Diane Geng, Class of 2007
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow, Rural China Education Foundation, NYU Shanghai

My passion is improving the quality of education for children in rural China. As a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in China, I co-founded the Rural China Education Foundation (RCEF), with Wei Ji Ma and Sara Lam, two overseas Chinese who, like me, have roots in rural China. Our mission is to promote education that helps students develop the analytical thinking skills, self-confidence, and empathy that can prepare them to solve problems in their own lives and in the communities to which they belong.

I am grateful for the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship that made it possible for me to obtain a master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. While still a Reynolds Fellow, I was named a 2007 Echoing Green Fellow to launch RCEF’s first full-time programs in China. Upon graduation from Harvard, I moved to a village in northern China and worked there for three years, helping to co-manage an experimental rural elementary school and set up professional development programs for teachers. Today, RCEF is sharing our experiences, teaching methods and curriculum with teachers, schools and NGOs across China.

In addition, I have expanded my efforts in education reform to higher education — specifically NYU Shanghai, a comprehensive liberal arts and sciences research university in the heart of Shanghai, the first Sino-American degree-granting liberal arts college in China.

Steven Ballantyne,  Class of 2010
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow, Program Director, Project Realize

First, I would like to thank Wayne and Catherine Reynolds for their generous support, which allowed me to pursue an MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Since graduating, I have been able to combine my for-profit and not-for-profit interests in a unique way. I manage a program called Project Realize, funded by Vista Equity Partners founder, Robert Smith.  We help companies grow to the next level by implementing proprietary business intelligence systems and standards of operations.  In a way, we are proving that businesses need human capital more than financial capital.  It’s a different way of thinking, and of giving back. We are “teaching a man how to fish,” and the long-term impact is indefinite.

When selecting companies to adopt, apart from looking for visionaries, we look for community-minded management.  We aim to transform the business, and in turn, the surrounding community.  By helping the business grow, we are building the community, through job growth and an increased tax base.  As they grow, the businesses we help are able to increase their involvement in community programs.  In partnership with the Chicago-based chemical manufacturer Cedar Concepts, Project Realize has the ability to continually grow, and to increase its impact on the community year after year.

I love my job, and Robert Smith has big plans for the future.  I will make sure to keep you abreast as we grow.

My experience as a Reynolds Fellow and as an alumnus of the Academy of Achievement continues to inform my practice and my scholarship in significant ways.  The rich engagement with presenters and colleagues at the International Achievement Summit provided me with the tools I needed to elevate my own leadership capacities.

During our dinner at the Supreme Court, I have a vivid memory of Justice Sotomayor looking into the eyes of each of us at my table, and saying, “Stay connected with the people at this table.  These relationships are what will guide your success for years and years to come.”  I believe that to be true, and am especially grateful for this fact.  (For another Academy memory, see a recent blog post here: http://nathanieldunigan.com/?p=1100.)

During the nine years prior to my tenure as a Reynolds Fellow, I lived in Uganda, East Africa where I founded AidChild, the first organization in the country (and among the first in the world) to provide free antiretroviral therapy to children living with HIV/AIDS.  The organization currently earns about 70 percent of its budget through businesses I created under our corporate label in Uganda.  Last year, in partnership with celebrity chef Brian Malarkey, we opened yet another business, a restaurant and lounge called Olubugo.

I am currently the Dammeyer Fellow in Global Education Leadership at the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, University of San Diego.  My Ph.D. research has taken me around the world as I work with a team to create learning-and-teaching training modules for leaders in the affordable private education sectors of the emerging world.  (The photo at right was taken during classroom observations in Ghana.)  My dissertation is focused on the social construction of masculinities across three generations of Ugandan men.  It is my intention to combine my years of on-the-ground experience, insights gained at the Academy of Achievement, and my emerging scholarship to effecting change across Sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2012, I also had the honor of being named a Cordes Foundation Fellow at the Opportunity Collaboration in Ixtapa, Mexico.

I am enormously grateful for the experiences provided by the Academy of Achievement, and I look forward to one day being in a position to offer something back.  There is so much to do.  Onward!

Maria Fernanda Levis-Peralta, Class of 2006
Catherine B. Reynolds
Foundation Fellow
CEO, Impactivo Consulting

The International Achievement Summit of 2006 changed my life.  Each person I met was more talented than the next, and the message was overwhelmingly clear: “Believe in the beauty of your dreams, dare to make them happen and don’t be afraid of failure.”  I will never forget one of my personal idols, the Honorable Desmond Tutu, looking straight at us saying “You are no chickens, you are eagles. Fly!”  And that is a mantra I have taken with me.  Just yesterday, I was sharing that sentiment with a talented young lady who works in my office.  She was asking me how she could improve, and à la Academy of Achievement, I urged her to dare to take risks. These lessons have served me well.

After graduating from the Harvard Kennedy School and School of Public Health as a Reynolds Foundation Fellow, my husband and I decided to move back home to Puerto Rico.  Our son was six months old and we were committed to giving back to society.  After our return, I founded Impactivo, a social impact consulting firm that specializes in the fields of health care, childhood, education and philanthropy. These fields are plagued with market failures, and we’ve found that our approach of incorporating systems research, policy, strategy, and funding methodologies has been particularly successful.  To date, we have worked with local health care payers, providers and public officials to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Affordable Care Act for improving our people’s health. Among other initiatives , we helped a community health organization design and procure full financing for the first women’s health center in an impoverished area of southeastern Puerto Rico, and worked with another community to develop a comprehensive plan for the development of integrated and effective early childhood development (ECD) policies and programs, including strategies and financing systems.  This year we are happy to announce that we will be working with the World Forum for Early Childhood Care and Education, to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2014.

Last month, Impactivo became the first BCorp (a certified sustainable enterprise) in Puerto Rico, joining the global movement to re-define business success. We are also working to help others through accreditation. We believe that social needs are just as influential on markets as conventional economic needs and built Impactivo to help communities thrive by placing social impact at the center of our work and using market forces to improve people’s lives.  Our company has grown 200 percent at a time when the local economy is facing negative growth, proving that an investment in your community is an investment in yourself.

Thanks to Wayne and Catherine Reynolds for believing in me and for the amazing opportunities you have afforded me.  In your honor I will make sure to pass them on.

Justin Pasquariello, Class of 2010
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow, Children’s Health Watch

Attending the Academy of Achievement in Washington, D.C. in March 2010 was an incredible experience, near the end of an amazing fellowship and graduate program. Before going to graduate school, I founded Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring (AFC), a Boston-based organization that empowers foster youth to flourish through committed mentoring relationships and the development of critical life skills.  Having been a foster youth myself, before being adopted at age nine, I knew personally the importance of that work.

After six years of building that organization, I remained committed to helping youth in foster care, but I also wanted to reduce the need for child welfare by helping a broader population, and to do my part to make this a more peaceful, happy, and sustainable world.  As I sought to determine what path to take, the weekly co-curricular sessions I experienced as a Reynolds Fellow were a perfect place to consider multiple approaches to social change.

The International Achievement Summit provided a capstone for that exploration.  So many of the leaders who addressed us inspired me with their humility and approachability. I was particularly inspired by Andy Stern’s efforts to provide hardworking people in lower wage professions with a platform from which to advocate for themselves.

To build my skill set, and diversify my work experience, I became a Consultant with the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit consulting firm in Boston.  I worked with a great group of committed people there, including several who had been Reynolds Fellows with me.

I am now the Executive Director of Children’s HealthWatch, a research and policy group that identifies and shares information about children’s health and development policies.  Billy Shore, who oversaw the co-curricular program during my fellowship, was a very helpful adviser as I made the decision to join Children’s HealthWatch.

Since 1998, Children’s HealthWatch has been collecting research about the positive impact of programs that help families meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and energy, and sharing these findings with leaders and policy makers at the local, state and federal level. In recent years, there have been more than 30 citations of our work each year in local and national media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, The New York Times and The Washington Post.  Our founder has been called “the woman who saved SNAP,” the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.  Our principal investigators have won a variety of awards, and delivered important testimony; one played a prominent role in the recent documentary A Place at the Table.  I feel truly privileged to lead this group in work that furthers my goals of helping society’s most vulnerable, increasing their happiness, and their chances of success.

I am currently working on a book about my experiences in foster care and how the system can work, when everyone works in the best interest of the child.  I continue to serve as Board Chair of AFC, the organization I founded, and am thrilled to see the organization’s continued growth under a great leader.  I live in East Boston, one of my favorite places.  I am very fortunate to have a wonderful wife, and great family and friends—including several with whom I was a Reynolds Fellow.  I am very thankful for the myriad ways in which the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation and the Academy of Achievement led me to the work I am now doing.

Erika Hval, Class of 2010
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Scholar, Tufts University Medical Center

Erika Hval graduated from NYU in 2011 with a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. As an undergraduate, Erika was inspired by the interdisciplinary focus of the Academy of Achievement and the Reynolds Foundation Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship. Through these associations, she realized it would be necessary to reach outside her chosen field of nutrition to change it from within. Thanks to the preparation and the network of collaborators that the Academy and the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation provided, she now views policy, law, business, agriculture, and the arts as key elements to achieving her goals in nutrition and public health.

Erika is currently a master’s student at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, at Tufts University in Boston, and a dietetic intern at Tufts Medical Center. Her dual degree program at Tufts is training Erika as a registered dietitian, and guides her through the community, the inpatient hospital setting, and outpatient counseling centers, to improve the eating behaviors of neighbors, patients, and clients.

Since moving to Boston, she has interned with the Boston Public Health Commission’s Intergovernmental Relations Department to design and implement citywide health promotion projects, and advise the federal government on nutrition-related legislation. She serves as Vice President of the Massachusetts Student Dietetic Association and as Communications Director for Jumbo’s Kitchen, an after-school nutrition and cooking program for low-income elementary school students. Erika ultimately hopes to leverage her education in nutrition and healthcare to influence food and nutrition policy and achieve systemic public health change.

Matt Sisul, Class of 2009 and 2010
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow,
Principal, Sisul Consulting LLC

After attending the 2009 International Achievement Summit in South Africa and the 2010 Summit in Washington, D.C., I was inspired to view my own area of expertise with fresh eyes, and to re-define my goals in my personal area of interest, infrastructure in developing countries.

Upon completion of my Master’s program at New York University in 2011, I took a job with YCF Group S.A. in Port au Prince, Haiti, and contributed to the rebuilding effort after the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. YCF Group is a local business, run by Yves Francois a Haitian-American who returned to the country of his birth after a long career in corporate architecture in the US.

The company was a good fit, as it was important to me that my efforts contribute to a local business. In Haiti, and in my experience elsewhere, I all too often see that building and infrastructure service delivery are dependent on a foreign advisor; though the project itself may be a success, the reliance on foreign expertise is not diminished. YCF Group is predominantly Haitian, employing local engineers, architects, foremen, masons, carpenters, steel workers and drivers. As an outsider, the learning curve was steep, but I had some excellent help from my colleagues. After successful completion of a few projects, I was able to build relationships of mutual trust with my coworkers. Over time, as my command of Haitian Creole improved, I could see the direct impact of my efforts, through improved building practices, site supervision, and the acquisition of more complex projects.

In my 15 months with YCF Group, I worked on a variety of projects, as lead structural engineer, construction manager, project manager, and quality control supervisor. I managed over $4 million in construction funds. Our projects included: four primary schools for Finn Church Aid; three fire stations for the U.S. Navy; four capital expansion projects at a nursing school for the Episcopal Church, funded by a USAID ASHA grant; and a new cholera treatment center for the health non-profit, Gheskio, designed in collaboration with MASS Group architects.

Since returning to Brooklyn in September, I’ve started a new consulting firm, Sisul Consulting LLC. The firm specializes in providing engineering and construction services to local construction companies in developing countries, to help them compete with international firms and organizations for international contracts. The guiding philosophy behind the venture is that developing nations require a strong foundation in local infrastructure services and project delivery. To achieve this, countries need to develop their own professional class of laborers, superintendents, engineers and architects. Sisul Consulting LLC works with established local contracting firms to help them learn by doing, working together on contracts to build internal capacity. I continue to work closely with partners in Haiti and have recently completed a market research trip to South Sudan.

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Last year, I presented a webinar related to my thesis topic and my general approach to international development. I continue to refine my theory of change, as applied to infrastructure in developing countries. I am hopeful that I can continue to do so for many years to come.

Amita Swadhin, Class of 2010
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow,
Los Angeles Executive Director, Peer Health Exchange

The invitation to the 2010 International Achievement Summit came at a crucial time in my life. I had taken a huge leap that year by creating Secret Survivors (www.secretsurvivors.org), a theater project telling my story and the story of other survivors of child sexual assault/abuse with the avant-garde New York City theater group Ping Chong & Co. (www.pingchong.org) I was in graduate school studying public policy at the time, and some of my professors cautioned me against such a personal and risky move. Yet at the Summit, I heard one trailblazing speaker after another attribute their success to making bold choices and advise all of us to follow our hearts and our passion. I’ll never forget the words of wisdom shared by Jacqueline Novogratz, Anthony Romero, Michelle Rhee, Congressman John Lewis and Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I know it was an experience of a lifetime to have dinner at the Supreme Court and to have conversations in such intimate settings with CIA Director Leon Panetta and General James Jones. Of course, one of the biggest highlights was deepening my friendships with so many of my peers – relationships I know will last a lifetime – and being able to cement those friendships on the dance floor (in the company of Wolf Blitzer, no less!). The Summit gave me the confidence to continue my work with pride, no matter how far off the beaten path it takes me.

Since the Summit, I have graduated with an MPA from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, where I was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. In 2011, Secret Survivors premiered to a live audience of over 400 people at El Museo del Barrio in New York City. We have since created a documentary based on the show, expanding the number of survivors and advocates in the project to ensure that we illustrate the scope of the endemic violence of child sexual abuse (in the US, the CDC has demonstrated (http://www.cdc.gov/ace/prevalence.htm) that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually assaulted/abused by the age of 18). Drawing from my background as an educator and trainer, I have also written a toolkit and curriculum guide to accompany the DVD, and hope this project will equip many individuals and organizations to take the crucial step of talking about this taboo but all too common violence. I gave my first talk about Secret Survivors at a TEDxYouth conference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3eU2xw03s) in 2010, and continue to give presentations about ending child sexual abuse, including at the upcoming National Sexual Assault Conference (http://www.nsvrc.org/nsac). The Secret Survivors project continues through Ping Chong & Co. I performed again with the rest of the original cast in a festival at the off-off Broadway venue La MaMa in October 2012 (http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/theater/ping-chong-delivers-a-new-set-of-undesirable-elements-plays.html?_r=1&), and the company is now creating additional works and hosting writing workshops with child sexual abuse survivors in communities from the Bronx to Minnesota to Michigan to Oregon.

A year ago, I moved to Los Angeles after three years of bicoastal living with my partner, riKu. I’ve been so lucky to find the perfect job for me – I’m now serving as the Los Angeles Executive Director of Peer Health Exchange (http://www.peerhealthexchange.org), a national nonprofit that gives teens the knowledge and skills to make healthy decisions. We do this by training college student volunteers to present health workshops in public high schools that lack comprehensive health education, and in which a majority of students are from low-income families. I was especially drawn to this role because our curriculum not only addresses the subjects one might expect in a health class – STI/HIV prevention, pregnancy prevention, nutrition, physical activity, and substance abuse prevention – but also includes workshops on healthy relationships, abusive relationships, rape and sexual assault, and mental health. Our curriculum is bookended by workshops on decision-making and communication skills. Our program truly empowers young people to make informed decisions about what choices are best for them. Moreover, every topic we teach addresses a health risk or challenge that survivors of child sexual assault/abuse are at disproportionate risk of experiencing. I am grateful to be leading a talented team of staff members, and 250 college student volunteers who reach 2,900 ninth grade students across 22 public high schools throughout L.A. County.

In my personal time, I enjoy giving back to my communities as a member of the Liberty Hill Foundation’s OUT Fund (http://www.libertyhill.org/), and Peace Over Violence’s Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Advisory Council (http://peaceoverviolence.org/), and as a founding member of South Asians for Justice (http://www.facebook.com/southasiansforjustice).

In 2011, I participated in the School for Creative Activism (http://artisticactivism.org/school-of-creative-activism/) and GLAAD’s National People of Color Media Institute (http://www.glaad.org/programs/pocmedia), and have since had the opportunity to publish and perform  essays and poetry on various issues of social injustice that keep me up at night. I co-host and co-produce Flip the Script (http://www.facebook.com/flipthescriptla), a weekly radio show on Pacifica’s KPFK.

The rest of my time goes to thoroughly enjoying my new life on the west coast, including things the New Yorker in me only dreamed of doing (like raising a puppy, composting for a home garden, hiking every week, and watching the sun set over the mountains). Life is good, and I’m very grateful for all of the support I’ve had to get here!

Jose Edwards, Class of 2006
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow,
Chilean Congressman, Araucania Region, District 51

Three years after attending the Academy of Achievement, I was elected to Congress, represent Chile’s only minority-majority district. Gaining the hearts of the Mapuche people has proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

For many years, the Mapuche people have not enjoyed equality of access to education, justice, or public benefits. As a result, they make up one of the neediest groups of our society. As a Congressman, I have worked with Mapuche communities and the Chilean government to design public policies that help resolve their challenges in a culturally sensitive way. I have spent a great part of my time addressing issues such as the lack of access to clean water, rural public transportation and economic development.

In Congress, I sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee and chair the Economic Committee. Working in tandem with the executive branch, we have passed legislation that enables Chileans to start a company in a single day, reduced the maximum interest rate that banks and financial institutions are allowed to charge borrowers, and created a new consumer protection division for defending the rights of financial service customers. We are now discussing a bill to protect personal data, and to regulate the relationship between airlines and their passengers. On the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have devoted much of my energy to the Alianza del Pácifico. The member states of this alliance—México, Perú, Colombia and Chile—are achieving a degree of integration that is unprecedented among Latin American countries.

Events in life resemble a chain: one action, thought or deed leads to the next. Volunteer work helped me become a social entrepreneur, co-founding Un Techo para Chile (UTPCh). My years in UTPCh, building emergency shelters, led me to Harvard and the Reynolds Fellowship. Failing to capture the hearts of Harvard’s diverse student body led me to lose an election at the Kennedy School of Government, but gave me valuable insight into the nature of diversity. This experience, together with learning from living examples of success in gatherings such as the International Achievement Summit, were key to winning election in Chile´s most diverse district.

Jill Baumgartner, Ph.D.,
Class of 2006
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow, Assistant Professor, McGill University

Attending the 2006 Academy of Achievement Summit in Los Angeles was an experience beyond anything I could have imagined — unforgettable sessions on politics, religion and science with world experts and leaders, swapping Peace Corps stories with Chris Matthews, and hitting the dance floor with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I am very grateful to Catherine and Wayne Reynolds for that opportunity.

Since the Summit, I have finished a joint Ph.D. in Population Health and Environment and Resources, and led a project at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, researching the connections between energy, air pollution and climate in China. I am excited to be starting as an Assistant Professor at McGill University this summer, jointly appointed in the Institute for Health and Social Policy and in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health. My research group in global environmental health aims to understand the impact of environmental pollution on human health, and identify interventions to address these problems. I’m privileged to collaborate with incredibly smart and dedicated scientists and practitioners from around the world through a variety of applied research programs. Amidst dissertations and field projects, my husband Brian and I also welcomed our curious and energetic 3-year old daughter, Oriane, into our family.

Jessica Ann Mason, Class of 2010
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow, YouTube for Good

Jessica Ann Mason is interested in using technology to alleviate poverty and encourage economic development. She currently works on the YouTube for Good team, developing tools and services for nonprofits, educators, and activists.

Prior to joining YouTube, Jessica worked for a New Zealand based NGO, directing their disaster relief program in Haiti. She also traveled to more than 80 schools and universities across the U.S. to raise awareness and funds for nonprofits working to combat extreme poverty.

Jessica graduated with high honors from New York University with a B.S. in Social Work and a B.A. in History. She was the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards during her time at NYU, including the Catherine B. Reynolds Scholarship in Social Entrepreneurship and the Grand Prize in Ashoka/Youth Venture’s “Be a Changemaker Challenge” for her work with homeless youth. At NYU’s 2010 Commencement ceremony at Yankee Stadium, she was invited to give the student commencement address on behalf of all graduating students. She spoke about trying to view the future in terms of value rather than success.

Jessica was recently named a Marshall Scholar; she will move to England in September 2013 to study at the London School of Economics and the Oxford Internet Institute.

David Russell, Class of 2008
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow,
CEO, Survivors Fund (SURF)

Since participating at the 2008 International Achievement Summit, I have graduated with an MPA from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University, where I was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. I am now Chief Executive of Survivors Fund (SURF), the principal international organization representing and supporting survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. SURF partners with survivors’ organizations in Rwanda to build their capacity to advocate, fundraise, manage, monitor and evaluate programs encompassing healthcare, home building, education and entrepreneurship.

Our principal program, funded by the UK Department for International Development, is supporting AVEGA Agahozo, the association of widows of the genocide. We have developed a model of wraparound support that we are now extending to 15,000 vulnerable women survivors of the genocide, and 50,000 of their dependents, across the Southern, Northern and Western Provinces of Rwanda. This work enables them to secure ownership of their land and property, and to develop viable livelihoods, as well as providing trauma counseling and access to health and education services. We support the survivors’ right to seeks reparations as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the genocide in 2014.

On a personal note, I am also developing new initiatives through the social venture consultancy that I direct, The Social Enterprise. Current projects include: Parenterprise, an early years education pilot in West London; and Pashkes of London, a socially responsible dairy-free iced dessert business. All of this work has been informed by my participation in the Academy of Achievement. I remember, in particular, my namesake Bill Russell telling us that “With opportunity, comes responsibility,” which in my line work, is definitely true. And when I recall the experience of Frank McCourt—that it was after his primary career as an inspiring teacher that he published his first book at 66 years of age—it is a reminder that it is a very much a long game that we play!

Maya Leventer-Roberts, M.D., MPH,
Class of 2008
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow

Since participating in the Academy of Achievement, I have completed medical school at Yale, a public health degree at Harvard, and a pediatric residency at Mount Sinai Hospital.  I am now completing a fellowship in Pediatric Environmental Health with both Mount Sinai and the New York City Department of Health. I am studying the impact of the urban environment on the development of pediatric obesity. I have also gotten married and had a son, and am exceedingly grateful for my successes in both my professional career and my family.

Since the Academy, I have stayed in close touch with two awardees, and have been thrilled to see so many participants make the news in such meaningful ways—from Taylor Swift and Joshua Bell to Francis Collins, Benjamin Carson and Barry Scheck. I still have stirring memories of my conversations with Nicholas Kristof, Sally Field, and Khaled Hosseini.

I am continually inspired by the outstanding work of others to keep pushing the frontier in improving the well-being of families and the health of children.

Suba Sivakumaran, Class of 2007
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow, United Nations Development Programme

I attended the 2007 Academy of Achievement Summit as a Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow from the Harvard Kennedy School.

I am now working at the United Nations Development Programme’s Business Call To Action. The Business Call to Action encourages businesses around the world to incorporate inclusive practices in their core activities. As a program specialist in knowledge creation, capacity building and impact measurement, I work with companies ranging from large multinationals to small social enterprises, helping them reach out to those at the bottom of the social pyramid , and to design and refine their initiatives for consistent improvement.

Since graduating from the Kennedy School, I have also produced a documentary film, Enakkum Oru Per (I Too Have A Name), about the impact of the civil war on the women of my native Sri Lanka. This short film was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2012.

I continue to enjoy being part of a group of people around the world who are constantly seeking to do things better, and the things I have learned from this community continue to shape the life that I lead.

Matthew E. Hanson, Ph.D.,
Class of 1976
Vice President of Business Development, Integrated Medical Systems, Inc.

“I am glad I found this site. I was a student delegate in 1976 and the Golden Plate weekend was a phenomenal motivation: meeting Roger Staubach, Jack LaLanne, Jonas Salk, going to Sea World with Miss Teen America, dancing with Cloris Leachman, having lunch with Col. Sanders, etc. I’ve since worked in the Air Force on the GPS system, Northrop Grumman on the Stealth Bomber, and helped launch a medical device company. I would like to connect with others from 1976 if you’re out there.”

Matt is a corporate executive armed with a doctorate in engineering, an MBA, and military and corporate leadership experience. He helped create, build and launch profitable, distinctive, game-changing solutions in billion-dollar organizations and a high tech small business, including the GPS navigation system, the Stealth Bomber, and advanced medical technology for the White House. With a unique convergence of multi-industry technology transfer, product development, business development, marketing, program management and just plain “people skills”, he creates, inspires and leads teams to launch their own next-generation lucrative award-winning game-changers.

Matt is currently Vice President of Business Development for Integrated Medical Systems, Inc., responsible for marketing and sales, legislative affairs, and investor development. He has led the Company’s efforts to expand international sales, adding distributors in Scandinavia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He develops the annual federal, state and local legislative strategy. Matt is also responsible for developing and coordinating clinical evaluations by customers.

Matt’s background, both while in the Air Force and in industry, has spanned engineering, management and business development. Immediately prior to joining Northrop Grumman’s “intrapreneurial” Biomedical Group, Matt was Manager, Advanced Technology in the Washington D.C. Offices of the Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Prior to joining the Northrop Grumman Corporation as a Project Engineer on the B-2 Stealth Bomber program, Matt was Executive Officer for the $2B international Global Positioning System (GPS) Joint Program Office. He retired from the Air Force Reserves at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

His academic background includes a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California as a Northrop Grumman Fellow; as well as an MBA from Chapman University.

He was recognized by the Academy of Achievement as a “Young Leader of Tomorrow”.

Ori Allon, Ph.D., Class of 2006
Founder and Executive Chairman, Urban Compass

“I was honored to be a student delegate to the 2006 International Summit. I joined over 300 students from all over the world in sunny Los Angeles, California to meet and exchange ideas and experiences with some of the world’s greatest leaders, influencers, scientists, and business people. Being in a room with such talent was inspirational. I left the Summit motivated to contribute my talents to helping improve people’s lives, and equipped with friends and lasting connections, both personal and professional.”

As a doctoral student at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Ori Allon developed the Orion Search Engine. While previous search engines returned pages containing a given keyword, the Orion also returns pages with content that is strongly related to the keyword. Allon’s creation earned praise from Bill Gates, among others, for revolutionizing web searches. Although the University, which controlled the rights to Orion, held talks with Yahoo and MSN, Google clinched the deal, buying exclusive rights to the Orion search algorithm in April 2006. Google also hired Allon. In 2009, Google announced that it had fully incorporated the Orion Search technology and algorithm. In 2010, Allon left Google and became the Founder and CEO of Julpan. In 2011, Julpan was acquired by Twitter.

Allon’s next start-up was Urban Compass (www.urbancompass.com), co-founded by Robert Reffkin, a White House Fellow he met at the 2006 International Achievement Summit in Los Angeles. Allon is the Executive Chairman and Reffkin the CEO of Urban Compass.

Urban Compass aims to help consumers “search better” and explains its business model by saying, “We understand people. We understand technology. We’re building a platform of hyper-local knowledge and information to help people make their most important personal decisions.“

“Developments in both hardware and software, mostly mobile, have made it possible to collect data, and track what is happening in the real world — we call it the ‘offline world’ — in a way that was not possible in the recent past,” says Allon. “Collecting the information is the first step, but creating a platform that will make this data searchable and relevant, with a real business model, is what we are excited about.“

Kate Otto, Class of 2009
Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow, The World Bank

Since our 2009 Academy of Achievement journey in South Africa, roaming the savannah of Singita and exploring the rich history of Cape Town, two core passions in my life have converged in a way that continues to shape my career in public service: creative application of new technologies, and deep commitment to honoring human relationships.

On the relationship side, I spent 2009-2010 living in Indonesia on a Luce Scholarship, working with a drug rehabilitation and HIV/AIDS center run entirely by recovering addicts and people living with HIV.  Their humility and creative peer support infrastructure taught me many perspective-changing lessons about the importance of patience and deep connection with those we aim to serve.

Soon after, I began working with the World Bank as they began investing in information and communications technology (ICT) for development, specifically ICT for the improvement of health systems.  Supporting the eTransform Africa team, I continue to lead a randomized evaluation of a mobile phone-based data management tool that my team designed for rural health workers to better manage their workflow, see more patients, and save more lives.  My lessons from Indonesia were crucial in realizing that the design of the tech tool would make or break the intervention; even the “coolest” technology matters little (and can even backfire) if the design process has not been participatory and iterative with end-users and supervisors.

This led me to conduct a similar project with Mercy Corps, back in Indonesia, designing a mobile data collection tool for urban midwives. The two programs earned me a place in the recent eBook “Disruptive Women in Healthcare.”  I have also been working as research manager for a behavioral economist at Harvard Business School, assisting with her public health studies in Zambia. I am now preparing to lead a new mobile health initiative in Indonesia with the remarkable folks at Dimagi, and the inspiring organization I began my journey with, Rumah Cemara.

My travels and experiences at the intersection of technology and human relationships led me to launch a website called Everyday Ambassador — and to write a book of the same title — which has gained early support from some of my personal heroes: Dr. Paul Farmer, Irshad Manji, and Susan Davis.  In a June 2012, op-ed in The Christian Science Monitor, and in a January 2012 TEDx talk at the University of North Carolina, I summarized the main message of Everyday Ambassador: ensuring that the best technologies of our world bring us closer together, rather than drawing us farther apart.  I try to bring this issue to light as a contributor to the Huffington Post, and always welcome new ideas for stories.

I will be reaching out to members of the Academy of Achievement community over the next months of book writing, and I look forward to featuring their work and wisdom. Since first meeting members of this community almost three years ago, it has made my life more positive and fulfilling to be aware of, inspired by, and engaged in the work of my peers.

Rita Kathy Ng, M.D., Class of 2000
Chief Cardiology Fellow, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

“Participating as a delegate at the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London, England was perhaps one of the most meaningful and thoughtful experiences of my life. To be surrounded by such amazing visionaries — past, present, and future — was a gift. I left the summit with a sense of awe, love for the strength of the human spirit, and unbridled hope and knowledge that the future of our world was in very good hands.”

Dr. Rita Ng was born and raised in Tracy, California. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, earning a degree in Human Biology with Honors. Rita was awarded the Stanford Dinkelspiel Award, given to the top two graduating seniors and was selected by her peers to deliver the commencement speech.

Rita’s interest in international health began at Stanford, where her thesis work focused on health care access in third world countries was awarded the prestigious Firestone Medal; her research work has been published in multiple scientific journals. She earned her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and completed her residency in internal medicine at UCSF before undertaking a cardiology fellowship at Cedars Sinai Heart Institute in Beverly Hills, California.

Rita further received the distinction of being named Miss California and was second runner-up at the Miss America Pageant in 2001. She was the first Asian-American Miss California in the 80-year history of the pageant. Rita has received numerous national and international accolades — California’s Youth Volunteer of the Year, USA Today named her to its First All-American Academic Team, Glamour Magazine featured her as one of the “Top 10 College Women in America,” and the Chinese World Journal named her as one of the “Ten Most Influential Asian-Americans” of the year. She has appeared in the magazines TIME, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, US Weekly, and many others, and was the featured model for the Procter and Gamble Global Beauty Campaign including Covergirl, Max Factor, and Oil of Olay cosmetics. She serves on numerous boards such as the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Alumni Board and founded the statewide program California Cares for Children and Princess for a Day Foundation. As chair of many philanthropic organizations and a gifted pianist, Rita has traveled extensively around the nation and world giving keynote addresses and piano concerts, helping to raise millions of dollars for her causes around the nation and world.

Having served as Chief Cardiology Fellow at Cedars Sinai, she is now a practicing cardiologist with The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. of Northern California.

Travis LeBlanc, Class of 2003
Special Assistant Attorney General
California Department of Justice

“I participated in the 2003 International Achievement Summit where I had the opportunity to interact face-to-face with leaders in academia, business, politics, and the law. I had never seen so many trailblazers in one place, and I could only imagine what my fellow student delegates would do in the future.“

Travis LeBlanc is Special Assistant Attorney General of California. In this capacity, he oversees the California Department of Justice’s work on technology, high-tech crime, privacy, antitrust, human trafficking, and health care issues. He also advises California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris on significant appellate and constitutional matters. While at the California Department of Justice, he has worked to establish the office’s first high-tech crime unit, secured a global agreement to improve privacy protections in mobile applications, and testified before the state legislature on pending legislation. He has served as California’s liaison to the National Association of Attorneys General and to the Conference of Western Attorneys General. He established the Attorney General’s Honors Program and the Earl Warren Solicitor General Fellowship to hire entry-level attorneys. Last year, he was appointed by the judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to serve as an Appellate Lawyer Representative.

From 2009-2011, he served in the Obama Administration as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, which advises the President, Attorney General, and general counsels of executive branch agencies on the constitutionality and legality of the programs and activities of the United States government. There, he worked on a diverse range of issues from executive privilege to federal health care reform to terrorist financing. He previously worked as an attorney at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C. and Keker & Van Nest LLP in San Francisco, where his practice concentrated on white-collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. From 2004-05, he clerked for the Hon. Stephen Reinhardt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has an A.B. from Princeton University, an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an LL.M. in International Law from the University of Cambridge.

Karen Greve Young, Class of 1991
Director of Strategic Initiatives, MaRS

I was in the 1991 student class of the American Academy of Achievement. That was the first of many experiences since, meeting impressive, fascinating and remarkable people who were part of the Academy — either as students or honorees. My husband will forever be jealous that I had dinner at the Metropolitan Museum with George Lucas. My mother was enthralled that her daughter met the inimitable Audrey Hepburn, and horrified that I had the audacity to ask for my picture with her! I met Don Fisher without (then) realizing who he was, and never imagining that six years later I’d be working in corporate strategy at Gap Inc. in San Francisco, surrounded on a daily basis by his spectacular art collection and cultural legacy.

The Academy is where I absorbed for the first time the breadth of paths that achievement can take. This lesson has stood me well in the years since — making the then-bold decision to change from pre-med aspirations to economics at Harvard, taking a corporate path from finance to corporate strategy that led me to Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Then, when my mother had terminal ovarian cancer, it contributed to my choice to leave my consulting career in favor of more flexible roles with health, education and women’s charities in San Francisco, London and Toronto. Among these, I was president of the Junior League of London, with programs serving over 3,500 children in need annually, and founder and chair of cancer awareness and fundraising initiatives for the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research. Along the way, I co-authored a book with my mother, Love You So Much: a shared memoir, about our journey with her cancer as mother and daughter, patient and family.

All of these experiences have led me to where I am now: back in the professional realm as Director, Strategic Initiatives at MaRS in the heart of Toronto’s Discovery District. In this role I work with our partners to support entrepreneurs and to accelerate and amplify innovation, creating a brighter and more prosperous future. I continue to be active in supporting and raising awareness for cancer research, particularly those “silent cancers” like ovarian that often progress without obvious symptoms until it is too late. This is my gift to my mother, and to my children who never met her, and to the millions of people who lose their lives to cancer.

Sienna R. Craig, Ph.D., Class of 1991
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Dartmouth College

Last August I returned to California to celebrate my 20th high school reunion. As part of that trip, I spent some hours sifting through boxes of writing, photos, and other memorabilia from that period in my life. Among the high school yearbooks, young adult musings, and drafts of college entrance essays, I found a yellowed notebook that contained the actual program from the 1991 Academy of Achievement event in New York City, along with my notes. This was a treasure — a precious gem of meaning and experience — and a look back at the most remarkable event. Beside Audrey Hepburn’s photograph I’d scrawled “Grace, incarnate.” Beside the photograph of General Norman Schwarzkopf, I wrote notes that reflected my background — a child of California “hippies” who still feels the visceral burdens of a nation so defined by conflict.

Many other memories came flooding back to me as I sat cross-legged on the floor of my father’s home in rural Monterey County, but the most significant were the notes I had written after sitting together at an Academy dinner one evening with Edmund and Sylvia Morris. In a phrase, we clicked. Edmund and I began a correspondence that summer, before I matriculated at Brown. This letter-based relationship blossomed into the most meaningful mentorship I have had in my life, one that extended through my college years and continues to the present. I interned with the Morrisses for two summers, assisting them with their biographies of Ronald Reagan and Clare Booth Luce. Edmund and Sylvia have taught me so much about writing, life, and the writing life. They remain exemplars: people of great integrity, boundless imagination, and insight.

During my years in college, I also developed a love for the people and landscapes of the Himalaya, Nepal and the Tibetan areas of China. After a semester spent in Nepal during my junior year at Brown, I was fortunate to be granted a Fulbright fellowship for further anthropological study in the country. A one-year postgraduate grant led to three years of living in Nepal, where I met a fellow Brown grad Ken Bauer.

In 1999, Ken and I co-founded Drokpa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting grassroots development and social entrepreneurship in the Himalaya and Tibet. Ken and I married that year, and shortly thereafter, I began a Ph.D. program in cultural and medical anthropology at Cornell, which I completed in 2006. From there, I came to Dartmouth, where I have been an assistant professor for the past six years. Ken and I live in Vermont with Aida Claire, our seven-year-old daughter. Last week I received the wonderful news that I’ve been granted tenure.

My professional work as an anthropologist includes writing and teaching on subjects such as the cross-cultural study of illness and healing, global health issues (with a particular focus on maternal and child health), and the struggles of traditional medical practitioners in Asia to defend and transform their practices in the 21st century.

I’ve published several books and many articles on these and related topics, including my ethnographic memoir, Horses Like Lightning: A Story of Passage through the Himalayas (2008), Medicine Between Science and Religion: Explorations on Tibetan Grounds (2010), and Healing Elements: Efficacy and the Social Ecologies of Tibetan Medicine (forthcoming July 2012). I’ve also published a children’s story, Clear Sky, Red Earth: A Himalayan Story (2004) with the Nepali artist Tenzin Norbu, and a book of poetry Sacred Geography: Sonnets of Tibetan and Himalayan Landscape (2005), with my mother, artist Mary Heebner.

I also serve as the Chair of the Medical Advisory Board of One Heart Worldwide, an organization dedicated to improving the survival of women and children, one birth at a time. I will be returning to Nepal this summer on a National Science Foundation-funded research trip, focusing on women’s reproductive histories and Tibetan adaptation to living at high altitude.

William H. Robinson, Ph.D., Class of 1991
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University

“The 1991 Salute to Excellence in New York City was a tremendous opportunity for me to broaden my horizon on what was possible in life. I had never been to New York City, nor stayed anywhere like the Waldorf-Astoria. I cherish the photos I have with Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters and Herschel Walker. I even met a life-long friend, William Packer, who is now a movie producer with his company, Rainforest Films.“

William H. Robinson received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in 1996, and his M.S. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 1998. He received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech in 2003. In August 2003, Dr. Robinson joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Vanderbilt University as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2010. He is the first African American to earn promotion and win tenure in the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering.

Dr. Robinson leads the Security And Fault Tolerance (SAF-T) Research Group at Vanderbilt University, whose mission is to conduct transformational research that addresses the reliability and security of computing systems. He collaborates with both the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics (ISDE) and the Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS) at Vanderbilt University. In addition to his research activities, Dr. Robinson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Computer Engineering. He also participates with the Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology (TRUST), an NSF Science and Technology Center, where he serves as the Outreach Director.

Dr. Robinson’s major honors include selection for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Award and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Computer Science Study Panel, both in 2008. Dr. Robinson is a Senior Member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM); he has additional memberships in the American Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Dr. Robinson is a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and a member of The 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Inc. He is married to Yolonda Brooks Robinson. They are expecting their first child in August 2012.

Eric Greitens, Class of 1992 and 1999
Founder and CEO, The Mission Continues

“I first went to the Academy of Achievement in 1992, the year I graduated from high school. The weekend was an inspired celebration of excellence, a testament to all of the different ways that people can flourish.“

Eric Greitens attended the Academy of Achievement again in 1999, during his time as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University. As part of his doctoral research, he traveled to Rwanda, Cambodia, Albania, Mexico, Israel, India, Bosnia, and Bolivia as a humanitarian volunteer and documentary photographer. Upon earning his Ph.D. in 2000, Eric became a United States Navy SEAL officer and served for ten years. He deployed four times during the Global War on Terrorism — to Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Iraq. His military awards include the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star. In 2005, he was appointed by the President to serve as a White House Fellow.

After returning from Iraq in 2007, Eric donated his combat pay to found The Mission Continues, a national nonprofit organization that challenges veterans to serve and lead in communities across America. His socially innovative work at The Mission Continues has received awards from The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, the Manhattan Institute for Social Entrepreneurship, New Profit, and The Social Venture Network.

A photographer and writer, Eric is the author of two books. Strength and Compassion is a collection of photographs and essays that was recognized as the Grand Prize Winner of the 2009 New York Book Festival. His second book, The Heart & the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL, relates Eric’s story of leadership and service as a humanitarian and a warrior, and was a 2011 New York Times Bestseller. His work has been covered by national media outlets including The Colbert Report, NPR, CNN, NBC Nightly News, Fox, CBS, MSNBC, the TODAY Show, USA Today, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.

Raga Ramachandran, M.D., Ph.D.,
Class of 1991
Assistant Professor and
Director of Medical Education,
Department of Pathology
University of California, San Francisco

The 20-plus years since the American Academy of Achievement weekend in New York City have been rich with experience for me. I graduated from Stanford University, where the Nobel laureate physicist and Academy member Dr. Richard Taylor regularly hosted the Academy Class of 1991 for barbecues at his home. After graduating with degrees in Biological Sciences, I completed my M.D. and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania with a research focus on the regeneration of injured muscle. Returning to my home state of California, I completed my residency and fellowship training in Pathology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Pathology is a wonderful clinical field with ample research opportunities. I now am on the UCSF Pathology faculty and am the Director of Medical Education for our department. My clinical focus is on liver and gastrointestinal disease. I am thrilled to work alongside the experienced physicians who taught me how to evaluate biopsies and surgical specimens from patients undergoing medical treatment.

As a physician, I strive to find a balance between clinical practice, teaching, and research, and when I am faced with a complex post-transplant liver biopsy on a busy day, I think about the exemplary work of Dr. Joseph Murray, who spoke to us about kidney transplantation research and his concurrent work in clinical plastic surgery. As an American gearing up for the 2012 election, I remember the national service exemplified by General Norman Schwarzkopf. As a San Franciscan, I smile whenever I see a Gap store, founded locally by Donald Fisher, and when I drive through the Presidio near Lucasfilm headquarters, I wonder what George Lucas will take on for his next project. When I read a Wallace Stegner novel or watch an Audrey Hepburn movie, I think about the creative energy surrounding that weekend in 1991, when the arts, design, sports, and science were celebrated together. On a personal note, both my husband (Joel Moore, a theoretical physicist at UC Berkeley) and sister (Sohini Ramachandran, a population geneticist at Brown University) are Academy of Achievement alumni. Kudos to the Academy for supporting bright young students and leaders in all walks of life!

James Lee, M.D., Class of 1991
Chief of Endocrine Surgery,
Columbia University Medical Center

Since the wonderful weekend of the Academy of Achievement in 1991, I attended college at Yale University and medical school at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After a general surgery residency at Columbia University, I did an Endocrine Surgery fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. I’m now back at the Columbia University Medical Center and serve as the Chief of Endocrine Surgery, Co-Director of the New York Thyroid-Parathyroid Center, and Co-Director of the Adrenal Center.

In addition to my clinical practice taking care of patients with thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and pancreatic diseases, I’ve had the great fortune of working on a number of educational projects aimed at making medical training more efficient and ultimately safer for patients by shifting the current training paradigm from one of on-the-job training to one of pretraining – i.e. allowing trainees to practice their skills and craft prior to interacting with patients. Early in my career I created a multimedia online educational platform called COACH. COACH is the Wikipedia for medicine but with oversight. COACH combines the power of community-authored work with the safety of expert review to create a knowledebase that evolves with the needs for the user-community. This knowledgebase then forms the basis for a system of cognitive pretraining that allows trainees to learn everything they need to know about a disease or procedure ahead of time. COACH is currently used in over 95 percent of general surgery training programs in the United States. I also serve as the Associate Medical Director of the Simulation Center of Columbia University and New York Presbyterian Hospital. The goal of the Simulation Center is to allow nurses, residents, medical students, and seasoned physicians a simulated physical environment in which to practice and perfect the art of medicine. Combined, COACH and simulation allow the trainee to first learn the relevant information and then practice a skill in a safe, conducive learning environment prior to treating patients.

I will always be grateful to the Academy of Achievement for all of the opportunities they afforded to us. My first post high school job at the FBI came as a result of contacts I made that weekend. I met two of my very good friends over late, late night discussions that weekend. Perhaps the most valuable thing I came away with was that talent, while critical, is a small part of success. Whether it was Norman Schwarzkopf or Clyde Tombaugh, or Herschel Walker, almost all of the luminaries stressed that success is not easy, it requires a dogged work ethic and dedication. This lesson more than any other has shaped my life.

Joshua Feltman, Class of 1991
Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

“When the Summit broke up Sunday morning, my parents met me at the Waldorf in New York and we went for a gospel brunch at the then-new-and-hip soul food restaurant Lola. In 1991, Oprah Winfrey was certainly famous and beloved — enough to be a keynote speaker at that year’s Summit — but she had not yet attained her current goddess-like status In any event, there she was at brunch a few tables over with a group of people. Figuring I had something of an “in,” I walked up to her to say hello. As soon as she saw the Academy yearbook I was carrying, she lit up and talked to me for several minutes about the Summit. I still have the yearbook in which she inscribed: Joshua, I will never forget the wonderful weekend we had together. Love, Oprah.“

After attending the Achievement Summit in the spring of 1991, Joshua Feltman attended Harvard College, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Social Studies and winning the college’s Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship, good for a year of post-graduate study at Cambridge University. After graduating from Cambridge with an M.Phil. in Development Studies in 1996, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as a consultant and regulatory economist with Price Waterhouse and National Economic Research Associates. In 1999 he enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the law review, graduating magna cum laude in 2002.

Since 2002, Josh has been an associate, and now a partner, at the New York law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where he specializes in corporate finance and bankruptcy. The simultaneous highs and lows of his career include working on some of the more notable transactions arising from the 2008 financial crisis, including the acquisition of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan, and the acquisition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the United States Treasury. Josh lives in Manhattan with his wife Vicky and son George (11 months as of this writing).

Ross P. Meyer, Class of 2005
Executive Director,
Partners for a Competitive Workforce

“I was deeply honored to be a student delegate at the 2005 International Achievement Summit in New York City. Without a doubt, the Summit was one of the most inspirational experiences of my life. I was particularly stirred by the selfless work of public servants from around the world: from President Clinton’s impassioned speech on optimism and hope, to Paul Rusesabagina’s heroic story of struggle and courage. I was especially moved by the performance of Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center and was awed to find myself dancing next to Colin Powell while listening to BB King, Wynonna Judd, and John Fogerty at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Most memorable, however, were the unscheduled, informal experiences interacting with accomplished people from around the world: from discussing the art of Van Gogh with George Lucas, or exploring current politics until one o’clock in the morning with Ralph Nader and Sam Donaldson, to hearing the childhood stories of Tim Russert and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. These personal interactions were both inspiring and empowering — they allowed me to see the human side of these extraordinary individuals.“

Ross Meyer is now serving as the first Executive Director of Partners for a Competitive Workforce (PCW). A regional partnership managed by United Way of Greater Cincinnati, PCW mobilizes the forces of philanthropy, government, business, education, and local community organizations, developing the skills of the workforce to match the needs of employers in the tri-state region spanning Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Since 2008, PCW has leveraged over $25 million in public and private funds to help more than 4,800 individuals acquire the skills most in demand in today’s economy. A native of Cincinnati, Mr. Meyer spent two years in New York City where he worked in the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, conducting policy analysis and research for the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding. While in New York, he helped develop the city’s Office of Financial Empowerment, and worked for Enterprise Community Partners, assisting the finance of “green building” initiatives. He also advised the City of Miami’s Department of Economic Development on the creation of a Workforce Housing Fund. Before moving to New York, Meyer spent eight years working with human service and community development organizations in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine community. A Harry S. Truman Scholar, Ross Meyer earned his Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Miami University of Ohio, and his Master of Public Administration degree from New York University, where he was a Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship.

Shaz Ansari, Ph.D., Class of 2003
University Lecturer, Cambridge University

I was absolutely thrilled to be selected to attend the 42nd Annual International Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C. It was a life-changing experience and I have amazing memories of meeting and interacting with extraordinary leaders at the Summit. It gave me a tremendous boost in confidence and played a very important role in advancing my career.

I am currently a University Lecturer in Strategy at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and Visiting Assistant Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University in the Netherlands. I am a member of the editorial boards of Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies and Organization Studies, and a High Performing member of the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM).

My research interests include institutional processes, technological and management innovations, value creation and new market development, bottom-of-the-pyramid strategies, knowledge management, outsourcing and off-shoring. I have published in several leading academic journals including Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Organization, Advances in Strategic Management, Research Policy and Organization Studies.

My area of expertise in executive education includes strategic management, technological and business model innovation, corporate social responsibility and triple bottom line. I have delivered executive education programs for various private and public organizations, including Shell, British Telecom, Nokia, Laing O’Rourke, UNICEF, Essex County Council, City & Guilds, China Development Bank, Shanghai University of Finance and Education, Ahmedabad University, Kuala Lumpur Education City, and the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Benjamin Allen, Class of 1996
President, Board of Education, Santa Monica, California

Ben Allen was a high school senior when he attended the Academy’s 1996 Salute to Excellence in Sun Valley, Idaho as a student honor delegate. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and completed an M.Phil. in Latin American Studies at Cambridge University in the UK.

After Harvard and Cambridge, he worked for the International Affairs’ Latin American/Caribbean team of the National Democratic Institute in Washington, D.C. and served as Communications Director for Congressman Jose Serrano of New York. While studying law at U.C. Berkeley, Ben was the student member of the University of California’s Board of Regents, and traveled to Africa to serve as also as a judicial clerk with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. After law school, he ran for School Board in his hometown of Santa Monica/Malibu. The top vote getter in the 2008 elections, he now serves as President of the Board; he may be the youngest board president in the history of the district. Ben has worked as a litigator for the firm of Bryan Cave LLP, and led the successful launch of the Spark Program in Los Angeles, a non-profit program that arranges life-changing apprenticeships for at-risk students in over 200 middle schools annually in the Los Angeles area. In addition to his school board service, Ben is teaches educational law and policy at UCLA Law School, and is Of Counsel at the law firm of Richardson and Patel.

Fluent in Spanish, Ben is active with Humanity in Action, the American Council of Young Political Leaders, and the Young Elected Officials Network. He is a board member of the Social Justice Learning Institute, Spark Los Angeles, and the Santa Monica Democratic Club.

The Honorable James J. Edelman, Class of 2000
Justice, Supreme Court of Western Australia

I attended the International Achievement Summit in London as a Rhodes Scholar in October 2000. Other attendees included Sergey Brin and Larry Page who had recently started a small company they called Google. The speakers included Bertie Ahern, Benazir Bhutto, Lech Walesa and Mikhail Gorbachev. At the time I was a doctoral student in law at Oxford. I completed my doctorate in early 2001 and returned to my home state, Western Australia, to practice law. In 2005, I took up a position as a Fellow and Tutor in law at Keble College and lecturer at the University of Oxford. Due to geographical restrictions, my practice in Australia was limited to only a few cases a year, although from 2008 I practiced full-time at the bar in England whilst teaching as Professor of the Law of Obligations at the University of Oxford. In my academic work, I have published and edited books on damages, interest awards, equity, unjust enrichment, and torts. In July 2011, I returned to Western Australia to accept a commission as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. My position, and caseload, now limits to a degree my involvement in academic debate and the academic development of the law, but I still write and present at and attend conferences wherever possible and I remain involved with a number of charitable foundations. I was also elected to the American Law Institute on Australia Day this year, January 26, 2012.

Vianei Lopez Braun, Class of 1985
Partner, Buck Keenan LLP

I was a bit of a child prodigy and had just turned 16 when I attended the 1985 Salute to Excellence program in Denver, Colorado. I remember listening to inspiring remarks by Chuck Yeager and being persuaded by a compatriot to go talk to General Yeager afterwards. He was charming and friendly; I was awestruck and quite literally unable to speak. I like to think my social skills have improved since then.

I was Princeton University’s youngest female graduate when I received my psychology degree at age 19. I received my law degree from the University of Texas at age 22, and have been practicing labor and employment law ever since, currently with Buck Keenan LLP in my hometown of Houston. I enjoy the challenge of helping my clients navigate complicated personnel and regulatory issues, and defending them in litigation and arbitration.

I am a frequent author and speaker on employment law issues, and on one other issue as well: wine. From 1999-2009 I wrote a weekly wine column for two Texas newspapers.

I like to stay involved in the community, and currently serve on the Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries of Houston. I have been fortunate to receive some awards, including the Young Distinguished Alumna Award from The Kinkaid School in 1997, a Presidential Citation for Service from the State Bar of Texas in 2004, and Texas Monthly‘s “Super Lawyer” recognition every year since 2003. Much credit goes to my wonderful parents, David and Romelia Lopez, and to my loving husband Jason Braun.

David Adams, Ph.D., Class of 2002
Group Leader,
Experimental Cancer Genetics Group,
 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

It’s been an amazing ten years since those magical days at the International Achievement Summit in Dublin, Ireland. I left for Dublin within months of arriving at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a world-leading center dedicated to the analysis of genomes, having only just completed my Ph.D. at Sydney University in Australia. The meeting in Dublin was surreal. I remember on the first night sitting down next to delegates from Harvard and MIT, with Francis Collins — a leader of the human genome project — to my left, and the Nobel Laureate Jim Watson — who resolved the structure of the DNA helix — to my right. On returning to Cambridge, I really struggled to convince others that this had indeed happened. I also have fond memories of drinking red wine with Sir Paul Nurse, whose fundamental discoveries include the identification of key elements of the cell cycle, which is critically important for development and cancer. Listening to Bill Clinton and Hamid Karzai at a time when the war in Afghanistan was at its height is something that will always stay with me, as will meeting Bono from U2.

Since the Summit I have joined the Faculty of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, where I lead the Experimental Cancer Genetics group, which aims to identify genes that, when mutated, contribute to cancer development. I also lead the Mouse Genomes Project and the Mouse Genetics Project, large international efforts that use genetically engineered mice to understand how genes contribute to disease. My life now couldn’t be more different from my upbringing in rural Australia, and I am fortunate to travel the world talking about my research and contributing to the fight against cancer. I have also become a father, and this keeps me grounded and very busy. The message I took away from the meeting in Dublin was to be relentless about chasing your dreams, something I have lived by ever since.

Barbara Quintiliani, Class of 2003
Operatic Soprano

2003 was a pivotal year in my career. I was fortunate enough to be selected for the Domingo-Cafritz young artist program at the Washington National Opera. To add icing to that cake, I made my operatic debut alongside Plácido Domingo — one of my childhood heroes — as Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo. I was also asked to participate in the International Summit of the Academy of Achievement, an organization I had never heard of before. Well, I was not only impressed but overwhelmed by the experience. I was inspired by the extraordinary people I met and spoke with. It certainly made me want to be the best that I could be.

Since the Summit in 2003, so much has happened. There have been unbelievable highs and unimaginable lows. The highs include being the first American in 25 years to win first prize at the International Francisco Viñas Competition in Barcelona, Spain. I also received the Audience Choice award and a special prize for the performance of works by Giuseppe Verdi. Shortly thereafter, I made my European debut at Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceu. I also had the great good fortune to appear, to great critical acclaim, at the Wexford Festival in Ireland.

Then came the lows. For a very long time I had experienced mysterious sensations and bouts of uncontrollable fatigue. I had been to several physicians over the years, and these symptoms were always attributed to a virus, or to my exhausting schedule. I was singing some Bach cantatas in Boston when the unthinkable happened. I lost all feeling in the right side of my body. I thought it was a stroke. After days of testing, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in early 2007. Unable to walk, or do much of anything for myself, I was sent to a rehab facility, where the neurologists told me I would probably need a wheelchair for the rest of my life. If they were right, it would mean the end of my singing career.

I fought back, from the chair, to a walker, to a cane, and now I stand proudly on my own two feet. I fight this disease every day and it would be easy to give up. I could give in to the pain, the fatigue, and the fear — or I can get up and sing. I choose to sing. Every time I step on stage I may not be winning the war, but I am winning the battle.

My sincerest thanks for allowing me to participate in this wonderful project.

Michael Bronstein, Class of 2003
Assistant Professor,
University of Lugano, Switzerland
Research Scientist, Intel Inc.

It has been nearly a decade since I attended the International Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C. in 2003. At that time, I was a graduate student in computer science at the Technion Institute in Israel, working on computational methods for 3D shape analysis. I have magical and almost surreal memories of the Summit, in particular of meeting and talking to people who usually appear in newspapers or television. Afterwards, it took some effort to persuade my friends it had really happened. I met many interesting people in Washington, with many of whom I still keep in touch.

I received my Ph.D. in 2007 and had to choose between an industrial career or an academic one. Some claimed these roads were divergent, but unlike the character in the Robert Frost poem, I tried to take both of them, spending three years in the United States as a technology executive at a Silicon Valley start-up, and as a visiting lecturer at Stanford. In 2010, I joined the newly established Institute of Computational Science at the University of Lugano, Switzerland as an assistant professor, where I am continuing my work on geometric and visual computing.

In the ten years that have passed since the Summit, this field has dramatically changed. What seemed wild scientific dreams in 2003 have now become commercially available technologies that promise to revolutionize the way we interact with computers. I am happy and proud to have had an active part in this development, both scientifically and commercially. The 3D acquisition technology I developed at Technion during my graduate studies was licensed by the Israeli start-up Invision in 2009. The company was acquired by Intel in 2012 in a transaction that was an exceptional success, even in a world of start-ups that has seen many dreams come true. As a result, I joined Intel as a scientific advisor, where I have the luck and privilege to work with among the smartest people on earth.

In the years that have passed since the invitation to the Academy, I have moved across three continents, had sleepless nights, seen some successes but even more failures, and had a lot of fun. Perhaps my most important achievement is that Gabriella, the person who accompanied me patiently and devotedly down the sometimes thorny path of the last decade, has become my wife.

The Honorable Gareth Richard Morgan,
Class of 2002
Member of Parliament,
Republic of South Africa

The 2002 Summit offered me the opportunity to engage with many fascinating people. The panel discussion between Bill Clinton and Bono was a highlight.

Following my completion of an M.Sc. in Environmental Change at Oxford University in September 2003, I returned to South Africa, and in the April 2004 elections was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance. During my first 18 months in Parliament I served as the Parliamentary Counselor to the Leader of the Opposition. Thereafter I served as the official opposition spokesperson on health, before becoming the spokesperson on environmental affairs. Following my re-election to Parliament in April 2009 I became the Shadow Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs.

Mitzi I. Kuroda, Ph.D., Class of 1977
Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School

I remember the invitation to the 1977 Salute to Excellence came out of the blue. I was just a high school student from a small college town: Fayetteville, Arkansas. I remember sitting near the actress Cloris Leachman at the banquet, and being inspired by her outspokenness. At that point I had no idea what I would do with my life, and it was exciting and informative to meet high achievers from a broad spectrum of careers. In college at Tulane, and graduate school at Stanford, I found a love for scientific discovery, particularly in the fast moving fields of molecular biology and genetics. Since then, I have headed research labs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and at Harvard Medical School.

I am currently a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. My group works on a very basic research question, using fruit fly genetics and genomics to ask how genes and chromosomes are regulated.

I am very impressed with the work of the Academy of Achievement and am grateful for the opportunities offered to so many talented young people.

Audri Mukhopadhyay, Class of 2002
Consul General of Canada, Ho Chi Minh City,
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

“From the perspective of a student delegate, the 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin was a memorable experience. Outside of the formal sessions, world leaders graciously engaged in banter with graduate students, creating an enjoyable and humorous atmosphere.“

Audri Mukhopadhyay is the Consul General of Canada in Ho Chi Minh City, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Previously, Audri was Director of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania Commercial Relations at Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). He has also served as DFAIT’s Director of Strategic Initiatives. Prior to joining DFAIT, Audri served as the Canadian government’s representative to ICANN, the international organization responsible for critical Internet infrastructure. Audri has also worked with the Canadian Department of Finance and in the private sector in Silicon Valley.

A Rhodes Scholar, Audri earned two degrees from Oxford University: an MBA and an M.Phil. in Economics. He also holds a B.A. in Economics from Dalhousie University. Audri has received the Award of Excellence from Public Service of Canada.

Aslı Ü. Bâli, Ph.D., Class of 1999
Assistant Professor, UCLA School of Law

I remember well waiting for my flight to Budapest in June of 1999 to attend the International Achievement Summit. The event was to coincide with a NATO international workshop on the subject of the Kosovo intervention, which had just concluded earlier that spring. I was in the midst of studying for the New York bar examination, having just completed a joint J.D. and MPA degree at the Yale Law School and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. I was nervous about the bar exam and kept asking myself how I could afford to join this trip to Hungary in the midst of exam preparation, but then I would tell myself there was no way to decline this opportunity.

I was right. In the end, I passed the bar after attending one of the most fascinating conferences I had seen to date, including a presentation by General Wesley Clark, who had served as the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe for NATO during the conflict in Kosovo. General Clark made an impression I would not soon forget and was the highlight of my experience of the Summit. Happily it was not to be the last time our paths would cross.

After my participation in the Summit, and having passed the New York bar, I went on to practice law in the sovereign group of a major Wall Street law firm in both New York and Paris. While I found my practice extremely rewarding, it was the pro bono opportunities I was able to explore — including an assignment with the United Nations, representing detainees — that most inspired me. As a result of this experience, I returned to Princeton to pursue a Ph.D. in Politics.

The next six years went by in a blur of leaves of absence from the firm to complete doctoral coursework, followed by leaves of absence from the Ph.D. program to return to legal practice. Upon completion of my degree, I was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from the Yale Law School, and from there I joined the faculty of the UCLA School of Law.

I am currently an assistant professor at UCLA Law, where I teach three courses: Public International Law, International Human Rights, and the Laws of War. My research interests are quite diverse, including the intersection of international law and international relations around peace and security issues, arms control and nuclear nonproliferation, and human rights. I also have published in the fields of comparative law of the Middle East, immigration law and critical race theory.

Since joining the faculty at UCLA Law I have had the pleasure of encountering Wesley Clark, who now sits on the board of the UCLA Burkle Center. Indeed, General Clark was generous enough to give me the opportunity join him in a public debate at UCLA in April of 2011. I had the privilege of debating the merits of humanitarian intervention in Libya — drawing on the precedent of the Kosovo conflict — with General Clark, before a large audience of UCLA undergraduate and graduate students and the law school community.

At the end of our debate, I could not resist mentioning that I had first heard General Clark speak at the International Achievement Summit. It has been a long and exciting journey since that trip to Budapest in 1999, but I remain grateful for that opportunity to attend the NATO workshop, as I was first embarking on a career very much concerned with issues of international law and intervention.

Wendi Adelson, J.D. M.Phil., Class of 2002
Florida State University College of Law

Ten years later, I still have vibrant and fantastic memories of the 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin. After that incredible experience, I completed an M.Phil. degree in International Relations at the University of Cambridge on a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. I had the opportunity during my studies to work in Uganda on issues impacting asylum seekers and refugees. Fueled by my interest in human migration, I pursued a law degree to become an effective advocate for immigrants in the United States. After law school I worked as a staff attorney at the Children and Youth Law Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, creating the State of Florida’s manual for representing unaccompanied immigrant children in juvenile and immigration court. For the following four years, I directed a Human Rights and Immigration Law Project at Florida State University College of Law, taught courses at the law school, and represented asylum seekers, immigrant victims of violent crimes, and victims of human trafficking.

After listening to my clients’ stories of abuse and triumph, immobility and moving on, I decided to write a novel about their experiences with human trafficking to share their stories with a larger audience. In 2011, I published This is Our Story. Below is some more information about the book.

See: This Is Our Story on Amazon.

See: This is Our Story on YouTube.

Currently, I am a clinical professor at Florida State College of Law where I direct a Medical Legal Partnership that equips law students with the skills to become effective advocates for the impoverished while securing access to disability benefits and immigration status for patients at a local neighborhood health clinic. In my free time, I try to keep up with my one and two year old sons, Benjamin and Lincoln Jonah. As far away as Dublin and sharing a toast with James Earl Jones feels at the moment, my gratitude to the Reynolds family endures, for making that incredible experience possible.

John Nagl, Ph.D., Class of 2002
Minerva Distinguished Research Professor, United States Naval Academy

“At the International Achievement Summit in London, I met a number of people who have since become friends — and served at the highest levels in the American government, in corporate America, and in the academy. Their friendship and service have been a source of continuing joy and inspiration.“

A Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy Class of 1988, John Nagl served as an armor officer in the U.S. Army for 20 years. His last military assignment was as commander of the 1st Battalion, 34th Armor at Fort Riley, Kansas, training Transition Teams that embed with Iraqi and Afghan units. He led a tank platoon in Operation Desert Storm and served as the operations officer of a tank battalion task force in Operation Iraqi Freedom, earning the Combat Action Badge and the Bronze Star. Nagl taught national security studies at West Point’s Department of Social Sciences from 1997 until 2000, when he participated in the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London. He earned his Master of the Military Arts and Sciences Degree from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he received the George C. Marshall Award as the top graduate, and his doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr. Nagl is currently the Minerva Distinguished Research Professor at the US Naval Academy and the past president of the Center for a New American Security. He is the author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam and was a member of the writing team that produced the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual. His writings have also been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Policy, among others. He has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times Magazine and has appeared as a guest on National Public Radio, The PBS News Hour, 60 Minutes, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Séverine Autesserre, Class of 2000
Assistant Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University

It has now been almost 12 years since I attended the International Achievement Summit in London. At that time, I was working for a humanitarian organization in Kosovo. I vividly remember being asked unexpectedly at breakfast to participate in a panel on Kosovo that would take place a few hours later, with General Wesley Clark, the President of Latvia, and a few other dignitaries. I still can’t understand how, as a shy 20-something-year-old speaking in public for one of the first times in my life, I found the nerve to actually say a few things during this panel — and disagree with all the impressive people lined up on the stage. Little did I know that this pattern would characterize the next 12 years of my life. Since the day of this panel, I have had the chance to meet with a number of people I profoundly respect  — although few were as high-profile as those on the panel  — and have regularly ended up challenging their analyses.

I remained involved with aid organizations throughout my doctoral studies, traveling to Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo for Doctors Without Borders. I only left the humanitarian world for good a few years ago, when I started my post-doctoral studies at Yale University. I am now an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. I specialize in international relations and African studies, and conduct research on civil wars, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and African politics.

I recently finished a long research project focused on local violence and international intervention in the eastern Congo, where I have traveled regularly in the past ten years. This project resulted in a series of articles and culminated in a book, entitled The Trouble with the Congo: Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding. Academics and policy makers usually explain the conflict in Congo as the result of national and international tensions, and they attribute the failure of the international peacebuilding efforts to material constraints and vested interests. In my book, I suggest an alternate analysis of violence in Congo — one focused on grassroots rivalries over land, resources, and political power. I also develop a different analysis of the reasons behind the international failure to help Congo build peace and democracy: I argue that a dominant peacebuilding culture shaped the intervention strategy in a way that precluded action on local conflicts, ultimately dooming the international efforts. This argument won the 2012 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order and the 2011 Chadwick Alger Prize, presented by the International Studies Association to the best book on international organizations and multilateralism.

My current research project examines how various shared cultures and practices influence peacebuilding interventions on the ground. I have conducted extensive fieldwork for this project in 2010-2011, with a primary case study on eastern Congo and comparative research on South Sudan, Burundi, and Cyprus; I am planning to carry out research in Timor-Leste and in Israel/Palestine in 2012. Findings from this project have appeared in Critique Internationale and African Affair. I am now at work on a book manuscript tentatively titled Peaceland: An Ethnography of International Intervention. I am still analyzing my data, but my hope is that the book will offer a new way to think about international peace interventions, and suggest more effective ways to build peace in conflict and post-conflict environments.

Xenia Dormandy, Class of 2000
Senior Fellow, Chatham House, the Royal Institute for International Affairs

“I was a member of the Academy’s Class of 2000; a decade later, my career has gone in directions I would never have thought possible.  Since then, I have crossed paths with other classmates from that year in ways that have been both professionally helpful and, often, enormously enjoyable.

After leaving Harvard’s Kennedy School, I joined the State Department as a Presidential Management Fellow.  Arriving just after 9/11, I soon found myself detailed to the Office of the Vice President, helping to set up his Homeland Security Office.  Over the next two years or so I rotated back to State to do a mix of nonproliferation, homeland security and South Asia work, and in 2004, I was detailed to the National Security Council as Director for South Asia.

Realizing that I now had, arguably, the best job in government, I knew that I would have to look elsewhere for the next challenge, and in late 2005 I became the Executive Director of Harvard’s Belfer Center and subsequently launched a new project there on India and the Subcontinent.  It was here that I started to cross paths with fellow Academy classmates with whom I had initially lost touch.  In 2009, I was given the enormous opportunity to launch a new peace-building foundation in Switzerland called PeaceNexus, where more old friends from the Class of 2000 appeared.  Last year, I returned to London to launch a new project at Chatham House on America’s international role in the world.

I came away from my Academy weekend in London with a number of good friends; people who are now peppered around the globe in jobs ranging from senior levels of the corporate sector (Bill Berrien, John Bartlett) to policy and politics (Neal Higgins, John Nagl).  While my classmates are perhaps the most memorable, other events also stand out: a black-tie late night discussion over cigars and brandy, speeches from Jeremy Irons and Salman Rushdie, and a bus journey in conversation with Zahi Hawass.  In the past ten years, I have crossed paths with many other Academy alumni, including those from other years.  If I have one regret, it is that I have not enjoyed the company of more.”

A graduate of Oxford University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Xenia Dormandy worked for UNICEF in New York before joining the U.S. State Department. From 2005 to 2009, Ms. Dormandy was Director of the Project on India and the Subcontinent and the Executive Director for Research at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. In 2009, she became the first Executive Director of the PeaceNexus Foundation. Her articles and op ed pieces have appeared in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor and International Herald Tribune; she has been interviewed on numerous radio and television programs, including those of NPR, CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera and BBC World, as well as those of the PBS News Hour.

Samuel Sia, Ph.D., Class of 2002
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University

Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, my participation at the International Achievement Summit in Dublin in 2002 was a life-changing event. It came at a time when I was finishing my Ph.D. in biophysics and reflecting on how I should use my skills as a scientist to try to improve the world. The career choices were typically binary: continue to do basic research, which could produce discoveries with immensely broad impact but might not trickle down to improving lives for decades; or leave research altogether and pursue an alternative career. Attending the Summit, combined with time I spent in West Africa a year before, crystallized for me the possibility to engage science in a creative manner in order to tackle some of the most pressing health issues of our time.

The Summit itself was spectacular — and wholly impossible to describe to those who were not present. I had a chance to talk (briefly) about the South African AIDS crisis with President Bill Clinton, the state of American politics with Ralph Nader, and the past and future of science (at considerable length) with Dr. James D. Watson. At the end of the meeting, I asked Marvin Minsky who his favorite speaker was, and he mentioned Bono, who poetically urged the student delegates to use their talents for the better good of the world. It became clear to me that while it was a less traveled path, there was no rule barring the mixing of academic research with a focus on producing immediate impact on society. In fact, there may be no more scaleable way to improve the world than development of transformative technologies.

After the Summit, I switched fields to biomedical engineering, an emerging and exciting field of research at the intersection of medicine and technology. I joined the faculty of Columbia University in New York City in 2005. Since that time, my lab has focused on developing low-cost, handheld diagnostic systems that can be used in sub-Saharan Africa as well as in Western countries. We are also developing new implantable devices with unprecedented functions. While the last decade in technology has been dominated by developments in the Internet and social media, my goal is to help bring that same level of excitement to medical devices and technologies.

Friedrich Frischknecht, Ph.D., Class of 2000
University of Heidelberg Medical School

The 2000 Academy International Achievement Summit in London was an incredible experience for too many reasons to list. I shared a room with Sergey Brin, who enjoyed answering my now-embarrassing question as to the nature of Google, not quite as ubiquitous then as it is now. We took pictures of each other wearing tuxedos — a first for both of us — for the big evening event at an impressive royal castle.

Earlier in 2000 I graduated, after completing a research project at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany on the biochemistry of how poxviruses spread from one cell to another. After the Summit, and an extended vacation in Peru, I moved to Paris for postdoctoral research at the Pasteur Institute on how malaria parasites move.

While Google was reinventing the use of the Internet, I spent my first year mainly producing work for the trash bin, but then I hit a lucky streak and found the right technologies to tackle this parasite. Using rather simple microscopy techniques, we showed how the malaria parasite is transmitted from the mosquito to the vertebrate host.

After three years, I won a prestigious German government grant to return to Heidelberg, this time in the University’s department of infectious diseases. There, after a number of more grants, including the prestigious European Research Council starting grant, my lab is still investigating how malaria parasites manage to move more rapidly than any cell can defend us from them.

Together with our colleagues from the chemistry and physics department, we enjoy conducting interdisciplinary research projects that combine our different fields of expertise, as well as training excellent young researchers for the challenges they will face in academia or industry.

My lab is also part of a large European network of malaria researchers who exchange new ideas and findings regularly. Together with friends from Paris, one of whom is now working in Pretoria, we organize regular microscopy workshops in South Africa with the aim of fostering frontier science and bringing African students in contact with state-of-the-art technology. The last of these courses brought us a visit from the African Leadership Academy, an institution that is training the next generation of Africa’s leaders. I look forward to more such interactions; it is my belief that by training the next generation we contribute to changing the world into a better place for all.

Sarel Fleishman, Ph.D., Class of 2002
Assistant Professor, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

The 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin, Ireland, was an extraordinary experience for me. At the time, I was starting my graduate work in Biochemistry and the opportunity to personally meet such accomplished people, as well as budding academics and public servants, was truly inspiring. I vividly remember how, at the close of the Summit, Catherine Reynolds encouraged each of the international students to “go back to their countries of origin, and make a difference.” Having met, listened, and interacted that week with people, who really have made a huge difference, such as Henry Kissinger, James Watson and David Trimble, as well as with gifted students, who have undoubtedly been incredibly successful since the Summit, endowed Mrs. Reynolds’s statement with profound meaning.

My graduate work centered on computational modeling of membrane proteins. The goal of my research was to model the molecular structures of membrane proteins using the limited available information and to explain how they function, most crucially in disease. Based on these molecular structures I suggested models for the activity of these proteins and for their involvement in diseases such as certain types of cancer. Exciting recent results by other labs have shown that some of the central aspects of these models are indeed validated by experiment. For these studies I had been awarded the Science Magazine and GE Healthcare Award for Young Life Scientists.

When I completed my graduate work I had become attracted to the field of de novo protein design. In de novo design new proteins that don’t exist in nature are generated with the aid of computational methods to carry out a desired molecular task. In principle, being able to design proteins for any required task could have huge implications for our ability to study the molecular aspects of a wide range of life processes, and crucially to control many forms of disease. During my postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington, I developed the first method to reproducibly generate proteins that bind a target molecular surface, and used this method to design proteins that bind an influenza surface protein at a site that is crucial for viral infectivity (see illustration). This site is so important that it is virtually fully conserved among viral strains as different as Spanish, avian, and Asian flu (H1N1, H5N1, and H2N2, respectively), some of the most virulent and threatening viruses known to man. These proteins are now being investigated as potential therapeutics and diagnostics against a wide range of flu strains.

I have very recently taken a position as Assistant Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. One of the focuses of my newly formed research group is studying the features that endow immune system antibodies with the amazing ability to recognize and often disable a bewildering range of pathogens. We are hoping that by understanding the design principles that underpin these capabilities, we will be able to design new proteins that could one day be used to diagnose and fight disease.

At the end of the 2002 Summit, my girlfriend Dana joined me and we took the opportunity to hike in the beautiful Irish countryside at the exciting time when Ireland was playing in the World Cup. Dana and I have since married, and we now live in Rehovot, Israel, with our three young children, Ariel, Aviv, and Myron, and our dog Tuka.

Christopher B. Howard, Ph.D., Class of 2002
President, Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia

“The International Achievement Summit experience served as a springboard, catapulting me into the world of doers, makers, movers and shakers. I had never been surrounded by so many talented individuals at a single event in my life and was bowled over by the hospitable, generous and thoughtful nature of all the attendees, including my counterparts and the marquee attendees. I vividly recall conversations with actor Jeremy Irons at breakfast, followed by a word or two with Dr. Ben Carson. Then it was off to hear Benazir Bhutto, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger and Hamid Karzai while sitting next to author Frank McCourt. Did I mention my conversations with opera singer Kathleen Battle and activist Ralph Nader on the bus ride over? The individuals invited to participate did just that — they participated, they engaged, they connected, and they inspired the next generation of leaders to do great work and to serve others. I am no doubt a more competent, capable leader because I participated in the Summit.“

Christopher Howard is a 1991 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was Class President and Group Commander. He earned his doctorate in politics as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford before serving for five years as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Air Force. He earned an MBA at Harvard before he was recalled to active duty; he was awarded the Bronze Star for combat service in Afghanistan. After several years as an executive with General Electric, he was recruited by former senator and governor, David L. Boren to serve as the Vice President for Strategic and Leadership Initiatives at the University of Oklahoma. In 2009, Dr. Howard was named the 24th President of Hampden-Sydney College; he is one of the youngest college presidents in the United States. Hampden-Sydney is a private liberal arts college for men and has been in continuous operation since classes began in 1775 on its historic campus 60 miles southwest of Richmond, Virginia (www.hsc.edu). In 2011-12, Hampden-Sydney improved 17 spots in the US News & World Report rankings, the largest such jump of any of the top 100 liberal arts colleges. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

“I had a fantastic time at the American Academy of Achievement. In one weekend I met people from more walks of life than I have before or since — Ray Charles, Colonel Sanders, Caspar Weinberger. But my favorite was Isaac Asimov, who loved hanging out with the kids!“

Lea Cosmides is best known for her work pioneering the new field of evolutionary psychology. This multidisciplinary new approach weaves together evolutionary biology, cognitive science, human evolution, hunter-gatherer studies, neuroscience, and psychology to discover the mechanisms of the human mind and brain. By understanding the adaptive problems our hunter-gatherer ancestors faced during their evolution, Dr. Cosmides and her colleagues can uncover the detailed functional designs of the emotions, reasoning “instincts” and motivations produced by human evolution.

Dr. Cosmides is Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she and her husband, Dr. John Tooby, co-direct the Center for Evolutionary Psychology. She was educated at Harvard (Ph.D.) and Stanford (postdoctoral), and was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Awards for her research include the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Prize for Behavioral Science Research, the American Psychological Association’s Early Career Award, and a J. S. Guggenheim Fellowship.

Born in Courtrai, Belgium in 1974, Hélène De Beir earned her master’s degree in international law at the Free University of Brussels, with a concentration in international law and international economics. She served as a graduate assistant to the democracy program of the Carter Center in Liberia, where she participated in the writing of a new democratic constitution. As President of the Oliviant Conference in Belgium, she organized and led a study tour of Poland, and later participated in development projects in India, Venezuela, Hungary and Kenya.

She earned a second master’s degree in international relations from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and was a student delegate at the 1999 International Achievement Summit in Budapest, Hungary.

After a short career as a banker in Amsterdam, Hélène decided to commit herself to a humanitarian career. She joined Médecins du Monde on a mission to Herat, Afghanistan, where she served in a refugee camp. In Herat, she enrolled more than 60 girls to the UNICEF school, overcoming the objections of their tradition-minded fathers. She then joined Doctors Without Borders, serving as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer in Iraq, Ivory Coast, and once again in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, she was director of the hospital at Khair Khana, a remote post in the Badgis province. On June 2, 2004, she and four colleagues were caught in an ambush and savagely murdered. The perpetrators have never been brought to justice.

Hélène De Beir is remembered by all who knew her for her intelligence, her humor, and her dedication to the cause of the less fortunate. She was particularly concerned with the condition of women in poor countries. Let Hélène’s life and work stand as an inspiration for all who work to make this world a better place.

In memory of Hélène, her father, Francis De Beir, has created two institutions:

- The Hélène De Beir Scholarship at Johns Hopkins University, a grant for young women for young women from Islamic cultures to study International Relations at SAIS.
- The Hélène De Beir Foundation, to advocate for access to basic health care for the 2.5 billion people who are denied this fundamental human right.

International figures including Senator Emma Bonino (Italy) and former Presidents Jimmy Carter (U.S.) and Mary Robinson (Ireland), among others, now serve on the Honorary Committee of the Hélène De Beir Foundation.

Mary Elise Sarotte, Ph.D., Class of 2002
Professor of History and Professor of International Relations,
University of Southern California

“The 2002 summit was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”

Among other works, Mary Elise Sarotte is the author of 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe. Her book was selected by The Financial Times as one of its “Books of the Year,” while Foreign Affairs called it “the new classic” on the end of the division of Europe. It is the first book to win both the prize for best book on US foreign policy the Ferrell Prize of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations for Best Book on U.S. Foreign Policy, and Shulman Prize the for Best Book on Communist Foreign Policy from the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. It is the first book ever to receive both of these awards. Professor Sarotte’s book has also received the German government’s Academic Exchange Service Prize for Distinguished Scholarship on German and European Studies. Professor Sarotte, who received her AB from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in History from Yale University, holds a joint appointment as Professor of History and Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. Prior to her appointment at USC, Professor Sarotte was a White House Fellow and a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a book reviewer for The Economist.

That book, It Happened on the Way to War, recently released globally by Bloomsbury
Publishing, tells the story of two forms of service that may strike some as contradictory. View the book’s trailer (produced by Beth-Ann Kutchma and her husband J, who wrote the song “Arms Around the World”) below.  Proceeds from the book go to Carolina for Kibera, the non-profit Rye co-founded ten years ago to prevent violence and spark change from within one of the world’s largest slums.

It Happened on the Way to War from Center for Global Initiatives on Vimeo.