Ambassador Anne Patterson
Ambassador Patterson is currently the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of ADST. Patterson was the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and North African Affairs at the Department of State (2013-2017). She served as Ambassador to Egypt (2011-2013), to Pakistan (2007-2010), to Colombia (2000-2003) and to El Salvador (1997-2000). She recently retired with the rank of Career Ambassador after more than four decades in the Foreign Service.
Ambassador Patterson also served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, among other assignments. She is currently a senior fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale and a member of the Commission on National Defense Strategy.
John B. Bellinger, III
John B. Bellinger III is a partner in the international law and national security practices of Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC. He is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Bellinger served as The Legal Adviser for the U.S. Department of State under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2005 to 2009. He previously managed Secretary Rice’s Senate confirmation and co-directed her State Department transition team. Mr. Bellinger served from 2001 to 2005 as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council at the White House, where he was Dr. Rice’s principal lawyer when she was National Security Adviser. He previously served as Counsel for National Security Matters in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department (1997-2001); Special Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1996); and Special Assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William Webster (1988-1991). Mr. Bellinger received his A.B. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and an M.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. Mr. Bellinger is a member of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on International Law, the Council of the American Law Institute, and the Boards of Directors of the Stimson Center and the American Ditchley Foundation; one of four U.S. Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague; and a member of the U.S. “National Group,” which nominates judges to the International Court of Justice. Mr. Bellinger testifies regularly before Congress and is the author of many articles and op-eds on international and national security law issues. He is a senior contributor to the Lawfare blog.
Donald M. Bishop
Donald M. Bishop was a Foreign Service Officer – first in the U.S. Information Agency and then in the Department of State – for 31 years. Specializing in Public Diplomacy, political-military affairs, and East Asia, he attained the rank of Minister-Counselor in the career service.
His first round of Foreign Service assignments were to Hong Kong; Taegu and Seoul, Korea; and Taipei, Taiwan. In Washington he was a Congressional Fellow, and he directed the training of the Foreign Service’s incoming Public Diplomacy officers. Returning overseas, he led U.S. Public Diplomacy programs in Bangladesh, Nigeria, and twice in China.
In 2006, Mr. Bishop was detailed to the Pentagon as the Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD) to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and then to the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. Traveling with these two members of the JCS, he visited five continents and joined service planning to develop strong relationships with the armed forces of other nations.
At the request of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Mr. Bishop led communication and Public Diplomacy at the American Embassy in Afghanistan as the “civilian surge” began. In Kabul he helped develop the Afghan government’s relations with the media and the Embassy’s cooperation with the U.S. and NATO commands. Other portfolios included media relations, education and exchanges, English teaching, the preservation of cultural heritage sites, and the network of Lincoln Learning Centers throughout Afghanistan.
After his Foreign Service career concluded, Mr. Bishop worked for the Congressional-Executive Commission on China; served as President of the Public Diplomacy Council; and joined four rotations of Army brigades to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, LA, as a role player. He joined Marine Corps University as the Donald Bren Chair of Strategic Communications in 2016.
After graduation from Trinity College with a degree in history and an Air Force ROTC commission, he worked on Wall Street for Smith, Barney & Co. and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. Called to active duty, he served in Vietnam and Korea, and he taught history at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He was a member of the summer training cadre for the first Academy class that included women. His military awards included the Bronze Star Medal.
Mr. Clayton Bond is an attorney, small business co-owner, and non-profit leader. He earlier served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, with assignments in or concerning the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, in a variety of functions including Management Affairs, Public Diplomacy, and Consular Affairs.
Bond has served on numerous boards, including the American Foreign Service Association, the Foreign Service Journal, Children of Vietnam, STREETS (a social enterprise helping disadvantaged young people in Vietnam), the Diplomatic Partners Association of Hanoi (spouses and partners of chiefs of diplomatic missions in Vietnam), the American Embassy Community Recreation Association Jakarta, and the American Community Support Association New Delhi (Vice President, 2008-2009).
A graduate of Hampton University, Bond has master’s degrees from the University of Oxford, and from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern California University School of Law and is a member of the State Bar of California and the D.C. Bar. He is a life member of Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide, and the Fulbright Association.
Eric Boswell
Eric J. Boswell joined the Foreign Service in 1972 after earning a BA from Stanford and serving in the U.S. Army. Eric served as a Management Officer in Senegal, Canada, and Washington, and as Chief Management Counselor in Amman (’85-’87) and Ottawa (’87-’90). In 1990, on the eve of the Gulf War, Eric took over as Executive Director of the Near East and South Asian Bureau (NEA). In 1992 he became Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Management, followed by an appointment as Director of the Office of Foreign Missions in 1993. In 1996 Eric became Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security, and then retired from the Foreign Service in 1998. In 2005 Ambassador John Negroponte drafted Eric back into USG service to help set-up the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). In 2008 Eric completed a second tour as Assistant Secretary for DS at the Department of State, leading a global force of 34,000 security and law enforcement professionals.
In addition to his work with ADST, Ambassador Boswell is a part-time senior advisor to the Department of State.
Lauri Fitz-Pegado
Cultural and commercial diplomacy are the hallmarks of Lauri’s career working at the Voice of America, the U.S. Information Agency, and serving as a Foreign Service Officer. A former Assistant Secretary and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, a senior executive at Hill and Knowlton and Gray and Company, and a partner at The Livingston Group, Lauri also was an executive at Iridium, LLC.
She now applies her communications, public relations business and leadership experience to mentoring, teaching ballet, advising dance institutions, promoting artists, writing, and board service. She serves on the board of directors of The Washington Ballet, the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, and Mother Jones. She is on the Advisory Board of the Ron Brown Scholars, is a Senior Advisor for the International Career Advancement Program (ICAP), and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the International Women’s Forum. She is co-founder
of The Collective.
A Jones-Haywood School of Dance alumna, Lauri performed with the Capitol Ballet, Vassar Dance Theater, and Ballet Santo Domingo. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and has a B.A. cum laude from Vassar College, M.A from the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Her memoir, Dancing in the Dash: My Story of Empowerment, Diplomacy, and Resilience was published by Bold Story Press in 2021.
Ambassador William J. Garvelink
Bill Garvelink served in USAID and the Department of State for more than 35 years.
Ambassador Garvelink was the first Deputy Coordinator for Development for President Obama’s Feed the Future food security initiative. He also designed and served as the first Assistant to the Administrator of the new USAID Bureau for Food Security.
He served as the US Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo (2007-2010), and before that as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (2001-2007). Ambassador Garvelink was USAID’s Mission Director in Eritrea from 1999-2001. Between 1988-1999, he served in USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) as Assistant Director, Deputy Director and Acting Director. While at OFDA, Ambassador Garvelink conducted disaster response assessments and led more than 25 Disaster Assistance
Response Teams (DARTS) to countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.
Prior to OFDA, Ambassador Garvelink was detailed to the Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (1986-1988) where he managed programs in southern Africa. He served for four years with USAID in Bolivia (1982-1986) and began his career in Washington in the Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination (1979-1982).
Before joining the Foreign Service, he worked on Capitol Hill as a professional staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on International Organizations (1976-1979).
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he received numerous Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards and two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards. After leaving government, he worked as a Senior Advisor at the International Medical Corps for ten years and served as a non-resident Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. For seven years, he moderated a monthly CSIS series entitled “Careers in Global Development”. Ambassador Garvelink holds a B.A. degree from Calvin University and an M.A. degree from the University of Minnesota.
Ms. Abigail Golden-Vazquez is an expert in economic mobility, international affairs, leadership fellowships, networks, coalition building, entrepreneurship, and communications. As a Partner in Economic Mobility at New Profit, Abigail leads Build Investments as a Deal Partner and advises social impact entrepreneurs in the Catalyze Economic Mobility cohorts.
Previously, Abigail served as Vice President of Programs at Prosperity Now, where she spearheaded initiatives to address the racial and ethnic economic wealth divide. Prior to that, she was a Senior Fellow focusing on entrepreneurship and Latino economic advancement.
Abigail is the founding Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program (AILAS). Under her leadership, AILAS advanced policies promoting Latino civic participation, education, and economic mobility. She also established the Forum on Latino Business Growth, which brings together ecosystem leaders to scale Latino-owned businesses and address the $1.47 trillion opportunity gap. At the Aspen Institute, Abigail nurtured entrepreneurship leaders addressing societal challenges and expanded the Aspen Global Leadership Network from 6 to 12 programs across three continents, doubling the number of Fellows to 1,200.
Abigail holds a B.A. from Amherst College and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She is a National Hispana Leadership Institute Fellow and an International Career Advancement Program Fellow. Passionate about leadership, Abigail completed training at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Center for Creative Leadership.
Robin Raphel
Ambassador Raphel is Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of ADST. Ambassador Raphel has served for four decades in U.S. foreign policy agencies, including as Ambassador to Tunisia and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia. She was the Senior Advisor for Pakistan, Coordinator for U.S. Development Assistance at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Trade in Baghdad, Vice President of the National Defense University and Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, among other assignments. Ambassador Raphel has also been a guest lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University. Educated at the University of Maryland, Cambridge and the University of Washington, she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy.
Peter R. Reams
A retired member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Reams served in a wide range of positions in Washington and overseas, including assignments in Jamaica, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Madagascar, and the Ivory Coast.
Ambassador Lange Schermerhorn retired in 2001, after a 35-year Foreign Service career, including assignments to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Vietnam, the Secretariat, Iran, Maghreb Affairs, the U.K., Belgium (twice), the Economic Bureau, the Office of Personnel Assignments and lastly as Ambassador to Djibouti. In retirement she has served as Charge a. i. in The Gambia and Eritrea (twice), as Political Advisor to CJTF-HOA, as a monitor in five African elections, and follows the affairs of the Horn of Africa very closely. She is active in DACOR, participates in the AFSA Speakers’ Bureau, and works informally on environmental issues and water management by solar energy. She has a B.A. in History (minor in Economics) and is a graduate of the National War College.
Virginia (Vicki) A. Weil
Vicki Weil joined The Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) in 1996, establishing its first Washington office, and retired in 2013 as Senior Managing Director. She developed and chaired programs with U.S. and foreign government officials, focusing on issues and policies that confront American companies operating globally. She designed and facilitated commercial training courses delivered within the State Department, at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center (Foreign Service Institute) and at regional meetings of the U.S. Commercial Service for all levels of Foreign Service officers. From 1995 to 1997, Ms. Weil was Assistant Vice President for Government Liaison in the Washington office of Edison Mission Energy, a subsidiary of Edison International and one of the largest global independent power producers.
From 1990-1995, Ms. Weil was a Senior Manager at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu International, responsible for international government relations for the firm’s industry groups. While at the firm, Ms. Weil designed and piloted commercial training for State Department officers, in conjunction with BCIU.
Ms. Weil previously served in the Finance Department of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) where she was responsible for all phases of project lending to U.S. private sector investors in emerging markets. Prior to her work at OPIC, Ms. Weil was a financial analyst at Sears World Trade, Inc.
Ms. Weil earned an MBA in Finance from George Washington University and a BA in Political Science from Wheaton College, MA. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Prevent Cancer Foundation and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Wheaton College, MA. She is member of the board of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Preservation Foundation of the Metropolitan Club of Washington, and of BCIU. She sits on the Foreign Affairs Council and the National Trust Council of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
She has previously been a board member of Family and Child Services of Washington, D.C. and served on the advisory boards of the Center for International Business and Education and Research (CIBER) at Georgetown University and of OEF International, an organization that funded microenterprise assistance to women in developing countries.
Susan Rockwell Johnson
Susan R. Johnson is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She retired in 2015 and has served as the President of ADST since 2016. During her 35 years in the Foreign Service , she served in a broad range of bilateral and multilateral assignments in and out of the State Department including in Bosnia as Deputy High Representative and Supervisor of Brcko District, in the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad as the Senior Advisor to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’affaires in Romania and Mauritius, IESC Director for Central Asia based in Kazakhstan, as well as in Russia, Cuba, Pakistan, the United States Mission to the United Nations, and in the State Department, on the Hill and with the National Endowment for Democracy. She was the first woman to be elected President of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and served from 2009-2013. Following her two terms as AFSA President, Ms. Johnson was detailed to the American Academy of Diplomacy where she worked on the Academy’s report “American Diplomacy at Risk”, issued in 2015.
Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Ms. Johnson worked in the private sector in the areas of strategic planning, international marketing and joint venture negotiation. She has a B.A. in History (Summa cum Laude) from Principia College and an M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies (SAIS). She is married to Ambassador Riaz M Khan, retired Pakistani diplomat and former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan. She has served on the Boards of numerous organizations including the Diplomacy Center Foundation, DACOR and the Chestnut Hill Benevolent Association in Boston, Massachusetts.
Honorary Board
Hillary Clinton
Condoleezza Rice
Colin L. Powell
Madeleine K. Albright
James A. Baker III
George P. Shultz
Henry A. Kissinger
Ex Officio
American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD) – Ronald E. Neumann
Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW) – Celine Erickson
Assoc. of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA) – Pamela Spratlen
American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) – Tom Yazgerdi
Council of American Ambassadors (CAA) – Ambassador Philip Hughes
DACOR – Angela Dickey
Public Diplomacy Council of America (PDCA) – Sherry Lee Mueller
Senior Seminar Association (SSA)- Michael Lekson
USAID Alumni Association (UAA) – Carol Peasley
Una Chapman Cox Foundation (Cox foundation) – Jo Ellen Powell
Former Board Chairs
Harold W. Geisel, 2019-2022
G. Phillip Hughes, 2015-2019
James T.L. Dandridge II, 2005-2015
Patricia Gates Lynch Ewell, 1998-2005
Herbert J. Hansell, 1992-1998