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.

Glyn Davies, chair (2021-2022)

Ambassador Glyn T. Davies was a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State for 38 years, serving in Australia, Africa, Europe and Asia. He retired in November 2018 after three years as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand. His other assignments included Permanent Representative to United Nations Agencies in Vienna (2009-2011), Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in London (1999-03), Executive Secretary of the National Security Council Staff at the White House (1997-1999), and Deputy Spokesman of the Department of State (1995-1997). Amb. Davies has a Bachelor of Science degree in International Politics from Georgetown University as well as a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington D.C.

Gabriel Escobar (2021-2024)

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 (2021-2024)

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. 

Steven McGann (2021-2024)

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.  

Pamela Spratlen (2021-2024)

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.

Alice Wells (2021-2024)

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.

Kevin Whitaker (2019-2022)

Ambassador Kevin Whitaker is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Career Minister.  He served for over five years as ambassador to Colombia, the longest-serving U.S. ambassador to that nation in a century.  Prior to his ambassadorial service, he held a variety of senior positions in the Department, including deputy assistant secretary and deputy executive secretary.  He has been awarded the Department’s Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards on multiple occasions.

Ambassador Whitaker is a graduate of the University of Virginia, and has three sons.  His spouse Elizabeth had a distinguished career in the Foreign Service.