Top 9: Andrew Exum

Senior Fellow
Center for a New American Security

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
My involvement with U.S. foreign policy began in 2001 when, as a newly minted platoon leader and second lieutenant in the 10th Mountain Division, I deployed with my unit to Kuwait and Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks. I have since gone on to attend graduate school and serve on several strategic reviews for the U.S. government, but I like to think I have not lost sight of the fact that when all is said and done, foreign policy is executed on the ground by young American men and women operating in uncertain and challenging environments abroad.

What personal contribution to foreign policy are you most proud of?
I am still most proud to have deployed to war three times leading platoons of both light infantry and Army Rangers and to have returned each time with all of my men alive and back in the arms of their families.

Top 9: Benedetta Lacey

Special Advisor on Corporate Accountability
Amnesty International

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
Over the last five years I have had the privilege of working at the heart of Amnesty International on a range of business and human rights issues. This has included engagement on issues as diverse as the contracting of private military security companies in conflict zones and the operation of internet companies in states that exercise heavy censorship. The foreign policy choices that States make on these and other issues are fundamental to the protection of human rights.

What personal contribution to foreign policy are you most proud of?
In early 2010, I worked with international diplomats based in Cote d’Ivoire to instigate a diplomatic mission to monitor the payout of $45 million to 30,000 victims of a toxic waste dumping who were owed the money but had not had their rights respected by the courts. I am proud to have helped to shine the spotlight on this issue and let relevant people know that the world was not going to turn a blind eye to this issue.

Top 9: Elana Berkowitz

Associate, McKinsey
Adjunct Fellow, Open Technology Initiative, New America Foundation

What is your vision of foreign policy in the 21st Century?
Technology is reshaping and democratizing aspects of our foreign policy. It allows us to be more effective in building and supporting democratic institutions by empowering and connecting citizens. Of course, technology isn’t the whole story, it isn’t a panacea, but it is a platform, an enabler, a network.

Technology is accelerating innovations in economic development, a key part of foreign policy. New tools for transparency allow citizens to hold their governments to account. They also lower the cost of scaling a small business, accessing market information, and delivering basic health and financial services, which are still out of reach of billions.

Top 9: Dr. Franziska Brantner

Member
European Parliament

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
Throughout my foreign policy engagement I focus on challenging status-quo positions and to grasp the underlying structural problems causing conflicts within and between states. As foreign affairs spokesperson for the Green/European Free Alliance group, I have committed my work especially to conflict prevention, the respect of human rights, gender equality, and the respect for international conventions and treatises.

Top 9: Jamie Lynn De Coster

Lieutenant
United States Navy

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
As a strategic-level counterinsurgency advisor on the personal staff of the Commander of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Afghanistan (General David Petreaus), this past year, I was privileged to work on Afghan governance, development, and rule of law issues as we surged our forces into contested areas to take back the momentum from the Taliban and to enable the Afghan Government to secure and govern itself. Yes, I was a sailor in a land-locked country!

Top 9: Kuong Ly

Graduate Student
Cambridge University

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
Working to prosecute those most responsible for crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.

Top 9: Lara Setrakian

Correspondent
Bloomberg Television/ABC News

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
I have been fortunate to cover the Middle East, with a focus on Iran and the Arab world, during a once-in-a-generation period of change. My job is to bring transparency to not only the financial and business sectors, but also to politics and foreign affairs. I am proud that the work we do reaches a world of top leaders, senior policy makers, and c-suite executives, while offering all our viewers a deep understanding of political economy.

Top 9: Matan Chorev

Foreign Service Officer: Crisis, Stabilization, & Governance
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
Working as a researcher at the Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs, I often had the opportunity to work alongside our scholars and practitioners-in-residence to review, red-team, and further develop the policy ideas of senior government leaders. By providing analytic rigor, historical context, and academic provocation, the research community can have a major impact on policy.

What personal contribution to foreign policy are you most proud of? 
By far the most rewarding thing I have ever done was to teach and mentor undergraduate students studying international relations. Many of them are off doing incredibly impressive things in the policy world, and I am enormously proud to have played a bit role in their professional and personal development.

Top 9: Saul Garlick

CEO
ThinkImpact

Describe the impact on foreign policy you have made in your current/past jobs.
In the last 5 years I have offered 150 college students and young professionals the opportunity to live and work in rural communities in Kenya and South Africa to explore solutions to poverty. In that time I have supported over 50 development projects ranging from schools and sports fields to libraries and latrines. The exploration of how to mobilize American talent and energy toward the end goal of ending poverty has led to the creation of a unique agenda in educating young leaders on the power of markets to alleviate poverty. My work in shifting the conversation away from traditional aid towards innovative market-based solutions to poverty is the most meaningful contribution I have made to date.