Rising Leaders Council (RLC)

Established in 2012, the Rising Leaders Council at Meridian forms a distinguished network of mid-career professionals from diverse sectors and disciplines who support Meridian’s mission of global leadership and non-partisan public diplomacy.

Council members are leaders from the foreign diplomatic community, public, and private sectors, who work together to foster a substantive exchange of ideas on global leadership.

The Council’s engaging DC-based dinners feature dialogues that focus on international issues of importance and relevance to Meridian and Council members, and offer guests a neutral forum for exploring key issues, sharing perspectives, and strengthening peer relationships. Rising Leaders Council events are by invitation only. Attendees are selected from Meridian's broad network of cross-sector leaders.

Name	Title
Clara Brillembourg	Partner, International Litigation & Arbitration @ Foley Hoag LLP
Ben Chang	Spokesperson and Deputy Vice President of Communications @ Princeton University
Anastasia Dellaccio	Senior Manager - Community Impact and Philanthropy, Corporate Affairs @ Booz Allen Hamilton
Kezia McKeague	Director, Latin America Practice @ McLarty Associates

Name	Title
Lauren Culbertson	Head of U.S. Public Policy @ Twitter
Arathi Devandran	First Secretary, Information @ Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
Jeff Dressler	Partner @ SoftBank Group International
Bay Fang	President @ Radio Free Asia
Sajit Gandhi	Senior Professional Staff Member @ House Foreign Affairs Committee
Mercedes García Pérez	Head of Global Issues and Innovation @ Delegation of the European Union to the United States
Suzanne Kianpour	Foreign Affairs Journalist @ BBC News
Astri Kimball Van Dyke	Senior Counsel @ Google
Derek Luyten	Executive Director @ House Democracy Partnership
Miriam Mahlow	Senior Vice President @ Coty
Lawrence Manzi	Deputy Chief of Mission @ Embassy of Rwanda
Jessica Miller	Senior Director, Corporate Affairs and Communication @ LVMH Inc.
Maryam Mujica	Vice President, Global Government Affairs @ Shopify
Shilpa Nadhan	Director, Human Rights Policy @ The Walt Disney Company
Artur Orkisz	Senior Advisor, Congressional Affairs @ Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C.
Jonas Parello-Plesner	Executive Director @ Alliance of Democracies Foundation
Shellie Purvis	Managing Director @ Cogent Strategies
Madina Qasimi	Deputy Chief of Mission @ Embassy of Afghanistan
Andy Rabens	Director for Global Engagement and Multilateral Diplomacy @ National Security Council
Sharon Russ	Vice President @ R2C
Xanthe Scharff	CEO and Co-Founder @ The Fuller Project
Christina Sevilla	Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Small Business @ Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Oksana Shulyar	Consultant, Digital Development Global Practice @ World Bank
Nick Snyder	Foreign Service Officer @ U.S. Department of State
Aaron Wodin-Schwartz	Senior Vice President, Communications & Public Policy @ Brand USA

Co-Chairs

Name	Title
Clara Brillembourg	Partner, International Litigation & Arbitration @ Foley Hoag LLP
Ben Chang	Spokesperson and Deputy Vice President of Communications @ Princeton University
Anastasia Dellaccio	Senior Manager - Community Impact and Philanthropy, Corporate Affairs @ Booz Allen Hamilton
Kezia McKeague	Director, Latin America Practice @ McLarty Associates

Members

Name	Title
Lauren Culbertson	Head of U.S. Public Policy @ Twitter
Arathi Devandran	First Secretary, Information @ Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
Jeff Dressler	Partner @ SoftBank Group International
Bay Fang	President @ Radio Free Asia
Sajit Gandhi	Senior Professional Staff Member @ House Foreign Affairs Committee
Mercedes García Pérez	Head of Global Issues and Innovation @ Delegation of the European Union to the United States
Suzanne Kianpour	Foreign Affairs Journalist @ BBC News
Astri Kimball Van Dyke	Senior Counsel @ Google
Derek Luyten	Executive Director @ House Democracy Partnership
Miriam Mahlow	Senior Vice President @ Coty
Lawrence Manzi	Deputy Chief of Mission @ Embassy of Rwanda
Jessica Miller	Senior Director, Corporate Affairs and Communication @ LVMH Inc.
Maryam Mujica	Vice President, Global Government Affairs @ Shopify
Shilpa Nadhan	Director, Human Rights Policy @ The Walt Disney Company
Artur Orkisz	Senior Advisor, Congressional Affairs @ Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C.
Jonas Parello-Plesner	Executive Director @ Alliance of Democracies Foundation
Shellie Purvis	Managing Director @ Cogent Strategies
Madina Qasimi	Deputy Chief of Mission @ Embassy of Afghanistan
Andy Rabens	Director for Global Engagement and Multilateral Diplomacy @ National Security Council
Sharon Russ	Vice President @ R2C
Xanthe Scharff	CEO and Co-Founder @ The Fuller Project
Christina Sevilla	Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Small Business @ Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Oksana Shulyar	Consultant, Digital Development Global Practice @ World Bank
Nick Snyder	Foreign Service Officer @ U.S. Department of State
Aaron Wodin-Schwartz	Senior Vice President, Communications & Public Policy @ Brand USA