People

Director and co-founder Amanda Vincent holds the Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation at the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Center. She has a PhD in marine biology from the University of Cambridge and was Darwin Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford from 1994 to 1996. She is considered the leading authority on seahorse biology and conservation, and in 2000 was named a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation. She also serves as lead scientific advisor and chair of the seahorse working group for CITES.

Amanda-Rae Prescott is a freelance TV reporter and MASTERPIECE superfan. Her articles have previously appeared on Den Of Geek, Doctor Who Magazine, and more. Additional commentary on Masterpiece programs, general UK TV, and racial diversity in media can be found on her Twitter account @amandarprescott.

Amani Channel is an award-winning video producer, and specialist in traditional, and convergence/new media. He is a Sr. Producer at KEF Media Associates. The company develops and produces radio and TV satellite media tours for organizations and companies that want to share their stories through broadcast media outlets. During his broadcasting career, Channel's content, commentaries, and reports have been featured on on NPR, APTN (Associated Press Television News), CNN, Headline News, BET, Black Family Channel, HDNews, and across the Web. Channel also founded a vlog/podcast called http://www.MyUrbanReport.com. It features independently produced citizen journalism styled segments. Channel also speaks at conferences, workshops, and universities across the country about traditional and new media. He's taught video production at Hillsborough Community College, and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Tampa, FL, and Kennesaw State University. In 2010 he received a Master of Arts from the University of South Florida. His thesis is titled: "Gatekeeping and Citizen Journalism: A Qualitative Examination of Participatory Media."

Amar Bhidé is a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and is the former Lawrence D. Glaubinger Professor of Business at Columbia University. He has also served on the faculty of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Previously, Bhidé was senior engagement manager at McKinsey & Company and propriety trader at E. F. Hutton. He has also served on the staff of the Brady Commission which investigated the stock market crash. Bhidé is the author of *A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy*. His book, *The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World*, won the Association of American Publishers' PROSE Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in Business, Finance, and Management and was included in the "Best of 2008" lists of *The Economist*, *BusinessWeek*, and *Barrons*. He is a member of the Center on Capitalism and Society and spearheaded the launch of its eponymous journal Capitalism and Society, which he now edits with professor Edmund Phelps. Bhidé is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a former associate fellow at the Harvard Business School.

Amara Ifeji is a systems-thinker whose lived experiences have led her to advocate at the intersection of the environmental and social justice movements. She spearheads grassroots, policy, and community science efforts that aim to grant youth of color positive experiences in the outdoors. She has received state, national, and international recognition for her work, including being named a 2021 National Geographic Young Explorer. A student at Northeastern University, Ifeji studies politics, philosophy, and economics with a concentration in energy and environmental policy. She plans to continue her advocacy in the field of public policy and aspires to attend law school. With lived experience as a catalyst, she empowers and connects individuals and communities to mobilize climate justice efforts and is steadfast in her commitment to allow all students to learn about climate change in her fight for a “more just, equitable, and climate-resilient future.” Americans Who Tell the Truth

Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, at Harvard, and was until recently the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has served as President of the Econometric Society, the Indian Economic Association, the American Economic Association and the International Economic Association. He was formerly Honorary President of OXFAM. Sen's books have been translated into more than 30 languages. Among the awards that Sen has received are the "Bharat Ratna" (the highest civilian honour in India); the Senator Giovanni Agnelli International Prize in Ethics; the Edinburgh Medal; the Brazilian Ordem do Merito Cientifico (Gra-Cruz); the Eisenhower Medal; Honorary Companion of Honour (U.K.); The George C. Marshall Award; and the Nobel Prize in Economics. Photo courtesy of Jesus de Miguel.

Ambassador Nicholas Burns is the Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy & International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is the founder and Faculty Chair of the Future of Diplomacy Project and Faculty Chair of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship. As a career Foreign Service Officer, he was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2008. He was U.S. Ambassador to NATO (2001-2005), Ambassador to Greece (1997-2001) and State Department Spokesman (1995-1997).

Ambassador Paul Webster Hare was a British diplomat for 30 years and the British ambassador to Cuba from 2001-04. He now teaches international relations at Boston University. Hare graduated with First Class Honors in Politics and Economics from Oxford University in 1972 and from the College of Law in London in 1976. He worked for 5 years in the private sector, in law and investment banking, before entering the British Diplomatic Service. He served overseas at the UK Representation to the EU in Brussels, in Portugal, New York, and in Venezuela as Deputy Head of Mission. He was Head of the Foreign Office’s Non-Proliferation Department and the first Project Director for the UK’s presence at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. Hare is a Fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and served as president of the British Baseball Federation from 2000-01. He has been designated a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Ambassador Hare teaches classes at Boston University on Diplomatic Practice, Arms Control, Intercultural Communication and on Cuba in Transition. In Spring 2016 he will offer a new class on Public Diplomacy. His novel, “Moncada – A Cuban Story”, set in modern Cuba, was published in May 2010. His book “Making Diplomacy Work; Intelligent Innovation for the Modern World.’ was published in early 2015. He has written widely on Cuba with recent articles appearing in, inter alia, The Financial Times, The Atlantic, The Miami Herald and the Huffington Post. He served on the Brookings Institution core group on Cuba and wrote papers on Cuba published by Brookings. He is consulted regularly on Cuba issues by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France and the BBC. He and his wife Lynda have six children and live in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Ambassador Robert Loftis is a retired Foreign Service Officer who served in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Oceania. Over the course of his 32-year career he worked on political military affairs, the United Nations, human rights and democracy promotion, international health, flood and other emergency relief, and conflict resolution and stabilization efforts. His last overseas posting was as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho: other recent assignments include Senior Advisor for Security Negotiations and Agreements (where he negotiated the Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq), Senior Advisor for Avian and Pandemic Influenza, Deputy Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (National Defense University), and Acting Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. He taught International Negotiations, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Diplomatic Practice at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University from 2013-2020 and was Associate Dean for Studies. Loftis earned his B.A. in Political Science from Colorado State University.

Stavros Lambrinidis is the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States, as of March 1, 2019. From 2012 to February 2019, he served as the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights. In 2011, he was Foreign Affairs Minister of Greece. Between 2004 and 2011, he was twice elected Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the Greek Social Democratic Party (PASOK). He served as Vice-President of the European Parliament (2009-11), Vice-President of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (2004-09), and Head of the PASOK Delegation (2005-11).

**Ambar Johnson** is the Program Director for LivableStreets, overseeing Vision Zero, Better Buses, and managing all aspects of the Emerald Network including advocacy, project oversight, and technical assistance. Ambar's work is guided by her belief that "transportation is freedom" to create abundant, safe and accessible infrastructure and options. Previously, she served as a transportation planner at VHB, leading technical analysis for a range of transit feasibility studies and comprehensive plans in the Southeast. Before that, she worked with the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and her neighbors to expand Relay Bike Share by using transportation as a tool for community building. Ambar is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology where she received her Bachelor of Science in History, Technology, and Society with a concentration in Civil Engineering.

Ambassador Audra Plepytė assumed the duties of Ambassador of Lithuania to the U.S. in May 2021. Prior to her appointment, she was Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations from 2017 to 2021. Ambassador Plepytė served as Director of the European Union Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2017. She was Lithuania’s Ambassador to Spain and the World Tourism Organization between 2010 and 2014, and the Director of the Ministry’s Personnel Department from 2009 to 2010. Her other assignments within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs included leading the International Missions and Conflict Prevention Division (2008-2009), serving as Deputy Representative to the Political and Security Committee within Lithuania’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels (2004-2008), and heading the Human Rights and Non-Governmental Organizations Division (2003-2004). Her service also included postings as Deputy Permanent Representative and Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to the United Nations (1999-2002), Counsellor at Lithuania’s Embassy to the United States (1999), Head of the Foreign Ministry’s Northern European Division (1998-1999) and Advisor to the CBSS Commissioner for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (1997-1998). Ambassador Plepytė has BA and MA in Philosophy at Vilnius University. She also has a diploma from the Institute of International Relations at Vilnius University, as well as a certificate of Diplomatic studies at Oxford University in UK.

**Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley**, a 30- year diplomat, is the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Department of State and was the longest serving U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malta. Through a series of senior positions that included advising the Commander of U.S. cyber forces on our foreign policy priorities, expanding our counterterrorism partners and programs as Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, and Coordinating the largest evacuation of American citizens from a war zone since WW ll, her professional life has played out almost daily in international media. She began her formal work in teaching and leadership development as Chairwoman for Middle East Area studies at the prestigious Foreign Service Institute where U.S. diplomats are trained. Earlier in her career, she served in Baghdad, Jakarta and Cairo before taking on the position of Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for the Middle East and Africa. Her Middle East assignments include election monitoring in the Gaza Strip and, an extraordinary assignment where she actively supported gender equality in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the first woman to lead a diplomatic mission there. In addition to the State Department, she has held senior positions at the Defense Department and at the National Security Council of the White House. Prior to that, she was a fellow on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the then Ranking Member, Senator Joseph Biden. Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley is the recipient of the Maltese Order of Merit, Department of State Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, including "For acts of courage during an attack on the U.S. Consulate General, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on December 6, 2004 by al-Qa'ida terrorists."

**Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr.** is a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a Senior Strategic Engagement Leader at Special Operations Command. He served as ambassador to Zimbabwe (2016-2018), the Philippines (2010-2013) and Bangladesh (2003-2005). He retired in March 2018 with the rank of Career Minister after more than three decades in the Foreign Service. Ambassador Thomas also served as Executive Secretary and Special Assistant to Secretary Rice, Director General of the Foreign Service, Director for South Asia at the National Security Council and Director of the Operations Center. Ambassador Thomas speaks Spanish, Hindi, and Bangla. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University. He was the Commencement Speaker at Holy Cross and Loyola University. He is a Trustee of the College of the Holy Cross, the American Academy of Diplomacy, Care for the Homeless and, Chairperson of Winter4Kids and is a former Northern Virginia Swimming Official.

Ivo Daalder is president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and served as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 2009-2013. Ambassador Daalder was educated at the universities of Kent, Oxford, and Georgetown, and received his PhD in political science from MIT.

Kristjan Prikk is the Estonian Ambassador to the United States since May 2021. Before assuming his current duties, Prikk served as the Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defense. Prior to becoming the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Prikk worked as Undersecretary for Defense Policy in the Ministry of Defense from July 2017 to August 2018. From 2015 to 2017 Mr. Prikk was the Director of National Security and the Defense Coordination Unit of the Estonian Government Office. He also served as Deputy Director of the same office for two years prior to becoming the Director in 2015. His previous Ministry of Defense assignments include serving as Defense Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (2010-2013) and as Director of International Cooperation Department in Tallinn (2007-2010). Mr. Prikk holds a Master’s degree from the United States Army War College and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tartu, Estonia. Mr. Prikk is married to Liis, with whom he has two daughters and a son.