Paul Atkins. A commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2002 to 2008, Paul Atkins is known for advocating for better transparency and consistency in the SEC's decision-making and enforcement activities, as well as for smarter regulation that considers costs and benefits. He represented the SEC at various meetings of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets and international bodies, including the Transatlantic Economic Council, Transatlantic Business Dialogue, World Economic Forum (Davos), and the European Parliamentary Financial Services Forum. Prior to his appointment to the SEC, he was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked on regulatory compliance, internal controls, and risk-management issues for financial services firms. A lawyer by training, Atkins also represented U.S. and foreign clients on corporate finance and business combination transactions while at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he spent a number of years in the firm's Paris office. He was admitted as conseil juridique in France in 1988. At AEI, Atkins works on issues related to U.S. and international regulation of the financial services industry.
Leszek Balcerowicz is a Professor of Economics at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), a former Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance as well as a former Chairman of the National Bank of Poland (NBP). He is best known for playing a leading role in Poland’s economic transformation in the aftermath of the Fall of Communism. Prof. Balcerowicz has received numerous honors and awards from universities and institutions all over the world. In September 1989, Prof. Balcerowicz became the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance of the first non-communist government behind the Iron Curtain. He prepared and oversaw the program of economic reform, commonly known as the ‘shock therapy’, that was to counter hyperinflation and radically restructure Poland’s crisis-struck economy. The Balcerowicz Plan allowed Poland to move away from inefficient communist central planning and become a successful free-market state. In 2005, Prof. Balcerowicz was awarded Poland’s highest honor, the Order of the White Eagle, for his role in the country’s economic transformation. Prof. Balcerowicz has remained a very active figure in the economic and political life of Poland. He became the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance once again in 1997 and held these positions until 2000. From 2001 to 2007, he served as the Chairman of the National Bank of Poland.
Andrzej Baranski is the owner and president of Herbewo International. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering at the AGH University of Science and Technology. At this time, he actively participated in the youth chaplaincy in Krakow (with Rev. Adam Boniecki and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla). After working for six years at the AGH University, he opened a private garage in Krakow in 1978. In 1987, Mr. Baranski co-founded the Krakow Industrial Society (Krakowskie Towarzystwo Przemyslowe), the first organization under the communist rule which promoted the need of the creation of the free market, and not merely the improvement of the socialist system. After the fall of the communist regime, Mr. Baranski co-founded a variety of free market organizations which are still in existence. In 1991, Mr. Baranski reopened the family business, HERBEWO, which used to be one of the largest companies in Poland before World War II, where he has been working on business development for the last twenty years.
Roberto Bosca has a law degree from the University of Salvador and a doctoral degree in Law and Social Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires. He is a professor of Social Doctrine at the Programa de Ciudadanía of Austral University, where he served as the first Dean of the Faculty of Law. Currently, he is a member of the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom, the Latin American Consortium for Religious Freedom, and the Institute of Political Philosophy and History of Political Ideas at the National Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. He has participated in advisory and managerial positions in various agencies and institutions such as the University Center of Studies, the University of Navarra, the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, the National Commission for Justice and Peace, the Editorial Fund of the Carolina Foundation from Argentina, and Instituto Acton Argentina. Dr. Bosca has published numerous articles in local and foreign academic and cultural journals. His books include New Age. La utopía religiosa de fin de siglo (New Age: the Religious Utopia at the End of the Century Atlántida -1993) and La Iglesia Nacional Peronista, Factor religioso y poder politico (The National Peronist Church, Religious Factor and Political Power –Sudamericana, 1997). He has also compiled collective works such as La Libertad religiosa en la Argentina (Religious freedom in Argentina -Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2003) and La libertad religiosa en el Derecho Argentino (Religious Freedom in Argentine Law -Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2007) together with Juan Gregorio Navarro Floria. On his main area of research, he has published in collaboration with José Enrique Miguens, Religión y Política. Historia de una incomprensión mutua (Religion and Politics: A History of Mutual Incomprehension -Lumiere, 2008) which addresses the current discussion on this controversial topic, and gathers the work from various Latin American and European universities in areas such as secularism, discrimination and religious freedom.
Chanshi Chanda serves as field strategy coordinator in the French Equatorial region on the continent and Indian Ocean for the Church of the Nazarene in Zambia. Previously, he served as the coordinator of leadership development in Central Africa (Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi) and the assistant district superintendent in the South East DRC. Rev. Chanda has also served as an international affiliate of the Acton Institute since 2005. He recently published his first book entitled Christ-like Justice and the Holiness Tradition and is currently working on a second book. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Religion.
João César das Neves, born in 1957, married, father of four, is full professor at Faculdade de Ciencias Economicas e Empresariais (FCEE)-Católica. Holds a PhD and BA in Economics (UCP), MA in Economics (Universidade Nova of Lisbon, Portugal) and MA in Operations Research and System Engineering (Universidade Técnica of Lisbon, Portugal). Currently he is President of the Scientific Council of FCEE-Católica. He was from 1991 to 1995 economic advisor of the Portuguese Prime Minister, in 1990 advisor to the Portuguese Minister of Finance and in 1990/1991 and 1995/1997 technician at the Bank of Portugal. His research interests are poverty and development, business cycles, Portuguese economic development, medieval economic tought and Ethics. Author of many 36 books, he is regular commentator at the Portuguese media.
Paul Collier is professor of economics and director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University. He took a five year public service leave from 1998-2003 during which he was director of the research development department at the World Bank. He is also a Professeur invité at CERDI, Université d’Auverge, and at Paris 1. In 2008, Professor Collier was awarded a CBE ‘for services to scholarship and development’. He is the author of The Bottom Billion, which in 2008 won the Lionel Gelber, Arthur Ross and Corine prizes and in May 2009 was the joint winner of the Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book prize. His second book, Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places was published in March 2009; and his latest book, The Plundered Planet: How to reconcile prosperity with nature was published in May of this year, 2010. Professor Collier is currently advisor to the strategy and policy department of the IMF, advisor to the Africa region of the World Bank; and he has advised the British Government on its recent White Paper on economic development policy. He has been writing a monthly column for the Independent, and also writes for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. His research covers the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural-resources rich societies.
Juan José Daboub, Ph.D., joined the World Bank in June 2006 as the managing director responsible for the Bank’s operations in 74 countries (in Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East and North Africa). In addition, Dr. Daboub oversees other administrative vice-presidencies and functions, including the information systems group (ISG) and the department of institutional integrity (INT). Prior to joining the Bank Group, Dr. Daboub served concurrently as El Salvador’s minister of finance and chief of staff to the president. He led family-owned businesses for nearly a decade before joining the Board of CEL, El Salvador’s electric utility, and he presided over El Salvador’s electric distribution companies. Subsequently, he was named president of ANTEL, the state-owned telecommunications company, which he re-structured and privatized through a competitive process. He served in three different governments over twelve years, and then returned to the private sector. In 2004, he joined former President Flores of El Salvador in forming the America Libre Institute, where he worked in several projects implementing proven public policies that had been successfully deployed throughout Latin America. Dr. Daboub holds a BS, MS, and PhD in industrial engineering from North Carolina State University.
Raúl Diniz is Professor of Human Behavior in the Organization and Ethics and the Social Doctrine of the Church at AESE – School for Management and Business in Lisbon, Portugal.
Declan J. Ganley is a British-born Irish citizen, entrepreneur, businessman, and political activist. Mr. Ganley is chairman and CEO of Rivada Networks designing and deploying broadband public safety communications networks for government customers. He has founded wireless broadband and cable TV businesses in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, including Broadnet (sold to Comcast), building and operating broadband wireless networks in ten EU countries and Cabeltel, with an extensive cable multimedia network in Eastern Europe. From 1991 he built what became the largest private forestry company in the Former Soviet Union, which he sold in 1997. Mr. Ganley is chairman of the Forum on Public Safety in Europe & North America, where senior leaders confer to provide policy and implementation recommendations to governments, legislators, public safety and defense entities in Europe and North America. He is an advisor on “technology and terrorism” to the Club De Madrid group of international heads of government and has served as a member of Futures Group of the Irish Government's Information Society Commission. During Ireland's Presidency of the EU in May 2004, he chaired the Forum to Debate the European Constitution which brought together academics from 16 European universities with legislators and policy-makers. Mr. Ganley is the founder and president of the Libertas Institute, a pan-European think tank committed to provoking debate on the future of the European Union and campaigning for democratic and economic reform. He has received numerous awards, including the JCI Entrepreneur of the year title in 2001 & 2005. He is married with four children.
Charles Gave has been researching tactical asset allocation for over 40 years. After three years as a financial analyst in a French investment bank, Charles created Cecogest in 1974. Cecogest was an independent research firm with a large global client base. In 1986, Mr. Gave stepped away from pure research to move into money management. He co-founded Cursitor-Eaton Asset Management where he was chief investment officer. At Cursitor, Mr. Gave managed over US$10bn of institutional money on a global asset allocation mandate. Cursitor was sold in 1995 to Alliance Capital and Mr. Gave remained with Alliance Capital until 1999. At this time, he elected to go back to his first love: research on tactical asset allocation. He left Alliance Capital to create GaveKal where he is the chairman. Mr. Gave sits on the board of numerous companies, has written several books in French, and writes a weekly column for the French newspaper Le Journal des Finances. Mr. Gave is married and has four children and eight grand-children.
Samuel Gregg is Director of Research at the Acton Institute.
Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach was born in 1941 in Wales and educated at the London School of Economics. He was a lecturer in economics at the LSE from 1965-76, and appointed professor of banking and director of Centre, Banking and International Finance at the City University of London in 1977. He was also dean of the business school at the City University. He served as a director of the Bank of England from 1985-1986. He also served as head of the Prime Minister's policy unit and as special adviser to the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher MP between 1985-90. Griffiths was made a life peer in 1991 and has served as vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International since 1991. He has been a director on several company boards. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Creation of Wealth (1984) and Morality and the Market Place (1989). He is also an active member of the Church of England and the Conservative Christian fellowship.
Samuel Grottis Mr. Grottis was born and raised in Zimbabwe and trained in business management and development. He is a visionary with more than 32 years of business leadership. He started in the Corporate World in Zimbabwe and worked at various management levels for 8 years. He then owned and managed several profitable businesses for 15 years in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Mozambique. In 2000 he joined World Relief International for nine years serving as the managing director in microfinance operations, then as Country Director for Mozambique, and finally as Southern Africa Director. He is one of the founders of AfricaWorks and is currently President and CEO. AfricaWorks is an indigenous micro-finance and economic empowerment organization.
Peter Heslam is Director of Transforming Business, a multi-disciplinary research and development project on enterprise solutions to poverty at Cambridge University. He works particularly closely with faculty at the University's schools in divinity and in business, as well as with leaders in international business. He is also the chief coordinator of the project's international network of business ethicists, economists, practitioners, consultants, psychologists, educators and opinion formers. Dr. Heslam’s academic background covers social science, history, and ethics and he holds degrees from Oxford and Cambridge. He has published widely, including a book on the Dutch political theorist and former Prime Minister, Abraham Kuyper. His publications include Globalization: Unravelling the New Capitalism, Globalization and the Good and Transforming Capitalism: Entrepreneurship and the Renewal of Thrift. Dr. Heslam has lectured to university and business audiences around the world and was formerly the Convenor of JustShare (a consortium of twenty development agencies concerned with global economic ethics) and an Adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the issue of globalization. The recipient of a number of prizes and awards, Dr. Heslam is a Senior Member of Trinity College, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Adviser to the journal Faith in Business Quarterly and to the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leaders in Canada.
Michael Hintze is an Australian businessman, philanthropist and political patron, based in the United Kingdom. He is the head of CQS Management, a private London hedge fund, launched in 1999. Mr. Hintze is a fluent Russian speaker. He holds a BSc in physics and pure mathematics and a BEng in electrical engineering both from the University of Sydney. He also holds an MSc in acoustics from the University of New South Wales and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is chairman of the Prince of Wales’s Foundation for the Built Environment, the University of Sydney UK Trust, as well as a trustee of the National Gallery and Wandsworth Museum and of the Institute of Economic Affairs. In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI made Michael a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory and in 2008 he was awarded the title Australian of The Year in the UK. In 2009 Mr. Hintze and his wife Dorothy received the Prince of Wales Award for Arts Philanthropy.
Harold James who holds a joint appointment as Professor of International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School, studies economic and financial history and modern German history. He was educated at Cambridge University (Ph.D. in 1982) and was a Fellow of Peterhouse for eight years before coming to Princeton University in 1986. His books include a study of the interwar depression in Germany, The German Slump (1986); an analysis of the changing character of national identity in Germany, A German Identity 1770-1990 (1989) (both books are also available in German); and International Monetary Cooperation Since Bretton Woods (1996). He was also coauthor of a history of Deutsche Bank (1995), which won the Financial Times Global Business Book Award in 1996, and he wrote The Deutsche Bank and the Nazi Economic War Against the Jews (2001). His most recent works are The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression (2001), which is also available in Chinese, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish, and Europe Reborn: A History 1914-2000 (2003); The Roman Predicament: How the Rules of International Order Create the Politics of Empire (2006) and Family Capitalism: Wendels, Haniels and Falcks (2006; also available in German, Italian and Chinese). In 2004 he was awarded the Helmut Schmidt Prize for Economic History, and in 2005 the Ludwig Erhard Prize for writing about economics. He is also Marie Curie Visiting Professor at the European University Institute. Professor James is currently working on a book on the history of the corporation in modern Europe, a study of the 1929 crash, and a study of the history of European monetary integration.
Kishore Jayabalan is director of Istituto Acton, the Acton Institute's Rome office.
Eric Kacou is a managing director at the OTF Group, Inc. Leader of the Africa and Country Competitiveness practices, Mr. Kacou also oversees the strategy and marketing of the firm. Born and raised in Cote d’Ivoire, he is an expert in post-conflict economic reconstruction, competitiveness and enterprise solutions to poverty. Mr. Kacou has advised leaders of over a dozen African and Caribbean nations, corporations and development institutions. Specifically, Mr. Kacou leads the Rwanda National Innovation and Competitiveness (RNIC) program, an initiative by His Excellency President Paul Kagame to upgrade the competitiveness of Rwanda’s economy. This program, which is the first of its kind in Africa, is credited with helping Rwanda revitalize its economy. In addition, Mr. Kacou oversees the Pioneers of Prosperity Africa award program. This is an annual, multi-million dollar, initiative between the Social Equity Venture Fund (SEVEN), OTF Group and selected institutions to recognize dynamic companies in emerging markets that can be an inspiration for future business leaders. Prior to joining the OTF Group, Mr. Kacou worked as a strategy consultant with Monitor Company in Toronto and Paris advising senior Fortune 500 executives mostly in pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and manufacturing. A frequent speaker, Mr. Kacou contributed to In the River They Swim, an original book of essays, published by Templeton Press in April 2009. Mr. Kacou earned his MBA at the Wharton School of Business, and a B.A. in Finance at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal, Canada.
Antoinette Kankindi is a Congolese citizen, born in North-Kivu. She received her bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Kinshasa (DRC). She received both her master’s degree in governance (MGCO) and Ph.D. in philosophy (summa cum laude) from the University of Navarra (Spain). Before pursuing her postgraduate studies, Dr. Kankindi worked in the legal office of Chevron-Texaco (previously the Zaire Gulf Oil Company) and the Chilean Embassy in Kinshasa. She has also worked on different women empowerment projects especially with female university students and underprivileged women. She is a consultant with Kianda Foundation in Nairobi on the legal frameworks for endowment scholarship funds. Currently, Dr. Kankindi is a lecturer in Strathmore University’s Institute of Humanities Education and Development Studies and director of the University’s Governance Centre.
Kęstutis Kėvalas is a respected figure and well known expert on Christian social ethics, the free market, and human dignity to the people of his home country. In addition to his active work as a speaker and pastor at national events, he serves a lecturer on moral theology at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the past nine years, Fr. Kėvalas has initiated a new debate in Lithuania, introducing the topic of free market economics to religious believers, and presenting a new set of hitherto unknown questions to economists. After studies at the Kaunas Priest Seminary and St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, Md., Fr. Kėvalas was ordained to the priesthood in 2000. In 2001, he received his Licentiate Degree in Theology writing the thesis “Catholic Social Teaching and Economic Development: A Case Study of Lithuania.” He received his Doctorate in Sacred Theology with his thesis on “The Origins and Ends of the Free Economy as Portrayed in the Encyclical LetterCentesimus Annus” in 2008. Fr. Kėvalas has been named the 2010 Novak Award winner by the Acton Institute.
Jan Kłos is assistant professor with the department of Philosophy’s Chair of Social and Political Ethics at the Catholic University of Lublin. He has been teaching at the University since 1999. He has a specific interest in the history of economic freedom, nineteenth century liberalism, and dialogue between modernity and Christian thought. In 2001, he wrote a prize winning essay for the Bastiat competition at the University of Aix-Marseilles. Prof. Kłos has published in journals such as Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines and the Journal of Markets & Morality. He has also published three books, the latest of which is: Freedom - Individualism - Progress. Conservative Liberalism vs. Modernity. In 2006, Prof. Kłos was awarded the Novak Award by the Acton Institute for his scholarly work.
Mart Laar began his second term as prime minister of Estonia in 1999, when the country was in the midst of a fiscal crisis. Laar realized that the only way for Estonia to weather the crisis was to finally leave behind the legacy of its communist past. By the end of his term, the government’s Bureau of Privatization was dissolved; more than 90 percent of the economy was in private hands. The economy was growing 7 percent annually, and Laar was widely credited as the force behind the creation of the “Baltic Tiger.” In his first term of office, he negotiated the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country, introduced the highly stable Estonian currency, and implemented a flat tax that has decreased steadily since 1994. Laar’s dedication to progress and economic freedom has allowed the former communist state to develop into one of the most dynamic economies in the world. In 2007, Estonia was ranked one of the top 10 countries in the Economic Freedom of the World index, the first post-communist economy to earn such a distinction. In 2007, the Acton Institute awarded Laar the Faith and Freedom Award. In addition to being a politician, Laar has written several books on Estonian and Soviet history. He was also a history teacher in Tallinn, as well as the past president of Council of Historians of the Foundation of the Estonia Inheritance, the Society for the Preservation of Estonia History and the Estonian Students' Society. Laar graduated form Tartu University in 1983, and received his masters degree from the same university in 1995.
Michael Macharia (35), a qualified chartered accountant and true entrepreneur founded Seven Seas Technology Group (SST) at the age of 25 and has steered the Group as founder and CEO to what it is today through innovation, vision, commitment and passion. The result is a true Kenyan success story in technology entrepreneurship with SST Group receiving several accolades from major forums and vendors in its pursuit of excellence, performance and growth. Under Mr. Macharia’s leadership, the company has expanded into Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia. The company’s customer portfolio includes industry leaders in telecoms, banking and government institutions. SST currently boasts a workforce of over 100 permanent, highly skilled, multi-cultural employees. His vision and passion attracted prominent venture capital partners and he plans to take Seven Seas Technologies public in 2013 with a with top-line revenue projection of US$75m and an EBIDTA of US$13m. Husband and father to wife Connie and son Leo, Mr. Macharia is also an avid social golfer and architecture enthusiast. He is a member of Kenya’s chapter of Young Presidents Organization and has attended numerous management development courses all over the world for entrepreneurship, human resource development and operations excellence and is an alumni of Strathmore University/IESE Business School – Barcelona, Spain for advanced management in 2009.
Michael M. Miller is a Research Fellow and Director of Poverty, Inc. at the Acton Institute.
Miguel Morgado is a professor at the Istitute for Political Studies at the Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon.
Anthony Muheria was born in Murang'a on May 27, 1963. He attended various primary schools in Murang'a, Kirinyaga and Kiambu. He attended Mang'u high school for his secondary education where he sat the "O" level exam in 1978. He was then admitted to Strathmore College for his "A" level for the next two years. Having excelled in his Form six exams, he joined the University of Nairobi to study Civil Engineering. He graduated with an honours degree in Civil Engineering in 1984 and was immediately employed as a graduate Engineer by Gathaiya Njagi and partners, a firm of Consulting Engineers. He worked for four years in design and supervision of structural works until 1989. In 1989, he joined the "International seminary of the Holy Cross" while attending his Theological studies in the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He was ordained priest on June 13, 1993 at the Basilica of the Saint Eugene in Rome. After his ordination, he worked in formation within the Seminary of the Holy Cross for two years. Bishop Muheria completed his Doctoral studies in Sacramental Theology in June 1995, and returned to Kenya where he was mainly involved in the pastoral work within the Prelature of Opus Dei, in which he is incardinated. In these years, he has carried out a wide apostolate of spiritual direction and formation to various groups of people, including preaching many retreats to laymen and diocesan Priests. In 2003 he was appointed the Bishop of Embu and in 2008 was appointed Bishop of Kitui.
Anielka Münkel was born in Nicaragua and is a project manager at Acton Institute. She holds an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, where she won the Grand Prize in the Social Venture Plan Competition. She earned a BA in international relations and business administration with concentrations in global business and finance from Ave Maria College of the Americas. The former advisor to the Minister of Tourism, she also served as the coordinator of the Government Investor Network at the Investment Promotion Agency of the Presidency in Nicaragua.
Eva Muraya is the co-founder and CEO of Color Creations Group Ltd. She has been recognized in both her community and internationally for her business innovation and leadership. Her business leadership has earned her a variety of notable awards and appointments including award nominee at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) supported Pan African Invent and Innovate Conference in Accra-Ghana, an alumnus of the Legatum Pioneers of Prosperity, and was named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, by a leading Kenyan women’s magazine. At the global level, Ms. Muraya’s remarkable entrepreneurship and business acumen saw her selected in 2006 by the US State Department to represent Kenya in a premier U.S. government-sponsored program. Ms. Muraya is also a co-recipient of the premier Goldman Sachs Fortune Global Leaders Award. Ms. Muraya is an internationally-known motivational speaker on topics such as business leadership, mentorship and small and medium woman-owned business development. Ms. Muraya holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and Marketing (Magna Cum Laudae) from the United States International University (USIU) in Nairobi and a Diploma in Advanced Business Management from the IESE (University of Navarra) and Strathmore Business Schools.
John O’Sullivan is a British conservative political commentator and journalist and currently the executive editor of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Mr. O’Sullivan was born in Liverpool and was educated at St Mary's College, Crosby and received his higher education at the University of London. He stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative candidate in the 1970 British general election. He is Editor-at-Large of the opinion magazineNational Review and a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute. Prior to this, he was the Editor-in-Chief of United Press International, Editor-in-Chief of the international affairs magazine, The National Interest, and a Special Adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1991 New Year’s Honors List. He is the founder and co-chairman of the New Atlantic Initiative, an international organization dedicated to reinvigorating and expanding the Atlantic community of democracies. The organization was created at the Congress of Prague in May 1996 by President Václav Havel and Lady Margaret Thatcher. O’Sullivan has published articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Spectator, and many other periodicals and journals. He is also he author of The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister (2006).
Ramón Parellada is a businessman and director of some companies engaged in the production and recycling of plastics in Guatemala. He was born in Dallas, Texas in 1961. His parents then moved to Guatemala two months later and they have resided there ever since. He married María Mercedes and together they are raising four children: Jaime (22), Lourdes María (20), María Mercedes (18) and Javier (16). Mr. Parellada holds a Chemical and Industrial Engineering Degree from Universidad Rafael Landívar and a Masters in Business Administration from the Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala. He has finished a Masters in Economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquín but is still working on his thesis. He teaches several courses in free-market economics, money and banking and managerial economics for graduate and undergraduate students at University Francisco Marroquín. He serves as Treasurer and Trustee of Universidad Francisco Marroquín and is a member and former treasurer of two charity organizations “Asociación Módulos de Esperanza” and “FUNDAYUDA”. He is the Director of CEES (Centro de Estudios Económico-Sociales) and a member of the “Philadelphia Society” and the Guatemalan Chamber of Journalism. He is also a columnist in the daily newspaper Siglo XXI.
Carroll Ríos de Rodríguez is a trustee of Francisco Marroquín University, where she is also a professor. She received a B.A. in government and economics from Dartmouth College (1987) and a Masters in Latin American studies from Georgetown University (1989). Prior to becoming a trustee at Francisco Marroquín University, Prof. Rios de Rodriguez served as dean of the Political Science and International Relations Institute (EPRI) and founded the Public Choice Center at the university, running it for seven years. In 1995, she was invited to become the first female member of the board of directors of the Center for Economic and Social Research (CEES), a think tank founded in 1959; she still serves on this board, as well as others. Prof. Rios de Rodriguez has published a weekly column in Siglo Veintiuno, a Guatemalan newspaper, for over eleven years. She has also been published by many Guatemalan journals and magazines, the Wall Street Journal, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation's Perfiles Liberales, and Cato Institutes Regulation Magazine. Her areas of interest include public choice, Latin American development theory, decentralization, water rights, and population studies.
Terry Ryan is the director of the African Centre for Economic Growth, and professor at Strathmore University where he is also the chairman of the Strathmore Educational Trust. He received his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Professor Ryan has had a wide experience at both the academic and the practical levels. He has taught in Harvard University, MIT and the University of Nairobi. He is an internationally recognized expert on the Kenya economy, having worked for the Government of Kenya as Director of Planning and Economic Secretary, particularly in the course of developing informal sector policies. He has recently served as Chairman of the Informal Sector (Jua Kali) task force. He has also been recently appointed to the Commission for Higher Education.
Filippo Santoro is bishop of Bishop of Petrópolis, Brazil. He was born in Carbonara, Italy and was ordained a priest of Bari, Italy in 1972. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the diocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1996 and installed as bishop of Petrópolis in 2004.
Domingos Simões Pereira is the executive secretary of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). Born in Guinea-Bissau, he studied civil and industrial engineering at the Odessa Civil Engineering Institute in the Ukraine. He received a Masters in civil engineering from California State University in Fresno. Prior to his current position at CPLP, Mr. Simões Pereira served as infrastructure advisor to the Prime Minister of the Guinea-Bissau, secretary general for Caritas Guinea-Bissau, minister of public affairs, construction, and urban planning, as well as minister of infrastructure.
Davis Simango is a Mozambican politician, the President of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) and the current mayor of Beira. He is son of Uria Simango, the first Vice-President of FRELIMO. He joined the RENAMO in 1997 and became the mayor of Beira in 2003 as its candidate. On March 6, 2009, he founded a new party, the MDM.
Kim Tan is the founder Chairman of SpringHill Management Ltd (UK), a fund management company in biotech and social venture capital investments. Dr. Tan is the Chairman of the NCI Cancer Hospital (Malaysia) and a board director of a number of companies in Malaysia, India, the UK, South Africa and the USA. He is an advisor to a number of government agencies in Asia on biotechnology and is a board member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Life Science Forum. He is the Chairman of the West Surrey & North Hants Innovation and Growth Team (UK). Dr. Tan has a PhD in biochemistry and was the recipient of a PhD scholarship and four post-doctoral fellowships from the Medical Research Council (UK). He is the inventor of sheep monoclonal antibodies and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. Dr. Tan is the co-founder of Transformational Business Network, the UK charity with social transformational businesses in developing countries, including the Kuzuko Game Reserve (South Africa) and the Hagar Social Enterprise Group (Cambodia). He was a former director of Saracens Rugby Ltd (UK) and the former Chairman of Jubilee Action, the UK-based human rights organization working with street children in India, Africa, Philippines and Brazil.
James Tooley is a professor of education policy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he directs the E.G. West Centre. For his research on private education for the poor in India, China and Africa, Tooley was awarded the gold prize in the first International Finance Corporation/Financial Times Private Sector Development Competition in September 2006. From 2007–09, he was founding president of the Education Fund, Orient Global, and lived in Hyderabad, India. He is currently chairman of education companies in Ghana and India that create chains of low cost private schools. Professor Tooley holds a PhD from the Institute of Education, University of London, an MSc from the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, and first class BSc honors in logic and mathematics, also from the University of Sussex. He is a member of the academic advisory councils for several think-tanks, including Reform, Civitas, Institute of Economic Affairs, Taxpayers’ Alliance and Globalisation Institute. He is an Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute and a thought-leader for Schoolventures. Professor Tooley has written numerous books and articles on education, including his most recent book The Beautiful Tree: a personal journey into how the world’s poorest people are educating themselves (2009). His work is featured in an American PBS documentary, profiled alongside the work of Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus and Grameen Bank. It is also featured in a documentary for BBC.
Prachuab Trinikorn is an advisor for Banpu Public Company Ltd.
Raquel Vaz-Pinto is currently working on a research project at the Institute for Political Studies of the Catholic University of Portugal under the title “Revisiting Isaiah Berlin: Liberty and International Society - A Comparative Analysis of the Right to a Fair Trial in the United States of America, People’s Republic of China and Taiwan.” Since March 2006, she is a member of the executive committee of the Portuguese Political Science Association. Her doctoral thesis was entitled International Society, Standard of Civilization, and the Abolition of the Death Penalty: the United Nations and China. She has an MSc in international politics of Asia and Africa from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Her research interests are mainly focused on the evolution of human rights, the question of the death penalty, international criminal justice, as well as the “English school” of international relations theory.
Robert W. Vivian graduated with the BSc degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and was admitted as an electrical engineer and practiced as such for a decade. After graduating he started to study law and subsequently graduated with two degrees in law, BProc and LLB degrees. He is an admitted Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. In 1989 the University of the Witwatersand established a chair in Insurance and Risk Management and he was appointed as the first professor to hold this chair, a position he has held ever since. At the university he has held a number of appointments including the head of the departments of business economics and information systems. He is a director of a number of companies, and was for many years was a member of South Africa’s Financial Service Board’s short-term advisory committee. He has written and edited a number of books and published a number academic articles. He has presented numerous academic papers both locally and internationally. He developed an interest in economic history when asked to write a book on the history of a large South African insurance company. He became the president of the South African Economic History Society and has published and edited a number of articles and books on the economic history of South Africa, the latest being the co-editor of South African Economy and Policy 1990 - 2000: An economy in transition (2010) published by Manchester University Press. He has presented a number of papers on the economic history of Africa at international conferences including The Economic nature of African States (Australia) and An Institutional explanation for the Zimbabwean Tragedy (Finland).
Damian von Stauffenberg is the founder of MicroRate, the world’s first rating agency specializing in microfinance. Through its Latin American and African subsidiaries, MicroRate has conducted well over 400 ratings of microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Before dedicating himself to microfinance, Mr. von Stauffenberg worked for 25 years in the World Bank and its private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In the past, Mr. von Stauffenberg has been closely associated with a number of institutions that have played pioneering roles in connecting microfinance to capital markets. He has been president of Seed Capital Development Fund (SCDF), chairman of the Investment Committee of Profund, chairman of the executive committee of MicroVest and member of the executive committee of the Latin American Challenge Investment Fund, LA-CIF. Mr. von Stauffenberg has over ten years of experience with the situation in post-Communist Russia which led, in 2001, to his becoming the first president of the Educational Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe.
Andreas Widmer is the co-founder of the SEVEN Fund, a non-profit run by entrepreneurs whose goal is to dramatically increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of enterprise-based solutions to poverty. Mr. Widmer is a seasoned business executive with experience in high-tech and, more recently, international business strategy consulting and economic development. He was an executive in residence at Highland Capital Partners, a venture capital firm. Prior to that, he helped lead OTF Group (formerly part of the Monitor Group), Eprise Corporation, Dragon Systems and FTP Software. Mr. Widmer has worked extensively in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin Americas, and has brought more than 100 leading-edge technology products to market. During his career, Mr. Widmer has participated in the early stage of four startup companies with cumulative exits valued at more than $730 million. His current projects include advising high-technology and medical device startup companies on strategy, venture capital and angel fund-raising efforts. Mr. Widmer is an author who recently contributed two chapters to the book In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty. He regularly writes on issues of entrepreneurship, economic development and spirituality. He has authored articles and been featured in various business and general interest media including the Financial Times, Bloomberg News, Sky TV, Kigali Times, FastCompany, and Catholic Digest. Mr. Widmer served as a Pontifical Swiss Guard from 1986-1988, protecting Pope John Paul II. He holds two business degrees from Switzerland, and two degrees from the US, a B.S in International Business from Merrimack College and an MA in Ministry from St. John’s Seminary in Boston. He speaks English, German, Italian and French, and serves on a number of international and local charitable boards. In his spare time, Mr. Widmer loves to spend time with his family and enjoys fly-fishing, skiing, and reading.
Gabriel Zanotti holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Norte Santo Tomas de Aquino and a doctoral degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Argentina. His current professional activities include: Academic Director of Instituto Acton Argentina; Associate Professor of “Epistemology of Social Communication” in the Communications Department of Austral University; Professor of Philosophy of Sciences at the UNSTA; visiting professor at the University Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala, and Professor of Moral Reasoning in the master’s program of Political Leadership of the CEMA. In addition, he has served as Director of the Research Department of ESEADE. He has published, among other books, "Introducción a la Escuela Austríaca de Economía" (Introduction to the Austrian School of Economics - 1981), “Filosofía para no filósofos”(Philosophy for non-philosophers - 1987), “Popper: búsqueda con esperanza” (Popper: Search with Hope - 1993), “Nueva introducción a la escuela austríaca de economía” (New Introduction to the Austrian School of Economics -2001), “Introducción filosófica a Hayek” (A Philosophical Introduction to Hayek - 2003), “Filosofía para filósofos” (Philosophy for Philosophers - 2003), “Fundamentos filosóficos y epistemológicos de la praxeología” (Philosophical and Epistemological Foundations of Praxeology - 2004). He has also written a number of essays and journals. Dr. Zanotti has taught various courses and lectured in conferences in Universities of Argentina and abroad. He was a commentator at the Mont Pelerin Society in 2006.
Maciej Zięba, O.P. was formerly the provincial of the Polish province of the Dominican Order, and is presently director of the Europejskiego Centrum Solidarności in Gdansk. Fr. Zięba is also the founder and director of the Tertio Millenio Institute in Kraków and has authored many books and publications presenting the teaching of Pope John Paul II and the social teaching of the Catholic Church.