Voices In Leadership

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,

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 emplo

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

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 induc

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 S

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 c

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

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.