A. Bradley Potter
A. Bradley Potter is a Senior Analyst at the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Before joining CGSR, Dr. Potter held various positions at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Defense. Earlier, he was the inaugural Stanton Visiting Scientist at the U.S. Air Force Academy, an adjunct policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, and an operations planner at the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). He earned a PhD and MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins University SAIS and a BS in international relations (with honors) and physics from William & Mary.
Amanda Norris
Amanda Norris is a Senior Loan Officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Amanda is a foreign affairs practitioner with 14 years of experience across the U.S. government, including the Departments of State and War. She earned a B.A. in Government & Global Studies from William & Mary, an M.A. in International Economics and European Studies from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and an M.S. in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy from the National Defense University. Her career has focused on improving multilateral organizations, transatlantic sanctions alignment, strengthening the U.S.-EU relationship, aligning NATO-EU defense goals, deploying humanitarian assistance in Africa, promoting U.S. exports, and leveraging financial and development tools to strengthen supply chains and partner-country resilience. Her research interests have centered on identity formation within international organizations, transatlantic cooperation, intra-multilateral negotiations, the nexus of economic statecraft and national security, and the translation of academic research into actionable policy. Amanda speaks French and German, and is striving to speak Bulgarian better than her bilingual children.
Ammar Malik
Dr. Ammar A. Malik is a Senior Program Officer for Development Policy & Finance at the Gates Foundation, where he leads a Data & Insights function applying AI and machine learning to strengthen global development finance data and decision-making. Dr. Malik’s work bridges rigorous academic research and hands-on government advisory across development finance, urban policy, and institutional reform. He previously directed AidData's Chinese Development Finance Program at William & Mary, where he led the team that produced the world's most widely cited dataset on Chinese development finance, and served as Director of Research at Harvard Kennedy School's Center for International Development, leading a $19 million research-policy engagement with the Saudi government. His government advisory work spans center-of-government institutions in Pakistan, including the National Disaster Management Authority and the Federal Board of Revenue's Transformation Delivery Unit, as well as ministries across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. A faculty affiliate at Harvard University, Dr. Malik holds a PhD in Public Policy from George Mason University and master's degrees from Sciences Po and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles and policy reports on development finance, urban governance, and women's economic empowerment.
Beverley Hatcher-Mbu
Beverley Hatcher-Mbu is the Director of Policy at Development Gateway: An IREX Venture (DG), where she manages multi-country digital transformation programs and sets the organization’s policy agenda in digital public infrastructure, AI, and agriculture. An international lawyer, Beverley also provides cross-portfolio advisory on data privacy and governance, working closely with the software development team to develop policies, management plans, and other good practices across the organization. Previously, she worked for the World Bank Group, where she helped develop a digital legal analysis tool to analyze and compare African mining laws, and also advised the Transport, Digital Development, and Development Finance teams. Beverley has worked in 9 countries and speaks English and French. She holds a Juris Doctor from George Washington University and a BA cum laude in Political Science from Wellesley College. She is interested in making interoperability work, how institutions become AI ready, and how geopolitics shapes technology.
Braxton Hicks
Braxton is a Senior User Experience Researcher at Google, where he focuses on Trust and Safety to elevate AI model quality and the broader user experience. He holds a PhD in Human Factors and Applied Cognition from North Carolina State University, where his dissertation research centered on supporting expert cognition, teamwork, and decision-making through improved design and formatting strategies for Electronic Health Records (EHRs). Earlier in his career, Braxton worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, developing technologies to facilitate expert teamwork and decision-making for astronaut crew members aboard the International Space Station. He also served as a Human Factors Researcher at User-View, Inc., establishing usability best practices for medical devices and EHR systems. An accomplished researcher, Braxton has published multiple articles on expertise, teamwork, and convergent decision-making. He is also a former student-athlete who played college football at William & Mary, earning a B.S. in Human Factors Physics in 2015 and a Master of Accounting from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business in 2016. His unique career path blends technical rigor, cognitive science, and human-centered design to build safer, high-performing systems.
Emily Tavoulareas
Emily is an adjunct professor at Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy, co-curator of the oral history of the United States Digital Service, and Executive Director of the Home Screen. An expert in technology implementation — how governments, institutions, and individuals actually use technology to accomplish their goals, as distinct from technology's stated promise — she is a founding member of the U.S. Digital Service and former Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and has spent nearly 20 years at the intersection of technology, design, and the public interest. She believes digital technology is the spinal cord of government: a functioning state, and by extension a functioning democracy, depends on institutions' capacity to implement technology effectively — making this a matter of national security, particularly as calls for "digital sovereignty" often overlook that dependency itself.
Erin Spencer
Dr. Erin Spencer is the Communications Manager for Restoration at the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, leveraging her experience as a marine ecologist and science writer with a background in shark ecology and sustainable fisheries. Erin holds a PhD from Florida International University, where she studied the movement and behavior of great hammerheads. As a National Geographic Explorer, she studied seafood mislabeling, invasive species, and other questions around sustainable fisheries. She currently works for NOAA, leading communications around mesophotic and deep coral restoration following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Erin's articles and photographs have been featured by the New York Times, National Geographic, PBS, and CBS, and her research has been featured in multiple National Geographic shows, including World’s Biggest Hammerhead and OceanXplorers. She has also authored three children's books, The World of Coral Reefs, The Incredible Octopus, and Ocean Tattoos that Teach. Erin is an alumna of William & Mary (2014), the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (2017), and Florida International University (2024).
Fran Bradford
Fran Bradford is a senior vice president on McGuireWoods Consulting’s Virginia government relations team and national education practice. Prior to joining the firm, Fran served in the education secretariat for Gov. Ralph Northam’s 2018 – 2022 administration, as deputy secretary and secretary of education. Before her appointment to the governor’s cabinet, Fran spent 15 years with William & Mary, where she served as associate vice president for government relations. She previously served in several capacities during her 13 years at SCHEV. Fran serves on the executive board of the Virginia Network, an organization that promotes women's leadership in higher education. She also serves on the board of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Jamestown-Yorktown, Inc., the Richmond Public Library Foundation, and the board of Virginia 21. She serves as a Trustee for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-COC) and is an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Greg Tomlin
Colonel Greg Tomlin is Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Over his 25-year career, he has been stationed in Germany, Korea, and across the United States, with operational deployments to Kosovo and Iraq, and Pentagon tours on the Army and Joint Staffs. A former assistant professor of history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he specializes in Cold War and diplomatic history. Greg authored Murrow’s Cold War: Public Diplomacy for the Kennedy Administration, coauthored a memoir on Operation Iraqi Freedom, and has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on national security topics ranging from strategic supply chains to information operations. A 2001 distinguished military graduate of William and Mary, Greg also holds an MA, MPhil, and PhD in history from George Washington University and an MS in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University.
Jacob Sims
Jacob Sims is a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center, Senior Advisor for Transnational Crime and Emerging Threats at Inca Digital, and a columnist for The Diplomat. Sims is recognized for his work on transnational crime, authoritarian political economy, and related security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. Across research, advisory, and policy roles, he helps governmental, civil society, and private-sector partners understand how modern criminal networks become embedded in political systems and what kinds of responses are likely to be effective. Sims' work has contributed to public policy formation and major media coverage on cyber-enabled organized crime, illicit economies, corruption, human trafficking, and related emerging threats. Previously, he served in leadership roles at the US Institute of Peace, International Justice Mission, and AidData at William & Mary. Sims is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jeanne Chauffour
Jeanne Chauffour is the Francophone Regional Infectious Disease Surveillance Advisor for the STRIDES project at PATH, where she provides technical leadership to strengthen infectious disease surveillance systems across nine countries. An epidemiologist and health information systems specialist, her work also focuses on epidemic preparedness and response, data quality and use, digital health, and health systems strengthening to support evidence-based public health decision making. Over the past decade, Jeanne has worked in 30 countries on tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria, immunization, maternal and child health, One Health, and reproductive health. Jeanne has led the development and implementation of innovative monitoring, evaluation, and data use tools, authored numerous technical publications and guidance documents, and partnered closely with foreign governments, academic institutions, civil society groups, and donors to improve public health outcomes. She holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago and an M.S. from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Joe Foster
Joe Foster is a Strategy & Planning Leader at Cisco in the Office of the CEO. She is strategy and operations leader with experience turning complex, high-stakes business challenges into tangible business outcomes. At Cisco, she currently leads programs on AI-era cyber defense, and has also focused on accelerating growth and competitive positioning in key international markets. Prior to Cisco, she spent over a decade at Ernst & Young advising clients on technology risk and AI adoption while developing go-to-market strategies and partnerships to drive high-growth offerings. Her domain knowledge spans AI strategy and implementation, international affairs and business/government engagement, and translating complex analysis into actionable decisions. Joe is both a William & Mary and GRI alumnus with a deep commitment to mentorship, global citizenship, and community impact.
John Begala
John Begala is an officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts, working on Pew’s energy modernization project and advancing state and federal research and policy that supports large scale energy to meet increasing demand. Before joining Pew, Begala worked at the Oceantic Network as the vice president for federal and state policy. There he focused on building an offshore wind domestic supply chain and connected with federal and state lawmakers to advance economic and job benefits. Begala also served as the assistant secretary of commerce and trade in the office of former Virginia Governor Ralph S. Northam; Begala oversaw aspects of the Virginia departments of Energy, Small Business and Supplier Diversity, and Labor and Industry, as well as the Virginia Tourism Corporation. His work in the governor’s office helped guide staffing, regulatory, and legislative decisions. And during the early stages of the pandemic, Begala managed communications between state agencies and local government officials while acting as a legislative adviser to the governor. Begala holds a bachelor’s degree in government from William & Mary.
John Osborn
John Osborn is a senior advisor with the international law firm Hogan Lovells Cadwalader and a venture partner with BioVentures MedTech Funds, with experience as a life sciences industry executive and board member, lawyer, investor, university lecturer, writer, and diplomat. For more than twenty years, John was a senior executive and general counsel with notable life sciences and healthcare companies, including Cephalon, US Oncology and a Merck joint venture company, and he has served as a board member of specialty pharmaceutical, digital health and biomedical device companies. In addition to his private sector career, John was nominated by President George W. Bush to the bipartisan United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and he served with the U.S. Department of State in the George H.W. Bush administration. He is an affiliate professor at the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle and a member of the board of advisors at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. John has examined the Northern Ireland peace process as an Eisenhower Fellow and was named by Lawdragon to its 2008 ranking of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He has been elected to membership in the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute, and has been published widely on topics including the importance of the life sciences sector to national security, the role of public/private partnerships in fostering innovation, and the limits of government regulation on commercial speech.
Ryan Hodum
Ryan Hodum is a Senior Regional Director for the U.S. Energy Foundation, supporting transformative grantmaking and advocacy campaigns across the southeast region, with a mission to secure a clean and equitable energy future to tackle the climate crisis. Ryan is a clean energy, sustainability, and philanthropy leader with 20 years of experience in federal, non-profit, and private sector organizations. He is an alum of William & Mary, Class of 2005, where he studied International Relations and Hispanic Studies. His interests in clean energy and the environment started in the Morton Hall computer lab, coding development aid projects as a volunteer in the early days of the Project-Level Aid (PLAID) project. He lives in Springfield, VA with his wife Ginny (also W&M Class of '05) and their two kids Teddy and Ellis.
Theresa Whelan
Ms. Theresa Whelan is a Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security (OUSWI&S), currently detailed to support the President of the National Defense University. With over 38 years in defense policy and intelligence, she has held numerous senior executive positions across the Department of War and the intelligence community. Previously, Ms. Whelan spent 32 years in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. She Performed the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy during the 2017 presidential transition, advising the Secretary of Defense on national defense policy and strategy. Other key leadership roles include Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for both Homeland Defense and Global Security and Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict. She holds master's degrees from Georgetown University and the National War College. Her distinguished honors include three Presidential Rank Executive Awards and two Department of Defense Medals for Distinguished Civilian Service. Her regional areas of expertise include Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. She has functional expertise in irregular warfare, intelligence and information operations. Ms. Whelan is an alum of William & Mary and has prior board service for W&M’s Public Policy program.
Tim Sprinkle
Tim Sprinkle is the Chief Strategy Officer of Layup, a full-service content, marketing and advertising agency, Tim is a marketing and communications professional who provides go-to-market and branding services to a wide range of clients, including venture capital firms, registered investment advisors, community banks, and more. A journalist before launching his own firm, he is the author of three (soon to be four) books and much of his work centers on building trust and authenticity through creative communications. He holds two degrees from William & Mary and lives in Denver, Colorado.
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