Before retirement in April 2016, her other senior posts included the executive ministerial post of Permanent Secretary of the Tanzania Ministry of Foreign Affairs (May to December 2015). She provided managerial and administrative leadership to the Ministry’s staff and Tanzania Diplomatic Envoys abroad. She was also the Tanzania Ambassador to the United States of America and Mexico (July 2013 to May 2015), having served as Special Advisor to His Excellency President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania on all Diplomatic matters (2012-2013).

Ambassador Herman J. CohenA retired career diplomat and specialist in African and European affairs, Ambassador Herman J. Cohen is president of Cohen and Woods International. Established in 1994, the firm provides strategic planning services to African and Middle Eastern governments and multinational corporations doing business in Africa and the Middle East. The firm is a member of the United States Corporate Council on Africa. Cohen’s consulting activities include the development of energy-intensive industries in the Republic of the Congo, the mining of bitumen from oil sands in Nigeria, and the promotion of private investment in the Republic of Mauritania.

Cohen retired from the U.S. Department of State in 1993. His last position was assistant secretary of state for African affairs under President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993). During his 38-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service, he served in five African countries and twice in France. He was the ambassador to Senegal, with dual accreditation to the Gambia, from 1977 to 1980. During assignments in Washington, he also served as special assistant to President Ronald Reagan (1987-1989), principal deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and research, and principal deputy assistant secretary for personnel.

Adotei AkweiAdotei Akwei is the Deputy Director for Advocacy and Government Relations for Amnesty International USA.  He rejoined AIUSA in September 2010 after serving as the Senior Policy Advisor for CARE USA.

Prior to joining the Government Relations team in Washington DC, he served as the Regional Advocacy Advisor for CARE’s Asia Regional Management Unit. As an RAA, Adotei supported CARE Country Offices in Asia in the development and implementation of national-level advocacy strategies as well as with regional advocacy priorities. Before joining CARE, Adotei worked with Amnesty International USA for 11 years, first as the senior Advocacy Director for Africa and then later as Director of Campaigns.

Honorable Sébastien NADOTSébastien Nadot is a Member of the French Parliament and member of Foreign Affairs Committee.He holds a PhD from the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris.

Member of the International French-speaking Parliamentary Assembly (Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie), he is involded in France-Cameroon friendship’s Group and in Humanitarian Action study group at the Parliament. He taught history at the University of Orléans and at the superior School of teaching and education in Nice. Writer, he publishes in marsh 2020 a book at Teham editions: Cameroon? We all have to stop this comedy. It is a translation of his 5th book : Amadou Vamoulké. Lettres à la France depuis Kondengui.

Dr. Patrick QuirkPatrick W. Quirk is senior director of the Center for Global Impact at the International Republican Institute (IRI) and a nonresident fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. Previously, he served on the U.S. Secretary of State’s Policy Planning (S/P) staff in the Department of State as the lead advisor for fragile states, conflict and stabilization, and foreign assistance. In this capacity, he regularly provided independent policy analysis to the Secretary on these themes. From 2018-19, he conceptualized, and managed the process to advance, the new U.S. approach to fragile states.

Prior to Policy Planning, he served in State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) as senior advisor for policy and strategy. In this capacity, he was the chief political scientist for, and a lead author of, the 2018 Stabilization Assistance Review; led the team that conceptualized and institutionalized CSO’s approach to mitigate conflict surrounding high-priority elections and political transitions; and deployed to Myanmar, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tunisia to work on conflict prevention efforts. From 2017-18, he was a nonresident Penn Kemble fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy.

Terrence Lyons, Ph.D.,Terrence Lyons is an Associate Professor and Director of Doctoral Studies at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University. Lyons received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University, was a Fellow at the Brookings Institution, served as senior program adviser to the Carter Center in Ethiopia, and has taught as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at Addis Ababa University and Bahir Dar University.

His publications include: The Puzzle of Ethiopian Politics (2019) and Politics from Afar: Transnational Diasporas and Networks (2012). Recent articles include “Ethiopia: The 100% Election” in the Journal of Democracyand “The Importance of Winning: Victorious Insurgent Groups and Authoritarian Politics” in Comparative Politics.