PolicyWest

Ms. Suzie Abdou

Security Fellow and LA Co-Director

The Truman Project

Suzie Abdou is an expert on policy and development in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA). She runs Ma’at, Consulting, a training and consulting firm focused on issues of policy and development in MENA. In June 2015, Suzie returned from an international post at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs’ Jordan field office, where she managed the institute’s Women’s Political Participation & Parliamentary Development program. Previously, Suzie served as the Director of Global Programs at Women's Voices Now, a not-for-profit organization focused on media and women’s rights in MENA. Her responsibilities focused on developing and implementing the organization’s international programs, including its traveling short film festival, "Women's Voices from the Muslim World.” Suzie has worked for several domestic and international Arab film festivals, including the Dubai International Film Festival, the Tunisian Film Festival in Los Angeles, and the Arab Film Festival in Los Angeles. She is regularly called upon by public radio and news television programs to comment on the political situation in Egypt. She is fluent in Arabic and has lived, worked and traveled throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In early 2016, Suzie led a needs assessment and service mission to the refugee camps of Greece, Serbia and France. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science/International Relations from the University of California Riverside, a Master’s degree in Orthodox Christian Theology from the University of Balamand and a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Ancient Greek from Loyola Marymount University. Her work can be followed at www.laborandhope.com, Twitter: @suzieabdou, IG: suzieabdou and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suzie-abdou-/

12 October

Campfire Chats

08:15 PM 09:00 PM The Garden

Mr. Manpreet Singh Anand

Senior Vice President

Albright Stonebridge Group

Manpreet Singh Anand is Senior Vice President at ASG where he leads the South Asia practice in Washington, DC, and provides strategic counsel and assistance to clients in the region.

Previously, Mr. Anand served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, where he managed U.S. policy towards and diplomatic relations with the countries of the subcontinent, including India. Mr. Anand joined the U.S. Department of State from the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator responsible for providing strategic direction and management across South and Central Asia.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Anand worked for Chevron Corporation as a Senior Policy Advisor, providing policy analysis and guidance on emerging geopolitical and socioeconomic issues. He also served as the Senior Policy Advisor for South and Central Asia issues in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and worked as a Special Assistant in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Mr. Anand currently serves as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security; Adjunct Professor at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies; and as a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. Mr. Anand earned an MBA and an M.A. in International Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Anand is based in Washington, DC.

12 October

Campfire Chats

08:15 PM 09:00 PM The Garden

The Honorable Robert C. Bonner

Senior Principal

Sentinel HS Group

Robert C. Bonner has extensive government service. He was confirmed as the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service one week after the attacks on 9/11. Shortly thereafter, as part of the homeland security reorganization, he was appointed the first Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the unified border agency created to manage and secure our nation’s borders. As Commissioner, Mr. Bonner launched revolutionary initiatives, including the National Targeting Center, the 24-Hour Rule, the Container Security Initiative, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and U.S. Visit, using the broad border authority to protect the country against the threat of global terrorism by preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from getting into the U.S. He served as Commissioner until 2006. Prior to becoming Commissioner, Bonner government service included being the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a federal district judge in Los Angeles, and the United States Attorney for the Central District of California. A former partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Mr. Bonner is currently counsel to the firm and the senior principal of the Sentinel Policy and Consulting Group, a homeland security consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. and is also engaged in alternative dispute resolution as an arbitrator and mediator.

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Palm

Dr. Lyn Boyd-Judson

Director

USC Levan Institute for Humanities and Ethics

Dr. Lyn Boyd-Judson is UNESCO Chair for Global Humanities and Ethics Education, director of the USC Levan Institute for Humanities and Ethics and executive director of the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights. Her teaching experience spans courses at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, the USC School of International Relations, the USC School of Religion, and the Thematic Option Honors Program. Previous research affiliations include RAND, the Carter Presidential Center, the Hong Kong Legislative Council, the United States Embassy Berlin-Third Reich Document Center, the USC Center for International Studies, the Walt Disney Company Asia-Pacific, and the Dow Jones News Service. In 2015, Boyd-Judson was awarded two separate Fulbright Specialist Awards to Spain and China on strategic moral diplomacy, global ethics and the role of the university.

Boyd-Judson's research and teaching focus on diplomacy, ethics, religion and human rights, and international negotiation. Her first book, Strategic Moral Diplomacy: Understanding the Enemy’s Moral Universe, was published in April 2011. She has published in International Studies Quarterly, Foreign Policy Analysis, Carnegie Pew Case Studies in Ethics and Diplomacy (Georgetown University), and Leiden Journal of International Law. Boyd-Judson most recently published Women's Global Health: State Policies and International Norms, a book co-edited with Patrick James.

Boyd-Judson is a University Fellow at the USC Center for Public Diplomacy, faculty advisor for the Shoah Foundation Institute and the USC Journal of Law and Society, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. In Fall 2010, she was selected as a Global Ethics Fellow of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. She has served on the executive boards of the International Political Science Association RC 29, the International Studies Association-West, and the Women's Caucus for International Studies (ISA), of which she was a Chair. In 2015, Boyd-Judson was invited to join the GTMO Presidential Task Force, a partnership of the Pacific Council on International Policy for formulating bipartisan policy recommendations on Guantanamo. She has twice served as an observer at pre-trial hearings at GTMO.

Boyd-Judson has lectured on her work on strategic moral diplomacy at the University of Oxford, the US Air War College, the Council of Ministers of the European Union, the University of Madrid, the Fulbright Commission Spain, the Niemeyer Cultural Center of Spain, and the USC Center for International Studies. She has lectured on her work on women, war, and religion at Georgetown University and the University of Oxford. Her current research considers cross-cultural perspectives on the role of the university in global ethics, which will be published as a chapter in Global Ethics: Politics, Institutions and Policies (forthcoming, 2017).

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Palm

Dr. Iva Bozovic

Assistant Professor

USC School of International Relations

Iva is a Lecturer and a Postdoctoral Research Associate whose research focuses on the interaction of formal and informal institutions and its implications for small and medium size businesses. Her published papers and chapters in edited volumes have examined the role of social capital and social networks in private sector growth in the context of post-communist transition. Her current research for the Southern California Innovation Project and the School of Law examines the potential linkages between the businesses' success in innovation and relative use of contractual or non-contractual relations. Iva holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Public Policy and an M.A. in Economics from USC. She earned her B.A. at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

12 October

The Global Trade Order Without the United States

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Brighton

Mr. Aaron Brooks

Reading Clerk

Florida House of Representatives

Aaron J. Brooks is an operations and logistics professional with global experience, coming from 21 years of Marine Corps service as a Field Grade Officer before receiving an Honorable Discharge.

Aaron's overseas deployments include: a UN multi-national coalition (Operation Southern Watch, 2002) detainee & intelligence operations (Joint Task Force Guantanamo, 2004-05) Security Cooperation with Gulf nations (2007-08) the phased US withdrawal from Iraq (2009) and the surge of Marine Expeditionary Brigade Afghanistan (2009-10) before returning to stateside assignments. Aaron's USMC career culminated with a rewarding tour as the Commanding Officer of Marine Aviation Training Support Squadron One.

Aaron is a member of the Truman National Security Project and has served on nonprofit boards in the communities where he has lived. He recently completed a two year term as the VP of Programs for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (SD / Baja) where he regularly partnered with member companies that straddle the busiest international border crossing in the world.

Aaron has also contributed as a talk show host, field reporter and desk anchor for a weekly radio and television show as part of Homefront Media in Southern California’s top tier media market.

Aaron is a supporter of the arts and has actively participated in collaborations between veterans, the La Jolla Playhouse and MFA students for a wide range of workshop projects and engagement programs.

He has a BA in Creative Writing from Florida State University and a MA in Nonprofit / Public Agency Leadership from Marshall University. Aaron has enrolled in the FSU College of Law Juris Master program to enhance his understanding of policy as a result of working in the Florida Legislature during the 2018 legislative session.

Aaron loves dogs, gardening, and believes that hospitality still the best form of diplomacy.

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

12:00 PM 02:00 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Mr. Andy Carey

Executive Director

U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership

Andy Carey was named Executive Director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) in September 2008. The BPP is a binational membership organization that strengthens individuals and institutions that serve border communities so that they can achieve their individual missions in the region. BPP works to grow community philanthropy, leadership and cross-border collaboration in order to increase the human and financial capital needed to address the complex issues facing the region. Since 2008, the BPP has grown to nearly 300 institutional members from across the U.S. and Mexico, training hundreds of civic leaders and dispersing over $150,000 in technical assistance. Additionally BPP has engaged numerous national and international agencies to educate them about the actual realities and assets of the border region. He also serves as Adjunct Faculty member in the University of San Diego’s School on Leadership and Education Sciences, where he teaches a graduate level course in binational nonprofit management. Prior to joining the BPP, Andy served for 15 years at Kiwanis International. Andy served as a member of the Executive Management Team, and was responsible for leading growth initiatives throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the South Pacific and led Kiwanis’ Worldwide Service Project initiative in Latin America to virtually eliminate Iodine Deficiency Disorders. He completed his baccalaureate degree in Political Science and Foreign Language, and his master’s degree in Latin American Studies at Purdue University. Andy is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. In his community, Andy was appointed Commissioner of the Independent Districting Commission to form electoral districts to elect City Council representatives in Escondido, CA. Andy also serves on the advisory board of St. Mary Catholic School.

12 October

Trump and AMLO: The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Canon

Dr. Rafiq Dossani

Director, Senior Economist, and Professor

RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy; and Pardee RAND Graduate School

Rafiq Dossani is director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He works on education, regional development, security, finance, and technology issues. Recent projects include addressing the digital divide in early childhood education, blended delivery models in higher education, smart city development in China, and the use of artificial intelligence in elder home health care in Taiwan.

Previously, Dossani was director of Stanford University's Center for South Asia, and a senior research scholar at Stanford University's Institute for International Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in finance from Northwestern University, an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and a B.A. in economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

In 2017, Dossani received the Exemplary Peformance award from the South Asian Studies Association for lifetime scholastic contributions to South Asian studies.

12 October

The Global Trade Order Without the United States

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Brighton

Dr. Bethany Ehlmann

Professor of Planetary Science; Research Scientist

Caltech & NASA's JPL

Bethany Ehlmann is a professor of planetary science at Caltech and research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her research focuses on the mineralogy and chemistry of planetary surfaces, remote sensing techniques and instruments, astrobiology, and science policy and outreach. Her primary focus is unraveling Mars' environmental history; she is a member of the science teams for the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), the CRISM imaging spectrometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, and the upcoming Mars 2020 rover. She is also on the Dawn orbiter team exploring the largest asteroid and dwarf planet Ceres, the EMIT space station-based imaging spectrometer to explore dust source regions, and is working to propose mission concepts for Europa, Venus, the Mars moons, asteroids and Earth.

She is a 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a former Mineralogical Society of America Distinguished Lecturer, a recipient of the American Geophysical Union’s Macelwane medal, the American Astronomincal Society Planetary Science Division Urey prize, and COSPAR’s Zeldovich medal, as well as NASA Group Achievement Awards. Previously, she was a European Union Marie Curie Fellow at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France. Originally from Tallahassee, FL, She earned her Ph.D. and master’s in geological sciences as a National Science Foundation graduate fellow at Brown University, earned masters degrees from the University of Oxford in Environmental Change and Management and Geography as a Rhodes Scholar, and received her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

12 October

The Final Frontier: Space as a Field for Global Cooperation and Competition

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Palm

Dr. Robert English

Associate Professor of International Relations, Slavic Languages & Literature, and Environmental Studies

USC Dornsife

Professor English studies Russia, the former USSR, and Eastern Europe, with a focus ranging from general issues of regional relations to specific questions of ethnicity, identity, and nationalism. He is presently working on a book-length study entitled Our Serbian Brethren: History, Myth, and the Politics of Russian National Identity. He formerly worked as a policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Committee for National Security.

His research studies include international foreign policy and defense analysis and regional studies on Russia, the former USSR and Eastern Europe.

He is the recipient of the Marshal Shulman Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies in 2001, and the Harold D. Lasswell Prize from the American Political Science Association in 1996.

He received his Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University in 1995, his M.P.A. in international relations and national security from Princeton University in 1982, and his B.A. in history/Slavic studies from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1980.

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

04:15 PM 05:30 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Brigadier General Susan Kay Escallier

Assistant Judge Advocate General, Military Law and Operations

U.S. Army

Brigadier General Susan Escallier is a career Army officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. She has decades of experience practicing complex law in deployed settings, advising commanders as well as with coalition partners, host nation governments, international organizations and interagency partners.

She currently serves in the Pentagon as the Assistant Judge Advocate General for Military Law and Operations for the United States Army. Her focus is development of strategic legal policy for the US Army.
Throughout her career she has provided legal advice in dynamic and far-reaching military operations including the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the establishment of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and in 2009 as the legal advisor for the Security Agreement Secretariat in Iraq. She worked extensively in Korea and in Japan on numerous international training exercises. The domestic highlights of her career include service as a military trial judge presiding over courts-martial at numerous Army installations. In a later assignment, she was a Division Chief in the US Army's Legislative Liaison Office where she focused on legislation and areas of congressional interest.

Prior to her selection for Brigadier General she served as the senior attorney for the Joint Force Command, United Assistance in Liberia during the DoD deployment to contain the spread of Ebola and a year later she served as the senior attorney in Iraq during Operation Inherent Resolve.

Brigadier General Escallier holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley, a Juris Doctor from Ohio State University, a Masters in Law from the US Army Judge Advocate General's School and a Master of Science in Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

04:15 PM 05:30 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Ms. Sarah Feinberg

Manager of Financial Strategy

Washington Post

Sarah Feinberg served as an officer in the Marine Corps (2007 – 2012) and is a veteran of the Iraq War. In 2015, Sarah and her family began hosting a family who received an SIV due to the father’s service with the U.S. government in Afghanistan that resulted in death threats to his family. Sarah’s family and church helped this family settle into a home the Feinbergs owned in Virginia and transition to life in the U.S. They still live in the same neighborhood and their children attend school together.

Sarah holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, which recently celebrated Sarah as one of Wharton’s “40 under 40.” She is a manager of Financial Strategy and Analysis for The Washington Post. Sarah lives in Virginia with her husband and three sons.

12 October

Strategically Protecting Soft Networks

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Brighton

Mr. Jamie Fly

Senior Fellow and Director, Future of Geopolitics, Asia Program

German Marshall Fund of the United States

Jamie Fly is a senior fellow and director of the Future of Geopolitics and Asia programs at The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). He also works with the Alliance for Securing Democracy at GMF. He served as counselor for Foreign and National Security Affairs to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) from 2013–2017, serving as his foreign policy advisor during his presidential campaign. Prior to joining Senator Rubio’s staff in February 2013, he served as the executive director of the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) from its founding in early 2009. Prior to joining FPI, Mr. Fly served in the Bush administration at the National Security Council (2008–2009) and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (2005–2008). He was director for Counterproliferation Strategy at the National Security Council, where his portfolio included the Iranian nuclear program, Syria, missile defense, chemical weapons, proliferation finance, and other counterproliferation issues. In the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he was an assistant for Transnational Threats Policy, where he helped to develop U.S. strategy related to the proliferation of missiles as well as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. For his work in the Department of Defense, he was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.

Prior to his service in government, Mr. Fly worked for the Republican National Committee on President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign in Ohio and on the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee. Additionally, Mr. Fly was a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2002–2004, where he worked on European and national security issues. He has also worked at the World Bank.

Mr. Fly was a 2004 German Marshall Fund Manfred Wörner Fellow, 2009 Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow, and he participated in the 2004 Aspen Institute Berlin’s Transatlantic Young Leaders Program, the 2006 Atlantik Brücke German-America Young Leaders Conference, and the 2006 Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance and is a participant in the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s Global Atlanticists Program. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

His articles and reviews have been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, National Review, Politico, The Weekly Standard, Forbes.com, USA Today, USNews.com, The Daily Caller, and National Review Online.

Mr. Fly received a BA in international studies and political science from American University and an MA in German and European studies from Georgetown University.

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

12:00 PM 02:00 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Dr. Kimberly Freeman

Associate Dean, Chief Diversity Officer

USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Kimberly Freeman serves as associate dean and chief diversity officer for the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, managing the office for diversity and strategic initiatives. She is working with faculty, staff and students to complete the development and implementation of a College-wide diversity strategic plan. This includes strategies for recruitment and retention of an increasingly diverse community, assessment of ongoing and proposed diversity initiatives, and cultivation of an inclusive college environment that promotes success for students, faculty and staff. She supports mentorship and training initiatives, including training on topics related to diversity, inclusion, campus climate, civility, and equity. She works to enhance the educational experience of students and establish an inclusive welcoming environment for culturally diverse students, staff and faculty.

Dean Freeman most recently served as assistant dean of diversity initiatives and community relations at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she spearheaded efforts to increase diversity among and enhance inclusion for faculty, students and staff. Prior to her position at UCLA, she led community relations efforts for Southern California Gas Company and Sempra Energy. She was also an adjunct professor at USC Price School of Public Policy.

She earned a Master of Public Policy degree from USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

12 October

Campfire Chats

08:15 PM 09:00 PM The Garden

Mr. David Fuller

External Unit Chief in the Office of Chinese & Mongolian Affairs

U.S. Department of State

David Fuller is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. He heads the External Unit within the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs. This team focuses on China’s foreign policy, including U.S.-China cooperation on North Korean denuclearization, China’s activities in the South China Sea, and China’s relationships with Japan, Russia, India, and other states. He has served as a U.S. diplomat for thirteen years, including assignments covering a range of political and security issues in the Middle East and Europe, as well as with non-proliferation focused international organizations.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, David worked as a journalist and a contractor with the U.S. military. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

04:15 PM 05:30 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Ms. Sabrina Garba

Chief Executive Officer & President

Glass Ladder Group

Sabrina K. Garba is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Glass Ladder Group (GLG). At the GLG, Sabrina leads over 2,000 global intercultural experts in the development and execution of intercultural training and research that helps people from different cultures work together to increase organizational efficiency. She is known for her proven track record in designing and implementing holistic programs that reach organizational goals and objectives in public, non-profit and private sector organizations.

Before starting GLG Sabrina served as the Acting Director of the Intercultural Management Institute (IMI) at American University (AU), a diplomatic and intercultural training center. At IMI, she oversaw all day-to-day operations and budgets including products, programs, services and publications. As Acting Director, she developed critical training programs for U.S. Department of State Initiatives, managed the development and execution of the learning, and development conference for intercultural experts and designed training curriculum, case studies and scenarios. Prior to joining IMI, she managed the International Communication and Media Master’s programs at AU. In this role she created graduate-level curriculum and programming focused on the impact of culture on technology, media, diplomacy, and international education. Additionally, she facilitated strategic partnerships with organizations that allowed scholars to gain media production skills and research techniques that equipped them to lead teams of communication practitioners in creating, shaping and managing information across international media platforms.

Previous to her time at American University, Sabrina served as a consultant for cross-cultural business exchange in Brazil, as well as with United World Communication and Boland. As a consultant she built relationships, strategies and systems that shaped organizational cultures and helped them to tell their unique story. She also worked with the elite Public Affairs firm, the Glover Park Group, where she provided program support, developed collateral material and served as a client-firm liaison for organizations that included Participant Media, Rock The Vote, The White House Project, the NFL Players Association and the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund.

Sabrina served an Adjunct Professor at American University’s School of International Service and has conducted various training workshops on communication, media, intercultural relations, entrepreneurship and leadership. Additionally, she has chaired and served as spokesperson for many initiatives including the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Project at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Ending Violence against Women Howard University (EVAWHU). She is a frequent commentator on the subjects of culture, communication, social justice and women’s rights and has spoken at numerous conferences.

Sabrina’s work with organizations like the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, the SouthEast Efficiency Alliance, and the National Association for Minorities in Communication has led to shifts in organizational and governmental procedures, systems and policies.

She has been recognized for her work through many awards including the 2015 Intercultural Achievement Award by the American University, School of International Service, the 2017 "Woman Who Disrupts" Entrepreneur Award by Lady ReBranded and City National Bank, the 2017 Walker's Legacy Los Angeles Power 25 and a nomination as 2017 Women Business Enterprise Supplier of the Year by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

In her spare time, Sabrina supports many non-profit efforts. Among her many volunteer efforts, she serves as the Vice President of the Howard University Alumni Club of Los Angeles, a Luminary Circle Member of Step Up Women’s Network, and a Scholar Bridge Committee Member for the Fulfillment Fund. Sabrina is an avid cultural and language aficionado who has traveled to six of the seven continents and fluent in multiple languages.

Sabrina is a certified intercultural trainer and a graduate of Dartmouth University’s, Tuck School of Business Minority Business Programs. She has a Master’s in Corporate Communications and Public Relations from Georgetown University and Bachelor’s in Communication and Culture from Howard University.

12 October

A Practical Introduction to Cross-Cultural Communication (Separate Registration Required)

08:30 AM 10:30 AM Whittier

Mr. Richard Goetz

Partner

O’Melveny & Myers

Rich Goetz is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Council on International Policy and Co-Chairs the Council’s Guantanamo Bay Task Force.

In his legal practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Rich is the Firmwide Co-Chair of the Litigation Department and previously chaired the Firm’s Consumer Class Actions, Product Liability/Mass Torts, and Insurance Practices. He also serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee. He defends some of the world’s best-known businesses—including pharmaceutical, medical device, computer, insurance, consumer products, and food companies—in complex, multimillion-dollar legal challenges. At the pleadings stage and at trial, he has defeated allegations of negligence, false advertising, improper labeling, defective manufacturing, and personal injury. Benchmark Litigation calls him a national “Litigation Star,” The Legal 500: United States named him to its inaugural “Hall of Fame” in 2017, Chambers USA recognizes him as a “Leading Lawyer,” and BTI recognizes him as a Client Service All-Star. Rich is a member of the American Law Institute, which drafts the Restatements of the Law and various model codes, and he has lectured at UCLA’s School of Engineering and at Harvard Law School.

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Palm

Professor Colleen Graffy

Associate Professor of Law

Pepperdine University

Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Professor Graffy earned her BA from Pepperdine University and her MA from Boston University. She then served as co-director of Pepperdine's Year-in-Europe program in Heidelberg, Germany. Professor Graffy completed the Diploma in Law in London. After attending the Inns of Court School of Law, she was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a Barrister of the Middle Temple and received her LLM in international law through King's College, University of London with merit.

Professor Graffy served in the second Bush Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy for Europe and Eurasia at the US State Department. In that capacity, she travelled to over 40 countries and worked with US embassies and a team in Washington DC to communicate US policy, values and culture. She created the first ever "media hub" for the US government with radio and television broadcasting facilities based in Brussels, Belgium. In order to reach younger audiences, an area that she identified as critical to US public diplomacy, she established the "Ben Franklin Transatlantic Fellowship," a program that brings together high schools students from former eastern block countries, Western Europe and the US to study comparative constitutions and rights—in addition to fostering long-term relationships among nations. Professor Graffy was the first high level US government official to actively advance "Public Diplomacy 2.0" using Twitter and other social media platforms to further US communications.

Professor Graffy was elected as the new Chair of the Society of English and American Lawyers and is a Bencher of the Middle Temple. She is a member of The Royal Institute of International Affairs, The British Institute of International and Comparative Law, The Pilgrims, The British American Project and the Pacific Council. She is on the Advisory Board of the McCain Leadership Institute and the British American Project.

Professor Graffy has written on legal issues in the United States and Britain and is a frequent commentator for radio and television on transatlantic political, legal, and cultural issues including BBC Radio Four's The Today Programme, BBC Question Time with David Dimbleby, BBC TV HARDtalk, The Andrew Marr Show, Any Questions?, Al Jazeera Frost Over the World with Sir David Frost, SKY TV, and CCN.

Her teaching includes: Public International Law, International Environmental Law, and International Law and the Use of Force.

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

12:00 PM 02:00 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Mr. Chris Jones

Co-Creator & Storyteller

WeOverMe

Chris has followed his curiosity and passion for stories on a fulfilling, eclectic, and non-linear adventure. He’s lived 20 cities, 10 states, and 4 countries, and worked globally as a storyteller, attorney, and journalist. This diverse experience has enabled Chris to spark creative connections and craft resonant, impactful stories.

Before relocating to LA in 2018, Chris led media, brand, and creative direction for NLand Surf Park in Austin, Texas. His team partnered with brands such as RVCA and Yeti and created collaborative content with the New York Times, ESPN, Vice, Surfer Magazine, and more.

Before bringing inland surfing to life in Austin, Chris was an associate at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in their white collar defense and government investigations group in Washington, D.C. During his time at Cadwalader, Chris wrote an amicus curiae to the United States Supreme Court in addition to representing Fortune 100 companies and global financial institutions.

Chris has used his legal training in unorthodox ways, including teaching middle schoolers about criminal justice and producing Forced Out, a short subject documentary on internally displaced persons in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake which was presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2011.

Prior to attending law school, Chris worked as a senior political reporter and weekend anchor for a CBS affiliate in Iowa, where he covered the 2008 Iowa Caucuses and 2008 General Election. While in Iowa, Chris earned two Associated Press awards, two Emmy nominations for general and political reporting, and he was a member of an reporting team that won an Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting.

Chris has a BA in Communications from Brigham Young University and a JD from Duke University. Chris speaks Swedish and Spanish and has working proficiency in Norwegian, Danish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole.

An avid skier and surfer, Chris loves exploring the great outdoors.

12 October

Campfire Chats

08:15 PM 09:00 PM The Garden

Ms. Therese Jones

Senior Director of Policy

Satellite Industry Association

Therese Jones joined the Satellite Industry Association as its Senior Director of Policy in January, 2018. In this role, Ms. Jones supports SIA’s work on government services, regulatory, legislative, defense, export-control and trade issues of critical importance to the Association’s members.

Prior to joining SIA, Ms. Jones was an assistant policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, where she focused on space policy. In this role, she supported the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, National GeospatialIntelligence Agency, U.S. Air Force, and Army in assessing new space technologies, increasing the resilience of the national space architecture, and determining commercial acquisition strategies for communications and remote sensing services. Her research portfolio also includes several cyber security projects on the impact of cyber incidents to the global economy. Before transitioning into space policy, she worked as an astrophysics researcher focusing on galaxy formation and evolution.

Ms. Jones is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She holds a master’s in astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, and bachelor’s degrees in astronomy and astrophysics, physics, German, and international studies from The Pennsylvania State University.

12 October

The Final Frontier: Space as a Field for Global Cooperation and Competition

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Palm

Ms. Megan Karsh

Vice President, Initiatives

Pacific Council on International Policy

Megan Karsh is the Vice President of Initiatives at the Pacific Council on International Policy, where she designs programs and cultivates strategic partnerships to impact foreign policy. She is a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School, where she served as the Executive Director of the Rule of Law Program from 2012-16, designing and implementing projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, Cambodia, and Rwanda and managing a $7.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of State. Prior to 2012, Megan litigated and developed restorative justice initiatives on behalf of survivors at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She simultaneously directed the English Faculty of Law at the Royal University of Law and Economics, administering a bachelors program for Cambodian law students and teaching courses in conflict resolution, ethics, and client counseling. Megan teaches courses in civilian protection and post-conflict stabilization for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). She also trains and advises organizations and individuals about negotiations and interpersonal influence.

Megan holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she was a fellow in the Stanford Center for International Conflict and Negotiation, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Art History from Oberlin College. She has lived and worked in Sub-Saharan Africa, SE Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East but is very happy to call Echo Park home since 2017.

12 October

Strategically Protecting Soft Networks

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Brighton

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

04:15 PM 05:30 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Ms. Michelle Kezirian

Attorney at Law

Michelle Marie Kezirian

Michelle M. Kezirian is a solo practitioner with more than twenty years of legal experience. Currently, she is leading a cadre of legal services and pro bono lawyers in an innovative slum-housing class action on behalf of tenants in the Central Valley. She previously served as the Director of Litigation and Policy Advocacy at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, Directing Attorney at Bet Tzedek Legal Services, and Senior Staff Attorney at Inner City Law Center. Prior to her work in public interest, Michelle was in private practice. Over the years, she has taught law at UCLA, USC and Santa Clara University Schools of Law and served on boards of directors of nonprofits serving communities in Los Angeles County and statewide. Michelle co-chairs the Council’s Guantanamo Bay Task Force. Ms. Kezirian graduated in 1992 summa cum laude and phi beta kappa from University of California, Davis, and received her J.D. in 1996 from Santa Clara University School of Law.

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Palm

Mr. Luis Madrazo

Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit

COMEXI

Luis was the Senior Economic Adviser and Spokesman to Jose Antonio Mead´s Campaign for President of Mexico during 2018. He served as Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance MoF) overseeing the successful fiscal consolidation process of 2015-2018. Luis served as a career civil servant for over 15 years working at the MoF on Financial Sector Development and Stability, Energy Policy and Pension Reform. He chaired the boards of the Mexican Development Banks with a portfolio of over 80 billion dollars. He was elected Vice-President of the Economic Policy Committee, the foremost policy setting body of the OECD, in 2017.

12 October

Trump and AMLO: The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Canon

Mr. Nicholas Martin

Assistant Policy Researcher; Ph.D. Candidate

Pardee RAND Graduate School

Nick Martin is a doctoral candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy researcher at RAND. He has a master of engineering in space operations from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and an M.S. in engineering systems from the Naval Postgraduate School.

After graduating from the United States Air Force Academy, he served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, holding a variety of leadership positions in space operations, space system acquisitions, and joint service assignments. He has worked on launch operations for Global Positioning System constellation replenishment and delivered space-based infrared systems for deployment in support of worldwide national strategic and military taskings. In his final tour, he served as the lead systems architect for space-based missile warning and developed a standardized approach for assessing the survivability and resilience of national security space systems.

His research interests include national security and defense policy, military operations, defense acquisitions, and space technology.

12 October

The Final Frontier: Space as a Field for Global Cooperation and Competition

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Palm

Mr. Fadi Matti

Combat Interpreter & DoD Translator (2003-2010)

U.S. Department of Defense

Fadi is a graduate of the University of Baghdad and served as a local interpreter for U.S. military units and government agencies in Baghdad and Al-Anbar Province from 2003 to 2007. Shortly after the fall of Saddam’s regime, Fadi was offered a job as a translator by a U.S. Army officer whose patrol unit was passing through Fadi’s neighborhood. Fadi spent nearly a year assisting U.S. Army troops conduct house-to-house searches and security patrols across Baghdad. In 2004 Fadi was transferred to Al Anbar province where he translated for U.S. Army Drill Instructors who were training the new Iraqi Army recruits. Afterwards, he spent six months working as an interpreter for a U.S. Marine Civil Affairs Unit in Ramadi and Fallujah. While serving in Al-Anbar Province Fadi suffered several combat injuries, including a broken arm after the Humvee he was riding in was struck by an RPG and flipped. In late 2004 Fadi returned to Baghdad and was recruited to serve as a linguist in the new Iraqi National Intelligence Service. Fadi immigrated to the U.S. in 2007 and married a former U.S. service member, Amanda Matti, whom he met while Amanda was deployed to Baghdad. Fadi returned to Iraq as a DoD translator in 2008 and did several deployments until 2010. A book chronicling Fadi’s incredible story working as a local translator throughout the Iraq War was published in 2017 - Voicing the Eagle is available in both Kindle and print formats at Amazon.com. Fadi currently resides in San Diego with his wife and their two daughters and his the head of Matti Realty Group.

12 October

Strategically Protecting Soft Networks

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Brighton

Colonel (r.) Steve Miska

Principal Investigator

Project to Strategically Protect Soft Networks

Steve Miska is the Principal Investigator for Strategically Protecting Soft Networks, a project supported by the Pacific Council and numerous other partners to protect vulnerable allies who work with Americans in conflict zones. Steve also directs the First Amendment
Voice, a nonprofit that promotes civic awareness and understanding. He retired as a Colonel after 25 years of service in the Army. His last military assignment was teaching three years as the Army Chair at the Marine Corps University where he advocated on behalf of former Iraqi & Afghan interpreters. Previously, he served in the White House as a Director for Iraq on the National Security Council. In 2007, on his second of three combat tours in Iraq, Steve led a team that established an underground railroad for dozens of interpreters from Baghdad to Amman to the United States. He has published numerous articles, most recently on protecting local allies during conflict, and is currently finishing a book on the Baghdad Underground Railroad. He earned top academic honors as a Counterterrorism Fellow at the College of International Security Affairs and has taught economics at the United States Military Academy, West Point. Steve routinely speaks on civic topics and has also spoken on ISIS and Iraq based threats at the Defense Intelligence Agency, RAND, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Young Presidents Organization of LA, and numerous media outlets and think tanks. He holds degrees from Cornell University, National Defense University and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He serves as an advisor to several nonprofits, including No One Left
Behind, the International Refugee Assistance Project, and the i5 Freedom Network. He has a wife of 26 years and two children.

12 October

Strategically Protecting Soft Networks

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Brighton

Dr. Antonio Ortiz-Mena

Senior Vice President

Albright Stonebridge Group

Antonio Ortiz-Mena is a Senior Vice President at ASG, where he provides strategic counsel and assistance to clients across Latin America.

Prior to joining ASG, Dr. Ortiz-Mena served for over eight years as the Head of Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Mexico in the United States, advising U.S. companies with a presence in Mexico and Mexican companies with a presence in the U.S. on regulatory and government issues. In this role, he served as the Embassy Liaison with the IMF, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as the G20 and the Mexico-U.S. High-level Economic Dialogue. He was also responsible for U.S.-Mexico energy, telecommunications, and aviation issues, and oversaw trade and investment promotion.

From 1999 to 2007, Dr. Ortiz-Mena was a Professor of International Political Economy at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), one of Mexico’s leading research and policy analysis institutions. He re-joined CIDE as an adjunct professor in 2016 and also serves as an adjunct professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Dr. Ortiz-Mena began his career in the Mexican government, where he held multiple senior advisory roles in the NAFTA Negotiation Office of the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Budget and Programming Ministry.

Dr. Ortiz-Mena is a frequent guest on Bloomberg, CNBC, CNNand Univision to discuss U.S.-Mexico economic relations and global trade issues, and he often speaks on these topics at conferences and other forums. He has also been interviewed by The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science, with a focus on International Political Economy, from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar and a M.A. from the University of London.

Dr. Ortiz-Mena is fluent in Spanish and English and is conversant in French and Portuguese. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Follow him on Twitter @Antonio_OrtizM.

12 October

Trump and AMLO: The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Canon

Dr. Christopher Parker

Professor of Political Science

University of Washington

Chris Parker (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2001) is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science atthe University of Washington. The bulk of his research takes a behavioral approach to historical events. More specifically, he brings survey data to bear on questions of historical import. His first book, Fighting for Democracy:
Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the
Postwar South (Princeton University Press, 2009), takes a fresh approach to the civil rights movement by gauging the extent to which black veterans contributed to social change. A second book, now underway and using data collected in 1968, examines the ideological and sociological origins of what has come to be known as the urban crisis of the 1960s. In short, it examines the micro-foundations of the disturbances that swept America in the late 1960s. A Robert Wood Johnson Scholar (2005-07), he has published in the Journal of Politics, International Security, Political Research Quarterly, and the Du Bois Review.

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

12:00 PM 02:00 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Dr. Demosthenes James Peterson

President

Longview Global Advisors

DJ Peterson’s mission is to help corporate leaders and investors make sense of critical political, economic, and social issues shaping their business and the environments in which they operate around the world.

In 2013, DJ founded Longview Global Advisors, a consultancy that works with clients on a range of tasks from strategic planning to market intelligence, thought leadership, and executive positioning. To tackle their needs, the firm draws on a network comprised of country, sector, and issue experts around the world. Backed by this well-sourced team, DJ develops insights that “bring the outside in” and enable executives to think and talk about the world, not just the business.

DJ has advised firms in a range of sectors, including financial services, insurance, consumer goods, automotive, industrial products, energy and mining, technology and telecommunications, life sciences, and professional services.

From 2006 to 2012, DJ built and led the Corporate Advisory Services practice at Eurasia Group, where he and his team of 13 business developers and client-relationship managers served 100 large-cap clients in North America, Europe, and Japan.

From 1998 to 2006, DJ was a political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he led major research ventures in areas such as politics and policy in Russia, natural resources management, homeland security, and technology futures. In addition, he organized and led the firm's Environment, Energy and Economic Development Program.

DJ received his B.A. in Area Studies and Russian from Duke University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA. He remains based in Los Angeles, California.

DJ frequently speaks to and writes for top-level business audiences, and has been quoted in publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN.

12 October

The Global Trade Order Without the United States

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Brighton

Dr. Jennifer Piscopo

Assistant Professor of Politics

Occidental College

Jennifer M. Piscopo is Assistant Professor of Politics at Occidental College. Her research on elections, political representation, and gender equality in Latin America has appeared in leading academic journals and multiple edited volumes. With Susan Franceschet and Mona Lena Krook, she is editor of The Impact of Gender Quotas (Oxford University Press, 2012).

She has completed consultancies for national governments and international agencies, including Mexico’s Federal Electoral Tribunal and UN Women. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, and she has extensive research and speaking experience in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.
She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego in 2011, where she was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies from 2009-2010. Recently, she was the 2016-2017 Peggy Rockefeller Visiting Scholar at the David Rockefeller Center of Latin American Studies at Harvard University.

To learn more about her research, teaching, and consulting, visit her website: http://www.jenniferpiscopo.com.

12 October

Trump and AMLO: The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Canon

Mr. Akhil Rao

Instructor, Department of Economics

University of Colorado, Boulder

Akhil Rao is a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research interests include common-pool resource management, the commercial space sector, and the design of externality-correcting policies.

His dissertation focuses on the economics of open access orbit use. His research outlines the economic dynamics of orbit use with and without property rights, optimal space traffic control policies and the use of active debris removal, and ways to measure the efficiency of orbit use under alternate institutional arrangements. The results from his work emphasize the challenges of managing low-Earth orbit and contribute to ongoing research in computing dynamic economic models.

12 October

The Final Frontier: Space as a Field for Global Cooperation and Competition

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Palm

Mr. Sam Romano

Junior Fellow

Project to Strategically Protect Soft Networks

Sam Romano is based at the Pacific Council for International Policy in Los Angeles and is focusing his research on policy relating to NGOs, nonprofits, and media. He is serving as Junior Fellow for Col. (Ret.) Steve Miska's Project to Strategically Protect Soft Networks. He recently graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a BA in Political Science, and has experience in research, policy-writing, and security studies. As an undergraduate student, he researched Eastern European security issues, including the U.S.-Russia security implications of American military intervention in Syria. He published commentary on U.S. strategy after the Gulf Cooperation Council dispute in Berkeley’s International Affairs Review. Prior to joining the project, Sam completed an internship at the House Committee on Homeland Security, focusing on counterterrorism and cybersecurity measures.

12 October

Campfire Chats

08:15 PM 09:00 PM The Garden

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

Chairman & CEO, NantWorks; Owner & Executive Chairman, Los Angeles Times

Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, is the owner and executive chairman of the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Los Angeles Times en Español and other publications under the California Times.

Dr. Soon-Shiong, a physician, surgeon, scientist, inventor, technologist and philanthropist, has devoted his career to understanding the fundamental biology driving life-threatening diseases and translating these insights into medical innovations with global impact.

He serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NantWorks, LLC, a holding company devoted to the transformation of healthcare and utilizing artificial intelligence to win the war against cancer and Alzheimer's disease – two of the most serious diseases affecting the aging population.

Over the course of Dr. Soon-Shiong's career, he has pioneered novel therapies for both diabetes and cancer, including the revolutionary drug Abraxane, which has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, lung cancer and advanced pancreatic cancer in both the U.S. and E.U., published more than 100 scientific papers, and has been granted more than 230 patents worldwide for groundbreaking advancements spanning myriad fields of technology and medicine.

As a surgeon, Dr. Soon-Shiong performed the world's first encapsulated human islet transplant, the first engineered islet cell transplant and the first pig-to-man islet cell transplant in patients with diabetes.

Dr. Soon-Shiong's path to cancer research began while doing research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that involved harnessing stem cells to make insulin. In 1991, he founded a biotechnology company to develop a novel nanoparticle anti-cancer drug with the concept of using "the tumor's biology against itself."

From 1996 to 2010, Dr. Soon-Shiong served as Founder, Chairman and CEO of two global pharmaceutical companies: American Pharmaceutical Partners and Abraxis BioScience. It was during Dr. Soon-Shiong's tenure at Abraxis that the company manufactured the world's first protein nanoparticle drug for breast, lung and pancreatic cancer – Abraxane. In 2008, Dr. Soon-Shiong sold American Pharmaceutical Partners to Fresenius for approximately $4.6 billion and in 2010, sold Abraxis BioScience to Celgene for approximately $3.8 billion.

Following the sale of these two companies, Dr. Soon-Shiong established NantWorks, LLC, an ecosystem of companies with deep understandings in a wide variety of complex industries, from science to data, communication and mobility. Under the NantWorks umbrella, Soon-Shiong currently serves as Chairman and CEO of NantKwest, a Nasdaq-listed immunotherapy company focusing on natural killer cells, and Chairman and CEO of NantHealth, a Nasdaq listed transformational healthcare company converging biomolecular medicine and bioinformatics with technology services to empower physicians, patients, payers, pharma and researchers to transcend the traditional barriers of today's healthcare system. When NantKwest went public in 2015, it was the largest biotech IPO by market valuation in history.

In January 2016, Dr. Soon-Shiong announced the formation of Cancer Breakthroughs 2020, a comprehensive collaboration of researchers, insurers, academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate the potential of combination immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer.

The Cancer Breakthroughs 2020 initiative has a goal of originating Phase 2 and 3 trials of the Nant Cancer Vaccine in 20,000 cancer patients within the next two years. In addition, the collaboration hopes to launch a revolutionary molecular diagnostic test – known as GPS Cancer – that uses a patient’s cancer tissue and blood to identify the therapies which will be effective in treating the specific biology.

Dr. Soon-Shiong is Chairman of the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation and of the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine, a nonprofit medical research organization. In May 2017, he was appointed by House Speaker Paul Ryan to the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, a committee established by the 21st Century Cures Act that will advise the President and his administration on health IT policy and will tackle issues with healthcare interoperability and privacy and security, while working with key stakeholders to create standards in these areas.

He also is an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a visiting Professor at the Imperial College of London, the Executive Director of the UCLA Wireless Health Institute and a Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics and Professor of Bioengineering at the California NanoSystems Institute of UCLA. Dr. Soon-Shiong currently sits on the Board of Councilors at the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering.

In April 2016, Dr. Soon-Shiong received the Franklin Institute Award for his visionary leadership and commitment to advancing medical and scientific research and bringing new treatment options to people with cancer. Dr. Soon-Shiong was also honored at the Vatican with the Pontifical Key Visionary Award in April 2016, which recognizes "medical innovators who change the course of history and reduce suffering on a global scale by blending visionary thinking with real action." The Friends of the National Library of Medicine has also honored him with their Distinguished Medical Science Award.

In June 2017, the Smithsonian Institute honored his work by placing Abraxane in the permanent exhibit at Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

In June 2018, Dr. Soon-Shiong completed the purchase the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Los Angeles Times en Español (previously Hoy Los Angeles) and publications under the California Times. Dr. Soon-Shiong previously owned 26 percent share of the Los Angeles Times.

Born and raised during apartheid in South Africa, Dr. Soon-Shiong resides in Los Angeles and is a citizen of the United States.

12 October

The Future of Media with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

06:15 PM 08:00 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Mr. Todd C. Toral

Partner

Jenner & Block

Mr. Toral is often consulted to resolve disputes before they escalate to litigation, arbitration, or other adversarial proceedings, often saving the time and money such proceedings require. In the event contested proceedings are unavoidable, Mr. Toral provides clients with precise solutions and vigorous, ethical advocacy.
Mr. Toral focuses his practice generally on matters in the financial services, insurance, entertainment, real estate, and private equity spheres. His matters often concern pass-through entities or other joint venture arrangements involving breach of contract, business tort, unfair business practices, insolvency, insurance recovery, and domestic and foreign tax disputes.
He has handled numerous matters in state, federal, and administrative courts throughout the United States, and in arbitral forums globally involving complex real estate, entertainment, insurance and re-insurance, trademark, tax, unfair trade practices, industrial project development, banking, port operations, commercial aircraft, passenger and freight railroads, beverage distribution, and film production and distribution, among other economic sectors.
Mr. Toral also has significant bankruptcy litigation and restructuring experience. He has represented real estate and private equity funds, financial service providers, international port operators, receivers and trustees in numerous insolvency proceedings. Mr. Toral served as debtor’s counsel to a Bermuda re-insurance company, represented investors in the Stanford “ponzi” scheme case, acted as receiver’s counsel in the largest real estate receivership in San Francisco history, and served as receiver’s counsel over the assets of one of the largest privately-held broadcasting companies in the United States.
Mr. Toral is actively engaged in the community, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Bet Tzedek, a public interest law firm in Los Angeles. He is also a former board member for Crystal Stairs, Inc., an enterprise organized to improve the lives of low-income families in Los Angeles through child care services, research, and advocacy.
Mr. Toral also maintains an active pro bono practice. As a former infantry officer in the US Marine Corps, Mr. Toral is dedicated to serving veterans. He has served as an appellate panelist for the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program, represented the American Legion and Swords to Plowshares in disputes with the City and County of San Francisco concerning the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, and participated in Ironman distance endurance events to raise money and awareness for the Semper Fi Fund and RWB.org. He currently represents the International Rescue Committee in a broad range of matters helping to save conflict refugee families in crisis. At the same time, Mr. Toral has served as an observer of and represented certain interests in the trials of certain high-value detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Mr. Toral earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he was the Managing Director of the Moot Court Board and an editor for the Maritime Law Journal. He also received his LL.M from NYU School of Law, and is currently studying for a Masters in International Relations at Harvard. He served as an extern for California Supreme Court Associate Justice Ming Chin and US Bankruptcy Court Judge Randall Newsome.

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

10:30 AM 11:45 AM Palm

Ms. Cassady Walters

Senior Director, Africa Practice

Albright Stonebridge Group

Cassady Walters is a Senior Director with the Africa Practice at ASG, where she works with clients to expand and strengthen their business operations across the African continent. Ms. Walters brings first-hand experience with Africa’s unique political and economic landscape to assist clients in the region. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Walters worked at the intersection of governments, markets and civil society as an Analyst with the Institute for State Effectiveness. In this capacity, she provided analysis on the private sector’s role in Africa’s development and designed policy strategies to create inclusive and accountable institutions.

Previously, Ms. Walters worked in small-enterprise development as the Youth Development Officer on a USAID-funded entrepreneurship program in Mali. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, where she worked to improve public health offerings by identifying synergies between local government, civil society and entrepreneurs.

Ms. Walters was also part of USAID’s Office of Transitions Initiatives (OTI), where she helped manage OTI programming in Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali. She has extensive research experience in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and China, with a special focus on China’s relationship with Africa. Ms. Walters reported on human rights and culture for the Jordanian English-language magazine Jo Magazine.

Ms. Walters earned a M.A. in International Economics and International Affairs from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Study at Johns Hopkins University. She graduated cum laude from Whitman College. Ms. Walters is fluent in French and Bambara.

She is based in Chicago, Illinois.

12 October

The Global Trade Order Without the United States

02:15 PM 03:30 PM Brighton

Ms. Jessica Yellin

Senior Fellow

USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy

Jessica Yellin is a political journalist whose award-winning career includes reporting for CNN, ABC, and MSNBC. At CNN she covered the White House, Capitol Hill, and domestic politics. Her work was featured prominently in the last three campaign cycles and her documentary on President Obama aired throughout the 2012 election.

As CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Yellin interviewed President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama, and has conducted interviews with Presidents Bill Clinton, George H. W.Bush and first lady Laura Bush among others. Yellin provided extensive coverage from the battleground states during the 2008 and 2010 elections and has reported from around the globe including Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. In Washington, Yellin covered significant policy debates including the push to reform the financial regulatory system. In 2010 she won a Gracie Award for her reporting on the intersection of women and politics.

Prior to CNN, Yellin was a White House correspondent for ABC News and an overnight anchor and correspondent for MSNBC. As a general assignment reporter for WTVT-TV she reported on the 2000 Florida recount in Tallahasee. She began her broadcast career in 1998 as a general assignment reporter for Orlando’s 24-hour cable news channel, Central Florida News 13. In 1999, she was named morning anchor.

Yellin graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University and graduated from the Westlake School for Girls. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.

12 October

The Future of Media with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

06:15 PM 08:00 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Mr. Ehsan Zaffar

Senior Advisor on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Ehsan Zaffar serves as Senior Advisor on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington D.C. He has served as full-time or adjunct faculty at a number of institutions, including Georgetown University and the University of Southern California, where he teaches courses on national security and civil rights law and policy.

Prior to government service, Mr. Zaffar worked in private practice and co-founded the Los Angeles Mobile Legal Aid Clinic (LAMLAC) which helped to pioneer the delivery of mobile legal care to vulnerable populations in California and abroad.

Most recently Mr. Zaffar joined the board of Team Rubcion, an organization that helps returning veterans apply their skills to assist diverse communities facing natural disasters. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the British Royal Institute of International Affairs, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. His books Understanding Homeland Security: Foundations of Security Policy and Legal, Ethical & Moral Dilemmas in First Amendment Jurisprudence will be published in fall 2018 by Routledge Press.

He speaks today in his personal capacity and his remarks are not intended to represent any of the institutions, agencies or organizations with which he is affiliated.

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

12:00 PM 02:00 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

Mr. Thomas Zimmerman

Chief Programs Officer

Pacific Council on International Policy

Thomas Zimmerman is the Chief Programs Officer at the Pacific Council on International Policy, where he oversees programing for Council members and the general public. He started his career working in Kabul Afghanistan with American Councils for International Education. After working on Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign, Thomas joined the Pakistan Desk at the Department of Defense before moving to the White House to serve as Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor. In 2012, he managing the national security and foreign policy research portfolio for President Obama’s reelection campaign. Most recently, Thomas worked at the Center on International Cooperation and as a visiting scholar at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, focusing on Afghanistan, Somalia, and Chinese regional policy. He specializes in the facilitation of Track II dialogues.

Thomas holds a BA from Williams College and an MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is originally from Austin, Texas, and currently lives in Los Feliz where he’s still not over his being minutes away from hiking trails, record stores, and breakfast tacos.

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

04:15 PM 05:30 PM Beverly Hills Ballroom

PolicyWest

Schedule

A Practical Introduction to Cross-Cultural Communication (Separate Registration Required)

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

Strategically Protecting Soft Networks

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

Trump and AMLO: The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations

The Global Trade Order Without the United States

The Final Frontier: Space as a Field for Global Cooperation and Competition

Coffee Social

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

Cocktail Social

The Future of Media with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

Campfire Chats

Sponsor

Newsroom

Speakers

Ms. Suzie Abdou

12 October

Campfire Chats

Mr. Manpreet Singh Anand

12 October

Campfire Chats

The Honorable Robert C. Bonner

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

Dr. Lyn Boyd-Judson

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

Dr. Iva Bozovic

12 October

The Global Trade Order Without the United States

Mr. Aaron Brooks

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

Mr. Andy Carey

12 October

Trump and AMLO: The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations

Dr. Rafiq Dossani

12 October

The Global Trade Order Without the United States

Dr. Bethany Ehlmann

12 October

The Final Frontier: Space as a Field for Global Cooperation and Competition

Dr. Robert English

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

Brigadier General Susan Kay Escallier

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

Ms. Sarah Feinberg

12 October

Strategically Protecting Soft Networks

Mr. Jamie Fly

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

Dr. Kimberly Freeman

12 October

Campfire Chats

Mr. David Fuller

12 October

TED-Style Lighting Round: Greatest Challenges Facing the U.S. Over the Next Decade

Ms. Sabrina Garba

12 October

A Practical Introduction to Cross-Cultural Communication (Separate Registration Required)

Mr. Richard Goetz

12 October

A Matter of Time: What is the Future of the Guantánamo Bay Trials?

Professor Colleen Graffy

12 October

Lunch Debate: Will Populism Continue Its Rise?

Mr. Chris Jones

12 October

Campfire Chats

Ms. Therese Jones

12 October

The Final Frontier: Space as a Field for Global Cooperation and Competition

Ms. Megan Karsh

12 October

Strategically Protecting Soft Networks