The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is pleased to announce the selection of its 2017-18 Penn Kemble Forum Democracy Fellows. This group of 31 rising leaders represents a dynamic cross-section of young foreign policy professionals from Capitol Hill, the Executive branch, the security sector, journalists covering international affairs, and the private sector, as well as think tanks and democracy practitioners.
The Penn Kemble Forum on Democracy is a NED initiative that promotes bipartisan conversation between these young professionals, opening the opportunity for them to share ideas across sectors and explore the role of democracy and human rights within the context of a broad range of policy questions.
The Forum convenes monthly for off-the-record dinner conversations led by foreign policy experts, government officials (past and present), and democracy practitioners. In 2015-16, Penn Kemble Fellows met with Dr. Francis Fukuyama, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran), and many others.
“There is a crying need to develop a new generation of young leaders in this country and around the world who, like Penn Kemble, are animated by democratic ideas and values,” said NED President Carl Gershman.
The Fellows will start the year with a half-day retreat at the NED offices, followed by a reception on September 19.
The Forum is named for Penn Kemble, one of the democracy movement’s most committed activists and strategists. His political evolution took him from early involvement in the civil rights movement, through engagement with the U.S. labor movement in combating Communism, to more recent initiatives, including the Transatlantic Democracy Network and Civitas, an international program to promote civic education. He served as deputy and acting director of the United States Information Agency in the Clinton administration, and Secretary of State Albright appointed him U.S. Representative to the Community of Democracies. In 2002, Secretary of State Powell appointed him to lead a group to investigate slavery and human trafficking in Sudan. He passed away in October 2005.
Learn more about the Penn Kemble Forum on Democracy
2017-2018 Penn Kemble Forum Fellows
Aaron Allen, Office of Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA)
Mitch Armbruster, Xator Corporation
Francisco Bencosme, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Scott Cullinane, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee
Elizabeth Cutler, U.S. Department of State
Dr. Melissa Duell, U.S. Department of State
Andrew Eilts, Opportunity Alliance Services
Daniella Foster, Hilton
Joseph Geni, International Monetary Fund
Justin Goldman, BAE Systems
Elizabeth Huddler, Chemonics International Inc.
Graham Jenkins, U.S. Department of Defense
Dr. Catherine Kelly, American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative
Imran Khowaja, TriVision
Suzanne Kianpour, BBC News
Emily Manning, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Dr. Osvaldo Gómez Martínez, U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service
Annie Medaglia, Bain & Co.
Yery Park, Inter-American Development Bank
Serwat Perwaiz, Wikistrat
Caitlin Poling, Office of Sen. David Perdue (R-GA)
Dr. Patrick Quirk, U.S. Department of State
Kedenard Raymond, U.S. Department of State
Theodore Reinert, German Marshall Fund of the United States
John Vollertsen, U.S. Department of State
Dr. Meir Walters, U.S. Department of State
Riley Walters, Heritage Foundation
Justin Wein, Office of Rep. David Price (D-NC)
Maeve Whelan-Wuest, Brookings Institution
Ali Wyne, RAND Corporation
Adam Yezerski, U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
