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  • U.S. Ambassador to China (2017-2020)
  • Longest serving governor in U.S. history
  • During his tenure, Ambassador Branstad’s two greatest achievements were the signing of the historic Phase One Trade Agreement between the U.S. and China in January of 2020 and successfully lobbying the Chinese government to stem the flow of fentanyl into America
Daniel_Russel
  • Diplomat in Residence at the Asia Society Policy Institute
  • Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
  • Former Special Assistant to President Obama
  • Former National Security Staff Senior Director for Asian Affairs
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  • Author of I am My Mother’s Daughter: Wisdom on Life, Loss, and Love
  • Author of Crush Cancer and the Crush Cancer Workbook
  • Creator of crazyperfectlife.com with over 200,000 followers
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  • 63rd Superintendent of the US Naval Academy, the nation’s premier leadershipdevelopment institution
  • Over 4000 flight hours and command- level leadership at the Squadron, Air Wing, and three higher- level organizations culminating with command of the US FOURTH Fleet.
  • Having commanded six times in the military, he has tremendous applied-leadership experience at the highest levels of military and government as well as specialization in strategy and policy development and international affairs.
  • Ashore, he had over a decade of service in the Pentagon on multiple tours of duty with the Navy Staff as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During these tours he specialized in strategy and policy development, international affairs, as well as personnel management.
Alex Wong

Alex WONG served in senior positions at the U.S. Department of State overseeing high-stakes negotiations and initiatives at the forefront of U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. Alex was nominated by the President and unanimously approved by the Senate Foreign … Continued

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  • Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS
  • An expert in foreign defense policy and international defense
  • Former Senior China Analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
photo copyright © Richard Howard
  • Chancellor’s Professor of Africana Studies and the Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University
  • Professor Rose sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change and Black Girls Rock, Inc.
  • An internationally respected scholar of post civil rights era black U.S. culture, popular music, social issues, gender and sexuality
  • Author of the book Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America which is considered foundational text for the study of hip hop, one that has defined what is now an entire field of study
Ho_Professional
  • Director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she also holds an appointment as Professor of Ethnic Studies
  • Serves as the President of the Association for Asian American Studies (2020-2022)
  • In addition to her academic work, Ho is active in community engagement around issues of race and intersectionality, leading workshops on anti-racism and how to talk about race in our current political climate
Latanya-Sweeney

Latanya SWEENEY is a Professor of the Practice of Government and Technology at the Harvard Kennedy School and in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Government. Her mission is to create and use technology to assess and solve societal, political, … Continued

Laura Dowling
  • Former White House Chief Floral Designer
  • Author of the book Floral Diplomacy at the White House
  • Distinguished Flower Ambassador (Royal Horticultural Society of Belgium)
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