At the Coalface

In this episode, I speak with Ellen Yount. From a young age, Ellen was drawn to exploring the world beyond the rural Pennsylvania she grew up in. She shares her early start in politics and the inspiration for public service from working with Tom Ridge on his gubernatorial campaign and later as his Communications Director. Ellen made a bold jump moving to Former Yugoslavia where she worked on polit...

In this episode, I speak with Bettina Muscheidt. Bettina was until recently EU Ambassador to Nicaragua and has had a string of postings in some of the most diplomatically challenging locations in the world. She served in a similar capacity in Libya and in Yemen, and worked on Afghanistan as part of the European Action Service. Her career spans policy, development and mediation. Bettina is a true g...

In this episode, I speak with Anita Orbán. Anita shares her inspiring story, growing up in Hungary, back then a satellite country of the Soviet Union, and then starting her professional life as an academic researching Russia’s use of energy as a tool of foreign policy. Her work caught the attention of the Hungarian government,  asking her to turn her groundbreaking findings into policy in a newly...

In this episode, I speak with Naqib Noory. Naqib is currently Director of the Office of Security Cooperation at the United Nations Population Fund. He has an inspiring story of resilience and drive to constantly develop himself through education. He grew up in Afghanistan but had to flee to Pakistan during the Soviet invasion. The decision to learn English as a young adult was the first of many ed...

In this episode I speak with Arthur Sculley. Arthur shares his amazing journey, growing up between Long Island and Bermuda, his curiosity about the world inspired by his grandfather’s eclectic life stories. Arthur went to Southeast Asia at the time of the Vietnam war and managed to explore the region in his down time - he got hooked by the people and the energy he encountered. He had an opportunit...

In this episode, I speak with Christabell Makokha. Christabell shares her a fascinating expertise in designing development interventions that work and that take stakeholders’ needs into account. We explore the limits of development aid and the pitfalls of programmes that use a single-sector approach. We talk about the topic of power and who holds it - an exchange that stretches my worldview and ho...

In this episode, I speak with Alexander Grif. Alexander is a passionate advocate for the protection of civilians - and as a humanitarian, he has dedicated his life to carrying out this advocacy where it matters, on the ground of some of the most protracted conflicts on Earth. It’s a real privilege to be having this conversation with Alexander. We explore the dilemmas of trying to make a difference...

In this episode, I speak with Pam Onyanyo. Pam is such an amazing source of inspiration. She had a modest upbringing in rural Kenya but with grit and determination found her way to the US, where she built an amazing life for herself, climbing the career ladder of corporate America. But there was always a purpose behind this drive, to come home and apply what she learned where it could make an impa...

In this episode, I catch up with Serhat Çubukçuoğlu. Serhat was our first guest on this podcast in September 2021. We spoke about the transition he was embarking on from working in the private sector but with a passion for international affairs, to wanting to turn this passion into a full-time activity. We meet today in Abu Dhabi, where Serhat is starting a new career as a foreign policy expert in...

In this episode, Siri and I co-host a conversation with Steve Schmida. Siri is also launching her own podcast called the Corporate Activist. So we thought of releasing this episode on both our podcasts because this conversation has great crossovers. Siri and Steve have known each other for almost 20 years. The three of us share the common link of having graduated from the Fletcher School's GM...

Today, I speak with Samer Sobh for our second episode. Samer was one of the very first guests on this podcast in September 2021. At the time we spoke about his growing up in Lebanon, his volunteering work, his life in the corporate world, and leaving the safety net to become and entrepreneur - he started Dubz, a company that helps travellers manage the hassle of having to carry around luggage to a...

In this episode, I speak with Kaddu Sebunya. Kaddu is passionate about nature conservation. In his role as CEO of African Wildlife Foundation , he rallies African elites to lead the fight against the destruction of valuable habitats and wildlife. He believes that conservation by Africans for Africans is at the heart of addressing the continent’s challenges around economic development and equality,...

In this episode, Siri and I co-host a conversation with Lila Ramos Shahani. Lila was Siri's classmate at the Fletcher School’s GMAP degree programme in international affairs. I realise I rarely have the chance of speaking with someone so embedded in their country’s history, politics and society, in this case the Philippines, but also someone trying to shape their country’s direction towards g...

In this episode, I speak with Christa Case Bryant about her fascinating journalistic career. She’s reported on US politics and domestic heartland issues. She’s also worked as Middle East editor, and been based in Jerusalem as bureau chief. And she’s now Senior Congressional correspondent. Her diverse experience gives her stories both a global lens and a very human perspective. We speak about maint...

In this episode, Siri Khalsa and I co-host a conversation with Bob McMahon. Bob and Siri were classmate on the Fletcher School’s GMAP programme in International Relations. Bob has spent more than 3 decades at the intersection of journalism and international affairs, including stints as the Associated Press World Desk Editor in New York, Director of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty's centra...

In this episode, I speak with Harriet Cross. Harriet is the British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. She’s had a fascinating career in diplomacy, with postings in the US, Yemen at a particularly challenging period, in Morocco and the UN. She’s also worked on trade policy and human rights , international cooperation on crime, and had a stint in academia. What fascinates me about Harriet is...

In this episode, I speak with Lily Adhiambo. It’s a huge joy to be recording this conversation together in Geneva, her home and my home town. Lily is a fascinating person. She’s a seasoned humanitarian with the United Nations. She grew up in Kenya and Uganda and started out in life as a journalist before finding her way into the UN.  Her career has been focusing on multiple theatres of conflict in...

In this episode I speak with Akjemal Magtymova. Akjemal recounts her story growing up in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkmenistan, her early career as a young medical doctor practicing right as the USSR collapsed and the health system failed. She speaks about her journey into the international health sector (first with UNFPA and then WHO), that led her to postings in Laos, DPR Korea, India, Y...

In this episode, Siri Khalsa and I co-host a conversation with Marta Ferrari. Marta and Siri were classmate on the Fletcher School’s GMAP programme in International Relations. Marta has an interesting background: advanced degree in physics, Master in international relations at the Fletcher School, management studies at the INSEAD Business School and recently completed the Visionary Leadership Prog...

In this episode, I speak with Alexis Grabar. Alexis is an accomplished entrepreneur who had an early career in aviation sales in the 1990s, in the tough frontier markets of Eastern Europe and Russia. But after a successful run, he decided to stop and go back to school to pursue both a MBA at HEC in Paris and a mid-career degree in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy...

Today I speak with Mandy Birch. Mandy is a hugely accomplished person with a background that is impressive in its breadth (Air Force Academy, distinguished military career, experience in the field, brilliant engineering studies, entrepreneur) and also depth (with senior leadership experience of large cohorts under situations of crises, successful complex change management, deep literacy in Quantum...

In this episode, Siri and I co-host a conversation with one of Siri's classmates from our GMAP programme in international affairs at the Fletcher School. We speak with Alicia Eastman, who works in an industry close to my heart, hydrogen. Alicia is President of Intercontinental Energy, a green fuels company with a portfolio of renewable hydrogen projects in Australia and the Middle East. In th...

In this episode, I speak with Tom Morris. Tom is the first person I reached out to when I was considering pursuing the GMAP degree in International Affairs at the Fletcher School, because we’d worked for the same company. As a fellow energy professional I valued his perspective on whether it made sense for me to pursue such a degree. Tom has worked most of his life in the energy industry, helping...

In this episode, I’m excited to be speaking with Lady Justice Joyce Aluoch. Joyce was my graduation speaker when I completed by Global Master of Arts Programme at the Fletcher School, Joyce had completed the same programme a few years beforehand. Joyce has had a distinguished legal career in Kenya, culminating as a judge on the appellate court (the precursor to the Supreme Court). She was elected...

In this episode, Siri and I co-host a conversation with Arjen van den Berg. Arjen was a member of Siri’s cohort at the Fletcher School’s Global Master of Arts Programme (GMAP). Arjen has had a distinguished career with the Dutch Foreign Service. He has served tours in the US, Trinidad and Tobago and The Hague. Over the last 10 years, he has focused on Asia, working in Beijing, Tokyo and is now the...