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ACVFA Members' Biographies
Committee Chairman
John D. Sullivan, Ph.D.
Dr. Sullivan has been Executive Director of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, since 1991. In 1983, he was Associate Director of the bipartisan Democracy Program that created the National Endowment for Democracy that supports CIPE. Once the Endowment was established, John returned to the Chamber to help create the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) where he served as Program Director. From 1977 to 1982, he worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Public Affairs Department and Special Project Division. In 1976, Mr. Sullivan joined the President Ford Election Committee in the research department on campaign strategy, polling, and market research. Prior to this he worked with the Institute for Economic Research and the Office of Minority Business Enterprise (U.S. Department of Commerce) in Los Angeles on projects to stimulate small and minority enterprise. Mr. Sullivan has a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Pittsburgh, and is the author of a number of articles and publications on the transition to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, corporate governance, and market-oriented democratic development.
Committee Vice Chair
Carol C. Adelman, Ph.D.
Dr. Adelman is the director of the Center for Global Prosperity at the Hudson Institute, and publishes the annual Index of Global Philanthropy, the first comprehensive guide to private philanthropy and remittances flows abroad. She is president of a leadership and management training company, and teaches regularly in the leadership program at the Wharton School of Business.
Dr. Adelman served as a career foreign service officer with USAID in the 1970s, where she lived in Africa and later designed and evaluated aid programs in Latin America and Asia. As a presidential appointee, she was an Assistant Administrator under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush, in charge of foreign aid to Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe when the Wall fell. Dr. Adelman is currently vice chair of the H.E.L.P Commission, a bipartisan congressionally mandated commission to reform foreign aid.
She has written on foreign aid and philanthropy in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Wall Street Journal and various technical journals, as well as publishing a book, The New International Regulatory Order: New Rules in a Changing World Order. She is past president and board member of Capital Partners for Education, a local charity that provides scholarships and mentors to low-income children in the Washington, D.C. area. Dr. Adelman is a vice chairman of the Atlantic Council and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a doctorate in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, a Masters in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and a B.A. from the University of Colorado, including a year's study at the University of Bonn, Germany.
Committee Members
Deborah Bensen
Ms. Bensen serves as the Vice President of Media and Government Relations for Operation Blessing International (OBI). She oversees all of OBI's government relations and media projects including government partnerships, grant programs, multi-media campaigns, productions and publications. Government programs target outreach such as hunger relief, emergency disaster aid, orphans & vulnerable children programs, and HIV/AIDS prevention and care through agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
Former experience includes working in television media at three national cable TV networks (Fox Family Channel, The Family Channel and Fit TV) plus working in newspaper media in a top 35 U.S. daily newspaper. Previously, Ms. Bensen was also the Director of Media Relations for CBN International, an organization which provides values-oriented television programming to more than 158 countries.
Recent executive producer roles include two documentaries (Restavek child slaves of Haiti and Rebuilding of Post-Tsunami Indonesia) plus she and her Operation Blessing team won a Telly award for Darfur IDP camp coverage. Currently, through PEPFAR sub-grants, she leads a production team implementing national ABY prevention and OVC PSA campaigns in Haiti, Nigeria and Zambia which air weekly on 87 radio and television networks/stations with potential audience size totaling more than 56 million.
Ms. Bensen is an Emmy-voting member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) headquartered in Hollywood, California. With a dedicated interest in mass media and its influence on behavioral change, she holds a bachelor's degree in organizational psychology and a master's degree in counseling plus is credentialed by the National Counseling Association as a nationally certified counselor (NCC).
She currently serves on the board of Christian Service Charities and also on the board of the Association of Evangelical Relief and Development Organizations (AERDO). She is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian USA church. She and her husband, William, reside in Virginia with their preschool twins.
Douglas Bereuter
Mr. Bereuter became the president of The Asia Foundation on September 1, 2004, immediately upon his resignation from U.S. Congress after 26 years of service. During his congressional career, he was a leading member of the House International Relations Committee, where he served as vice chairman for six years, chaired the Asia - Pacific Subcommittee for the maximum limit of six years, chaired the Europe subcommittee immediately before his departure, was ranking minority member of the Human Rights Subcommittee for six years, and had a long tenure on its Subcommittee on Economic Policy & Trade. He also served on the House Financial Services Committee for 23 years, and for 16 years chaired or served as ranking minority member of the Subcommittee on International Institutions, which has oversight jurisdiction for American participation in multilateral financial and development institutions.
Mr. Bereuter served nearly 10 years on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, retiring as it's vice chairman. Additional congressional responsibilities include serving as the founding co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and chairing the House Delegation to the 40-country NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where he presided as its President for two years until November, 2004. He is also responsible for starting the very successful USAID Farmers-to-Farmers technical assistance program, which has taken thousands of American volunteers abroad.
Mr. Bereuter graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Nebraska, and has Masters Degrees from Harvard University in both city planning and public administration. Doug Bereuter served as an infantry and intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, practiced and taught graduate courses in urban and regional planning, led various agencies and programs in Nebraska State Government, and served on four-year term as a Nebraska State Senator before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978.
Lorne Craner
Mr. Craner returned to the International Republican Institute (IRI) as President in August 2004, following his unanimous selection by IRI's Board of Directors. Previously, Craner was Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the US Department of State. During his three year tenure, he contributed to the conception and implementation of President Bush's approach to democratization in the Middle East, sharpened the Administration's focus on human rights in Central Asia, initiated the first U.S. Government programs to advance democracy in China, and helped construct the Millennium Challenge Account's "good governance" criteria.
From 1995 through 2001, Craner served as the International Republican Institute's President; he joined IRI as Vice President for Programs in 1993. From 1992 through 1993, Craner was Director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council under Brent Scowcroft. From 1989 through 1992, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.
A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Craner received his masters in National Security Studies from Georgetown University and his bachelor's degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
John Galbraith
Mr. Galbraith is president and chief executive officer of Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), a $200 million charitable organization that provides healthcare programs and services to people in need around the world. Mr. Galbraith, who has led CMMB since November 2000, combines the skills and career experiences of educator, philanthropist and administrator. He is a leading advocate of the importance of faith-based organizations in meeting the challenges of global public health, and has spoken on the subject at such prominent institutions and events as the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the International Prayer for Peace at Georgetown University, and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C.
Mr. Galbraith has fundamentally redrawn CMMB's strategic direction and taken CMMB to a leadership position in delivering solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Through the design and implementation of pioneering initiatives in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and in child survival, CMMB has become a model for mobilization among faith-based organizations seeking to deliver meaningful and sustainable healthcare to people who would otherwise have no hope.
It is such expertise in the healthcare and business management arena that led to Mr. Galbraith's appointment to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), on which he served from 2002 to 2005. This 34-member council is charged with recommending to the White House programs and policies that promote the highest quality of research, prevention, care and treatment of this dreaded disease. As the Council's sole international faith-based representative, Mr. Galbraith was regularly called upon to contribute his views to PACHA and was a member of its International Committee. He has also been a key presenter to the Congressional Task Force on International HIV/AIDS.
Before being appointed to his current post, Mr. Galbraith served for three years as CMMB's director of development. Through the disciplined application of advanced direct marketing techniques and the sophisticated solicitation of major grants, he enabled CMMB to double the scope of its fund-raising activities. During his tenure, he was able to draw on his prior experience as a consultant with The Whelan Group (1993-1997), where he advised corporations and non-profit organizations on issues ranging from strategic planning and organizational change to capital campaigns.
Prior to his work in the philanthropic arena, Mr. Galbraith, for more than a decade, was an effective leader and educator at such institutions as Fordham University and the College of St. Francis Xavier, both in New York City, and St. Peter's College in New Jersey.
Mr. Galbraith is a trustee of the J. Homer Butler Foundation and the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped. He has also served on the Advisory Board of the Jesuit Seminary & Mission Bureau. He received his B. S. degree from St. Peter's College and an M. S. degree from Fordham University. A father of four and a grandfather, he resides with his wife in New York City.
Helene D. Gayle, M.D.
Dr. Gayle is President and CEO of CARE USA, one of the world's premier international relief and development organizations. With programs in over 60 countries, CARE helps people in poor communities expand the control they have over their own lives to advance positive, enduring social change. CARE helps millions of people recover from natural disasters and other acute emergencies, prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and gain access to healthcare, nutrition, education, economic opportunity, safe water and improved sanitation. CARE advocates for polices that defend the dignity of all people and promote the eradication of poverty. Dr. Gayle's accomplishments in public health and dedication to social service make her ideally suited to lead CARE. She is currently on the boards of the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations. She worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 20 years in a variety of positions, from staff epidemiologist to director for the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention. Prior to assuming her current position, she was director of the HIV, TB and Reproductive Health Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Gayle received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and master's in public health from John Hopkins University, and is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University.
Corey Griffin
Mr. Griffin, a veteran of the Microsoft Corporation, has a combined 13 years of experience in the consulting services, government contracting, public sector and international development arenas. Currently, Mr. Griffin has global responsibility for Microsoft's strategy for international development aid, trade and finance agencies, including United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), UK's Department for International Development (DFID), Japan Bank for International Cooperation, President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), etc. Principally, Mr. Griffin works with these agencies to develop a business portfolio around partnerships, procurement opportunities, and the promotion of ICT for development. In this capacity, Mr. Griffin facilitates Microsoft's development engagements around the world. Mr. Griffin was recently responsible for executing a first of its kind public, private partnership with USAID, PEPFAR and the MCC bringing the three agencies together to collaborate with Microsoft on development challenges around the world. Prior to this role, Mr. Griffin led various business units and corporate strategies for Microsoft, including managing team operations for the World Bank, United Nations, the European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Other roles included leading Microsoft's global strategy for Non Governmental Organizations, and developing Microsoft's public sector services procurement operations in the US. Mr. Griffin has a long history of service in the community and currently serves on the board of directors for the United States Global Leadership Campaign, the Greater Washington Urban League, So Others Might Eat, MD/DC Minority Supplier Development Council, and the Foundation Schools.
Spencer King
Mr. King has more than 33 years of experience in international business and development, and 25 years experience as the director of large, multi-faceted USAID-funded projects that offer business development services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in many countries. Mr. King joined International Executive Service Corps (IESC) in 1992 and has served as Chief of Party for some of USAID's most successful programs, including the Technology Initiative for the Private Sector program in Sri Lanka, and the Center for Business Services project in Egypt. In January 2003, Mr. King became Sr. Vice President of Worldwide Business Development for IESC and in October 2003, he was appointed President and CEO of IESC. He holds a law degree from Tulane University and has spent more than 15 years in senior management positions in the private sector. He is a member of the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA), and the author of a chapter in Global Health Leadership and Management entitled "Business Approach to HIV/AIDS Crisis in Africa."
Robert E. Litan, Ph.D
Dr. Litan is the Vice President for Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. At Kauffman, Dr. Litan oversees a multi-million budget for academic research relating to entrepreneurship. At Brookings, Litan pursues a wide-ranging research agenda, which includes topics in regulation, financial institutions, telecommunications, and general economic policy.
During his career, Dr. Litan has authored or co-authored over 20 books, edited another 14, and authored or co-authored over 200 articles in journals, magazines and newspapers on a broad range of public policy issues. Dr. Litan has been a lecturer in banking law at the Yale Law School, consulted for numerous organizations, (public and private), and testified as an expert witness in a variety of legal and regulatory proceedings involving domestic (banking, antitrust) and international (primarily trade) issues. Dr. Litan also has served in several capacities in the federal government. During 1995 and 1996, he was Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget). From 1993 to 1995, he was Deputy Assistant Attorney General, in charge of civil antitrust litigation and regulatory issues, at the Department of Justice (). From 1977 to 1979, he was the regulatory and legal staff specialist at the President's Council of Economic Advisers.
Dr. Litan received his B.S. in Economics (summa cum laude) from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania; his J.D. from Yale Law School; and both his M. Phil. and Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University.
Stephen F. Moseley
Mr. Moseley has served as President and CEO of the Academy for Educational Development (AED) since 1987. AED is an international, nonprofit NGO service organization that provides technical assistance, planning and training through programs in 55 countries and throughout the United States in the fields of education, health, environment, democracy-building and international exchanges. Since joining AED in 1970, he has directed projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Mr. Moseley is chairman of the Basic Education Coalition and serves on the Boards of InterAction and the Coalition for American Leadership Abroad. A past President of the Washington Chapter of the Society for International Development, he now sits on the organization's Governing Council and serves as its Treasurer. Mr. Moseley received his B.A. in English from the University of Hartford and in 1989 was granted an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the University. In 1997, he was elected to the University of Hartford's Board of Regents.
William Reese
Mr. Reese has served as the President and Chief Executive Office of the Baltimore-based International Youth Foundation (IYF) since January 2005. Previously, he had served as the Chief Operating Office of IYF, managing its operations and programs, which support positive youth development in 68 countries. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Woodrow Wilson National Fellow lecturing on Latin American affairs and development issues. Prior to his work with IYF, Mr. Reese served as President and CEO of Partners of the Americas for 13 years, and also spent 10 years with Peace Corps. Mr. Reese was first appointed to the ACVFA in 1991 and served as its chair from 1997-2005. He was Chairman of the Board of InterAction and continues on its board today. He also sits on the boards of the Basic Education Coalition, Women's Edge Coalition, and Episcopal Relief and Development. Previously, he has served on the Boards of the Independent Sector, Amigos de las Americas, Eureka Communities, Coalition for American Leadership Abroad (COLEAD), the International Development Conference, the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Fundación para la Educación Superior/USA, ChildHope International, and the Friends of the Art Museum of the Americas (OAS). He was Vice Chair of the Debt for Development Coalition and Finance for Development, Inc.
Johanna Schneider
Ms. Schneider has played a key role in successfully managing communications for over 30 years, moving from reporter and anchor to top posts in government--Congress, the Executive Branch--and in the business arena.
Ms. Schneider is currently the Executive Director-External Relations of the Business Roundtable, an organization of top Chief Executive Officers of global companies. Recently cited as "the most influential chief executive lobbying group in the U.S." by the Financial Times, Business Roundtable members are at the forefront of public policy, advocating for a vigorous, dynamic global economy.
Ms. Schneider directs all external relations including communications, media relations, advertising, digital communications, branding and reputation, corporate membership, and all external advocacy. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director-External Relations, she held the post of Director of Communications for the Roundtable. At the Roundtable, she conceived and launched the highly-regarded, CEO Economic Outlook survey. Her work on public policy garnered the Bronze Sabre Award.
Before joining the Roundtable, Ms. Schneider was the Senior Advisor for Media Relations to the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy. At NIH, Schneider played a major role in launching the groundbreaking Women's Health Initiative, the largest clinical trial ever undertaken in the U.S., focusing on the major causes of death and disability in women. She also managed cDNA patenting, ethics in Science, and AIDS research communications.
Prior to her service at NIH, Schneider served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs to Labor Secretaries Elizabeth Dole and Lynn Martin. At the Department of Labor she orchestrated the groundbreaking study on women and minorities difficulty in moving up the career ladder, titled the Glass Ceiling Initiative. She also handled the successful resolution of the Pittston Coal Strike, a historic dispute where more than 17,700 mine workers in seven states went on strike over labor issues and she oversaw pension portability.
Filling one of the top jobs in the U.S. Congress, Ms. Schneider also served as Press Secretary to the House Republican Leader, Bob Michel (R-IL). From l984 to l989, she managed the Leadership press operation, coordinated House and Senate press responses and served as media liaison to the White House.
From l980 to l984, Schneider served as Press Secretary to Congresswoman Lynn Martin (R-IL), the highest ranking women in House Republican Leadership.
Schneider also worked as a production assistant at CBS Network News in Washington, and worked as a television reporter and anchor at a CBS affiliate in Illinois. She graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in Journalism.
Ms. Schneider is also a member of The Seminar Committee, the Arthur W. Page Society, the Civilian Public Affairs Panel for the U.S. Naval Academy, and a board member of the Center for Corporate Citizenship at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.
She resides in Washington, DC with her husband, Jon Plebani, and their three sons.
Theodore Weihe
Currently a senior advisor to Land O'Lakes International Programs, Mr. Weihe has worked in over 50 developing and transitional countries on cooperative development including two telecommunications coops in Poland, dairy sectors in Eastern Europe and Latin America, electrification and cattle coops in southern Sudan and micro-insurance including the first Caribbean-owned insurance company in Barbados. He has written extensively on cooperative development, conducted over 35 field evaluations and managed www.coopdevelopmentcenter.coop which is a center of excellence that receives over 40,000 hits a month. He helped form one of the largest civic NGOs in Chile that was instrumental in its return to democracy. He was a founder of the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign - composed of 400 multilateral businesses, NGOs and other groups - that helped change the climate on the Hill and doubled foreign aid. Formerly, he worked in USAID on cooperative development as an advisor to Peter McPherson, in Congressional Affairs from 1976 to 1982. He holds degrees from Georgetown and the University of Virginia.
Deborah L. Wince-Smith
Ms. Wince-Smith is the president of the Council on Competitiveness - a premiere group of CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders committed to driving U.S. competitiveness. Since her appointment as President in 2001, she has spearheaded a national campaign that made innovation a top-tier national policy issue. Deborah is recognized in the global business community as a "go to" person for strategic counsel, as exemplified by her recent appointment to the Board of Directors of the NASDAQ Stock Market.
As president of the Council on Competitiveness, Deborah's expertise in technology policy, economic development and global competition is frequently sought after by government, industry and news media. Most recently, she was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a member of the Oversight Board of the Internal Revenue Service. She is also a member of the U.S. Department of State's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy.
Her eclectic knowledge and prescient foresight have been called on by three presidents. She has more than 20 years of experience as a senior U.S. government official, including as Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy in the Department of Commerce during the George H.W. Bush administration. Following her government tenure, Wince-Smith became active in governance of various national scientific laboratories and provided strategic counsel to several FORTUNE 100 companies.
Since becoming president of the Council on Competitiveness, Deborah has helped recharge the national debate on competitiveness, innovation and resilience.
Wince-Smith earned a degree in classical archaeology and graduated Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College. She earned her master's degree from King's College, Cambridge University. In December 2006 she received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Michigan State University.
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