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Dr. Wilmot Allen is an entrepreneur, investor and political economist focused on market-driven development in Africa. Wilmot is the Founder of VentureLift Africa (VLA), a holding company facilitating investment and trade. VLA catalyzes African diaspora engagement beyond remittances through the Diaspora Angel Investor Network, the International Writer’s Lab for film and television creatives and Commerce Hubs for legacy AGOA and AfCFTA trade.  He has led diaspora FDI initiatives for Africa in genomics and renewable energy. In life science, Wilmot works to advance solutions related to red blood cell technology as Chief Strategy Officer for Functional Fluidics. He has been a Managing Partner with the RH Managers Africa Fund for investments in healthcare infrastructure with a climate lens. Wilmot led strategic planning to strengthen healthcare systems across Africa for the African Public Health Foundation of the Africa CDC.

In financial services, Wilmot worked with private equity funds, financial institutions and infrastructure groups at the International Finance Corporation. He was also Global Project Manager to CEO Lars Thunell on youth and women-led entrepreneurship. Wilmot was a technology venture capital investor (Commonwealth Enterprise Fund), an M&A investment banker (JPMorgan), and a private placement and IPO investment banker (Merrill Lynch). He previously led the transaction team for the East Africa Trade and Investment Hub (CrossBoundary LLC).

In entertainment, Wilmot is a minority owner of a Basketball Africa League team. Prior, he was responsible for financial and strategic management of ABC Entertainment at the Walt Disney Company and was Executive in Charge of Production of the award-winning Tavis Smiley Show at PBS-KCET. Wilmot is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and as a Fellow for the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins-SAIS. He has a PhD in comparative political economy from Georgetown University, an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA from Yale University.  He is a co-author of the forthcoming book, African Sovereign Wealth Funds and New Directions in State Capitalism (Palgrave MacMillan). As a Senior Fellow at the M-RCBG, his research will focus on the role of African sovereign wealth funds in advancing greater shared prosperity and economic development. His faculty sponsor is Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School. Contact Wilmot - wilmotallen@hks.harvard.edu  

Lael Brainard is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy and formerly served as the Director of the National Economic Council, the Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, and Under Secretary of the Department of Treasury, where she received the Alexander Hamilton Award.  At the National Economic Council and, before that, at the Federal Reserve, Lael Brainard helped achieve resolutions of the debt limit impasse of 2023, the regional banking crisis of 2023, and the COVID financial crisis that protected households and small businesses and restored growth, and she was deeply engaged in macro, fiscal, and monetary policymaking, as well as investment policy on semiconductors, AI, and energy. Brainard served as Administrative Governor and Chair of Federal Reserve committees where she oversaw national payment operations, including the launch of FedNow, a new digital instant payments system, as well as personnel, finance, and operations for the Board and System. She has also served as chair of the Financial Stability Board Standing Committee on Assessment of Vulnerabilities and as G7 sherpa for the United States. Brainard has operated at high levels of economic diplomacy, including in bilateral negotiations with China and the Euro area, and in G-20 and G-7 financial negotiations, where she was extensively engaged in global financial stabilization and recovery for the Global Financial Crisis, the Euro area debt crisis, and the Asian financial crisis. Dr. Brainard was an associate professor of applied economics at MIT Sloan School of Management. She founded the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. She received her doctorate in economics at Harvard University, where she was a National Science Fellow.  She has also received a White House Fellowship. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Lael Brainard will pursue a research project on what lessons we can draw for economic policy from the pandemic shock. Her faculty advisor is Lawrence Summers, Frank and Denie Weil Director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard. Email: lbrainard@hks.harvard.edu

Paulo Carvão is an accomplished Global Technology Executive with a proven track record of leading large businesses at IBM, where he was a senior leadership team member until 2022. During his three-decade tenure at IBM, he led organizations focused on assisting clients with information technology infrastructure and digital transformation initiatives, leveraging a portfolio of hardware, software, and services offerings. Central to these efforts were the transition to cloud infrastructure and the integration of artificial intelligence into business processes. Since retiring from IBM, he has served as a strategic advisor for technology and go-to-market issues, as well as a venture capital investor and board advisor. He serves on the advisory boards of technology startups, including Orby.co (neurotechnology and AI for rehabilitation and pain management) and Skills.tech (a hyper-personalized generative AI enterprise education platform). During his 2023 social impact fellowship at the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, Paulo focused on the intersection of technology and democracy, and on entrepreneurship as a vehicle for social mobility. He was also a Fellow at the Harvard Safra Center for Ethics and an advisor to the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, concentrating on Artificial Intelligence. Passionate about mentoring current and future leaders, he currently mentors at the Harvard Innovation Labs, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology PKG Center, and Harvard Winthrop House. Additionally, he is the inaugural Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics’ GovLab. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Paulo will research the complexities of AI regulation in the United States and propose a framework considering rapid technological advancements and their societal impacts. His work will evaluate the viability of a centralized regulatory agency versus a decentralized, sectoral regulation approach within the context of evolving judicial doctrine. His faculty sponsor is John Haigh, Co-Director, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, and Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Email: paulo_carvao@harvard.edu

Andrew Kemp Collier is the former President of the Bank of China International USA, where he helped to launch BOCI’s U.S. office. BOCI was one of the first investment banks established in China and remains one of the largest global Chinese firms. Previously, he was an equity analyst with Bear Stearns and CLSA in Hong Kong, covering the Asian airline sector and media companies. Earlier in his career, he was a journalist in New York, Chicago, London and Beijing, for Bloomberg, the South China Morning Post and other publications. He has a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Chinese Studies from Yale University and studied Chinese at Peking University. He also is a Senior Fellow at the Mansfield Foundation in Washington. He currently conducts macroeconomic research on China’s economy for institutional investors that is distributed through Global Source Partners in New York. Mr. Collier has published three books on China: “Shadow Banking and the Rise of Capitalism in China” (2017); “China Buys the World: Analyzing China’s Overseas Investments” (2018); and “China’s Technology War: Why Beijing Took Down Its Tech Giants” (2022). After twelve years in Hong Kong, Mr. Collier recently relocated to Denver. In his spare time, Mr. Collier is an accomplished jazz drummer. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow Mr. Collier will be working on a book on the historical and institutional factors that led to the collapse of China’s property market, and the impact this will have both on China’s domestic political economy and the global order. His faculty sponsor is Meg Rithmire, the F. Warren McFarlan associate professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. Email: acollier@hks.harvard.edu

Professor Dame Nicola Dandridge is a professor of practice in higher education policy at the University of Bristol, where she is carrying out research into higher education governance and regulation, and student choice. Until 2022 she was the first chief executive of the Office for Students, the regulator for higher education in England, where she was responsible for the regulator’s establishment and the creation of its first regulatory framework. She was previously chief executive of Universities UK, the membership organisation for the UK’s universities, and before that chief executive of the Equality Challenge Unit, an agency established to promote equality for staff and students in higher education. Nicola was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015, and Dame Commander (DBE) in 2023 for services to higher education. Nicola originally trained as a lawyer specialising in employment, labour relations, and equality law. She is qualified in both England and Scotland, and spent many years working in both Glasgow and London.  She is currently chair of the Council for At Risk Academics, a charity that supports academics at immediate risk of danger in their home countries or forced into exile. She is also on the board of the University of Glasgow and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance and Drama. She was educated at the University of Oxford and the University of Glasgow. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Nicola will explore the impact and evaluation of different governance and regulatory models of higher education in the US and Europe. Her faculty sponsor is Professor Richard J Light, Pforzheimer Professor of Teaching and Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Email: nicola_dandridge@hks.harvard.edu

Sean Doherty is the founder and president of T1D Action, an organization focused on solving the dysfunction of our health care system for those living with chronic disease, especially type one diabetes (T1D), by using patient and family narratives and seeding innovative care programs in Boston health care centers. He is a senior advisor to Vigilant Health, a health care provider company based in Mississippi focused on reversing the impacts of the chronic diseases that are driving our nation’s health care costs, with significant population-level cost savings produced by extraordinary patient outcomes.  

Sean is the founder and Chair Emeritus of the T1D Fund, one of the largest and most successful venture philanthropy funds in disease. During his eight-year tenure, the fund’s investments and diligence support catalyzed and accelerated the investment market in curing T1D by attracting nearly $1 billion of private venture capital to the space, plus several billion dollars more in public and acquisition capital. He led the vision, design, team building, and capital raising of the fund, and drove its strategy. He served on the board of directors of Provention Bio (NASDAQ: PRVB), a T1D Fund company that received approval for the first disease-modifying therapy in T1D (sold to Sanofi), and IM Therapeutics.

Sean is a former partner of Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading multi-asset alternative investment firms. He was its first general counsel and led the firm’s crisis management, including during the 2012 presidential campaign. Sean also led the Bain Capital’s press and external communications, government relations, branding, and philanthropic initiatives, and he was deeply involved in governance matters and capital raising. He joined Bain Capital after serving as one of its outside lawyers at Ropes & Gray. He is a veteran of the United States Navy, in which he was a Lieutenant on a guided missile frigate during the early 1990s and deployed to the Persian Gulf, Western Pacific and Central America. He graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. magna cum laude in government in 1990 and from Harvard Law School with a J.D. magna cum laude in 1997. He was a Fellow and Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2023 and 2024. Contact Sean - sean_doherty@harvard.edu 

Shira Greenberg is a leading economist and distinguished public servant. From 2019 to 2023, she served as Chief Economist and Director of State Revenues at Israel's Ministry of Finance, where she was recognized for her leadership and pivotal role in shaping Israel's economic policies and international economic relations. In this position, Shira played a crucial role in influencing economic policies, forecasting Israel's GDP growth, analyzing associated risks, promoting tax policy, and formulating state revenue projections. Her in-depth research as Chief Economist received broad public attention and influenced critical economic policy decisions. Her research covered various areas, including real estate, labor markets, finance, and high-tech industries, addressing key issues such as gender wage gaps and the economic impact of strategic infrastructure projects. Shira oversaw the Ministry's international economic ties and led the negotiation and signing of economic agreements under the historic ‘Abraham Accords,’ promoting regional cooperation. Moreover, Shira played a crucial role in shaping Israel’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout her tenure, Shira excelled as a leading figure in her field. She was recognized among Israel's 100 most influential people and 50 most influential women from 2020 to 2023, known for her professional expertise, substantial contributions to economic policy, and her exceptional courage and professional integrity in standing against attempts to undermine democratic principles. Prior to her role as Chief Economist, Shira accumulated ten years of experience in the Ministry’s Budget Department. As Deputy Director, she managed budget planning and economic reforms across diverse sectors, including industry, trade, communication, high-tech, and the labor force. She also supervised the education, health, water, and agriculture sectors in earlier positions. Throughout her career, Shira chaired and served on numerous high-level committees and boards. She was a founding board member of the distinguished Israel Innovation Authority from 2016 to 2019. She was Chair of the team established to assist self-employed individuals in pension and unemployment situations and Chair of the Compensation Fund for Road Accident Victims. Shira holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from Tel Aviv University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Economics from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Shira focuses on tackling AI-induced labor market risks. Her faculty mentor is Dan Levy, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: shiragreenberg@hks.harvard.edu

Gregory Haile is an equity partner at Strategos Group, and founder and lead of the Higher Education and Workforce Advisory Practice. He is also the Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is the first educator to serve as Chair of the Atlanta Fed in 70 years. Haile formerly served the Bank’s Audit and Operational Risk Committee Chair. Haile also recently served on the U.S.- EU Talent for Growth Task Force. Co-chaired by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Secretary of State, the task force assembled 6 U.S. leaders from business, labor and education, with counterparts from the EU to build on workforce initiatives from both sides of the Atlantic, to catalyze and advance human capital in technology fields. Haile previously served as the president of one of America’s largest colleges (Broward College) with over 55,000 students. He was recognized as one of the top five community college CEOs in the nation by the AACC, and led the college to a top ten ranking (from more than one thousand colleges) by the Aspen Institute at every eligible year under his tenure. His leadership garnered the largest grant and the largest gift in the College's history, and he set the national example for engaging low-income communities. Haile has 20+ years of board experience and has held 15+ chairmanships. He is a member of the CFR and YPO. He has also taught a self-designed course on Higher Education Law and Policy at the Harvard Summer School. Haile graduated from Columbia University’s School of Law as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the National Black Law Journal and as an Editor of the Journal of Gender and Law. He holds a B.S. from Arizona State University, Magna Cum Laude, and was recognized as the most outstanding undergraduate in his college. He has an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Nova Southeastern University. Haile’s work at Harvard will focus on the intersection of 3 key elements of American national security: economic mobility, engaging low income to support our nation’s workforce needs, and AI. His faculty sponsor is Christopher Avery, Roy E. Larsen Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Email: ghaile@hks.harvard.edu 

Thomas J. Healey is a Partner at Healey Development LLC. He recently co-edited a book on the financial crisis based on papers presented at an M-RCBG conference. He was formerly adjunct lecturer at the Kennedy School, where he taught the course in Financial Institutions and Markets. He joined Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 1985 to create the Real Estate Capital Markets Group, and founded the Pension Services Group in 1990. He became a Partner in 1988, a Managing Director in 1996, and remains a Senior Director of Goldman Sachs. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Healey served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Domestic Finance under President Ronald Reagan. Before joining the U.S. Treasury, he spent eight years at Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., where he was head of the Corporate Finance Department. Healey has served on the U.S. Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council, and was a Presidentially-appointed Director of the Securities Industry Protection Corporation. He is Chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation Investment Committee and is actively involved with other charitable institutions. Healey graduated from Georgetown University in 1964 and Harvard Business School in 1966. His research explores issues related to financial regulation. His faculty sponsor is Roger Porter, IBM Professor of Business and Government. Email: thomas_healey@hks.harvard.edu 

David M. Mizrachi Fidanque is a lawyer, academic, author and civic leader. He is the founder of MDU Legal in Panama, Republic of Panama. His private legal practice focuses on foreign direct investment and international dispute resolution. He constantly interacts with government agencies on behalf of his clients and has handled complex international administrative, contractual and investment claims. He is dually admitted to practice law in Panama and the State of Florida and began his career as a commercial litigator in South Florida, moving to his native Panama in 1993. He has been a member of the board of the Mining Development Corporation – Cerro Colorado (public mineral rights concession), Caribbean American de Panamá and Worldwide Medical Assurance (private insurance companies), Fondo de Emergencia Social (public human development fund), PSA Panama International Terminal (port operations), B’nai B’rith of Panama, Fundación Holzer and the Lions Club of Panama (non-governmental entities) to name a few. He serves in the National Concertation Board of Panama on an ad honorem basis. David is a lecturer at Quality Leadership University on International Business Law and Legal Environment of Business. His courses have been accredited by the University of Louisville, Towson University and Illinois State University, among others. He has served as President of the Central Jewish Community Council and B’nai B’rith of Panama. Mr. Mizrachi is a frequent speaker on matters of Panamanian law, locally and internationally. David is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, (BA) majoring in Economics and Political Science (with distinction), of Tulane University Law School (JD cum laude) and holds an Executive LLM in Global Business Law from Columbia University Law School, where he received the Parker School Recognition of Achievement in International and Comparative Law. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, he will be focusing his research on the relationship between sovereign arbitrations and foreign direct investment in select Latin American countries. His faculty sponsor is Professor Mark Wu, Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Email: david_mizrachi@hks.harvard.edu 

Sol Rashidi is one of the world’s foremost authorities on enterprise AI. Appointed in 2016 as the first-ever Chief AI Officer in the enterprise sector, she holds 10 patents and is the best-selling author of Your AI Survival Guide (a Top 50 AI book). A former Amazon executive and 4x Fortune 100 C-suite leader, Sol helped launch IBM’s Watson in 2011 and has led over 200 AI deployments across industries. She is a Forbes-recognized “AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century,” a 3x TEDx speaker, and has been named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Tech,” “Top 100 AI Thought Leaders,” and “Top 100 Data & Analytics Leaders.” As a trusted advisor to startups and global enterprises, Sol is known for translating high-concept AI strategy into practical, scalable systems.

Her superpower lies in uncomplicating the complicated. Sol bridges the gap between technical complexity and business execution, ensuring AI is used as an enabler—not a replacer—of human potential. She is driven by a singular purpose: to ensure that AI amplifies human ingenuity rather than replacing it. With deep conviction, she helps organizations scale in a healthy manner, build force-multiplier workforces, and focus on what matters most—data integrity, security, and workforce readiness. Sol’s approach integrates visionary thinking with operational precision. Whether advising on AI strategy, guiding transformations, or championing intentful innovation, she helps leaders navigate the hype and implement solutions that return real business value. Her work embodies the belief that the future of AI isn’t just technological—it’s deeply human. Contact Sol - sor719@harvard.edu 

Ludovic Subran is Chief Economist at Allianz, Europe's largest insurer and investor. Prior to joining Allianz, Ludovic worked for the World Bank, the United Nations World Food Program and the French Ministry of Finance. Over the years, Ludovic has helped shape economic policies in more than 25 countries, notably in response to the 2007-8 food and financial crises. A French citizen, Ludovic is a member of the French Prime Minister's Council of Economic Advisers. His contribution to the economic response to the outbreak of Covid in 2020 led to him being named a Knight of the Order of Merit of the French Republic. Ludovic is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a Millennium Fellow of the Atlantic Council, and a David Rockefeller Fellow of the Trilateral Commission. Ludovic serves on the Board of Mercy Corps, one of the largest humanitarian NGOs. Ludovic is an Adjunct Professor of Economics at HEC Business School and Sciences Po Paris. He has co-authored four books: Hunger and Markets (2006), Désordre dans les Monnaies (2015), Je comprends enfin l'Économie (2020), and last year, Investing in a Changing Climate (2023), published by Springer, which explores what net-zero pathways mean for investors. Ludovic is a graduate of the École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique and Sciences Po Paris. He speaks seven languages fluently. As a Senior Fellow at the M-BCBG, his research will focus on how economic policies are becoming increasingly warlike. His faculty sponsor is Richard Zeckhauser, the Frank P. Ramsey Professor of Political Economy, at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: ludovic_subran@hks.harvard.edu

Dr. Miklós Szócska is a professor and dean of faculty at Semmelweis University in Budapest. He began his public service career during medical school when he was elected as student president of his class at the dawn of system change in Hungary. He is one of the founders and the current director of the Health Services Management Training Centre at Semmelweis, which serves as the focal point for health management and policy development in Hungary. Besides his academic responsibilities Dr. Szócska led a rich portfolio of national and international level research or development projects. Dr. Szócska served as Hungary's Minister of State for Health from 2010 to 2014. During his tenure, he led comprehensive health reforms amidst a challenging world economic crisis period. His initiatives included large-scale structural changes and health improvement programs, earning him recognition for his commitment to public health advancement. He is particularly proud of his agile, consultative, evidence-driven, and problem-based change approach. Key achievements include making Hungary smoke-free, introducing a public health product tax on added salt and sugar, and using the funds to raise salaries for tens of thousands of public sector nurses and doctors. He also initiated the creation of a national eHealth platform, which proved critical for care accessibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016 he was nominated for the Director General position of the World Health Organisation by the Hungarian Government. His academic and professional journey reflects a profound dedication to improving health systems through innovative policies and technologies, assisting health managers and organizations in their quest for efficiency and well-being. Currently, Dr. Szócska champions the integration of data-driven and AI solutions in healthcare, aiming to save lives and public money, enhance public health outcomes, and improve system efficiency. He holds an MD and a PhD from Semmelweis University and a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a 1998 MC/MPA. He also enjoyed the benefits of his training in the Netherlands, Japan and England. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Dr. Szócska will delve into how we can harness the potential of AI in healthcare while mitigating its risks. His research will focus on navigating the evolving regulatory and business model landscape. This work aims to provide valuable insights into creating a balanced approach to AI integration in the healthcare sector. His faculty mentor is Soroush Saghafian Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: miklos_szocska@hks.harvard.edu

The Rt Hon Lord Tyrie was Chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority from 2018 to 2020. He was a member of the British House of Commons for 20 years and has been in the House of Lords for the last seven years. He has chaired numerous Parliamentary committees, including the Treasury Select Committee and the most senior committee: the Liaison Committee - the committee comprised of Select Committee chairs. Lord Tyrie was appointed by Parliament to chair the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards to investigate aspects of the financial crash and to recommend remedies. Most of the recommendations have subsequently been implemented, some now also emulated in other jurisdictions. He has written extensively on public policy, most recently on the need to improve the performance of Britain’s competition regulators and other quangos. While an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Lord Tyrie will develop further some of his works on competition regulator reform. His faculty sponsor is Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: atyrie@hks.harvard.edu

Lihui Zhang is President and a founding member of Caixin Media, one of China’s most authoritative and trusted news organizations specializing in economics, finance, and business. Caixin was the first in China to implement a professional news paywall and now serves 1.2 million digital subscribers, ranking among the world’s top 10 paid media platforms, according to FIPP. Ms. Zhang oversees strategic management, corporate governance, business operations and product innovation, driving sustainable growth. She initiated and leads the Caixin Summit Series, a portfolio of high-level forums held globally to foster dialogue and collaboration between China and the world. As a recognized media leader, she has spoken and moderated at major events including the APEC CEO Summit, World Innovation Summit for Education, AIIB Annual Meeting, and Boao Forum for Asia.

Ms. Zhang is also the Founding Director and Secretary General of the Woodpecker Foundation, a nonprofit supporting professional journalism and social responsibility in China. The foundation has supported nearly 2,000 journalists through programs on gender, intellectual property, climate change, healthcare, and field-reporting grants for natural disaster coverage. Before co-founding Caixin, she held senior positions at New Alliance Consulting International and Caijing Magazine. She holds a master’s degree from Harbin Engineering University and a joint MBA from Fordham University and Peking University.

As an M-RCBG senior fellow, she will research how artificial intelligence is reshaping media ecosystems, focusing on the sustainability of high-quality journalism and solutions to information inequality in a polarized world. Her faculty mentor is Nancy Gibbs, the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: lihuizhang@hks.harvard.edu