Takaaki Asano – Research Fellow, Tokyo Foundation

Takaaki Asano is a research fellow at the Tokyo Foundation. His general area of expertise is Japanese foreign and national security policy and international-trade policy. Previously, he was a policy research manager at the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (JACE, or Keizai Doyukai), an influential business organization in Japan, where he was responsible for JACE’s international programs and edited various policy proposals. Prior to joining JACE, he was the senior research analyst at the Representative Office of the Development Bank of Japan in Washington, DC, where he authored policy reports on a wide range of issues, from politics to financial and economic policy. He earned his bachelor’s in sociology from the University of Tokyo, and received his master’s in international relations from New York University.

Abdulrahman El-Sayed – Executive Director of Public Health, City of Detroit

Abdulrahman El-Sayed is the executive director of public health in Detroit. Previously, he was assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University, where his research considered how our social realities make us sick. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles, commentaries and book chapters, and has been featured at national and international conferences. He is also a fellow at Demos, a non-partisan public policy center. His commentaries have been featured in The New York Times, CNN, Al Jazeera, Project Syndicate, The Guardian and Huffington Post. He regularly raises debates on health policy, with a particular focus on disease prevention in light of health trends. He is also a regular commentator on public health and medical issues at Al Jazeera America. He earned a PhD in population health from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and an MD from Columbia University as a Soros Fellow and Medical Scientist Training Program Fellow. He received his bachelor’s in biology and political science from the University of Michigan with Highest Distinction.

Masahiko Haraguchi – PhD Candidate, Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University

Masahiko Haraguchi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University. His research interests include climate risk assessment and mitigation, water resource management, critical infrastructure management and supply chain resilience. He also studies urban planning as a National Science Foundation trainee and conducts research at the Earth Institute of Columbia University. As a lead researcher, Masa has written twice, in 2013 and 2015, for the Global Assessment Report, a biennial report of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Previously, Masa worked for the World Bank to design a training program on how cities should address climate mitigation and adaptation by utilizing climate finance. Before the World Bank, he worked on a research project at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies that investigated the impact of climate change on cities. At the Goddard Institute, he assisted in launching the first book of the “Climate Change and Cities” series. He also led a UN Human Settlements Programme research project on greenhouse-gas emissions from the New York metropolitan area as a case study for the Global Report on Human Settlements 2011, and he worked at the Asian Development Bank in 2008. He earned a master’s in climate policy from Columbia University as a World Bank Graduate Scholar, and a postgraduate degree in development economics from the Institute of Developing Economies under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan.

Conrad Hässler – Spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations

Conrad Hässler is currently the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations. Prior to this, he was a desk officer in the international affairs section of the Federal Chancellery in Berlin where his field of work included German bilateral relations to Western and Southern European countries as well as European security and defense policy. He prepared incoming and outgoing visits of the Chancellor, drafted talking points and speeches, and kept track of political developments in the countries assigned to his portfolio. Before joining the Federal Chancellery in 2012, Conrad spent two years working for the German Federal Foreign Ministry as a desk officer on European security and defense matters. A brief assignment took him to Tripoli in early 2012, where he worked at the German Embassy to Libya. From 2007 to 2010, he served as a cultural affairs officer at the German Embassy in Beijing, helping to plan and to implement the largest public diplomacy campaign that Germany has so far undertaken abroad. Prior to entering German diplomatic service in 2006, Conrad received a master’s degree in international relations from San Francisco State University as a Fulbright Scholar, a master’s in European politics from Lund University in Sweden, and a bachelor’s in international relations from Dresden University.

Jonah Hill – Internet Policy Specialist, US Department of Commerce

Jonah Force Hill is an Internet Policy Specialist in the US Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where he works on a variety of global Internet policy issues, including global data flows, data privacy, cybersecurity and tech industry corporate responsibility. He represents the United States and NTIA in a number of international bilateral and multilateral discussions, in venues such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Prior to joining the US Government, Jonah was an Analyst at Monitor 360, a boutique consultancy based in San Francisco, California, where he advised corporate and public sector clients on technology policy strategy. He has also served as teaching fellow for the course “International Cybersecurity: Public and Private Sector Challenges” at Harvard University and as a consultant and researcher for the White House’s National Security Council. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including Lawfare, the Atlantic, the Diplomat and the Georgetown University Journal of International Affairs. He holds an MPP in International Affairs from the Harvard Kennedy School, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School and a BA in Religious Studies from UCLA.

Krystle Kaul – Senior Consultant, Deloitte Consulting

Krystle Veda Kaul is a senior consultant in the Federal Practice at Deloitte Consulting LLP, where she primarily works with the US Department of Defense. She is also a briefing instructor at Linktank and a participant in the Department of Homeland Security’s 2015 Intelligence Community-Private Sector Analyst Program. Prior to Deloitte, Krystle worked for Leidos as a political-military analyst at the US Department of Defense, monitoring security issues in the Middle East. Before joining Leidos, Krystle was an adjunct staff at RAND Corporation, spearheading a study on Afghanistan’s civil-military operations centers. Additionally, she gained experience managing projects funded by the US Agency for International Development at Chemonics International, assisting with Haitian disaster relief at the American Red Cross, writing health and education reports for UN Women and researching national security issues on Capitol Hill. Her think tank experience includes the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Her research examines nonviolent and violent protests within the Kashmiri and Palestinian national movements. She has also been awarded a number of grants to participate in delegations to India, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Greece. Krystle holds a bachelor’s in international studies from American University’s School of International Service, a master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a master’s in political science from Brown University, where she has been pursuing her PhD.

Aasim Khan – PhD Candidate, India Institute, King’s College London

Aasim Khan is a PhD candidate and recipient of the first Mazumdar studentship at the India Institute, King’s College London. His thesis focuses on political ideas and institutions shaping the expansion of Internet and related social media in India. His research interests include politics of institutional reforms and citizenship, law and governance in contemporary South Asia. Before moving to London in 2010, he worked with Oxfam GB, and prior to that, with the Indian news network CNN-IBN. During these years, Aasim reported extensively on politics in India and also gained field experience in several other countries of the subcontinent, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. His commentary has appeared in Economic and Political Weekly, Himal South Asia and The Book Review. Aasim holds a master’s in global media and communications from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

​Kevin Körner – Senior Economist, Deutsche Bank Research

Kevin Körner is a senior economist and emerging market country risk analyst at Deutsche Bank Research, with a focus on the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He briefs and advises clients both inside and outside of Deutsche Bank on economic and political developments in emerging markets and provides internal country risk ratings. During his research and studies, he developed a particular interest in emerging markets, financial crises and questions related to international security. He frequently publishes on regional topics such as the Arab uprisings, Gulf countries’ developments and the EU’s eastern expansion. Before joining Deutsche Bank, he completed the European Central Bank’s two-year graduate program, working in the economics and communications directorates. Kevin holds a master’s in financial economics from Maastricht University, and a bachelor’s in philosophy and economics from Bayreuth University.

Runhui Lin – Professor, Nankai University Business School

Runhui Lin is a professor at the Business School of Nankai University. For more than 10 years, his work and research has focused on network structures, governance mechanism and innovation performance of enterprises and organizations. He has published in China and abroad in the areas of corporate governance, network governance and IT governance. From 2004 to 2005, he was a Harvard-Yenching Institute visiting scholar at Harvard University. Since 2006, he has been serving as the director of the Network Governance Center at the China Academy of Corporate Governance. Runhui is also the deputy director of the Office for International Academic Exchanges at Nankai University, where he has gained much experience in promoting collaboration between institutions of higher education and international mobility for university students. Runhui earned a PhD in management science and engineering. He received his master’s in project management from Tianjin University.

Rongkun Liu – Technical Advisor, Koshi Basin Program, International Center for Integrated Mountain Development

Rongkun Liu currently works as a technical advisor for the Koshi Basin Programme at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), based in Kathmandu, Nepal. At ICIMOD, he is focusing on a rapid freshwater ecosystem assessment in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Koshi River basin. Previously, Rongkun was a program manager at the Pendeba Society of the Tibet Autonomous Region, where he was in charge of projects that promoted environmental conservation and community development in the Mount Everest region. He also worked with the Mekong Institute in Thailand, Yunnan Provincial Environmental Protection Department in China and the World Resources Institute in the US on various environmental projects funded by bilateral government agreements and multinational development organizations. Rongkun holds a bachelor’s in international relations from Peking University, and a master’s in global environmental policy from American University in Washington, DC.

Wei Liu – Assistant Professor, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University

Wei Liu is an assistant professor at the School of Public Administration and Policy at Renmin University of China. Her teaching and research interests include policy processes, international organizations and Chinese politics. She has published many articles on these topics. She also leads the Center of Global Governance at the Academy of Public Policy at Renmin University of China and is in charge of several research projects, including “The Mechanism of Global Public Policy” and “Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia.” She is actively involved in policy consulting and has been working with several governmental and public agencies like China’s State Oceanic Administration and the China Development Bank. Wei is also a visiting professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where she teaches Chinese foreign policy. She holds a PhD in political science from Arizona State University, and a master’s of law from Peking University.

​Swati Malik – Legal Officer, United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan

Swati Malik serves as a legal officer at the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan. In this capacity, she provides legal advice, research, analysis and drafting support to the mission leadership with a view to facilitating the mission’s mandate in South Sudan. Swati specializes in public international law, human rights and public health, and is experienced in Indian and international legal practice. Over the course of her career, she has held positions in diverse jurisdictions, including India, Malaysia and the UK. Prior to joining the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Swati worked at the UN Children’s Fund to study an accountability mechanism in the context of children affected by HIV/AIDS, and was also part of the reproductive-rights unit of the Human Rights Law Network, an Indian NGO that was instrumental in securing the first decision in the history of Indian jurisprudence that recognized maternal mortality as a human rights violation and awarded constitutional damages to the victim’s family. Swati studied law at the London School of Economics and Political Science and at Symbiosis Law School. She has been awarded a number of grants and scholarships that led to her studying and working for short periods in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy and Japan.

​Mio Nozoe – Nutrition Program Unit, United Nations World Food Program Yemen

Mio Nozoe is currently working for the Nutrition Program Unit at the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Yemen. She is in charge of national mother and child nutrition operations with expertise in government-NGO coordination and project management. As a national of Japan, Mio joined the WFP in 2003 and has served as a program officer in Sri Lanka (including one year with the post-tsunami emergency operation), South Sudan, Somalia and Lao PDR. She also took on short-term emergency coordination positions in post-flood Pakistan and after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan. She has more than 10 years of experience in complex emergency coordination, post-conflict operations, leading inter-agency partnership, development of action as well as monitoring plan, donor coordination, NGO partnership, advocacy and information management. She holds a master’s in social policy and planning in developing countries from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

​Seth Oppenheim – Attorney-Advisor, US Department of Justice

Seth Oppenheim is an attorney-advisor with the US Department of Justice, with expertise in international and national-security law and policy. From 2008 to 2012, he was an attorney at the US Department of Defense, where he served as agency counsel in national security litigation, including in a matter before the US Supreme Court. Seth has been a Foreign Service Officer, a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow in the Legal Advisor’s Office of the German Federal Foreign Office, and a Fulbright Scholar to Austria and to UNESCO in Paris. He has worked in the Office of the Prosecutor of both the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he assisted in the prosecution of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević. Seth is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and the University of Michigan, where he earned both a master’s and a bachelor’s in political science. He also received a master’s in Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and the University of Vienna, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Julia Pohle – Research Fellow, WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Julia Pohle is a research fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, where she investigates the mechanisms and dynamics of the emerging Internet policy field. She is also an associated researcher at the SMIT research center of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where she is currently finishing her PhD about UNESCO’s policy discourse on the information society. Prior to her work in academia, Julia was a consultant for UNESCO for several years. Her research, teaching and writing focus on the history of and actors in communication geopolitics, Internet policy and the role of institutions in Internet governance. Julia is a member of the steering committee of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) and is actively involved in the Internet governance community. She studied cultural studies, computer science and philosophy in Bremen, Bologna, Berlin and Paris and has received numerous fellowships, including from the Carlo Schmid Program and from the Research Foundation - Flanders.

Jasdeep Randhawa – Consultant, UN Human Settlements Programme

Jasdeep Randhawa is a consultant at the UN Human Settlements Programme in Nairobi, Kenya. As a lawyer and public policy analyst, Jasdeep has expertise in international development, having advised governments and international organizations on water resource management and sanitation and on public-sector reforms. She has worked for the Environment Directorate at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, for the Government of India (Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Planning Commission) and for the Water Security Initiative at Harvard. She has also been a law clerk for the Supreme Court of India, and a judicial marshal in the High Court of Hong Kong. She has engaged in corporate law, litigation and arbitration practices. In 2013, she represented India as a Young Delegate at the G20 Youth Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Jasdeep holds a master’s in law from Yale Law School, a bachelor’s in civil law from the University of Oxford, and a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a recipient of the International Peace Scholarship for Women.

​Susanne Salz – Project Manager, Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production

Susanne Salz is a project manager at the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), with a focus on translating sustainability policy into concrete action on the ground in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining CSCP, Susanne managed the involvement of local governments in the UN Rio+20 summit in her role as head of the secretary general’s office at ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. Susanne has also worked at UN Volunteers and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. She holds a master’s in international relations from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s from the University of Sussex, including an exchange year at the Instituts d'études politiques (Sciences Po) in Paris. Susanne speaks fluent German, English and French, as well as some Spanish. She loves sports and enjoys rowing in particular.

​Parminder Pal Singh Sandhu – Joint Secretary, Department of Food, Government of Punjab

Parminder Pal Singh Sandhu is presently the joint secretary at the Department of Food of the Government of Punjab, where he is steering the Unique ID project as nodal officer for the State of Punjab. In addition, he leads the various reform initiatives in the public distribution of food grains in his state. Prior to this, Parminder worked as a city manager as well as an administrator in various districts, where he has been recognized for his contribution to the grassroots implementation of various e-governance and service-delivery programs. His academic interests include issues related to public institutions, governance, democracy, bureaucracy and leadership development. A poet at heart, Parminder is an engineer by training and holds a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Stefan Schäfer – Academy Officer, Sustainable Interactions with the Atmosphere Research Cluster, Institute for Advanced Sustainable Studies

Stefan Schäfer is the academic officer of the Sustainable Interactions with the Atmosphere research cluster at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. He is also the co-leader of the research group on climate engineering at the IASS, together with IASS Scientific Director Mark Lawrence. A political scientist by training, Stefan currently focuses on national and international governance of emerging technologies in general and of climate engineering technologies in particular. Stefan holds a master’s in political science, philosophy and history from the University of Tübingen, and is currently pursuing his doctorate at the Free University in Berlin.

Mudit Sharma – Consultant, Dalberg Global Development Advisors

Mudit Sharma is a consultant at the Nairobi office of the management consulting firm Dalberg Global Development Advisors. At Dalberg, he has worked on a number of strategy projects spanning multiple African countries, mainly in the following sectors: access to finance, energy, agriculture, youth development and inclusive business. Prior to Dalberg, he was a senior project manager for new innovations at KickStart International, a social enterprise based in Kenya. Reporting to the COO of KickStart, he was responsible for special projects in product management, marketing and supply chain. Before KickStart, Mudit worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Uganda, where he developed business plans for national parks in the country and advised the parastatal managing the national parks on revenue-growth strategy. Mudit also has extensive experience managing software projects in various industries in the US and India. He holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Saurashtra University in India, and a master’s in business from INSEAD in France.

Susan Chan Shifflett – Program Associate, China Environment Forum, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Susan Chan Shifflett is a program associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum (CEF), specializing in the water-energy-food nexus. Susan works with governments, companies and NGOs to address China’s most pressing energy and environment challenges. Prior to joining CEF, Susan worked at the Asia Foundation on anti-human trafficking programs. She also served as a research assistant at China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, working on projects funded by the National Institute of Health researching high-risk HIV/AIDS populations near the border of China and Vietnam. She holds a master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a bachelor’s in biology from Yale University.

​Taejun Shin – Managing Partner, Gojo & Company

Taejun Shin is currently the managing partner at his own private equity company, Gojo and Company. Taejun started his career at Morgan Stanley, where he created financial models and risk management tools, which later became global templates for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund. After four years at Morgan Stanley, he joined Unison Capital, the largest private equity firm based in Japan, where he managed several investment projects. While working in the finance industry, Taejun founded Living in Peace, the first microfinance investment fund in Japanese history. The fund is achieving above-market performance. He also created a crowdfunding donation platform for orphanages in Japan to improve living conditions for children. Taejun has authored seven books about finance, innovation and child poverty, one of which has been published in Taiwan, South Korea and China. He has also completed long-distance triathlon competitions and a 1,648-kilometer ultra-marathon. Taejun graduated from Waseda University’s Graduate School of Finance with a master’s in finance.

Akiko Suzuki – Deputy Director, Financial Affairs Division, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Akiko Suzuki is a deputy director in the Financial Affairs Division at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Akiko joined the Ministry in 2004 and focuses predominantly on environmental issues and development assistance. She was a member of the Japanese delegation to UN climate change negotiations, specializing in tropical deforestation. She has also worked for G8 and G20 processes, covering discussions in the Development Working Groups. Akiko graduated from the University of Hitotsubashi, where she majored in law. She holds a diploma in diplomatic studies from the University of Oxford and an LLM in international law from the University of Edinburgh.

Ying Yuan – PhD Candidate, Peking University

Ying Yuan works as senior campaign manager with the Greenpeace Beijing office, leading its renewable energy works. Before joining Greenpeace, Ying was a Knight Science Fellow at MIT from 2012 to 2013, researching extensively on climate policy and science. Ying was also a senior journalist, with seven years of experience covering environmental and energy issues in China, and was recognized as a top practitioner in these fields. She has written for publications including Southern Weekly and The New York Times. Ying holds a master’s in foreign language and literature as well as a bachelor’s in economics from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. She is currently a PhD candidate at Peking University, with a focus on climate change and international governance.