General John F. Kelly

U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)

Secretary Kelly was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970, and was discharged as a sergeant in 1972, after serving in an infantry company with the 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Following graduation from the University of Massachusetts in 1976, he was commissioned an Officer of Marines.

As an officer, Secretary Kelly served in a number of command, staff and school assignments to include sea duty, instructor duty at The Basic School, the Infantry Officer Course, command of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, attendance at the National War College, and duty on Capitol Hill as the Commandant’s liaison to the U.S. Congress. He also served as the Special Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, in Mons, Belgium.

He returned to the United States in 2001, and was assigned duty as the Assistant Chief of Staff G-3 with the 2nd Marine Division. In 2002, selected to the rank of Brigadier General, Secretary Kelly again served with the 1st Marine Division, this time as the Assistant Division Commander. Much of the next two years was spent deployed fighting in Iraq. He then returned to Headquarters Marine Corps as the Legislative Assistant to the Commandant from 2004 to 2007. Promoted to Major General, he returned to Camp Pendleton as the Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). The command deployed to Iraq in early 2008 for a year-long mission as Multinational Force-West in Al Anbar and western Ninewa provinces. After rotating home and being confirmed as a Lieutenant General he commanded Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North from October 2009 to March 2011. He then served as the Senior Military Assistant to two Secretaries of Defense, Messrs. Gates and Panetta, from March 2011 to October 2012 before being nominated for a fourth star and command of the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), a position he held until January 2016.

During his 39 months in command of SOUTHCOM he worked closely with the remarkable men and women of U.S. law enforcement, particularly the FBI and DEA. He also worked intimately with Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and the equally remarkable men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, particularly in dealing with the flow of drugs, people and other threats against the U.S. homeland that flow along the trans-national criminal networks into the U.S. from the south. This relationship was a model of interagency cooperation and effectiveness.

After less than a year in retirement Secretary Kelly was offered the opportunity to serve the nation and its people again, now as the Secretary of Homeland Security. After he and his family served a lifetime in service to the nation—and knowing no other life—the opportunity to serve again was welcomed. The U.S. Senate gave him and his family the great honor of confirming him on January 20, 2017 and he was immediately sworn in as the fifth Secretary of Homeland Security. After six months, he was selected to serve as White House Chief of Staff, a position he held until January 2019.

Ryan Kavanaugh

Principal, Proxima

Principal of Proxima, Ryan Kavanaugh is one of the most accomplished, prolific and honored executives in entertainment industry history.

Before founding Relativity Media, Kavanaugh was active in finance and investment—activities he’s continued alongside his entertainment industry companies.

Using an intelligent financial model of film finance, He produced, distributed, and/or structured financing for more than 200 films, generating more than $20 billion in worldwide box office revenue and earning 60 Oscar nominations, holding the distinction of being the 25th highest grossing film producer of all time.

Kavanaugh also originated a number of “first of their kind” deals including the creation of Marvel Studios where Kavanaugh pioneered an innovative finance deal for post-bankruptcy Marvel, creating the studio and finance structure which led to Marvel Cinematic Universe. He went on to create the SVOD (streaming) category with Netflix, an agreement that boosted that company’s market capitalization from $2 to $10 billion.

Kavanaugh then launched a sports agency from the ground up, known today as Independent Sports & Entertainment, which under Kavanaugh’s leadership grew to become the 2ndlargest sports agency in the U.S. with over 2.5 billion dollars in player contracts.

He also created the powerhouse television company, now known as Critical Content, producing hit shows like Catfish on MTV and Limitless on CBS, which he for $200M. Prior to its sale the company had 40 television series on air across 19 networks.

Kavanaugh has built and or invested in numerous successful tech and biotech companies including funding PreCash, renamed Noventus, which sold earlier this year for north of 300M. Seed invested in ZetaRX, later renamed Juno, the largest biotech IPO of 2014, and recently lead the acquisition of the social media and music app, Triller.

Kavanaugh went on to launch Skyland Entertainment, which marked the first and only time a U.S. company was granted a government issued distribution license to distribute films in China. Pioneering the China co-finance model with Forbidden Kingdom in 2005, Kavanaugh went on to build a successful Chinese production and distribution company.

Kavanaugh has earned several achievements and awards, from Variety’sProducer of the Year Award to The Hollywood ReportersLeadership Award, from Fortune's 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Business to Forbes’ Future 400, Billion-Dollar Producer by the Daily Variety and the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Vanity Fair.

Given his passion for animals, Kavanaugh is also active in pet food brand, Dog for Dog, who donate dog food to local and national shelters for each product purchased to save dogs from be euthanized.

He also serves on the boards of several charitable foundations including the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation and Cedars-Sinai’s Board of Governors and served as the Chairman of Art Of Elysian for almost 8 years.

Scott Kapnick

Chief Executive Officer, HPS Investment Partners

Scott Kapnick is Chief Executive Officer of HPS Investment Partners, LLC (“HPS”) which he founded in 2007. HPS is a leading global investment platform with a focus on non-investment grade credit and has over $58bn of assets under management. HPS has 142 investment professionals and over 350 employees globally, and is headquartered in New York with ten additional offices worldwide. HPS was originally formed as a unit of Highbridge Capital Management, LLC, a subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. In March 2016, the principals of HPS acquired the firm from J.P. Morgan, which retained Highbridge and the hedge fund strategies. From 2013-2016, Mr. Kapnick also served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Highbridge Capital Management. Before founding HPS, Mr. Kapnick was a Management Committee Member, Partner, and Co-Head of Global Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, positions he held from 2001 to 2006. He also served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs International from 2005 to 2006 and spent 12 out of his 21 years at the firm in Europe (London and Frankfurt). Mr. Kapnick is a graduate of Williams College and holds a combined JD/MBA from the University of Chicago. Mr. Kapnick also studied at the London School of Economics & Political Science. Mr. Kapnick is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Board of Directors of Room to Read, the Naples Botanical Garden and the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan

Chairman, NOVAGOLD

Thomas S. Kaplan is an American entrepreneur, wildlife conservationist and art collector. He is the Chairman of investment and asset management firm The Electrum Group and their flagship gold company, NOVAGOLD, Founder and Chairman of Panthera, the global leader in big cat conservation, Founder of The Leiden Collection, the world’s largest private collection of Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age art, Chairman of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH), a multilateral organization co-founded by the governments of France and the United Arab Emirates, and past President and Chairman of the 92nd Street Y, Manhattan’s premier cultural and community center.

Following his education in Switzerland, Dr. Kaplan attended Pembroke College, University of Oxford, where he earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s and DPhil degrees in modern history. His ability to superimpose historical and geopolitical understandings onto financial and commodity cycles led to one of the strongest track records in the natural resources sector over the past two decades. Most recently, Dr. Kaplan served as Chairman of Leor Exploration & Production LLC, a natural gas exploration and development company he founded in 2003 and sold in 2007 to EnCana Corporation, for $2.55 billion.

Abhi Kane

Managing Director - Head of Investment Research, SkyBridge

Abhi Kane is a Managing Director and Head of Investment Research at SkyBridge. He is a member of Investment Committee. Mr. Kane's responsibilities include managing a team of Investment Analysts in addition to Manager Sourcing, Research, and Due Diligence across a wide variety of hedge fund strategies. Prior to this, Mr. Kane performed similar duties in the Hedge Fund Management Group at Citigroup Alternative Investments (CAI). Before joining CAI in 2003, Mr. Kane was President of Kane Consulting, Inc. a company engaged in providing analytical and software services to top financial companies including AIG, Citibank and GSCC.

Mr. Kane received a B.E. in Computer Engineering from PICT and M.B.A. from NYU Stern School of Business.

He is also a CAIA charter holder.

Erik Kaas

Partner & Chairman of Europe, Partners Group

Erik Kaas is Chairman of Europe with responsibility for strategic client relationships in the Middle East and plays a strategic role in growing the firm’s exposure and network in that area. He is a Senior Partner of Partners Group, the second largest private markets firm globally in terms of market cap. Founded in 1996, the firm has since grown to actively manage USD 90.8 billion from over 20 offices around the world. During his tenure at Partners Group, Mr. Kaas has been part of senior management of the firm from its beginnings, more recently as a member of the executive board, and a member of the strategy and investment committees.

Mr. Kaas has also played a major role in the development of many of the firms private equity portfolio companies to achieve designed value creation measures. Most recent of which was Vermaat Groep B.V., the Dutch market leader in high-end catering and hospitality services, where he was a member of the board and instrumental to exceeding underwriting assumptions in Partners Groups recent exit of the company.

Mr. Kaas, a native from the Netherlands, graduated with a double degree in European business administration from the UK and Germany prior to joining Goldman Sachs.

General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.)

Founder & President, Jones Group International

As President of Jones Group International (JGI) and one of America’s leading authorities on foreign policy, energy security, and national security, General Jones provides JGI clients with strategies for navigating the complex nexus of business, international affairs, and public policy.

General Jones was appointed by President Barack Obama as National Security Advisor to the President on January 20, 2009. During his tenure in the White House, General Jones served as a trusted Presidential advisor, represented the President as an envoy to American allies and partners, provided steady leadership during times of conflict, and oversaw an expansion of responsibilities of the National Security Council to include cyber security, homeland security, and strategic foresight.

Upon General Jones’ retirement, President Obama said, “Jim has always been a steady voice in Situation Room sessions, daily briefings, and with meetings with foreign leaders … the American people owe the General a debt for making the nation safer.”

General Jones came to the White House from the private sector, where he served as the President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. At the Chamber, General Jones worked to unite energy consumers and producers in pursuit of common goals—to increase U.S. energy supply and improve infrastructure, to advance international cooperation on energy issues, to protect national energy security, and to promote a better understanding of changes to the global climate and its effects on the environment.

While leading the Chamber’s energy work, General Jones also served in the George W. Bush administration as the State Department’s Special Envoy for Middle East Regional Security. In this capacity, he worked with Israeli and Palestinian officials in furthering the Peace Process, focused on strengthening security for both parties to the conflict.

General Jones retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in February 2007 after a distinguished forty-year career. From July 1999 to January 2003, General Jones served as the 32nd Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, the most senior position in the Corps.

In 2003, General Jones was nominated to serve as Commander, United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe. As Commander of U.S. European Command, General Jones’ area of responsibility included 92 countries from Europe, Eurasia, and

Africa. In his capacity as Commander of all NATO forces, General Jones led the Alliance into overall command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, the largest combat mission in NATO’s history. General Jones also oversaw the military integration of the Alliance as it expanded from 19 to 26 members, and he advocated that NATO take on energy security and defense of critical infrastructure as a core mission.

General Jones spent the formative years of his youth living in France, where he became fluent in French and developed a global perspective. General Jones graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in January 1967. He served as a rifle platoon and Company Commander in Vietnam, where he earned a Silver Star. On returning to the U.S., he attended the Amphibious Warfare School in 1973 and the National War College in 1985 and served as Marine Corps Liaison Officer to the U.S. Senate. In addition, he served as Commanding Officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Northern Iraq and Turkey on Operation Provide Comfort; Chief of Staff, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia; and Commanding General, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Forces Atlantic. He also served as Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense from 1997-99.

Upon leaving the White House in 2010, General Jones founded Jones Group International. General Jones and the JGI team leverage their unmatched expertise, access, and credibility to assist clients in matters of energy security, national and international security, market access and trade promotion, and strategic leadership.

RJ Johnston

Executive Advisor & Managing Director, Global Energy & Natural Resources, Eurasia Group

RJ is Managing Director, Energy and Natural Resources for Eurasia Group, working closely with corporate and institutional investor clients involved in the commodity and energy sector. Services range from board presentations to strategic planning, drawing upon his experience and analytical expertise in energy and natural resources sector geopolitics. From 2013 to 2018, RJ served as CEO of Eurasia Group.

Prior to joining Eurasia Group, RJ served as managing director of equity research at Medley Global Advisors, where he served as the lead analyst for global energy equities. RJ, in addition, was a research director at UBS Warburg Energy, working directly in support of energy trading. Hhe previously directed internal research teams supporting oil, LNG, metals, and FX trading at Enron Global Markets. Earlier, at ArmorGroup, RJ directed political risk research for corporate clients in a variety of markets including China, Russia, Colombia, and Indonesia.

Recent notable achievements include published contributions to the World Economic Forum, the World Energy Council, the National Petroleum Council, the International Gas Union, and the Canadian Energy Research Institute. RJ holds a doctorate in international relations from American University.

RJ is a Research Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and a board member for Junior Achievement of Greater Washington.

Jalak Jobanputra

Founding Partner, Future\Perfect Ventures

Jalak Jobanputra is Founding Partner of Future\Perfect Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund in NYC focused on next generation technology such as blockchain and machine learning. FPV’s portfolio includes Abra, Open Garden, Blockstream, Bitpesa, FuseMachines, Everledger and Blockchain. Jalak was awarded Institutional Investor’s Top Fintech Dealmakers in 2017 and 2016. In 2017, she was cited as a “Top 5 Investor Powering the Blockchain Boom” and CB Insights noted FPV as one of the top VC funds in blockchain “before it was cool”. Since founding the firm, she has spoken on blockchain technology at many global conferences, including the Milken Global Institute, Dutch Development Bank/FMO annual meeting, and The Economist Buttonwood Gathering.

Prior to FPV, Jobanputra was the Director of Emerging Market Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, a philanthrocapitalist fund started by Pierre Omidyar, co-founder of eBay. Previously, she worked at Intel Capital investing in enterprise software in Silicon Valley from 1999-2003. as well as New Venture Partners and the NYC Investment Fund where she formed one of NYC's first seed funds and helped establish the Fintech Innovation Lab in 2010. She started her career as a media/tech/telecom investment banker in NYC and London.

Jobanputra is also active in supporting education reform and social entrepreneurship. She servedas a Trustee of Achievement First Bushwick Charter Schools (Brooklyn). She is on the Board of Directors for the Center for an Urban Future, Advisory Board of L’Oreal’s Women in Digital Initiative, member of Mayor DeBlasio’s Broadband Taskforce, and former Access to Capital Committee member of the US Secretary of State Clinton Women’s Leadership Council.

She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S. in Economics (concentration in Finance) from The Wharton School and a B.A. in Communications from the Annenberg School. She received her MBA from Kellogg in 1999.

Gosego January

Chief Executive Officer, Debswana Pension Fund

Mrs Gosego January was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Debswana Pension Fund (DPF) by the DPF Board of Trustees from 1st February 2011.

The Debswana Pension Fund (DPF) is the largest private pension fund in Botswana and a major player in the retirement services industry with assets valued at BWP8 billion and a total membership of 12 150 inclusive of active, deferred and pensioner members as at 31st December 2017. The DPF is a pension fund secretariat to the Debswana & De Beers family of companies namely; Debswana Diamond Company (Debswana), Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB), De Beers Holding Botswana (DBHB), Morupule Coal Mine (MCM), De Beers Global SightHolder Sales (DBGSS), Anglo Coal Botswana and the DPF itself.

Prior to this appointment Mrs spent 20 years working at Debswana Diamond Company where she rose through the ranks from Accounts Trainee to key Managerial positions. The key Managerial positions held being that of Cost Accountant, Business Services Manager, Management Accountant, and Business Strategy Programme Manager for Orapa and Letlhakane Mines reporting to the General Manager and being a member of the Executive Committee, and lastly the Personal Assistant to the Managing Director, a position responsible for providing strategic and business advice to the Managing Director.

Gosego has just successfully completed her Global Executive Development Program with Gordon Institute of Business Science (RSA). She is also a Chartered Management Accountant with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) UK, and prior to that she obtained a three year Diploma in Business Administration-Accounting from the Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Sudbury, Canada. She prides herself with a sparkling track record in leadership and management positions.

In other professional appointments Gosego has served as Director on the Board of PEO Venture Capital Fund (Pty) Ltd, a private equity fund established as a joint venture between Debswana and De Beers Botswana to promote entrepreneurship in Botswana through venture partnerships with small to medium scale businesses. She has participated at national level as a member of the Central Transport Organisation (CTO) Fuel Privatization Steering Committee and the Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry Management (BOCCIM) Capacity Building Project Team.

She is currently a Member of the Audit & Finance Committee for Sechaba Holdings and of the Advisory Board at Vantage Capital Investment.

Majid H. Jafar

Chief Executive Officer, Crescent Petroelum

Majid Jafar is the CEO of Crescent Petroleum, the Middle East's oldest private oil & gas company, and Vice-Chairman of the Crescent Group of companies which includes interests in port management, logistics, contracting, private equity and real estate. He is also Managing Director of the Board of Dana Gas (PJSC), the leading publicly-listed natural gas company in the Middle East, in which Crescent is the largest shareholder. His previous experience was with Shell International's Exploration & Production and Gas & Power Divisions.

In addition to his professional commitments in the energy sector, Majid Jafar is active with organisations promoting education, youth empowerment, healthcare and the environment. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Queen Rania Foundation (QRF), Kalimat Foundation, the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), and the Iraq Energy Institute; the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School, the Panel of Senior Advisers of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and the International Advisory Board of the Prince's Trust International and The Atlantic Council. He is also a member of the GCC Board Directors Institute and the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), an Accredited Director of the Institute of Directors (IoD Mudara), and has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Majid Jafar attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Engineering (Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics). He also holds an MA (with Distinction) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), and an MBA (with Distinction) from the Harvard Business School.

Guy Hurley

Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners

Guy is the CEO of Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, with the brief to fund and co invest with entities who wish to set up inside the ADGM. Previously Guy ran HCM for 10 years, consulting to the likes of CQS, Albourne, Fidante, CSAM and Merrill Lynch. Additionally, he was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch and Global Head of Manager Research at FRM. In his early career, he was a trader at Morgan Grenfell/Deutsche Bank, Barclays and the Chase London Diversified Fund. Guy Has a degree in Slavonic and East European History from University College London, and an MBA in Finance and Decision Sciences from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Peter Hughes

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Apex Group

Peter founded the Apex Group, one of the world’s largest fund administrators, in September 2003. His vision was to create a company that provides a suite of services enabling managers to grow whilst running their businesses more effectively and efficiently. Under his leadership the Apex Group has grown rapidly and today delivers a full range of services from fund administration, middle office, Banking and Depositary to Corporate services. These services are delivered via 40+ offices worldwide by over 3000 staff. The Group now administers c.$650 billion (USD) in assets.

Peter has over 20 years of financial services experience having qualified as a chartered accountant in 1994. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Chieh Huang

Chief Executive Officer, Boxed

Chieh Huang is Co-Founder and CEO of Boxed.com, a company that is disrupting the wholesale shopping club experience by enabling you to shop for bulk-sized items online or via mobile app and have them delivered directly to your door. Forbes Magazine has named Boxed one of the next “billion dollar startups.”

Started in Huang’s garage 5 years ago, Boxed now has hundreds of employees in facilities all over the United States. Since the garage, the company has sold hundreds of millions of dollars of products and has raised over a quarter billion dollars in funding to date.

Huang’s personal honors include being named to “Bloomberg 50”, Bloomberg Businessweek’s 50 people to watch in 2018, to National Retail Federation’s list of People Shaping Retail’s Future, as one of Crain’s 40 Under 40 and Goldman Sachs’ list of “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.” In addition, Entrepreneur Magazine included Chieh on their list of “The 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs.”

You can read more about Chieh’s story in People Magazine’s profile of him for their “American Dream” series, tracking his growth from humble beginnings to running a fast-growing online retailer. You can also catch more of him at TED.com delivering a talk about his lifelong battle against micromanagers.

Simon Hopkins

Chief Executive Officer, Milltrust International Group

Mr. Hopkins has been a senior investment management professional for more than two decades, with a track record in building successful financial services businesses. He is the founder and CEO of Milltrust, overseeing investments across 32 developing public equity markets, as well substantial institutional allocations to farmland investments in Australia and New Zealand, and science and technology investments through the British Innovation Fund. Milltrust’s latest initiative, in collaboration with WWF-Hong Kong, is The Climate Impact Asia Fund, an active equity impact fund investing into the leading Asian-listed companies that make a positive impact against climate change.

Mr Hopkins has been a prolific capital raiser for single manager funds, funds of funds and listed closed-end funds. In 1997, he founded Fortune Group, a multi asset class advisory firm raising over 10bn USD of assets under management. The firm was sold to publicly-listed Close Bros Group plc. in 2006.

Mr. Hopkins started his career at S.G. Warburg, and held senior roles at UBS, HSBC and Nomura. He serves as a director of Swallowcourt, a UK care provider, Xoomtrip, a Gulf-based travel agent, and Roslin Technologies (University of Edinburgh), and is a member of NUS Medicine International Council. He graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Bristol in 1986 and recently completed a Non-Executive Director postgraduate diploma in Hong Kong. Mr. Hopkins resides with his family in Singapore.

Ben Hindman

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Splash

Ben Hindman is Co-Founder and CEO of Splash, the leading event marketing automation platform used by over half of the Fortune 500. Prior to Splash, Hindman was head of events for publishing giant Thrillist - where he produced everything from mystery fly-aways to full-scale concerts. He is also a co-founder of Summit Series, the renowned invite-only destination event for the greatest minds in tech.

Dominique Hatcher

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, PiiSec

Dominique Hatcher is a U.S. Military Veteran and cyber threat intelligence analyst of over ten years; having served during the height of the Global War on Terror. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Intelligence Operations and an associate degree in Mandarin Chinese, as well as multiple cyber security certifications. She excels in multi-faceted intelligence collection and espionage tactics. During her tenure battling cybercrime, Dominique advocated heavily for mandating stringent controls on PCI Compliance and Intellectual Property and data protection in the face of foreign entities. She made significant contributions to Executive Order 13694 in defense of U.S. citizens’ interests and assets. In response to the Sony Pictures hack of 2014, Dominique spearheaded efforts to create a dedicated cyber threat intelligence (CTI) team. As a Senior Intelligence Analyst and researcher, Dominique supports global resilience against emerging and on-going cyber threats to the critical infrastructure and financial sectors. Her adversary-profiling skillset and crime evolution predictions have been leveraged as vital assets in various capacities.

The Right Honorable Philip Hammond

Chancellor of the Exchequer (2016-2019)

Philip Hammond has been a UK Cabinet Minister and key member of the British Government for almost a decade. Leading four departments over nine years and rising to the second most powerful job in government, he is one of only three people to serve continuously in the UK cabinet from 2010 to 2019, serving under Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.

Taking on the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer shortly after the 2016 Brexit Referendum, Hammond took charge of the British economy at a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

He has always strongly held the view that nobody voted for Brexit with a view to becoming poorer or less secure, and thus believes the best way of delivering the result of the referendum is to negotiate a deal with the European Union that keeps the UK and EU close economically, even after the UK leaves the EU.

He fought strongly for this approach within the cabinet and has continued to do so since leaving government. He also focused on the needs of businesses and particularly the need to protect London’s global financial markets.

Hammond has focused on the challenges faced by developed economies, specifically: the technological revolution and how it is already transforming the way we work and live our lives; climate change and how to harness the market economy to deliver decarbonisation; demographic shifts and the challenges of an ageing population, and particularly in the UK, the challenge of raising productivity.

Through his roles as Chancellor and as Foreign Secretary, Hammond has considerable experience of working with China, and clear views about how to manage the integration of China as a major economic and strategic power into the global system. He also has strong connections in the Gulf region.

He was part of the “E3+3” team that negotiated the JCPOA nuclear arms control deal with Iran in 2015. During his tenure as Defence and then Foreign Secretary, Hammond built strong links with the US and other allied counterparts, both civilian and military, and was a frequent visitor to Afghanistan during the campaign.

Hammond retains a close interest in the strategic challenges facing the Western Alliance and then interrelationship between economic and strategic influences.

Hammond grew up in Essex, England, and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at University College Oxford. Before entering Parliament in 1997, he ran a number of successful businesses. He stepped down as the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge in November 2019 after 22 years serving the Surrey constituency.

Mohammed Hamdi

Chief Executive Officer, NV ADO Den Haag

Hamdi has completed the Dutch FA management course in professional football. He previously worked for Lagardere Sports, where he was responsible for UEFA EURO 2016 for the Netherlands & Belgium. After that he joined as an Associate Director at Infront Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Wanda Sports China. In 2017 he was appointed as Commercial & Marketing Director at Al Jazira FC based in Abu Dhabi. In September 2019, Mohammed joined historic Dutch Eredivisie club, ADO Den Haag, as the CEO.

Dr. Richard Haass

President, Council on Foreign Relations

Dr. Richard Haass is in his 17th year as president of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, publisher and educational institution dedicated to being a resource to help people better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.

In 2013, he served as the chair of the multiparty negotiations in Northern Ireland that provided the foundation for the 2014 Stormont House Agreement. For his efforts to promote peace and conflict resolution, he received the 2013 Tipperary International Peace Award.

From January 2001 to June 2003, Dr. Haass was director of policy planning for the Department of State, where he was a principal advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold the rank of ambassador, Dr. Haass also served as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan and U.S. envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process. In recognition of his service, he received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award.

Dr. Haass has extensive additional government experience. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant to President George H.W. Bush and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. In 1991, Dr. Haass was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for his contributions to the development and articulation of U.S. policy during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Previously, he served in the Departments of State (1981–1985) and Defense (1979–1980), and was a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate.

Dr. Haass also was vice president and director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, the Sol M. Linowitz visiting professor of international studies at Hamilton College, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. A Rhodes scholar, Dr. Haass holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctorate degrees from Oxford University. He has also received numerous honorary degrees.

Dr. Haass is the author or editor of thirteen books on American foreign policy and one book on management. His latest book is A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order, published in 2017 by Penguin Press.

Dr. Richard Haass was born in Brooklyn, New York, and lives in New York City.