Thursday, April 20, 2023
Forum on Leadership 2023 Speakers and Honorees
2023 George W. Bush Medal for Distinguished Leadership Recipient
His Excellency Mr. Festus G. Mogae
Former President of the Republic of Botswana (1998-2008)
President Festus Gontebanye Mogae served as the third President of Botswana between 1998 and 2008. He is the recipient of the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership and is the current Chair of the Ibrahim Prize Committee.
Before taking office, President Mogae held several roles in the Government of Botswana, including Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning from 1975 to 1976. He served as Governor of the Bank of Botswana from 1980 to 1981.
President Mogae is recognised globally as a leading personality in the fight against HIV/AIDS and, after leaving office, launched Champions for an HIV-Free Generation. Between 2008 and 2009 he served as one of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoys on Climate Change. He is also Chairperson of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) and a board member of the Mastercard Foundation.
In 2002, the Africa-America Institute awarded President Mogae its National Leadership Award, presented only once before to Nelson Mandela. In 2008, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d’Honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. President Mogae also holds honorary doctorates and fellowships from institutions including the University of Botswana and University of Oxford.
He has been involved in several peace making missions around the African continent, including serving as the Peace Monitor for the 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, where he retired in 2018.
2023 George W. Bush Institute Trailblazer Citation Recipient
Florencia Velasco Fortner
CEO, The Concilio
Florencia Velasco Fortner is a highly respected non-profit executive with more than 25 years of experience in community organizing, child advocacy, and Latino Leadership. Her focus on parental engagement has had a significant impact by improving the lives of low-income and immigrant families.
Under her leadership, the organization impacts thousands of families annually eliminating the cycles of generational poverty in North Texas. She has received numerous awards including CEO of the Year in 2019 from the CNM Connect, the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce LA CIMA non-profit Leader Award in 2015.
Florencia is a member of multiple boards, organizations and a former Marshall Memorial Fellow and Leadership Dallas Alumni. Her goal is to advance and promote equity for ALL through education, health, and wealth initiatives. She is a Pastor’s wife at New Mount Moriah Baptist Church and the mother of a beautiful 20-year-old daughter.
2023 George W. Bush Institute Citation Recipient
Emily Hanford
Senior Correspondent and Producer, American Public Media
Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer for American Public Media. Her work has appeared on NPR and in The New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Los Angeles Times and other publications. She has won numerous honors including a duPont-Columbia University Award and the Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award from the American Educational Research Association. Emily is a member of the Education Writers Association’s Journalist Advisory Board and was a longtime mentor for EWA’s “new to the beat” program. For the past several years, Emily has been reporting on early reading instruction. Her 2018 podcast episode “Hard Words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read?” won the inaugural public service award from EWA. You can find all of her reporting on reading at apmreports.org/reading, including her new podcast, Sold a Story: How teaching kids to read went so wrong (soldastory.org). Emily is based in the Washington, D.C. area.
Dave Copps
CEO and Co-Founder of Worlds, Inc.
Dave is known internationally as a futurist, technologist and visionary on the role that deep tech will play in transforming markets and the world. Dave has founded, launched and sold two AI companies that have placed machine learning and artificial intelligence in thousands of companies around the world.
Dave was awarded E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2022 for Central Plains Region. In 2018 he was recognized as Emerging Company CEO of the Year in Texas while serving as CEO of Brainspace Corporation which was acquired by Cyxtera later that same year. The Brainspace platform was adopted by organizations all over the world, including all major international consulting firms, government agencies, the DoD and both domestic and international intelligence agencies. Dave currently serves as CEO of Worlds where he, with his co-founders, lead the company’s development and delivery of its Industrial Metaverse platform to the largest industrial companies in the world.
Dave received his BA from the University of North Texas. He is an invited member of the Aspen Institute’s Roundtable on AI, the Xprize Visioneering Board, a Capital Factory Partner, a frequent speaker at MIT’s EmTech conferences, universities and technology incubators all over the world. When Dave is not being a geek he enjoys collecting custom guitars, exotic cars, brewing craft beer, ocean sailing and family time at his home on the island of Bequia in the Caribbean.
John Donovan
CEO, Qudit Investments; CEO, AT&T Communications (2017-2019)
For more than 30 years, John has harnessed the power of technology to make meaningful connections. Through Qudit, John is focused on long-term investments in innovation and technology-enabled businesses. As a technologist, his interests range from AI and quantum to hypersonic and high-performance computing.
John is chair of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), a board member of Palo Alto Networks and Lockheed Martin, and author.
For more than a decade, John led AT&T in expanding the company’s overall innovation program. He oversaw the company’s global leadership in 5G, led the industry in the transition to software-defined technology, and successfully worked with application developers and others to make AT&T’s network open to collaboration and innovation.
Nicholas Eberstadt
Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute
Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he researches and writes extensively on demographics and economic development generally, and more specifically on international security in the Korean peninsula and Asia. Domestically, he focuses on poverty and social well-being. Mr. Eberstadt is also a senior adviser to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). His many books and monographs include Poverty in China; The Tyranny of Numbers: Measurement and Misrule; The End of North Korea; The Poverty of the Poverty Rate: Measure and Mismeasure of Material Deprivation in Modern America; Russia’s Peacetime Demographic Crisis: Dimensions, Causes, Implications, and Men Without Work: America’s Invisible Crisis. He has offered invited testimony before the US Congress on numerous occasions and has served as consultant or adviser for a wide variety of units within the US government. In 2012 Mr. Eberstadt was awarded the prestigious Bradley Prize, and he delivered the Irving Kristol Lecture in 2020. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, a Master of Science from the London School of Economics, a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a PhD in political economy and government from Harvard University.
Mandy Ginsberg
CEO, Match Group (2018-2020); Director, Uber Technologies; Director, ThredUp; Operating Partner, Advent International
For the last two decades, Mandy Ginsberg has been a technology leader in the consumer internet space. She was the Chief Executive Officer of Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) where she was responsible for the growth of a portfolio of industry leading dating brands like Tinder, Match, Hinge, OkCupid, Meetic, and PlentyOfFish. She was with the company in various roles over 14 years. During her tenure as CEO, she quadrupled the stock price and drove unprecedented growth both top line and bottom line as Match Group became one of the fastest growing public tech companies.
Throughout her time at Match, she has consistently driven growth and breakthrough marketing campaigns, spearheaded the use of matching algorithms and established online dating as part of everyday culture. Prior to CEO of the company, she served as CEO of Match Group Americas, overseeing Match, OkCupid, PlentyofFish, OurTime, and the Affinity brands, as well as the Company’s Latin American operations.
In 2014 Mandy was named CEO of The Princeton Review (acquired by IAC/Match Group) where she added online services to the company’s offerings, including tutoring and college counseling for a new generation of students. Prior to that she served as General Manager for Match.com North America. She began her career at Match Group as Vice President and General Manager for Chemistry.com in 2006.
Early in her career, Mandy developed her marketing and customer service acumen as Vice President of Consumer Technology for Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, and subsequently as Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at i2 Technologies. Mandy holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She resides in Dallas, Texas with her husband and younger daughter. Her older daughter is studying medicine at Texas A&M.
She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) and ThredUp (NASDAQ: TDUP).
Nikki Krishnamurthy
Chief People Officer, Uber Technologies
Nikki Krishnamurthy is Chief People Officer, leading Uber’s human resources, recruiting, workplace, and diversity, equity and inclusion teams who support the company’s employees around the world.
Nikki joined Uber from Expedia Inc., where she was Chief People Officer. Prior to becoming CPO, Nikki served as VP and General Manager of Expedia Local Expert for three and a half years. In this role she was responsible for the overall strategy, operations and P&L for the line of business which offers online bookings for activities, tours, attractions, and ground transportation worldwide. Nikki has over 25 years of experience in Human Resources, having started her career in HR in banking, first at PNC and then WaMu. She has a BA in psychology from Rutgers University.
Rob Portman
U.S. Senator (R-OH, 2011-2023); Director, Office of Management and Budget (2006-2007); U.S. Trade Representative (2005)
Rob Portman’s career in public service spanned three decades and included service in three presidential administrations as well as two terms in the United States Senate and six terms in the United States House of Representatives.
In the George W. Bush administration he served in two cabinet-level jobs, as Director of the Office of Management and Budget as well as United States Trade Representative. Under President George H.W. Bush, he served as Associate Counsel to the President and Director, White House Office of Legislative Affairs.
Known for his civility, successful bipartisan policymaking, work ethic, and grasp of a broad range of complex issues, over 220 of Portman’s bills were signed into law by Presidents Biden, Trump and Obama during his tenure in the Senate. He served as the lead Republican negotiator on the bipartisan infrastructure law that is making historic improvements to our nation’s roads, ports, rails, bridges, broadband and more.
He played a key role in U.S. foreign policy through his seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as co-chair and founder of the Senate Ukraine Caucus. He made ten trips to Ukraine since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 and is a key advocate for congressional support of Ukraine against Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression.
Rob was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he still lives today with his wife, Jane. Together they have three adult children: Jed, Will, and Sally.
Lawrence H. Summers
Charles W. Eliot Professor and President Emeritus, Harvard University
Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus of Harvard University. During the past three decades, he has served in a series of senior policy positions in Washington, D.C., including the 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton, Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama and Vice President of Development Economics and Chief Economist of the World Bank.
He received a bachelor of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975 and was awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1982. In 1983, he became one of the youngest individuals in recent history to be named as a tenured member of the Harvard University faculty. In 1987, Mr. Summers became the first social scientist ever to receive the annual Alan T. Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and in 1993 he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, given every two years to the outstanding American economist under the age of 40.
He is currently the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University and the Weil Director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School. He and his wife Elisa New, a professor of English at Harvard, reside in Brookline and have six children.
Brian Tyler
Chief Executive Officer, McKesson Corporation
Brian Tyler is Chief Executive Officer of McKesson Corporation. McKesson partners with biopharma companies, care providers, pharmacies, manufacturers, governments, and others to deliver insights, products and services to help make quality care more accessible and affordable.
Since joining McKesson more than 25 years ago, Brian has held a wide variety of leadership roles throughout the organization. Prior to being appointed CEO, he served as the company’s Chief Operations Officer, playing a key role in helping McKesson expand its value throughout the manufacturer-to-patient supply chain, improving patient care, and driving long-term customer value and earnings growth. Additional leadership positions with McKesson span across McKesson Europe, North American Pharmaceutical Distribution Services, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, U.S. Pharmaceutical, Medical-Surgical Solutions, McKesson Specialty Care Solutions and McKesson Distribution Solutions. Prior to joining McKesson, Brian was a Senior Associate at Integral, Inc., specializing in healthcare consulting.
Brian is on the board of directors for Republic Services and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (IFPW), and a member of the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative, the Wall Street Journal CEO Council and Business Roundtable. He is also the chair of the American Cancer Society’s North Texas chapter of CEOs Against Cancer and a member of the President’s Advisory Board for UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Southern Methodist University Cox Executive Board.
Brian holds a doctorate and master’s degree from the University of Chicago, Department of Economics, where he studied under a grant from the National Science Foundation. His specializations included Industrial Organization, Labor Economics, and Public Finance-Project Evaluation. Brian also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with high honors from University of California Santa Cruz.
Glenn Youngkin
Governor of Virginia
Born in Richmond and raised in Virginia Beach, Governor Glenn Youngkin is a homegrown Virginian from humble beginnings. From washing dishes to support his family to being named co-CEO of one of the world’s top investment firms, Governor Youngkin knows what it’s like to work hard. Governor Youngkin’s determination to succeed earned him various awards on the basketball court and a full athletic scholarship to college.
After earning an engineering degree at Rice University and his MBA at Harvard Business School, Governor Youngkin and his wife Suzanne moved to Northern Virginia. For 25 years Governor Youngkin was instrumental in growing the Carlyle Group’s stature globally while helping fund the retirements of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other frontline public servants.
And today, Governor Youngkin continues to deliver for all Virginians. As a newcomer to politics, he ran, won, and now shapes policy on commonsense solutions to kitchen table concerns. So far, he’s passed the largest education budget in Virginia’s history, facilitated waves of economic investments and business expansions to reinvigorate job growth and opportunity and has totally transformed the way government works for its citizens. He signed a comprehensive package of laws delivering for veterans in his first six months as well as enacting historic tax cuts and record funding for public safety.
Governor Youngkin has been married for over 28 years to Suzanne S. Youngkin, a devoted leader in non-profits and charitable causes. Together, they are dedicated to their four wonderful children. Their family journey has been and continues to be guided by their faith, walking hand in hand as humble followers of Christ.