Since completion of the program, she uses adaptive change skills to implement new programs, include residents in quality improvement projects, and to create new training programs. By applying the skills to her own life, she has expanded her scope of faculty development leadership internationally.
Ian Holloway HKSEE, was appointed dean of law at the University of Calgary, effective July 1, 2011.
Martin Jennings HKSEE, a General Services Administration Senior Executive Service member, was reassigned from Crystal City, Virginia, as the deputy assistant commissioner for general supplies and services, to Kansas City, Missouri, as the federal acquisition service regional commissioner — Heartland. He now overseas the Heartland FAS operations with gross sales of $1.4 billion, of which historically 70 percent of contracts awarded have been to small business suppliers.
Joe Kennedy HKSEE, a special agent with the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), is currently assigned to the NCIS Middle East field office in Bahrain, where he is responsible for overseeing the Transnational Crimes Unit, including piracy and counter narco-terrorism. Joe is also currently enrolled in the Policy Management Program at Georgetown University.
Jonathan Paul Koernig MC/MPA, after the Kennedy School, moved with his family to Washington, DC, where he served as a strategist on the U.S. Army staff in the Pentagon. Jon and Maria also welcomed Nathaniel to the team in October 2009. (Yes, a Harvard conception). Six months ago, they moved from Virginia to North Carolina. Jon now serves as speechwriter and engagement officer to the commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg.
Hyoung-Joon Lim MC/MPA was transferred to Seoul, Korea, as a head of WFP Liaison office in November. Since graduating from HKS in 2009, he has been working for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome to work with donors and recipient countries in Asia. He never thought he would work in his country, as WFP is at the front line to fight against hunger and extreme poverty. His main job in Korea will be fundraising both from government and private sectors. Hyoung-Joon is very excited to be back home and close to family and friends again! Hyoung-Joon is married to Jeoung Kim and would like to have children in Korea.
Leticia Lescieur HKSEE is a social activist committed to political training and political development in Mexico. Since 2008 she has lead the “Proyecto Posh” (Poxil Yu’un balumil: the art as a medicine for the world), an altruistic project dedicated to promoting the artistic talent of new generations of Mexicans by means of a multidisciplinary festival with hundreds of artists in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico. Leticia is also a consultant in public policy with the Centro Integral Multidisciplinario de Asistencia group. She is 27-years-old and lives in Chiapas, Mexico.
Shawn McCarthy HKSEE, research director for IDC Government Insights, was quoted in multiple news articles last summer and fall. Publications included The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. The articles focused on federal government information technology investment decisions, long-term strategy shifts, and the related IT market.
Alethea Melling HKSEE is the director of the Centre for Volunteering and Community Leadership at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. Alethea recently returned from Sochi, Russian Federation, where she has been working with the 2014 winter Olympic committee on organizing a university-led volunteering program for the 2014 Games. She was accompanied by students and colleagues who shared best practice on volunteering with the Russian students, the Sochi Volunteer Coordinator Anton Lopukhin, and Sochi OCOG. She is looking forward to developing long-term partnerships within the context of volunteering and community action.
Frederick Mark Orkin HKSEE, having benefitted from the unforgettable Linsky/Heifetz encounter in leadership development, has ceased that activity after three stints as head of department in the national government in South Africa. He is avoiding retirement, as a consultant and visiting professor in public management, and by collaborating in socio-statistical research on the impacts of HIV/AIDS and other topics. He recently breakfasted with one of the alumni of the course, and would welcome meeting others passing through Johannesburg.
Alen Rajko HKSEE is the head of the administrative development service in the town of Opatija, Croatia. Being one of the leading Croatian experts in access to information, administrative law, civil service systems, and local self-government, Alen is author or coauthor of 15 books, almost 400 articles, a member of the Croatian Academy of Legal Sciences, a lecturer at professional conferences, and a permanent associate of the Public Law Center for Croatia. Alen lives in Opatija, with his wife and son.
Arman Rezaee MPP and Janna King MPP 2008 were married on July 9, 2011, at the Michigan League in Janna’s hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Janna and Arman met at the Kennedy School in 2008.
Claude Rouam HKSEE is currently working for the European Commission in Brussels, heading a unit in charge of the marine environment. The main challenge of his team is to work with EU member states to reach, by 2020, a good environmental status of all EU marine waters. “That means more biodiversity, less marine debris, less contaminants, less alien species . . . a real challenge!”
Philip Schoenig HKSEE is the deputy director for Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Raytheon, a joint service in-plant contract management office (CMO) responsible for seven New England Raytheon plant locations. Philip executes contract administration responsibilities for more than 1,100 contracts valued at more than $30 billion with a mission to provide contract administration support in accordance with federal acquisition regulation.
Thor Steingraber MC/MPA assumed the position of vice president at the Los Angeles Music Center on November 1. The Music Center is one of the world’s premiere performing arts campuses, encompassing four venues including the renowned Disney Concert Hall. Thor began his career at the Music Center in 1994 at the Los Angeles Opera. His return home, and this position, are exactly what he prepared for in coming to the Kennedy School.
Femi Tolani MC/MPA, a public policy expert, has been appointed the special advisor on Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and the pioneering director general and CEO of Ekiti State PPP Office, in Nigeria. In this role, he will anchor all strategic PPPs and strengthen institutional and regulatory frameworks for conceiving, processing, and implementing all PPP projects in the state. He was a Mason Fellow and he received a John B. Wallach Scholarship at Harvard.
Ben Veghte MC/MPA has returned to Cambridge to serve as executive director of the Scholars Strategy Network, a nonprofit that marshals the findings of America’s leading social scientists to support and develop public policies that enhance American democracy and meet pressing national challenges. Previously, he worked as an income security research associate at the National Academy of Social Insurance in Washington, DC.
Jaron Wharton MC/MPA was recently selected as a White House fellow with placement at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Having returned from his fourth combat rotation last winter, he was promoted to major and served as a special assistant to the undersecretary of defense for policy. He and his wife, April, were expecting their first child in December.
Carlos Zepeda HKSEE created Organizational Management Advisors LLC, a nonprofit and organizational efficiency consulting practice, in South Florida in 2010 to assist nonprofit and nongovernment agencies. He specializes in administrative infrastructure and grant preparation and has successfully completed projects in Bogota, New York, Atlanta, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale.
Ricardo Zuniga MC/MPA is currently coordinator of the OECD Forum at the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Costa Rica, responsible for managing a project to improve and strengthen the relationship of Costa Rica with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Soon after graduation, Ricardo taught international tax law at Hangdong University in South Korea, and headed the practice on tax law and foreign direct investment at Batalla Abogados.
C. Ryan Akers HKSEE was recently named assistant extension professor of crisis preparation and disaster management for the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Additionally, Ryan is also the lead administrator for the National Institute for Food Safety and Security Training, housed within MSU Extension, and a unit with the Food and Agriculture Protection Training Consortium. He and his wife, Brandy, also welcomed their second child, Alyssa Rosemarie, in October.
Nada Al-Mutawa HKSEE is a researcher at the Center of Strategic and Future Studies in Kuwait University, a regional board member of the Young Arab Leaders Association for Entrepreneurs. She has a PHD in international relations from The American University Of London and an MBA from the Maastricht School of Business. She has lectured and made presentations on many scholarly panels and symposiums in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and is looking forward to starting the Harvard professional certificate for advancement in the field of strategic management. Her best known published writings include “Education and the Requirements of the GCC Labor Market,” published by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. She highlighted Kuwait’s foreign policy and its relations with Asia in a book: The Role of Economic Diplomacy in Kuwaiti–Japanese Relations.
Ramaswami ‘Balu’ Balasubramaniam MC/MPA has returned back to the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, a nonprofit that he founded in India more than 27 years ago. He is very active in the anticorruption movement in India and has recently written a book on the same. He is also adjunct faculty at Cornell University and the University of Iowa and is writing a book on leadership that will be published in 2012.
Armando Barrera Barrios HKSEE is a public policy and legislation researcher at the Mexican Senate. He has worked as an advisor for the Mexican Security Bureau and the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. He also holds a professorship at the University of the Americas in Mexico City.
Serge Bavaud HKSEE is counselor with the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York, participating in multilateral disarmament negotiations and assuring diplomatic relations for his country on aspects relating to peace and security. He has a proven record of designing optimal decision-making environments. He is currently looking for new challenges in international corporations at a senior level. Serge lives in New York with his family and is training for the New York marathon.
Anita Britvec HKSEE is a chief operations officer at the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia in charge of operations at security headquarters of major international summits of heads of states and governments. Previously, Anita was a head of department and a senior expert advisor at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia. This October, due to her outstanding performance during various security operations, Anita received the yearly award of the minister of the interior.
Nick Dimopoulos HKSEE writes, “On the professional front, a challenging year for Australia in rebuilding part of its transport infrastructure due to floods and cyclones. Also, many peoples’ lives were significantly ‘dislocated’ due to Mother Nature’s forces. Significant climate change reforms were undertaken by the national government. On the personal front, a proud moment for me as my daughter is getting married and at the tender age of 25 she was also recently appointed as a senior associate to our Supreme Court Judge (obviously has inherited her mother’s genes).”
Khishigdelger Dulamdorj HKSEE is president and CEO of the Ancient capital Karakorum Association. Activities are focused on children, teenagers, and youth, and community development through health, nutrition, and poverty alleviation. Executive Education programs at HKS are really necessary for NGOs, he writes. “This is real. We must educate.”
Robin Starbuck Farmanfarmaian HKSEE was reelected San Francisco Ballet encore!’s president for the third year as well as the Opening Night Gala chair for the second year. She was also promoted to executive producer of FutureMed at Singularity University, held at NASA-Ames Research Center. FutureMed explores how exponential technology is shaping the future of health and medicine over the next five to ten years.
Nizar Farsakh MC/MPA got married to his best friend of 18 years, Suzy Iseid, on May 20, 2011. He moved to Arlington, Virginia, and in October started working as general director at the PLO mission to the U.S. Nizar continues to be a teaching fellow, assisting Professor Marshall Ganz in leadership workshops on an ad hoc basis. He is also involved in developing leadership programs with the Middle East Community Organizing Initiative in Jordan.
Joseph Gartin HKSEE, in May 2011 was selected as vice chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council, Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Alejandro Lozano González HKSEE writes, “I had the great opportunity to attend the executive course of Public-Private Partnership and Collaborative Governance in June, 2010. It was the best academic experience, and I learned so much from my professors and my classmates as well. At present, I am in my political campaign to be a deputy of my state San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Furthermore, I have received job offerings from nongovernmental organizations and from the United Nations. I will always remember Harvard University as my best academic and personal experience. Thank you so much.”
Tim Hanstad HKSEE has guided Landesa through accelerated global growth and impact over the past year. The organization, which partners with governments around the world to bring poor families secure rights to land and the chance for a better future, now has more than 100 staff worldwide and has impacted more than 100 million families. Whether at Davos, CGI, or the World Bank, Tim continues to champion the transformational and fundamental role of effective land rights.
David Hewett HKSEE, town manager of Holden Beach, North Carolina, would like to inform his colleagues that he, along with the island community of Holden Beach, came through Hurricane Hanna relatively unscathed. While some erosion damages were incurred along the strand, no injuries or significant property losses were experienced. Hanna necessitated evacuation of the island and provided an excellent opportunity for elected and appointed officials to test emergency plans in a real-world scenario that fortunately ended on a positive note.
Ed Johnson HKSEE says it’s hard to believe a year has passed since his SEF Program, but the outstanding lessons from Pete Zimmerman, Dan Fenn, Ron Ferguson, Steve Kelman, Hannah Bowles, Frank Hartmann, Jennifer Lerner, Roger Porter, Gary Orren, Marty Linsky (and others) are used nearly every day. And the next step for Ed appears to be a return to Washington, DC, as a Senior Executive Service appointee but remaining with DHS. Best regards to all 2010 SEFers.
Zoran Kostov HKSEE is a university professor and national director of Habitat for Humanity in Macedonia. In addition to his specialization in computer-mediated communication, he has extensive training and experience in mobilizing the civil society for economic and social development. Zoran’s range of involvement includes microfinance, low-cost housing, social inclusion, social entrepreneurship, and corporate social responsibility. Zoran is married to Neda, and they have two children, Bodan and Veda.
Ibrahim Kuzu MPP, after working for UNICEF Turkey as a social policy specialist and a brief stint as policy advisor to the Minister of Family and Social Affairs, returned back to his home organization, the newly reorganized Ministry of Development, as director in the DG for Regional Development. He is now responsible for supervising regional development agencies, in addition to funding rural development projects of various government organizations from the national government budget.
Aaron Ronald Magezi HKSEE, a senior analyst, completed two executive education programs at HKS in 2010. They were extremely rewarding and challenging yet flexible in that they were relevant to both the nonprofit and private sectors, in which he has more than 14 years of experience. Classes consisted of a truly global wealth of experienced professionals from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States. Program directors played key roles in enabling the class to realize its full potential by way of discussions and case studies, which involved problem analysis and developing recommendations for improved outcomes. Aaron is very seriously looking at pursing graduate studies at HKS: public administration specifically focused on economical and political development, where his interest is. Aaron highly recommends the HKS executive education programs to professionals in developing countries especially as they are highly relevant to the context and have been structured to enable their participation. Aaron is a proud new father of twins David and Daniel born October 2011, and lives with his lovely wife, Hilda, in Maryland. Veritas.
Ian Wilfrid Mills MPA 2009 and Courtney Mills MPP 2010 live in Nairobi. Courtney founded and runs Sinapis (an NGO that trains, mentors, and invests in startup SME entrepreneurs), and Ian works in the World Bank on Somalia (having worked in nearly every East African country over the last year). They are enjoying newly married life (wedding on a ranch in Texas!), lots of travel around Kenya, and seeing many HKS alumni in and around Nairobi.
Obadias Ndaba HKSEE is the director of World Youth Alliance Africa, a global coalition of young people committed to promoting human dignity in policy and culture, and building solidarity between young people from developed and developing countries. Previously, Obadias worked for KCB Bank and Inkingi Microfinance in Rwanda where he comes from. He lives in Nairobi.
Helge Strand Osttveiten HKSEE has moved from California to his native country, Norway, were he currently holds the position of director general at the National Audit Office of his country. He found the stay at HKS extremely useful as it showed him that there is no universal model of good leadership. He can still remember Bob Behn’s magic phrase: “You see, it all depends on the situation.” This context-driven model of leadership resonates very much with Helge’s experience as manager and leader in government service.
Kyung Ryul Park Park MPP is a consultant with the World Bank, working on the Open Aid Partnership and Mapping for Results initiative to better monitor impact and improve aid effectiveness and coordination by using information and communication technology.
Omar Slim HKSEE has moved from Montreal to Singapore within the Active Fixed Income division of State Street Global Advisors. He will be focusing on implementing and managing local currency Asian active credit mandates.
Patrick Soper HKSEE works as an examiner for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Marco Sordo HKSEE successfully completed the online bridge program at Tuck School of Business last winter. He has started to study engineering at Stanford University by attending the Strategic Decision and Risk Management Certificate program. At the moment he is continuing to study this subject and he is employed as financial control officer at Santa Caterina da Siena Clinic (Villa Maria Group) in Turin, Italy.
Christopher Sproule HKSEE, the chief metropolitan medical response system coordinator for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, was selected in September 2011 as an honoree to receive Vegas Inc.’s Health Care Headliner Award in Emergency Services for his work in strengthening community preparedness and response capabilities.
Nursevianto Tahier HKSEE writes, “The academic experience changed my perspective in creating solutions to problems. Not only based on theory, but also provided an understanding based on empirical events. I am an internal auditor in the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia. It was a valuable experience for three weeks that has given me many advantages.”
John Wilmot HKSEE is the chief of the Technology and Support Branch within FEMA’s Public Assistance Division in Washington, DC. He is responsible for oversight of the Public Assistance Disaster Workforce and its infrastructure, as well as a variety of special projects including oversight of the $1 billion World Trade Center Captive Insurance Grant and the $1.3 billion Special Community Disaster Loan Program. John lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Krista, and his daughter, Abby Lou.
Doha Abdelkhaleq HKSEE writes, “Since my participation in the Executive Education program Leading For the Future, the Arab Region in a Changing World, which took place in January 2011 at the Dead Sea in Jordan, and with all the uncertainties felt in the post-Arab Spring revolt, four basic concepts are compelling for Jordan’s path to emerge strong and stable from the Arab Spring being a part of the Arab world. Those are: its commitment to peace; a serious revision to the social contract signed; the elimination of poverty and all forms of discriminations; and finally overall competence building within the country where the young generation can thrive. I am thrilled as an Arab and as a Jordanian woman and citizen to have witnessed, and perhaps contributed, to the formation of an Arab renaissance!”
Sanjeev Bery MC/MPA has joined the staff of Amnesty International USA as Middle East/North Africa advocacy director. He is now based in Washington, DC, and he would love to hear from you. “All happy hour invitations are accepted.”
Mark Birrell HKSEE has recently been appointed as chairman of the Port of Melbourne Corporation, taking over the leadership role at Australia’s largest port. Mark is an experienced lawyer and company director, actively involved in project financing and advisory work. He is the honorary chairman of the nation’s peak industry body, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, and also serves on the statutory board that guides the Federal Government on key infrastructure priorities and policy reforms.
Richmond Blake MPP, along with classmates Tristan Allen MPP, Alexander Hall MPP, Moni Mkanga MPP, and Rafaela Zuidema MPP, was sworn into the U.S. Foreign Service in August 2011. Richmond will serve his first two-year, diplomatic assignment in the political section of the embassy in La Paz, Bolivia, where he will hold the human rights portfolio.
M. Shoeb Chowdhury HKSEE is a Bangladeshi entrepreneur and founder of Aim in Life, an institution that provides ICT-based technical support and awareness to underprivileged citizens in Bangladesh. Currently he is the executive director of Aim in Life and chairman of HSTC Limited. The human resources and the people of developing countries are the key force to achieving his mission and objectives. Shoeb lives in Dhaka with his wife and only daughter.
Lee Ann Coburn HKSEE was delighted to return to her native Boston area this past fall to learn about behavioral finance from some of the best and the brightest economists and scholars. Lee Ann received her CFP in 2004. She works at Merrill Lynch in Walnut Creek, California, and lives with her husband and two daughters in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jocelyn Cortez-Young HKSEE, founder and CEO of Minerva Capital Group, is proud to announce it has joined ImpactBase as its 112th impact investment fund. ImpactBase (thegiin.org) is a group created to help bring together investment funds that have accepted the IRIS impact investing guidelines as part of their investment structure. Minerva is a double bottom line investment firm focused on the energy and agricultural sectors in emerging markets.
Dao Viet Dung HKSEE, who has a MA from Columbia University, is senior public sector management officer, ADB, Resident Mission in Vietnam. Currently, Dao is managing a project to support civil service reform in Vietnam and a project on ‘how to make the market work better for the poor,’ a new approach promoting enterprise development that has new business models combining both commercial viability with social impact. He is also a member of a team helping SOE reform in Vietnam. Previously, Dao was a head of non-bank financial institutions division at the Central Bank of Vietnam and developed the Deposit Insurance Corporation. Dao lives in Hanoi with his wife and two sons.
Upala Devi HKSEE is the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) advisor on gender-based violence, based at UNFPA’s headquarters in New York City. Upala’s commitment to development arose out of her early experiences of working with marginalized communities in Burma, when she was researching her MPHIL thesis. For the last 18 years, she has been an agent provocateur, activist, practitioner, and grant-maker towards furthering the cause of marginalized populations. Prior to joining UNFPA, Upala was the Asia-Pacific regional coordinator of the un Inter-Agency Lessons Learned Project on the Human Rights-Based Approach to Development, based in UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Bangkok regional office. Between 1998–2003, Upala worked for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) as coordinator of the Child Development Fund and Governance Support Fund, stationed in New Delhi. She has also worked variously for UNDP, UNICEF, UNIFEM, ILO, OHCHR, the Ford Foundation, NORAD, Save the Children Fund (UK and Sweden), Christian Aid UK, etc., in various countries in the global South as well as in the United States.
Christian Dussey HKSEE was appointed on June 2011 as ambassador and head of the newly created Crisis Management Center of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Center’s mission is to assist Swiss nationals abroad affected by major emergencies (disasters, conflicts, terror attacks, hostage-taking). The Center coordinates all the branches of the government responding to crisis.
Paul Edelman HKSEE is managing director of Edelman & Associates, a boutique executive search firm serving clients in investment management and electronic trading. Paul earned a PHD in psychology at Harvard, and a BS in physics from MIT. Paul is especially interested in connecting with classmates who are interested in career opportunities in behavioral finance, quantitative finance, portfolio management, or electronic trading.
Joel Peter Engardio MC/MPA is a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 7 West of Twin Peaks. The election is next November. Joel hopes to become the first openly gay candidate elected in the western portion of the city, which has long been home to San Francisco’s conservative residents. His campaign website is engardio.com. Joel was also named a teaching assistant for Harvard Law School’s 2012 Winter Negotiation Workshop.
Debora Fajer-Smith HKSEE was one of 101 women authors in the recently published book, The Road to Independence, by the American Bar Association. The book was a compilation of essays and letters written to women attorneys by women attorneys who had pioneered their own successful law firms in the past four decades. The ABA Commission on Women selected these attorneys from submissions from all over the country. Already in its second printing, the women’s journeys are all unique and include practical advice for those about to embark on their own.
Ulrick Gaillard HKSEE was invited by President Bill Clinton in January 2001 to join the membership of the Clinton Global Initiative — a community of international leaders committed to identifying groundbreaking solutions that reduce poverty, improve the environment, and increase access to health care and education around the world.
Jon Glassman MPP has just accepted a position with Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, DC. He’ll be working primarily on projects related to energy, transportation, and the environment, and he’s really excited about it. He misses you, and hopes that you’ll come visit!
Sanjay Gupta HKSEE, following GLPP 2011, embarked on research into his core interests related to disruptive innovation across healthcare, education, and social business. He has invested in a social wellness platform, due to go live in 2012, and also formed Gorillateach.com, to connect students with knowledge experts around the globe. His third project, ZBAAS, a “Business As A Service” tool for entrepreneurs, is due to be released in 2012/2013. Sanjay is looking forward to attending Davos in 2012 as part of the Young Global Leader program at the World Economic Forum.
Alvaro Loza Hernandez HKSEE writes that the program “was two weeks of theoretical analysis, discussion, and enriching learning experiences that allowed a better understanding of public policy to influence a subject of social renewal.”
Victor Lopez Juarez HKSEE, after participating in the Leading Change Program, continues with his public service, giving law clinics in Guatemalan communities. He is working together with other local volunteers, law students, and community leaders to provide human rights clinics in Barillas, Huehuetenango, located in western Guatemala.
Scott Kamins HKSEE has been named a director at Prime Policy Group, one of Washington, DC’s leading public policy and government affairs consulting firms. In this capacity, Scott represents the firm’s clients on a host of economic, international trade, national security, and technology policy issues. He previously served as deputy chief of staff at the Republican National Committee and as deputy assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs under Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Jesse Wayne Lava MPP is in Los Angeles working as a campaign director at Brave New Foundation, which creates films, short videos, and other media on social justice issues.
Mahdi Mahmudy HKSEE is deputy director of the Central Bank of Indonesia at Directorate of Credit, Rural Banks, and MSME. Previously Mahdi was deputy regional director of Bank Indonesia Semarang Regional Office, monitoring and analyzing regional economic development, proposing alternative recommendation policies to the governor of Central Java Province in maintaining price stability, as well as developing small to medium enterprises through cluster development. Mahdi has been working for the Central Bank of Indonesia since 1986. Mahdi lives in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.
Pukar Malla MPA is now happily stationed in Washington, DC (District of Connections) with his best HKS buddies. As a senior innovation policy specialist at the World Bank, he is coleading two programs on India and China to promote innovation for inclusive growth. Recently, the global Nepali movement he coleads, Nepal ko Yuwa, organized a walkathon in Boston, drawing 300-plus Nepalis and friends of Nepal and raising almost $20,000 for five Nepal-based NGOs. He was absolutely thrilled to travel to India, China, and Nepal last fall.
Ken Nason HKSEE, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, completed a program in Governance as Leadership and was appointed for a second two-year term as a public representative (independent director) on the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society governing council in June of last year. Public representatives are critical to the Society’s effective governance of the legal profession.
Emal Nazir HKSEE is the founder and president of Beyond Boundary-BDIS Inc., a management consulting firm, currently working towards establishing Afghanistan’s first ever leadership and public service academy. Previously, Emal was deputy director programs with the Afghanistan Civil Service Institute and head of quality assurance, monitoring, and evaluation with various USAID projects in the fields of education and agriculture. Emal lives in Kabul with his wife and three pets.
Eduardo Alvarez Ponce HKSEE is a lawyer. He is the head and responsible for the Technical Office of the Executive Office of the President of Mexico. He provides legal support and advice in relation to the functions on behalf of the president or executive secretary. Eduardo lives in Mexico City with his wife and two children.
Olga Sofia Ponce HKSEE is a legal analyst in the trade area for the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Trade, and Integration of Ecuador. Previously, she was a legal official for the Refugee Direction at the same institution. Olga Sofia has a legal degree from Ecuador and an MBA degree from the University of Houston. She hopes to make important contributions to her beautiful country, where she has the privilege to live.
Olin Grant Parker MPP and his wife, Rachael, welcomed a second child, Griffith, to the family on July 24, 2011. Their daughter Dorothy Rose — who was born in Olin’s first semester at HKS — turned 2 in October.
Joseph Radzwill HKSEE has been a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (and predecessor firms) since 1998. A certified financial planner, he works with high net-worth individuals and various nonprofit organizations/endowments.
Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly HKSEE, after participating in last summer’s Leadership for the 21st Century, was moved by the presentation and story of former Ecuador President Jamil Mahuad. After returning home she recommended President Mahuad to the University of the Virgin Islands as a speaker for the Hispanic Heritage Month celebratory events. Last fall, President Mahuad landed on the beautiful shores of the island of St. Croix where he was treated to a few days of intoxicating sunshine and friendly people. President Mahuad addressed a group of community members including elected officials and provided valuable insights regarding the art of negotiation and leadership principles. The residents of St. Croix were graced by the presence of a remarkable man and leader.
Odin Rodriguez Peralta HKSEE is a senior program manager with The Hunger Project, an international NGO, managing the development of programs in Mexico and new approaches to government interventions for social development. Previously, Odin was a senior policy advisor and trainer of local governments and staff within Mexico and program manager in nine states running different governmental projects. Odin lives in Mexico City, loves to travel and meet people and cultures from around the globe.
Hafiz Salikhov HKSEE is a member of Russian parliament (State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation), chairman of the Subcommittee for Public-Private Partnership Development within the Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship Committee. Previously Hafiz was a minister of trade and foreign economic cooperation of the Republic of Tatarstan. Hafiz lives in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation, with his wife. He is the father of two daughters and has two grandchildren.
Suat Seyitoglu HKSEE graduated from the public administration department of Gazi University of Ankara in 1996. He worked in the Health Ministry for eight years, and as district governor for five years within different cities in Turkey. Over the last five years he has been working as a deputy governor in Turkey. He took courses from the National Security Academia of Turkish War Colleges in 2001 and enrolled in the Management School of Sheffield University in the United Kingdom in 2002.
Suat Seyitoglu HKSEE graduated from the public administration department of Gazi University of Ankara in 1996. He worked in the Health Ministry for eight years, and as district governor for five years within different cities in Turkey. Over the last five years he has been working as a deputy governor in Turkey. He took courses from the National Security Academia of Turkish War Colleges in 2001 and enrolled in the Management School of Sheffield University in the United Kingdom in 2002. Soon after returning to Turkey, he took his master’s degree from the political sciences department of Ankara University in 2006. As a member of Transatlantic Network 2020, he participated in the Global Young Leaders Forum in Ireland (2008) and Chicago (2010). Prior to coming to Harvard Kennedy School he also attended the Young Professional Summit program of the German Marshal Fund in March 2011 in Brussels. As one of his most important experiences, he received a certificate from the program of Public Leaders in Southeast Europe of Harvard Kennedy School on June 2011 in Greece.
Mark Tracy MC/MPA rejoined Cargill, Inc. in August. He is working with large institutional investors (primarily public employee pension funds, large endowments and sovereign wealth funds) to help them meet their diversification and return goals through their commodity investment allocations. He is covering Europe, Canada, and the East Coast of the United States from his office in Providence, Rhode Island.
Elizabeth “Libby” Turner HKSEE, federal coordinating officer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was given the Exemplary Emergency Manager Award, during the Administrator’s Awards ceremony on October 20 in Washington, DC. As FCO for several Missouri disasters including the EF5 tornado that struck the Joplin area this year, Turner marshaled a force scattered throughout the state to bring immediate support to survivors. In addition to the Manager Award, Turner was also honored with the Innovation Award for her accomplishments as part of the Missouri Expedited Debris Removal Implementation Team. She and her team were recognized for exceptional and unique operational innovations that resulted in increased mission effectiveness and efficiency.
Margaret “Peggy” Wilmoth HKSEE assumed her new position as inaugural dean of the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University in Atlanta in January. She will lead a faculty of over 60 health professionals and 1,600 students in a variety of nursing and health professions programs. She was previously a professor at the School of Nursing, College of Health & Human Services, University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
In Memoriam
Reg Alcock MC/MPA 1992
John Clark MC/MPA 1996
Maura Dowling MC/MPA 1999
Al Johnson MPA 1950
Burkhard Koenitzer MC/MPA 1981