Archives: Person
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Azeem Ibrahim
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is a Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College and a Director at the Centre for Global Policy in Washington DC. Over the years, Azeem has advised numerous world leaders on strategy and policy development with his most recent role being the Strategic Policy Advisor to the Chairman of Pakistan’s PTI party, Prime Minister Imran Khan. Azeem is also the author of the seminal books, Rohingya: Inside Myanmar’s Genocide (Hurst: 2016) Radical Origins: Why we are losing the battle against Islamic extremism (Pegasus: 2017). Outside academia, Azeem has been a reservist in the IV Battalion Parachute Regiment (UK’s elite airborne infantry reserve) and…
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Hiddo Houben
Hiddo Houben is currently a head of division at the European Commission headquarters in Belgium where he is responsible for overseeing trade relations between the European Union and the United States and Canada. Prior to this, he was the Head of the economic department of the EU embassy in Washington DC. He also served in the private office of the UK’s EU Trade Commissioners, Peter Mandelson and Baroness Catherine Ashton in Brussels, working on trade, energy policy and financial markets. Hiddo got his start in trade policy in the Uruguay Round negotiations in the early 1990s. He was later deputy chief of the EU team negotiating China’s terms of accession…
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Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood is currently the Chief of Staff at Palantir Technologies, a Silicon Valley software company that has developed the world's most advanced data integration and analysis capabilities. Palantir's technologies are used in the government and commercial sectors world-wide. Prior to joining Palantir in 2012, Gavin accumulated more than 14 years of front-line experience as a senior legal and policy adviser. In 2009-2012, he was the first UK legal adviser to the British Embassy in Washington, DC, where he advised on international legal and policy issues, focusing on the national security sphere. He has held a number of positions in the UK Foreign Office, including as the first legal adviser…
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Beverly Lorraine C. Ho
Beverly “Bev” Lorraine C. Ho is Chief of the Health Research Division of the Health Policy Development and Planning Bureau in the Philippine Department of Health. She works to provide the evidence needed to support health system reforms by designing innovative research grants and building institutional capacity for policy research. These efforts have significantly contributed to the passage of key legislation on sugar-sweetened beverage tax, universal health care (UHC), and the institutionalization of the health technology assessment process in the Philippines. Because of her instrumental role in the UHC Act, she was designated Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health for UHC. Prior to this, she worked with various international…
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Nicola Harrington-Buhay
Nicola Harrington-Buhay works as an advocate for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, notably to increase their possibilities for decent jobs in the workplace. She also represents the International Paralympic Committee at UNESCO. Prior to this, Nicola was Deputy Executive Coordinator for the United Nations Volunteers, promoting volunteerism in peace and development. She was instrumental in introducing the United Nations’ first volunteer program for people with disabilities. She was previously Deputy Director of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which fosters peer exchange between emerging and developing economies on effective approaches to development. Earlier, Nicola spent several years working for the United Nations. She was the United Nations Resident…
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Paromita Goswami
Paromita Goswami seeks to empower some of India’s poorest and most marginalized citizens: the residents of the Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts of the state of Maharashtra. To protect their rights and help them access justice, she has created several non-profit organizations including Elgar Pratishthan, which concentrates on the economic and educational development of rural communities, and Shramik Elgar, a 10,000-member union of rural workers. Trained as a lawyer, Paromita has brought legal challenges on behalf of these members to India’s Supreme Court. Regarded as one of the top labor organizers in the region, she built a training center for rural community organizers. She is also involved in strengthening elected representatives…
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JesĂşs "Franco" Gamboa-Rocabado
JesĂşs "Franco" Gamboa-Rocabado is a professor of political science and development studies at Universidad Mayor de San AndrĂ©s, the most important public university in Bolivia. He is also the main advisor in strategic planning at the National Service for Personal Identification, the Bolivian flagship public institution that holds and render the rights for identity in Bolivia. An influential policy maker at the national level, Franco has dedicated himself to the democratization of Bolivia’s political system through positions with the Ministry of the Presidency, the mayor of La Paz, and Bolivia’s Constitutional Assembly. He also was consultant of the High Court of Electoral Affairs, and helped negotiate political agreements for Constitutional…
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Stefaan De Rynck
Stefaan De Rynck is the Representative of the European Commission in Belgium, creating a bridge between the work of the EU’s executive and Belgian politics and society. Previously, he worked as Senior Adviser to Michel Barnier, who was the European Union’s Chief Negotiator for Brexit (2016-2021). De Rynck published a book in 2023 on those historic negotiations (“Inside the Deal. How the EU got Brexit done”). His experience in EU affairs covers sustainable urban development, financial service and banking regulation, economic integration in the single market, and transport policy. He worked on various reforms of the EU Treaties and served as spokesperson and political advisor for Members of the European…
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Anuradha Das Mathur
Anuradha Das Mathur is the founding dean of The Vedica Scholars Programme for Women, an 18-month residential program in management practice for young women. She is committed to bringing more women into the workplace and ensuring their dignity through financial independence. Anuradha is also a senior advisor to the Albright Stonebridge Group, where she works at the intersection of government, business and civil society to help international organizations with their India strategies. She is a founder director at 9.9 Media, India’s fastest growing niche media company, where she leads a number of professional communities including CFOs and entrepreneurs; the research, advisory and custom services; as well as India’s first Speaker…
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Shu "George" Chen
Shu “George” Chen is a Senior Fellow for the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), for which he has helped to launch and lead the Tech for Good Initiative. As a practitioner–scholar, George’s career spans media, technology and policy for over two decades. Prior to the HKU, George served as Meta’s first-ever Managing Director of Public Policy for Greater China, Mongolia, and Central Asia for more than seven years, making him the most senior policy representative responsible for the vast the diverse regions. George joined Meta (then known as Facebook) in January 2016 to build the company’s regional policy operation from scratch out of its Hong Kong…
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