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In the age of COVID-19, restricted international travel and exchanges, U.S. non-profit organizations dedicated to promoting and strengthening U.S. relations with the rest of the world have an ever more important role to play and must overcome current challenges.
Please join this webinar for a conversation with the leaders of Japan Society, Asia Society, and the World Affairs Councils of America to hear about their experiences and lessons-learned thus far in responding to the impact of COVID-19 in their respective communities, what they are hearing from other countries about the current situation, and their perspectives on COVID-19 implications for the future of U.S.-Japan relations, U.S. presence in Asia, and U.S. global leadership.
This webinar is free and open to the public with registration. Click on the button below to register:
About the Speakers
Bill Clifford
Bill Clifford is President and CEO of the World Affairs Councils of America in Washington, DC, where he leads WACA's national office and represents its nonpartisan nonprofit network of more than 90 World Affairs Councils across the United States. In March 2017, he was appointed nonresident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Before joining WACA in September 2013, Bill spearheaded the revitalization and growth of WorldBoston, a WACA member Council known for innovative programming, access to leaders, and a tradition of advancing public learning about critical international issues. Previously, Bill served as Asia bureau chief for the pioneering multimedia venture CBS MarketWatch, where he launched and directed news bureaus in Japan and Hong Kong. He got his start In broadcast news with Asia Business News TV and was senior correspondent in Tokyo for CNBC Asia after its merger with ABN. Bill began his work in journalism reporting on international economics, finance, and politics for several newspapers.
Bill holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins SAIS, a B.A. summa cum laude in international relations and French literature from Tufts University, and a C.E.P from Sciences Po in Paris.
Biography provided by World Affairs Councils of America
Ambassador Josette Sheeran
Josette Sheeran is the seventh President and CEO of Asia Society. She is responsible for advancing the organization’s global work in the fields of arts and culture, policy and business, and education. Ms. Sheeran also serves as the UN Special Envoy to Haiti, representing the UN Secretary-General in advancing Haiti's 2030 vision and in helping secure an end to the transmission of cholera in Haiti.
Prior to the World Economic Forum, Sheeran was executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2006. Sheeran’s TED Talk on ending world hunger has been viewed more than one million times and has been used in schools to teach children about hunger. She led the world’s largest humanitarian organization, serving up to 100 million of the world's most hungry each year. Under Sheeran’s leadership, the WFP increased its donor base to more than 100 nations and became the first UN program to include the so-called BRIC countries and the Gulf States among its top 10 donors.
Prior to this, Ms. Sheeran served as a diplomat and negotiator for the United States, including as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, and deputy U.S. Trade Representative, handling Asia, Africa, labor, environment, intellectual property, and trade capacity building portfolios.
Biography provided by Asia Society
Dr. Joshua W. Walker
Dr. Joshua W. Walker is well-networked across the relevant academies, civil societies, departments, ministries, and private sectors in Washington, DC and Tokyo. He comes to Japan Society from Eurasia Group, the world's leading political risk analysis firm, where he has been serving as global head of strategic initiatives and Japan in the Office of the President. He has actively expanded global events and new business offerings, including leading the company's first ever “GZERO” geopolitical summit in Japan. He has worked with clients worldwide with a focus on Japan and in a variety of sectors to evaluate global geopolitical risks.
Dr. Walker has more than two decades of experience in international business and diplomacy. Prior to Eurasia Group, he was CEO and president of the USA Pavilion of the 2017 World Expo in Astana, Kazakhstan; founding dean of the APCO Institute; and senior vice president of global programs at APCO Worldwide, a leading global strategic communications firm based in Washington, D.C. Before joining the private sector, he worked in numerous roles at various U.S. government agencies, including the State Department and the Defense Department. He is a Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, and professor of Leadership and the American presidency at George Mason University and the Reagan Foundation.
He co-founded the Yale Journal of International Affairs and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy in New York along with being instrumental in the Project on Religion, Diplomacy, and International Relations at Princeton. He has taught at numerous academic institutions, served on a variety of boards and won various awards along with being a Presidential Leadership Scholar, Trilateral Commission Rockefeller Fellow, Mansfield Foundation Network for the Future Member, Munich Young Leader, Council on Foreign Relations Member, Fulbright Scholar, Foreign Policy Initiative Future Leader, Sister Cities International Honorary Board Member and Truman National Security Project Fellow. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Richmond, a master's degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from Princeton University.
Biography provided by Japan Society