Voices in Leadership: Recent Episodes
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
The Voices in Leadership series at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health enhances the decision-making knowledge of students and generates ideas that can provide solutions and strategies to global and domestic health problems.
WebMD Chief Medical Officer, John Whyte, engages in conversation with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Professor, Barry Bloom. The discussion will center around Dr. Whyte’s public and private sector leadership as well as the role that WebMD plays in disseminating and providing accurate information to consumers.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley joins the program and engages in a discussion with Dean Michelle Williams and former Rep. Jeff Sánchez about ending racism in public health and other topics.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joins the program to discuss issues related to leadership during crises. He will address his response to COVID-19 and vaccinations, systemic racism, and homelessness.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms joins the program to discuss issues related to leadership during dual crises. She will address the issues of working to confront COVID-19 and systemic racism.
Governor Deval Patrick joins the program to discuss issues related to leadership during the pandemic. He will address the problems of COVID-19 and systemic racism for Black and Brown populations and offer possible solutions for these major public health problems.
Martin J. Walsh, a lifelong champion of working people and a proud product of the City of Boston, is the City’s 54th mayor. Mayor Walsh will have a conversation with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dean, Michelle Williams about this declaration that racism is a public health crisis.
Michelle Williams, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Jeffrey Sánchez, former Massachusetts state representative and lecturer at the Harvard T.H. Chan School will have a conversation about the Op-Ed the co-authored in the Washington Post titled, “Racism is killing black people. It’s sickening them, too.” It was published on June 4, 2020. The moderator is Sara Bleich, Professor of Public Health Policy at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management.
Karl Wilhelm Lauterbach, professor of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Cologne, Member of the Deutsche Bundestag, and an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health will discuss the German response to the coronavirus pandemic with John E. McDonough, Professor of Public Health Practice in the Department of Health Policy & Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of Executive and Continuing Professional Education.
Dr. Patricia Garcia, Professor at the School of Public Health at Cayetano Heredia University (UPCH) in Lima, Peru, former Minister of Health of Peru (2016-2017), and 2018 Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will talk with Professor Robert Blendon about the response to the coronavirus epidemic in Peru.
Dr. Subramaniam Sathasivam, the former Minister of Health of Malaysia (2013-2018) discusses the Malaysian response to coronavirus and how they were able to reduce the number of new cases. Moderated by Dr. Rifat Atun, Professor of Global Health Systems at Harvard University and the Faculty Chair for the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program.
Dr. Stephanie Ferguson, a global healthcare consultant and Visiting Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will be talking with Professor Sara Bleich about the important role nurses are playing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Boston Children’s Hospital CEO, Sandra Fenwick joins the program to discuss issues related to leadership during the pandemic. She will address the issues of COVID-19 and children.
President Plevneliev is the fourth democratically elected President of the Republic of Bulgaria, elected in November 2011 and holding office from January 2012 through to January 2017. He was named ‘Person of the Year 2015’ by Ukraine for his public and political activity in a European and international context, and received the Friend of Zion Award (2017) for his work as a great friend of Israel, highlighting the courage of the Bulgarian people who saved 48,000 Bulgarian Jews during World War II. Moderated by Dr. Rifat Atun, Professor of Global Health Systems at Harvard University and the Faculty Chair for the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program.
Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician, public health leader, and a passionate advocate for patient-centered health care reform. She joined the Voices in Leadership program on January 14, 2020. Dr. Wen is currently a Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management at the George Washington University School of Public Health, where she is also the Distinguished Fellow at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute of Health Workforce Equity. She has also served as President/CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Dr. Wen spoke Leonard Marcus, founding Director of the Program for Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Stephanie Ferguson, in a conversation with Dr. Sara Bleich (Professor of the HSPH), discusses what inspired her to be a nurse, why she became an entrepreneur and provides lessons from her career path and the decisions she made as a leader in global health.
Dr. Fadlo Khuri. Khuri is the 16th president of the American University of Beirut and professor of medicine (hematology and medical oncology) at the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center. Prior, he was professor and chairman of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine where he held the Roberto C. Goizueta Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research. Moderated by Howard Koh, Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership.
Wendy Sherman, professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, joined the Voices in Leadership program on October 30, 2019. Ambassador Sherman spoke about being a woman in leadership, public health, and the lessons learned throughout her journey with Professor of Health Economics and Policy Meredith Rosenthal.
Peter Shumlin, former Governor of Vermont (2011-2017), joined the Voices in Leadership program on September 25, 2019. Governor Shumlin spoke about a variety of public health and governance topics with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Professor Ben Sommers.
Mayor Steve Benjamin sits for a wide ranging discussion with former Massachusetts State Representative, Jeffrey Sanchez. The conversation covers the mayor’s path to leadership, starting with Mayor Benjamin’s formative years up through the present day in the Mayor’s office. Topics include formative mentorship, staying true to one’s ideals, bipartisan solutions, and the importance of listening.
Juan Manuel Santos, former President of Colombia, spoke with Prof. Marcia Castro on Thursday, April 18, 2019. Listen to hear more about President Santos' leadership journey, and his efforts to bring peace between Colombia and the FARC. The archived video of this webcast can be found at hsph.me/santos.
Jay Nixon, Visiting Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow and former Governor of Missouri, spoke with Prof. Kimberlyn Leary on Friday, April 12, 2019. Listen to hear Governor Nixon’s advice on how to effectively move health policy through legislation in contentious times. The archived video of this webcast can be found at hsph.me/nixon.
Jody Olsen, Director of the Peace Corps, spoke with Dr. Richard Frank of the Harvard Medical School, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Listen to hear Director Olsen’s leadership journey and learn about her rise through the ranks of the Peace Corps – and how public and global health continue to shape the mission of the agency.
Jack Markell, former Governor of Delaware, spoke with Gina McCarthy, Director of Harvard C-CHANGE, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. They discussed three priority areas that Gov. Markell worked on during his time as governor: lowering the rate of unintended pregnancies, criminal justice reform and helping those with disabilities secure employment.
Jeffrey Sánchez, former MA State Representative, spoke with Robert Blendon, Senior Associate Dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, on Friday, February 15, 2019. They spoke at length about Chairman Sánchez’s leadership journey and his strategic thinking around effecting policy change in challenging times.
Lawrence Bacow, President of Harvard University, spoke with Michelle Williams, Dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, on Wednesday, January 30, 2019. They discussed President Bacow's journey from MIT to Tufts to Harvard University, as well as what President Bacow sees as some of the challenges that institutions of higher education face now and in the future.
Joanne Kenen, Executive Editor, Health Care at POLITICO and Margaret Talev, Senior White House Correspondent for Bloomberg, talked with Dr. Robert Blendon on Tuesday, November 13, 2018. They discussed the results of the midterm elections and its ramifications for health care, as well as what it's like to be a policy and news journalist in this day and age.
John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., Senior Advisor and Strategist to the President of Harvard University, will be talking with Prof. Sara Bleich on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Watch the webcast to learn more about what steps Harvard University is taking to building a more inclusive environment, and what lessons can be learned from fellow universities like Morehouse College and other HBCU’s.
Dr. David Shulkin, former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, talked with Dr. Ashish Jha of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on Monday, October 15, 2018. As Secretary, Dr. Shulkin represented the 21 million American veterans and was responsible for the nation’s largest integrated health care system with over 1,200 sites of care, serving over 9 million Veterans.
Rep. Bob Inglis, former U.S. Representative for South Carolina, talked with Gina McCarthy, Director of Harvard C-CHANGE, about his desire to advance bipartisan solutions to climate change on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.
Dr. Patricia García, current Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow and former Minister of Health of Peru, talked with Dr. Rifat Atun about her strategies for effective public health policy implementation and her personal leadership challenges on Thursday, September 6, 2018.
Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic, President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, discussed with Dr. Atule Gawande, what it’s like to lead an $8 billion medical system, the challenging roles that he’s taken on in his career, and his top leadership strategies on the Voices in Leadership program on Wednesday, June 6, 2018.
Drew Faust, President and Lincoln Professor of History at Harvard University, spoke about, “A Conversation with Drew Faust on Leadership,” on Wednesday, April 24, 2018. President Faust reflected on her 11 year tenure at Harvard University as the first female president, and what she sees as future challenges that higher education faces going forward. The talk was moderated by Michelle Williams, Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Jackie Jenkins-Scott, former CEO of The Dimock Community Health center and 13th President of Wheelock College, spoke about, “Keys to Responsible Leadership in Troubling Times,” on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. Ms. Jenkins-Scott talked about her role in revitalizing The Dimock Center and the history of the 'community health center movement' domestically. The talk was moderated by Dr. John McDonough.
Kakenya Ntaiya, Founder and President of the Kakenya Center for Excellence, spoke about, “Empowering Girls, Transforming Communities: The Power of Grassroots Leadership,” on Thursday, March 8, 2018 – which also coincided with International Women’s Day. Dr. Ntaiya spoke about her organization’s “recipe” for transformative change within a community: educating a girl. The talk was moderated by Dr. Ana Langer.
Ted Strickland, former Governor of Ohio, discussed a wide range of subjects, such as prison reform and effective mental health policy, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Governor Strickland spoke with Dr. John McDonough and shared his tips for being a selfless leader.
Jerome Adams, Surgeon General of the United States, discussed his path from state health commissioner to Surgeon General on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. Dr. Adams spoke with Dr. Robert Blendon on the opioid epidemic as well, specifically on treatment options and what his office is doing to combat this continuing crisis.
Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, discussed her journey from aspiring journalist to ambassador on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Ambassador Power spoke with Dr. Sara Bleich on a wide range of subjects, including combating Ebola, being on the ground during a crisis and how motherhood shaped her time in the United Nations.
Ash Carter, former Secretary of Defense for the United States, discussed his leadership path and advice on Wednesday, December 6, with Mr. Richard Serino. Secretary Carter also went in-depth behind his landmark decision to allow females to serve in all branches of the military, with no exceptions.
Suraya Dalil, former Minister of Public Health for Afghanistan, discussed her journey from surgeon to ambassador on Wednesday, Nov. 29. Ambassador Dalil spoke with her colleague, Dr. Sue Goldie, about how she came to run the Ministry of Health twelve years after she was not allowed to be on its premises due to her gender.
Sally Jewell, former Secretary of the Interior for the United States, spoke about “Nature and Health – Inextricably Linked” on Thursday, Nov. 16 with former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. Secretary Jewell spoke passionately about her love of the outdoors, as well as how she handled the switch from private to public careers.
Dr. Donna Shalala, Board Member and former President and CEO of the Clinton Foundation, spoke about “Universal Healthcare: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?” on Thursday, Nov. 9. Dr. Shalala covered a wide range of topics, including her time as a Peace Corp volunteer, her early career aspirations and best practices when assembling a leadership team.
On Wed., Oct. 18 2017, James Ryan, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, spoke with Michelle Williams, Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, about the art of asking questions.
Karen Finney and Douglas Heye, both experts in the field of political communications, discussed their career path, successes and leadership lessons learned on the Voices in Leadership program on Wednesday, October 4, 2017.
Peter Shumlin, former Governor of Vermont, discusses his career path, successes and leadership lessons learned on the Voices in Leadership program on Tuesday, September 19, 2017.
Dr. Somsak Chunharas, former Deputy Minister of Health from Thailand, discusses his career path, successes and leadership lessons learned on the Voices in Leadership program on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017.
The Honorable Ban Ki-moon was the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving two consecutive terms, from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2016. As Secretary-General, he focused on mobilizing world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water. He also galvanized partners from non-governmental organizations, faith groups, the business community and others active on the international stage, endeavoring to build bridges, give voice to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and strengthen the United Nations.
Born in the Republic of Korea, Mr. Ban’s childhood was scarred by war. Fighting forced his family to flee to the mountains. When they returned, Mr. Ban learned, first-hand, the value of the UN’s life-saving relief aid. “That experience was a big part of what led me to pursue a career in public service,” he once said, pledging to enable the United Nations to provide tangible, meaningful results that advance peace, development and human rights. One of the Secretary-General’s first major initiatives was the 2007 Climate Change Summit, followed by extensive diplomatic efforts that have helped put the issue at the forefront of the global agenda. His visits to hard-hit areas around the world, persistent advocacy on the issue and even a march through the streets of New York for climate action helped to push the world to act. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, adopted in December, 2015, was signed by a record number of leaders the following April 22 – Mother Earth Day – and entered into force on November 4.
He also worked to advance the world’s main anti-poverty targets, the Millennium Development Goals, with a special emphasis on Africa and women’s and children’s health. At the height of the food, energy and economic crises in 2008, the Secretary-General successfully appealed to the G20 for a $1 trillion financing package for developing countries and took other steps to guide the international response and protect the vulnerable and poor. He was an Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Margaret Hamburg is an internationally recognized leader in public health and medicine, where she is known for advancing regulatory science and modernizing regulatory pathways. From 2009-2015 she served as the 21st Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She was also the founding vice president and senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a foundation dedicated to reducing nuclear, chemical and biological threats. Other positions have included Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (HHS), Health Commissioner for New York City, and Assistant Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
The former administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy, discusses her career path, successes and leadership lessons learned on the Voices in Leadership program.
Senator Kelly Ayotte served as a United States Senator from New Hampshire from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, she was the second-youngest of the 20 female senators, and the twelfth-youngest overall.
R. Gil Kerlikowske is the former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), having been nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate in March, 2014. When he left office in January 2017, he was the only confirmed CBP Commissioner during President Obama’s administration. He was also an IOP Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Steve Beshear served as the 61st Governor of Kentucky from 2007-2015. He also served as Attorney General from 1979 to 1983, Lieutenant Governor from 1983 to 1987 and was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979.
As Governor, Steve expanded the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act and launched the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, benefiting over 500,000 Kentuckians. These actions together reduced the state’s uninsured rate from over 20% to 8% and ensured that for the first time in history every Kentuckian would have access to affordable health insurance.
Steve also successfully brought Kentucky through the historic recession by making Kentucky a leader in job creation. Under his leadership, Kentucky’s unemployment rate dropped from 10.9% to 4.9%, and the state set export records four years in a row. In all, Beshear’s administration announced almost 2,400 new and expansion projects that created nearly $21 billion in investment and almost 90,000 new jobs when full employment is attained. The economic turnaround culminated in 2014 and 2015 by Kentucky winning Site Selection magazine’s coveted Governor’s Cup two years in a row, meaning Kentucky finished first in the nation in economic development per capita.
Elizabeth Nabel has served as president of Brigham Health—comprised of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization—since 2010. A distinguished biomedical researcher and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Nabel brings a unique perspective to health care based on her experience as a physician, research scientist, academic medicine leader, and wellness advocate. In 2015, she was appointed chief health and medical advisor to the National Football League.
Baroness Tessa Jowell served as a Member of British Parliament from 1992-2015. Throughout these years, she held several positions in government, such as Minister of State for Public Health (1997-1999), Minister of State for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities (1999-2001), and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and member of the Cabinet (2001-2007). Baroness Jowell also initiated and managed the winning bid for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and led the development of the project for eight years. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Baroness Jowell’s career included experience in public service as a mental health practitioner, senior manager, public service reform expert, and social policy analyst. Baroness Jowell serves on the Advisory Board of the Ministerial Leadership in Health Program, a joint initiative of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Peter Staley was diagnosed with AIDS-related complex in 1985 while working as a bond trader at JP Morgan on Wall Street. He joined ACT UP New York shortly after its founding in 1987, and chaired its fundraising committee for three years. In 1988, he left his Wall Street job to become a full-time AIDS activist, joining ACT UP’s Treatment & Data Committee (T&D).
In 1989, Staley led ACT UP’s campaign to force Burroughs Wellcome to lower the price of AZT. He organized activists to infiltrate their North Carolina headquarters and seal themselves in a third-floor office, and led a demonstration on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, disrupting trading and resulting in a price reduction of AZT three days later. In 1990, Staley was an opening plenary speaker at the VI International Conference on AIDS in San Francisco.
In 1992, Staley and other members of T&D founded the Treatment Action Group (TAG), and he became its Founding Director. TAG’s first action and “art project” involved covering Senator Jesse Helms’ home with a giant condom. In 1993, TAG successfully lobbied for a radical restructuring of the management of the government’s AIDS research effort. The NIH Revitalization Act created a powerful Office of AIDS Research (OAR) to provide coordination, strategic planning, and leadership in the NIH’s AIDS research programs.
In 1994, Staley was appointed by President Clinton to the National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development. He was also a member of amfAR’s Board of Directors from 1991 to 2004.
In 2000, Staley launched a web site called AIDSmeds.com, offering complete and easy-to-read treatment information for people living with HIV. Since then, AIDSmeds.com has become one of the most popular HIV-related sites on the Web, and it merged with POZ Magazine and POZ.com in 2006.
In January, 2004, Staley launched a personal ad campaign to bring much needed attention to an epidemic of crystal meth use among gay men. Using $7,000 of his own money, he placed six phone booth kiosk ads in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York that said “Huge Sale, Buy Crystal, Get HIV Free!” Within days, the ads, along with the issues they raised, became a major news story, with coverage in The New York Times and on all three local TV stations. Two months later, New York City appropriated the first government funds anywhere in the U.S. targeting meth prevention for gay men. Other cities and states soon followed. According to ongoing CDC HIV surveillance studies, meth use among gay men in New York City fell from 14% in 2004 to 6% in 2008.
In 2013, Staley was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to New York State’s Ending the Epidemic Task Force, which developed a blueprint to dramatically lower HIV infections in the state by 2020. In 2014, Staley was appointed by Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, to the search committee tasked with finding the next Director of AIDS Research at the NIH.
Also in the 2014, Staley helped form a coalition of advocates for Truvada PrEP – the once-a-day pill that prevents HIV infections – that successfully pressured Gilead Sciences to liberalize its patient assistance programs, removing barriers to access for this new tool to fight the AIDS epidemic.
Staley is a leading subject in the Oscar-nominated documentary, How To Survive A Plague, directed by David France. In recent years, he has lectured often at U.S. colleges, and during international exchange programs.
Bob Schieffer has been a reporter for more than half a century and a part of CBS News for 46 years. He is one of the few reporters on Capitol Hill to have covered all four of the major beats: The Pentagon, the U.S. State Department, the Congress, and the White House. He has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon and nearly every candidate who has sought the Oval Office. Schieffer has also moderated three debates for the Presidential Commission on Debates in 2004, 2008, and 2012. He anchored the Saturday edition of the “CBS Evening News” for 23 years, became the network’s chief Washington D.C. correspondent in 1982, and was named the anchor and moderator of “Face the Nation” in 1991. In March 2005 Schieffer served as interim anchor of “The CBS Evening News” until August 2006.
Schieffer has won virtually every award in broadcast journalism, including: eight Emmys, the Overseas Press Club Award, the Paul White Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence. He was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and was named a living legend by the Library of Congress.
Schieffer was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Fort Worth where he graduated from Texas Christian University. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force. Prior to joining CBS in 1969 he was a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he was the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam.
Senator Trent Lott represented the people of Mississippi in Congress for 35 years and is one of a handful of officials to have held elected leadership positions in both the House of Representatives and Senate. During his 16 years in the House and 19 years in the Senate, he worked closely with seven presidential administrations and was regarded as a savvy coalition builder and deal maker. He was the former Senate Majority Leader, Senate Republican Whip and House Republican Whip.
Senator Lott joined the House in 1973, representing Mississippi’s Fifth Congressional District. From 1981 to 1989 he served as House Minority Whip, the second-ranking Republican in the House. In that position he forged the bipartisan alliance that enacted Ronald Reagan’s economic recovery program and national security initiatives. He also founded the House’s first modern whip organization with a focus on regular member-to-member contacts and extensive outreach to sympathetic Democrats to secure passage of major legislation.
In 1988 Senator Lott was elected to the Senate where he was a member of a group of pro-growth stalwarts who opposed the tax increase forced on President Bush in 1990. He became the Senate’s 16th Majority Leader in 1996 and, along with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, was instrumental in the passing of the historic welfare reform bill of 1996. The next year Senator Lott worked with Gingrich and congressional Budget Committee chairmen John Kasich and Pete Domenici to produce a landmark budget and tax cut agreement that limited some federal spending while, more importantly, stimulating the economic growth that brought the federal budget into balance for the first time since 1968.
As the Republican leader in the Senate during the first two years of President George W. Bush’s administration, Senator Lott led the fight for passage of the President’s tax cut package, the President’s historic education reform bill, the largest increase in defense spending since the Cold War, the most significant trade legislation in a decade, and the resolution supporting the President of military action in Iraq. Senator Lott later helped to reach the compromises leading to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
In 2006 Senator Lott was elected Senate Republican Whip, giving him the distinction of being the only person to hold that position in both the House and Senate.
Today Senator Lott co-chairs the Public Policy practice and provides strategic advice at Squire Patton Boggs, consulting and lobbying clients on a wide range of public policy matters, including defense and homeland security, tax and financial services, energy, transportation and communications. Senator Lott and fellow former Senator John Breaux founded the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, a bipartisan public policy firm that quickly became one of the 20 largest government relations firms in Washington.
Ann Compton was the first woman assigned by a television network to cover the White House and her longevity and impact have been considered unmatched over the span of her 41 years on the air for ABC News. After retiring from daily coverage in 2014, Ann was brought back to cover the 2016 political conventions for ABC. Ann is also a member of the Governing Council of the Miller Center for the study of the presidency at The University of Virginia. Ann Compton’s career at ABC News spanned 7 presidents and 10 presidential campaigns for the network. She was assigned to the White House in 1974, as the Watergate scandal came to an end. She reported for all ABC News broadcasts and online from the lawn of the White House, from Capitol Hill, from the campaign trail, and from around the globe traveling with Presidents, Vice Presidents, and First Ladies. Her retirement was announced by President Barack Obama who called on her at a West Wing news conference saying, “Ann Compton, everybody here knows, is not only the consummate professional but is also just a pleasure to get to know.”
In what she considers the most significant story of her career, Ann was traveling with the President on September 11, 2001, and was the only broadcast reporter allowed to remain onboard Air Force One to report on behalf of all the press during the chaotic hours after the terrorist attacks when George W. Bush was unable to return directly to Washington. For that coverage Ann received special note in the awards bestowed on ABC’s coverage, including an Emmy, a Peabody, and the Silver Baton from the DuPont awards at Columbia University. Ann has been inducted into 6 Halls of Fame and has received 5 honorary university degrees.
Ann Compton was elected by her colleagues as President of the White House Correspondents’ Association for 2007-2008. She was chairman of the Radio-Television Correspondents’ Association on Capitol Hill in 1987-1988. Twice Ann was selected as a panelist on the formal presidential campaign debates.
She began her career in Virginia as a reporter and anchor on WDBJ Television after her graduation from Hollins University. She was raised on the North Shore of Chicago. Ann is married to Dr. William Hughes, a physician in Washington, DC, and they are the parents of three sons and a daughter and the proud grandparents of three granddaughters. Ann says her most valued award is a golden statuette bestowed by the National Mothers’ Day committee naming her a “Mother of the Year” in 1988.
Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate served as Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health from 2011-2013. Prior, he was the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in Abuja, Nigeria. Dr. Pate is currently a professor at the Duke University Global Health Institute. He also serves on the agenda committee of the World Economic Forum and is a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Vaccination and Humanitarian Emergencies at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva. Dr. Pate is an American Board-Certified MD in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, and holds an MBA (Health Sector Concentration) from Duke University, and a Masters in Health System Management from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. In fall 2016, Dr. Pate served as a Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
Helene Gayle, CEO of McKinsey Social Initiative, spoke on Thursday, April 21, 2016 to the Voices in Leadership audience. Her talk entitled “Leadership to Impact Today’s Global Challenges” focused on her time as president and CEO of CARE USA, and her work combating HIV/AIDS.
Helene D. Gayle is CEO of McKinsey Social Initiative, a nonprofit organization that implements programs that bring together varied stakeholders to address complex global social challenges. As the inaugural CEO, Dr. Gayle is setting direction and building the organization. Previously, Dr. Gayle was president and CEO of CARE USA, a leading international humanitarian organization with approximately 10,000 staff whose poverty fighting programs reached over 97 million people in 87 countries. An expert on global development, humanitarian, and health issues, she also spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), focused primarily on combating HIV/AIDS. She was appointed as the first director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, and achieved the rank of Rear Admiral and Assistant Surgeon General in the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Gayle also served as the AIDS coordinator and chief of the HIV/AIDS division for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Gayle then directed the HIV, TB and Reproductive Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, directing programs on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues. Dr. Gayle has been named one of Forbes’ “100 Most Powerful Women,” Foreign Policy magazine’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” and Newsweek’s top 10 “Women in Leadership,” and has authored numerous articles on global and domestic public health issues, poverty alleviation, gender equality, and social justice. Dr. Gayle earned a B.A. in psychology at Barnard College, an M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.P.H. at Johns Hopkins University. She is board certified in pediatrics. She has received 13 honorary degrees and holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington and Emory University.
The Honorable Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke on “Fighting for Change in the U.S. Senate,” and discussed her background and career path to becoming the senior U.S. Senator for Massachusetts.
Elizabeth Warren is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, elected in 2012. She was the driving force behind the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and served as Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Senator Warren is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. A law professor for more than 30 years, most recently at Harvard Law School, Senator Warren is the author of ten books, including A Fighting Chance, The Two-Income Trap and All Your Worth. She lives with her husband Bruce Mann in Cambridge, MA and has two children and three grandchildren.
Donna Shalala, President of the Clinton Foundation, spoke on Thursday, March 24, 2016. Her talk was entitled “At the Helm of Leadership in Government, Academia, and Foundations,” and she discussed the problem-solving skill set one must have when managing complex institutions.
Donna E. Shalala is the president of the Clinton Foundation. Previously, she served as president of the University of Miami and Professor of Political Science. Donna received her A.B. in history from Western College for Women and her Ph.D. from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. She served as President of Hunter College of CUNY from 1980 to 1987, and as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1987 to 1993. In 1993, President Clinton nominated her as Secretary for Health and Human Services (HHS) where she served for eight years. In 2008, President Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian award. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran from 1962-1964. In 2010, she received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights recognizing her dedication to improving the health and life chances of disadvantaged populations in South Africa and internationally.
Thomas Daschle, Former Senator Majority Leader and Founder of The Daschle Group, spoke on “Leadership In and Out of Government” on Tuesday, March 8. Daschle discussed the need for bipartisanship in the U.S. Congress.
Senator Daschle is the Founder and CEO of The Daschle Group, A Public Policy Advisory of Baker Donelson. The Daschle Group is a full-service strategic advisory firm that advises clients on a broad array of economic, policy and political issues. Senator Daschle has participated in the development and debate of almost every major public policy issue of the last three decades. He served in the US House of Representatives for eight years, and later was elected to the US Senate and was chosen as Senate Democratic Leader in 1994. Senator Daschle is one of the longest serving Senate Democratic leaders in history and one of only two to serve twice as both Majority and Minority Leader. During his tenure, Senator Daschle navigated the Senate through some of its most historic economic and national security challenges. Since leaving the Senate, Senator Daschle has remained an active and learned voice among policy-makers. Senator Daschle has also emerged as a leading thinker on climate change, food security and renewable energy policy. He serves on both advisory and governing boards of a number of corporate and non-profit organizations and currently co-chairs The Cuba Consortium, an organization dedicated to an improved relationship with the people of Cuba.
In 2007, Senator Daschle joined with former Majority Leaders George Mitchell, Bob Dole and Howard Baker to create the Bipartisan Policy Center, an organization dedicated to finding common ground on some of the pressing public policy challenges of our time. Senator Daschle is Chair of the Board of Directors at the Center for American Progress and Vice-Chair for the National Democratic Institute. He serves on the board of Edward M. Kennedy Institute and the LBJ Foundation. He also is a member of the Health Policy and Management Executive Council at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Council of Foreign Relations.
Senator Daschle attended South Dakota State University, and then served for three years as an intelligence officer in the US Air Force Strategic Command. Following his military service, he spent five years as an aide to South Dakota Senator James Abourezk. After leaving the Senate in 2005, Senator Daschle joined Alston & Bird LLP as a special policy advisor and then went on to work in the same role at DLA Piper before establishing The Daschle Group in 2014.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy spoke in the Voices in Leadership series on Monday, February 29, 2016. Watch the on-demand video of her talk entitled “A Leadership Career in Government: EPA Chief Speaks.” McCarthy discussed the importance of communicating clearly and honestly around complicated scientific issues, and how she views EPA as essentially a public health prevention entity, among other topics.
Gina McCarthy is the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Appointed by President Obama in 2009 as Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, Gina McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common-sense strategies to protect public health and the environment. Previously, McCarthy served as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. During her career, which spans over 30 years, she has worked at both the state and local levels on critical environmental issues and helped coordinate policies on economic growth, energy, transportation and the environment. McCarthy received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a joint Master of Science in Environmental Health Engineering and Planning and Policy from Tufts University.
Belén Garijo, Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and CEO Healthcare, on Tuesday February 9. Dr. Garijo’s session was entitled “From Physician to CEO: Leadership Insight for Success.”
Belén Garijo is a Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, since January 2015. She is responsible for the Healthcare business sector, comprising the businesses of Biopharma, Consumer Health, Allergopharma and Biosimilars. Since 2013 she also acts as President and CEO of Biopharma, where she started in 2011 as Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Belén Garijo was employed by Sanofi-Aventis as Senior Vice President Global Operations Europe, serving as a member of the Management Committee of the Sanofi-Aventis Group and of the Management Board of the Sanofi-Pasteur vaccines joint venture with MSD. In 2011, she took on the additional role of Global Integration Leader for the Genzyme acquisition. From 2003 to 2006, Belén Garijo was General Manager of Aventis Spain, subsequently leading the merger of Sanofi-Aventis in 2004. From 2000 to 2003 she served as Global Vice President Oncology at Aventis and from 1996 as Director of the Oncology Business Unit in the predecessor company Rhône-Poulenc Rorer. Prior to this she worked in R&D for eight years, initially as the Medical Director of the Abbott Laboratories Spanish affiliate, before moving to lead International Medical Affairs at the Abbott headquarters in Illinois, USA. Belén Garijo is a medical doctor, specialized in clinical pharmacology. She worked as a practicing physician for six years, before moving to the pharmaceutical industry. Belén Garijo is married and has two daughters.
Nils Daulaire, former Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, spoke about “Negotiating Act Three for Global Health on the World’s Stage,” in a live webcast on January 28.
Dr. Nils Daulaire served in the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as the United States Representative on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization, as well as Alternate U.S. Board Member to the Global Fund. Earlier, he served in the Clinton Administration as Deputy Assistant Administrator for Policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
For over a decade, Dr. Daulaire was president and CEO of the Global Health Council, which led policy and advocacy efforts to improve maternal and child health, reproductive health and family planning, HIV/AIDS and infectious disease control in the poorest populations around the world. Earlier in his career, Dr. Daulaire worked for the John Snow Public Health Group, much of the time resident in Nepal where he conducted groundbreaking field research on community-based management of childhood pneumonia and vitamin A deficiency.
He comes to Harvard following a year as Senior Visiting Scholar on Global Health Security at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and previously was a clinical professor of global health at the University of Washington and visiting professor of community and family medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine as well as the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Daulaire has worked with over 50 countries around the globe and speaks seven languages.