The purpose of the Policy Council is to serve as a source of ideas for new activities the Foundation might undertake and to advise the Trustees about overall policies and the direction of the Foundation. The Policy Council and the Trustees meet twice per year, and the meetings provide a forum to discuss the future of US diplomacy and how to best support the Foreign Service. Over the last several decades, we are fortunate to have had an impressive roster of distinguished diplomats, business executives, and philanthropists on our Policy Council.
Ambassador C. Steven McGann is the Founder of The Stevenson Group, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. that identifies opportunities in the defense/security sector and implements specialized advisory services which focus on strengthening public-private partnerships.
McGann, a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor, was Ambassador to the Republics of Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, the Kingdom of Tonga and Tuvalu (2008-11). Ambassador McGann also was assigned as Charge d’affaires (ad interim) of the United States Embassy in Dili, Timor-Leste (2014). He previously served as the Deputy Commandant of the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at the National Defense University (NDU). McGann earned a M.S. from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and is a graduate of the Naval War College Joint Force Maritime Combatant Commander Course.
Gabriel Escobar is the Deputy Assistant Secretary overseeing policy towards the countries of the Western Balkans and the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy. Previously, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy Belgrade. His leadership positions in the Department of State include Economic Minister Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Coordinator for Cuban Affairs in the Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2017-2018, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia 2014-2017, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Peshawar, Pakistan 2013-2014, and Team Leader of the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kirkuk, Iraq 2009-2010.
A career diplomat, he has been awarded the State Department’s Superior Honor Award six times and the Meritorious Honor Award once. He has also been awarded the Department of State’s Expeditionary Service Award and the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award. Gabriel is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and Cathedral High School in El Paso, Texas. He speaks Spanish, Russian, Italian, Serbian, Croatian, Czech, and Portuguese.
Yael Lempert is the Acting Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. She is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, and served as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in London from January through July 2021, and as Deputy Chief of Mission for the two years prior to that. Yael was Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Egypt and North Africa from June 2017 to December 2018, and the Senior Director for the Levant, Israel and Egypt at the National Security Council from 2014 to 2017, also serving as Special Assistant to the President from 2015 to 2017.
Yael earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and is the recipient of several State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor awards. She was awarded a Presidential Rank Award in 2019, and the National Security Council’s Outstanding Service Award in May 2017.
Katherine Hadda is Senior Fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she advances U.S.-India sub-national understanding and cooperation. She also serves as advisor to the Safe Water Network. A prior FSO, Katherine was U.S. Consul General in Hyderabad U.S. from 2016-19, overseeing one of the busiest U.S. visa operations in the world and supporting over 130 U.S. companies based in the region. Earlier postings during Katherine’s three-decade diplomatic career include Italy, Afghanistan, New Zealand, the UK, Taiwan and China, as well as the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, and U.S. Congress.
Lisa Povolni is a career diplomat currently serving as Director of Orientation at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). Her overseas assignments include Rangoon, Burma; Shenyang, China; Beijing, China; and Mexico City, Mexico, as well as temporary duty in Port-au-Prince, Haiti immediately after the 2010 earthquake. Her previous domestic assignments include Director of Executive Development and Deputy Director of Management Team Training at FSI. Ms. Povolni graduated from Wellesley College and earned a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Master of Clinical Social Work with a focus in trauma from Boston University. She is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation, as well as the recipient of several State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor awards. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.
Ambassador Pamela L. Spratlen is a diplomat, mentor, public speaker, and leader who served for 30 years in the U.S. Department of State, rising to be a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Ms. Spratlen spent 10 years in Central Asia, of which she served eight as U.S. Ambassador, first to Kyrgyzstan (2011-14) and then to Uzbekistan (2015-18).
Ms. Spratlen graduated from Wellesley College and holds master’s degrees from the Army War College and the Goldman School of Public Policy at U.C. Berkeley. Ms. Spratlen speaks French, Russian and Spanish and has received numerous awards.
Ambassador Alice G. Wells joined ExxonMobil as Senior Director in International Government Relations in June 2020. Previously, as a career U.S. diplomat, Ms. Wells served as Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia; Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Special Assistant to the President for Russia and Central Asia; Executive Assistant to Secretary Clinton; and Executive Assistant to Under Secretary William J. Burns. Ms. Wells also served in Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India, and Russia, and in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
Ms. Wells has a B.A. from Stanford University and a joint M.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles/Rand Corporation.
Anne Armstrong | February 1983 – November 1984 |
Luis Arreaga | December 2014 – May 2017 |
Diego C. Asencio | December 1988 – November 1991 |
Alfred Atherton, Jr. | December 1987 – November 1988 |
John Bass | January 2013 – November 2014 |
Shirley Temple Black | December 1984 – November 1987 |
Barbara Bodine | December 2015 – November 2018 |
Paul H. Boeker | November 1983 – November 1986 |
Stephen Bosworth | December 1987 – November 1990; December 1993 – November 1996 |
Margo Branscomb | December 2001 – November 2003 |
Charles W. Bray | May 1988 – November 1993 |
Carolyn Brehm | December 2012 – November 2016 |
Bridget Brink | December 2017 – July 2019 |
Prudence Bushnell | December 1993 – August 1996 |
Katherine H. Peterson Canavan | December 2001 – May 2005 |
Frances D. Cook | December 1988 – May 1991 |
Michael Dodman | December 2015 – November 2017 |
James Gadsden | December 2013-November 2017 |
John R. Galvin | December 2003 – November 2007 |
Charles A. Gillespie | December 2001 – November 2003 |
Louis W. Goodman | December 2003 – November 2007 |
Marc Grossman | May 2001 – November 2004; December 2006 – November 2010 |
Philip C. Habib | November 1984 – November 1986 |
Herb Hansell | December 1989 – November 1994 |
Arthur Hartman | December 1999 – November 2002 |
Maura A. Harty | December 2009 – November 2012 |
Tracey A. Jacobson | December 2010 – May 2012 |
L. Craig Johnstone | December 1996 – November 1999 |
A. Elizabeth Jones | November 2005 – November 2008 |
John H. Kelly | February 1983 – November 1985 |
Craig Kelly | December 2008 – November 2010 |
Kristie Kenney | May 2015 – September 2015 |
Faris A. Kirkland | December 2007 – November 2011 |
Peter Krogh | December 1995 – November 1998 |
Carol C. Laise | February 1983 – November 1985 |
Carol Lancaster | December 2011 – May 2014 |
Charles McC. Mathias | May 1988 – November 1991 |
Deborah McCarthy | December 2016 – November 2019 |
Kenton McDonald | December 1994 – August 1999 |
James H. Michel | December 1991 – November 1994 |
George E. Moose | December 1986 – November 1989; December 1991 – November 1992 |
Langhorne A. Motley | December 1985 – November 1988 |
Stephen Mull | December 2010 – November 2012 |
Henry R. Nau | July 2008 – November 2010 |
David Owen | December 2015 – November 2018 |
Mark R. Parris | December 1985 – November 1988 |
W. Robert Pearson | December 2006 – November 2009 |
Thomas R. Pickering | December 1997 – November 2000 |
Jo Ellen Powell | December 2019 – November 2021 |
Rozanne L. Ridgeway | December 1985 – November 1987 |
Charlie Ries | December 2011 – November 2014 |
Marcie Ries | December 2016 – November 2019 |
Carol Rodley | June 2012 – October 2015 |
William D. Rogers | November 1986 – November 1987 |
Peter Romero | December 1998 – November 2001 |
Fernando E. Rondon | December 1991 – November 1994 |
Carl T. Rowan | December 1985 – April 1988 |
J. Stapleton Roy | December 2002 – November 2006 |
Robin Sanders | December 1998 – November 2001 |
Teresita C. Schaffer | May 1989 – November 1992; December 1995 – November 1998 |
Enid C.B. Schoettle | December 1993 – November 1996 |
Patricia Hanigan Scroggs | December 2008-November 2011 |
Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. | December 2006 – May 2008 |
Walter J. Stoessel | February 1983 – November 1985 |
H. Patrick Swygert | December 1997 – November 2000 |
Frank X. Taylor | December 2010 – November 2013 |
Lawrence P. Taylor | December 1994 – November 1997 |
Harry K. Thomas, Jr. | December 2001 – November 2004 |
Linda Thomas-Greenfield | December 2004 – November 2007 |
Viron P. Vaky | December 1984 – November 1987 |
Dian Owen VanDeMark | December 1995 – November 1998 |
George C. Vest | December 1991 – November 1994 |
Alexander F. Watson | December 2002 – November 2006 |
Gretchen Gerwe Welch | December 2007 – November 2010 |
Betsy Whitaker | December 2013 – November 2016 |
Kevin Whitaker | December 2019 – May 2022 |
John C. Whitehead | December 1988 – November 1994 |
Shannon M. Wilde | November 2007 – May 2008 |
Eddie N. Williams | December 1994 – November 1997 |
Larry Wood | June 2013 – January 2016 |
Casimir Yost | December 1998 – November 2002 |
Johnny Young | December 2010 – November 2013 |