List of Contributors
Malala Yousafzai attends “Delivering on the Global Education Promise” on occasion of 1-year anniversary of UN Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) co-organized by the GEFI Secretariat and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, September 2013 (United Nations/Amanda Voisard)
Baroness Valerie Amos is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Baroness Amos brings extensive knowledge and experience to the position. She was most recently the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Australia. She has been a long-time campaigner and advocate on human rights, social justice, and equality issues. She is a former Secretary of State for International Development in the British government and was also president of the Privy Council and leader of the House of Lords. Born in Guyana, Baroness Amos holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and a Master of Arts in cultural studies as well as honorary doctorates from 11 British universities and 1 American university. She was awarded the Order of the Volta by the government of Ghana and has been honored by the government of Benin. She was also recognized by the Smithsonian Museum for African Art for her work on the continent.
Michelle Bachelet is the president of Chile. From 2002 to 2004, she held the position of defense minister, making her the first woman to hold this position in Chile and Latin America. Under her direction, important changes were made to compulsory military service; the role of the ministry and the military staff was strengthened; rights for women in the armed forces, police, and investigatory police were improved; and more Chilean peacekeeping forces were deployed across the world. In March 2006, Ms. Bachelet became the first female president of the republic, marking the beginning of a period where the government focused on achieving greater equality and social inclusion in Chile. In 2010, after finishing a presidential term marked by record citizen support and approval, she created the Fundación Dialoga (Dialogue Foundation) to continue contributing to the renewal of ideas from center-leftists and to serve as a motivational space for new leadership to form. In 2010, she became the president of the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group, a joint initiative with the International Labor Organization and World Health Organization that works to promote social policies that stimulate economic growth and social cohesion. Under her leadership in 2011, the group published a report titled Social Protection Floor for a Fair and Inclusive Globalization, which currently serves as a guide for the United Nations (UN) regarding a universal standard of social protection. In September 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Ms. Bachelet the first executive director of UN Women, an organization dedicated to fighting for the rights of women and girls internationally. In March 2013, after 2½ years of service dedicated to increasing women’s political participation and economic empowerment and fighting to end violence against women, she resigned from the organization. Ms. Bachelet then returned to Chile and again became a presidential candidate, winning a second term in December 2013.
Ambassador Rick Barton is the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) and the Secretary of State’s senior advisor on conflict and stabilization. The bureau is responsible for driving the State Department’s efforts to improve U.S. Government effectiveness in preventing cycles of violent conflict and addressing crises. Ambassador Barton leads a 160-member team that focuses on a few countries of special importance or where catalytic initiatives can further locally driven solutions. CSO has become known for its agility, innovative strategies, broad partnerships, local initiatives, and advanced analytics and mass communications. Since the bureau’s first years, the highest priority countries have been Syria, Burma, Honduras, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria. Previously, Ambassador Barton served in New York as the U.S. Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (UN), working on development, peace-building, climate change, and human rights. During that time, he was actively engaged in the creation of UN Women, as well as the advancement of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, Millennium Development Goals summit, and Democracy Fund initiatives; suspension of Libya’s voting rights on the UN Human Rights Commission; reconstruction of Haiti post-earthquake; and alignment of U.S. and UN development country programs. Ambassador Barton has worked to improve U.S. and international responses to conflict in more than 40 of the world’s most unstable places. He led independent reviews of Iraq reconstruction; developed civilian strategies for Iraq, Sudan, and Sri Lanka; created new measurements of progress in Iraq and Afghanistan; and initiated path-breaking approaches to conflict reduction in Pakistan and Nigeria. Ambassador Barton has a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and a Master of Business Administration from Boston University. He was honored with a doctorate from Wheaton College of Massachusetts.
Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd is an associate professor in the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. Her areas of specialty are U.S.-Burma relations, Asia-Pacific economics, organizational development/innovation, and adult learning/education. Her functional areas of focus are civil-military operations, interagency collaboration, and corporate financial accounting standards. Dr. Byrd is also a civil affairs officer in the U.S. Army Reserves. She was mobilized in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003. While on Active duty from 2003 to 2007, she served as the deputy economic advisor, civil-military operations plans officer, and interagency operations officer at U.S. Pacific Command. She had also served as a linguist and cultural advisor to the U.S. delegations attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, POW/MIA recovery negotiations in Burma, and Operation Caring Response to cyclone Nargis. Dr. Byrd is currently serving on the boards of the Pacific Gateway Center and the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and accounting from Claremont McKenna College and a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Asia-Pacific economics and business from the University of Hawaii. She earned her doctorate in education leadership from the University of Southern California.
Major General (Ret.) Patrick Cammaert had a distinguished military career in both the Netherlands, with the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, and the United Nations (UN), where he served as sector commander in Cambodia, assistant chief of staff in Bosnia-Herzegovina, force commander in Ethiopia and Eritrea, military advisor to the Department of Peace Keeping Operations, and general officer commanding the Eastern Division in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since his retirement in 2007, he has been an expert advocate regarding issues such as leadership in crisis circumstances, international peace and security, civil-military cooperation in peace support operations, peacekeeping, and security sector reform. Major General Cammaert has advised the senior management of the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations, UN Development Programme, and UN Development Fund for Women on strategic planning issues such as integrated training development, protection of civilians under immediate threat of physical violence, and sexual gender–based violence in armed conflict. He is regularly a mentor at senior UN Mission Leadership courses. In 2008, Major General Cammaert was awarded the Dutch Carnegie Foundation’s Wateler Peace Prize. He is a member of the advisory board of the Mukomeze Foundation, which helps women and girls who survived rape and other forms of sexual violence in Rwanda.
Ambassador Luis CdeBaca was appointed by President Barack Obama in May 2009 to coordinate U.S. Government activities in the global fight against contemporary forms of slavery. He serves as senior advisor to the Secretary of State and directs the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which assesses global trends, provides training and technical assistance, and advocates for an end to modern slavery. Ambassador CdeBaca formerly served as counsel to the House Committee on the Judiciary, where his portfolio for Chairman John Conyers, Jr., included national security, intelligence, immigration, civil rights, and modern slavery issues. At the Department of Justice, Ambassador CdeBaca was one of the country’s most decorated Federal prosecutors, leading the investigation and prosecution of cases involving money laundering, organized crime, alien smuggling, official misconduct, hate crimes, and human trafficking. He was honored with the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for his service as lead trial counsel in the largest slavery prosecution in U.S. history, which involved the enslavement of over 300 Vietnamese and Chinese workers in a garment factory in American Samoa. He has received the leading honor given by the national trafficking victim service provider community, the Freedom Network’s Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award, and has been named the Michigan Law School’s Distinguished Latino Alumnus. He has convicted dozens of abusive pimps and employers and helped to liberate hundreds of victims from servitude. Ambassador CdeBaca holds a Bachelor of Arts from Iowa State University and a Juris Doctor from the Michigan Law School, where he was an editor of the Michigan Law Review.
General Carter F. Ham, USA (Ret.), was the second commander of U.S. Africa Command from 2011 to 2013. He started his career as an enlisted infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division before attending John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He was commissioned in the infantry as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1976. His military service included assignments in Kentucky, Ohio, California, Georgia, Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Macedonia, and Iraq. He held a variety of positions to include recruiting area commander; battalion executive officer at the National Training Center; advisor to the Saudi Arabian National Guard; commander, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry; chief of staff, 1st Infantry Division; commander, 29th Infantry Regiment; commander, Multi-National Brigade, Mosul, Iraq; commander, 1st Infantry Division; and director for operations, Joint Staff J3. His previous assignment was commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army. His military education includes the Armor Officers Advanced Course, Naval College of Command and Staff (graduating with distinction), and the Air War College. General Ham’s awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star, and Joint Service Commendation Medal.
Dr. Cindy Y. Huang is the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) deputy vice president for Sector Operations in the Department of Compact Operations, where she is in charge of policies, standards, and processes in key programmatic and operational areas. Dr. Huang manages teams responsible for MCC’s investments in agriculture, land, education, health, and community-driven development. She also oversees fiscal accountability, procurement and contracts support, and ensures that social inclusion and gender equality principles are integrated into the design and implementation of MCC’s programs. Dr. Huang has a Bachelor of Arts in ethics, politics, and economics from Yale University and a Master of Public Administration in development studies from Princeton. She also holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley.
Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman served as the U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan from March 2011 to March 2013. As special envoy, he led U.S. policy in helping in the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Ambassador Lyman previously held the position of Ralph Bunche Fellow for African Affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. From 1999 to 2003, he was executive director of the Global Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute. Ambassador Lyman’s previous career in government included assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs (1981–1986), U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria (1986–1989), director of refugee programs (1989–1992), U.S. Ambassador to South Africa (1992–1995), and assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs (1996–1998). From 2008 to 2010, he was a member of the African Advisory Committee to the United States Trade Representative. Ambassador Lyman is a member of several boards, including the National Endowment for Democracy, Niger Delta Partnership Initiative, Buffleshoek Trust in South Africa, and the board on African science academy development for the National Academy of Sciences. Ambassador Lyman holds a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. His major publications include Partner to History: The U.S. Role in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy (U.S. Institute of Peace Press, 2002) and Beyond Humanitarianism: What You Need to Know About Africa and Why It Matters (Council on Foreign Relations, 2007). Most recently he has published several articles on Sudan and South Sudan.
Admiral William H. McRaven, USN (Ret.), was the ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) from 2011 to 2014. He also served from 2008 to 2011 as the 11th commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which is charged to study special operations requirements and techniques, ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, plan and conduct special operations exercises and training, and develop joint special operations tactics. Admiral McRaven served from 2006 to 2008 as commander, Special Operations Command Europe. In addition to his duties as commander, he was designated as the first director of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Operations Forces Coordination Centre where he was charged with enhancing the capabilities and interoperability of all NATO Special Operations Forces. Admiral McRaven has commanded at every level within the special operations community, including assignments as deputy commanding general for operations at JSOC; commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group One; commander of SEAL Team Three; task group commander in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility; task unit commander during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield; squadron commander at Naval Special Warfare Development Group; and SEAL platoon commander at Underwater Demolition Team 21/SEAL Team Four. His diverse staff and interagency experience includes assignments as the director for strategic planning in the Office of Combating Terrorism on the National Security Council Staff; assessment director at USSOCOM; staff member of the Chief of Naval Operations; and the chief of staff at Naval Special Warfare Group One. Admiral McRaven’s professional education includes an assignment to the Naval Postgraduate School, where he helped establish, and was the first graduate from, the Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict curriculum.
Jane Mosbacher Morris is the founder and chief executive officer of TO THE MARKET | Survivor-made Goods, which focuses on economic empowerment for survivors of abuse, conflict, and disease. She previously served as the director of humanitarian action for the McCain Institute for International Leadership, where she managed the institute’s efforts against human trafficking. Prior to joining the institute, she worked in the Department of State in the Bureau of Counterterrorism and in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. Ms. Morris drafted the State Department’s first Women and Counterterrorism Strategy and helped to develop the department’s implementation of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, a Presidential interagency initiative. She has worked at the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and has served as an investment advisor to Barbara Corcoran of ABC’s Shark Tank. She loves to travel, speak, and write on issues of women, human security, and the power of the private sector to do good. Ms. Morris has received numerous awards from the State Department and was been named one of the “Top 99 Under 33 Most Influential Young Professionals” by the Diplomatic Courier. She serves on the boards of Women LEAD, USA Cares, wH20: The Journal of Gender and Water, ONE Campaign’s Women and Girls Initiative, ARZU Studio of Hope, and 360 Degrees Vanishing. She holds a Bachelor of Science in foreign service from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.
Admiral Michael Mullen, USN (Ret.), was the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As such, he served as the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, National Security Council, and Homeland Security Council. A native of Los Angeles, California, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968. He commanded three ships: the gasoline tanker USS Noxubee (AOG-56), the guided-missile destroyer USS Goldsborough (DDG-20), and the guided-missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48). As a flag officer, Admiral Mullen commanded Cruiser Destroyer Group 2, the USS George Washington battle group, and the U.S. Second Fleet/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Striking Fleet Atlantic. Ashore, he served in leadership positions at the U.S. Naval Academy, in the Navy’s Bureau of Personnel, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and on the Navy staff. He was the 32nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations from August 2003 to October 2004. His last operational assignment was as commander of NATO Joint Force Command Naples/commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe. Admiral Mullen is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School and earned a Master of Science in operations research from the Naval Postgraduate School. Prior to becoming Chairman, Admiral Mullen served as the 28th Chief of Naval Operations.
Captain Scott T. Mulvehill is currently serving as the special assistant and speechwriter for the commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. He advises the commander on a full range of U.S. and international issues. He develops strategic thought pieces and messaging for a broad international audience and articulates the commander’s vision and priorities. A 22-year naval aviator, he has served at sea during multiple combat deployments. While he was the commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA 147), the squadron achieved Navy-wide awards for outstanding combat readiness and retention excellence. Captain Mulvehill holds a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.
Navanethem Pillay served as the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. Ms. Pillay, a South African national, was the first woman to start a law practice in her home province of Natal in 1967. Over the next few years, she acted as a defense attorney for anti-apartheid activists, exposing torture and helping establish key rights for prisoners on Robben Island. She also worked as a lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and later was appointed vice president of the Council of the University of Durban Westville. In 1995, after the end of apartheid, Ms. Pillay was appointed as acting judge on the South African High Court, and in the same year was elected by the UN General Assembly to be a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), where she served a total of 8 years, the last four (1999–2003) as president. She played a critical role in the ICTR’s groundbreaking jurisprudence on rape as genocide, as well as on issues of freedom of speech and hate propaganda. In 2003, she was appointed as a judge on the International Criminal Court in The Hague where she served on the appeals chamber until August 2008. In South Africa, as a member of the Women’s National Coalition, she contributed to the inclusion of the equality clause in the country’s constitution that prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. She co-founded Equality Now, an international women’s rights organization, and has been involved with other organizations working on issues relating to children, detainees, victims of torture and domestic violence, and a range of economic, social, and cultural rights. Ms. Pillay received a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from KwaZulu-Natal University. She also holds a Master of Law and Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard University.
Ms. Mari Skåre is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Representative for Women, Peace, and Security. She has extensive experience from the Norwegian Foreign Service. Prior to her nomination as special representative, she served as minister counselor and deputy permanent representative at the Norwegian Delegation to NATO. She also served as minister counselor and deputy head of mission at the Norwegian embassy in Kabul and previously as counselor and legal adviser at the Norwegian Mission to the United Nations (UN). Ms. Skåre joined the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991. Her first assignment was as legal adviser in the Secretariat of the Minister of International Development. Since then, she has held a number of positions and has extensive knowledge of the UN and NATO. Throughout her career, she has worked with issues relating to women and security, particularly through her positions as minister counselor at the Norwegian embassy in Kabul and the Norwegian Delegation to NATO. In these positions, she was instrumental in formulating Norwegian policies. Ms. Skåre holds a Master of Law degree from the University of Oslo.
Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN (Ret.), is the 12th dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He led the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. He also served as commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006 to 2009. Admiral Stavridis holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School and won the Gullion Prize as outstanding student. He has published 5 books and over 100 articles. He primarily focuses on innovation, strategic communication and planning, and creating security through international, interagency, and public/private partnerships.
Ambassador Donald Steinberg is president and chief executive officer of World Learning, Inc., an international nonprofit organization that provides education, exchange, and development programs in more than 60 countries. Previously, he served as deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), providing overall direction and management for the agency. His areas of focus include the Middle East and Africa; reforms under USAID Forward, and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review; integration and mainstreaming of gender and disabilities into agency programming; and enhanced dialogue with development partners, including civil society, business, foreign donors, international institutions, Congress, and other U.S. Government agencies. Ambassador Steinberg previously served as deputy president for policy at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit seeking to prevent, contain, and resolve deadly conflict. He also served as a Randolph Jennings Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace where he advocated for the world’s 25 million internally displaced persons. On Capitol Hill, Ambassador Steinberg served as senior adviser for defense and foreign policy to House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) and as director of the House Task Force on Trade and Competitiveness. He has also worked with the Women’s Refugee Commission, United Nations Development Fund for Women, and Institute for Inclusive Security. Ambassador Steinberg has published more than 100 articles on foreign policy, African developments, gender issues, postconflict reconstruction, children and armed conflict, and disarmament. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Reed College, a Master of Arts in journalism from Columbia University, and a Master of Arts in political economy from the University of Toronto. His honors include the Presidential Meritorious Honor Award, Frasure Award for International Peace, Hunt Award for Women in Policy Formulation, Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship, State Department Distinguished Service Award, and six State Department Superior Honor Awards.
Ambassador Melanne Verveer is executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Previously, she served as the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, a position to which President Barack Obama nominated her in 2009. She coordinated foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic, and social advancement of women and traveled to nearly 60 countries. Ambassador Verveer worked to ensure that women’s participation and rights are fully integrated into U.S. foreign policy, and she played a leadership role in the administration’s development of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. President Obama also appointed her to serve as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. From 2000 to 2008, she was the chair and co–chief executive officer of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international nongovernmental organization that she co-founded to invest in emerging women leaders. During the Bill Clinton administration, she served as assistant to the President and chief of staff to the First Lady. She also led the effort to establish the President’s Interagency Council on Women and was instrumental in the adoption of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Ambassador Verveer holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Georgetown University. In 2013, she was the Humanitas Visiting Professor at Cambridge University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender and Development. She holds several honorary degrees and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the U.S. Secretary of State’s Award for Distinguished Service.