Eisenhower Fellowships Conference

Speaker Bios

Eduardo D'Aguiar, 1996 Fellow from Brazil

Dr. Eduardo D’Aguiar is currently the director of health care at Arcadis Logos in Brazil. He obtained his medical degree from Santa Casa Medical School in São Paulo, Brazil. He has also received special degrees in health administration and occupational health. His post-graduate work is in general surgery. In 2006, Dr. Aguiar served as president of the 10th Brazilian Hospital Quality Congress as part of a larger healthcare conference, the National Hospital Administration Congress, the largest such event in Latin America and one of the largest in the world.

John Della Volpe, 2008 USA Fellow

John Della Volpe is founding and managing partner at SocialSphere, an insight-based strategy company in Cambridge, MA. He also serves as Director of Polling at Harvard University's Institute of Politics and is on the Board of Advisors for the University of Massachusetts Civic Initiative. Della Volpe's thought leadership on global uses of social media and the impact that the Millennial Generation is having on our economy, culture and future has led to numerous appearances in the media and at major conferences, such as medienwoche@IFA in Berlin, Web 2.0 Kongress in Munich, the Digital Culture Conference in Taiwan,the Sungard Summit on Higher Education and Netroots Nation. He traveled to China and Korea on his fellowship.

Cheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing Green Foundation

Cheryl Dorsey is President of Echoing Green, a pioneer in the social entrepreneurship movement. The mission of Echoing Green is to unleash next generation talent to solve the world’s biggest problems and has awarded nearly $30 million in start-up capital to 500 social entrepreneurs worldwide since 1987. Dorsey has served in two presidential administrations, Transition Team Member of the Innovation and Civil Society subgroup of the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Policy Working Group, and Vice-Chair of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. Currently, Dorsey serves on several boards including the Harvard Board of Overseers, City Year (national), DonorsChoose.org, and Freelancers Insurance Company, Inc.

Tine Hansen-Turton, 2005 USA Fellow

Tine Hansen-Turtone serves as Vice President for Health Care Access and Policy for Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC). In her Vice President capacity, she oversees several affiliate organizations, including serving as the founding Executive Director for the Convenient Care Association (CCA), a national trade association of over 1200 emerging private-sector based retail clinics, and CEO of the National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC), a non-profit organization supporting the growth and development of over 250 nurse-managed health centers. Hansen-Turton traveled to New Zealand on her fellowship.

Gail Harrity, 2002 USA Fellow

Gail Harrity is President and Chief Operating Officer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and has played a vital role in the museum’s growth. Prior to joining the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1997, Harrity served as Deputy Director for Project Administration at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, where she served as the Project Director for the Museum in planning for the new Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain. Gail Harrity has been actively involved with many cultural and business ventures and is currently a board member of the Parkway Council Foundation, the American Association of Museums, and the International Council of Museums. Harrity traveled to China and China (Taiwan) on her fellowship.

Meredith Hellicar, 1993 Fellow from Australia

Meredith Hellicar's career has included Managing Director of TNT Logistics Asia, InTech Financial Services and CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Her non-executive roles included roles with several top 100 ASX listed companies, government bodies and non-profits. In addition, she was a long term member of the Takeovers Panel, CEDA Board of Governors and the Foreign Affairs Council. Her consulting practice helps businesses, boards, CEOs and senior executives to enhance performance and profit improvement through more effective leadership, cultural transformation, and improved strategic focus. She also specializes in mentoring chief executives through leading CEO mentoring company Merryck & Co.

Loree Jones, 2007 USA Fellow

Loree D. Jones is Co-Executive Director of City Year Greater Philadelphia. From 2002 to 2008, Loree served Philadelphia as Managing Director, Secretary of External Affairs and First Deputy Managing Director. A highlight of this period is Project Brotherly Love, the City’s Hurricane Katrina relief effort. She has served as Executive Director of the Manayunk Development Corporation and the African Studies Association. She was identified as one of “10 People Under 40 to Watch” by the Philadelphia Tribune Magazine. Loree traveled to South Africa on her fellowship.



Elena Kolovskaya, 2001 Fellow from Russia

Elena Kolovskaya is the founder and director of the PRO ARTE Foundation in St. Petersburg, Russia. She is a Member of the Board of Experts at the Cultural Council of the St. Petersburg City Government and a Member of the Contemporary Art Board at the State Hermitage Museum. Ms. Kolovskaya is also active in promoting contemporary Russian art and cultural institutions and collaborates extensively with leading cultural institutions in Russia and abroad.

Fiach Mac Conghail, 2006 Fellow from Ireland

Fiach Mac Conghail is Director of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. He is also an independent producer of theatre, film, and the visual arts; producing plays and arts festivals in Ireland, Europe, and the United States. His previous positions include Arts Advisor to the Minister for Arts, Sports, and Tourism; Theatre, film, visual arts producer and Commissioner of cultural programs for EU enlargement.



Monica Macovei, 1997 Fellow from Romania

Monica Macovei currently serves as a Member of the European Union (EU) Parliament. She is Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. In 2008, Monica was named European Woman of the Year and she is a member of the European Academy of Yuste, the board of trustees of the Central European University, the administrative board of the Academic Society of Romania and founding member of Transparency International Romania. From 2004 until 2007, she was the Minister of Justice in the Romanian Government, during which time she is credited with implementing justice reforms that helped Romania enter the EU.

Suzanne McCarron, President, ExxonMobil Foundation; General Manager (GM), Public and Government Affairs, ExxonMobil Corporation

As President of the ExxonMobil Foundation, Suzanne McCarron runs the primary philanthropic arm of the ExxonMobil Corporation. ExxonMobil provides funding to improve basic education, promote women as catalysts for economic development, and combat infectious diseases in developing countries. Ms. McCarron is also a member of The ExxonMobil Foundation Board of Trustees and Chair of ExxonMobil's Women's Economic Opportunity Initiative that equips women and girls in developing countries to fulfill their economic potential. As GM, Public and Government Affairs, Ms. McCarron is responsible for the company's public and government affairs activities for all of its operational affiliates in the upstream, downstream and chemical sectors worldwide. Ms. McCarron serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the U.S. Council for International Business and is a Corporate Member of the Women's Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a trustee for Eisenhower Fellowships.


Miriam Meckel, 2008 Fellow from Germany

Miriam Meckel is a professor of corporate communication at the University of St. Gallen and Managing Director of the Institute for Media and Communications Management. She is a former TV journalist and news presenter for public and commercial television stations (ARD, VOX, RTL). As founder and partner of "percipe - advisors in communication", Meckel advises companies in strategic communication and is a bestseller writer in Germany. She is also Associate Faculty at the Berkman Center of Internet & Society, Harvard, and visiting professor at Singapore Management University.

Gema Moreno Vega, 2008 Fellow from Mexico

Ms. Moreno Vega is a partner at Deloitte Mexico’s Consulting Division, Galaz, Yamazaki, Ruiz, & Urquiza. GYRU is Mexico’s leading professional services firm and provides audit, tax & legal, consulting, and financial advisory services in 21 cities throughout Mexico. Ms. Moreno has provided services on a range of issues, including Sarbanes-Oxley, internal audit, and risk in the life sciences and healthcare industries. During her fellowship she explored leadership development, entrepreneurial and business education for youth, and human resources programs, especially those aimed at increasing and sustaining the number of women in leadership positions.

Joyce O'Connor, 1989 Fellow from Ireland

Professor O'Connor is founding President and President Emeritus of the National College of Ireland. She has chaired the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC), The National Accreditation Committee, The Dublin Inner City Partnership and the Digital Hub Development Agency. O’Connor has received national and international awards including the Award of Honor for research work in the field of alcohol and drinking behavior. She received The Higher Education and Training Awards Council and Women of the Year Award for her work in education and for public service and an Honorary Doctorate from Dublin Institute of Technology. She is a non executive director of CRH plc, a multinational construction materials group.

Aaron Posner, 2003 USA Fellow

Aaron Posner is a Barrymore Award and Helen Hayes Award-winning playwright and theatre director whose work has been seen at major professional theatres from coast to coast including Seattle Rep, Milwaukee Rep The Folger, The Alliance, and Steppenwolf. He is the founding artistic director of Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Company, where he has directed more than 40 productions. His adaptation of Chaim Potok's The Chosen won the 1999 Barrymore Award for Best New Play and has been produced by more than 50 theatres nationwide. His most recent adaptations include a musical adaptation of Mark Twain’s A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage (with James Sugg), Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey, and Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev, which had a dozen productions in the US and Canada this season.

Sally Ride, President & CEO, Sally Ride Science

Sally K. Ride, PhD., a former NASA Astronaut and the first American woman in space, is the President and CEO of Sally Ride Science, and a Professor (Emeritus) at the University of California, San Diego. Sally Ride Science is dedicated to supporting girls’ and boys’ interests in math, science and technology. During her space flights aboard the Challenger, she deployed communications satellites, operated the robot arm, and conducted experiments in materials, pharmaceuticals, and Earth remote-sensing. Dr. Ride has been a member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Research Council's Space Studies Board, and has served on the Boards of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the NCAA Foundation.

Sister Mary Scullion, 2002 USA Fellow

Sister Mary Scullion has been involved in service work and advocacy for homeless and mentally ill persons since 1978. In 1988 she helped to found the Outreach Coordination Center, which coordinates private and public agencies doing outreach to chronically homeless persons in Philadelphia. In 1989, Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon co-founded Project H.O.M.E., a nationally recognized organization that provides supportive housing, employment, education and health care to enable chronically homeless and low-income persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. In 2009, she was named by Time Magazine as one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People. Sister Mary Scullion traveled to Eastern Europe on her fellowship.


Sonal Shah, White House Domestic Policy Council's Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation (SICP)

Sonal Shah served on President Obama's Transition Board with the Technology, Innovation, Government Reform working group. Shah led Google.org's global development efforts, focusing on transparency, civic participation, and entrepreneurship. Previously, she was Vice President at Goldman Sachs, Inc, where she developed the firm's environmental strategy. Shah also co-founded a non-profit, Indicorps which offers fellowships for Indian-Americans to work on development projects in India. Shah also worked at the Center for American Progress, developing and managing policy and advocacy programs for the Center for Global Development. She is an Aspen Crown Fellow and a Next Generation Fellow.

Jane Shaw, Chair, Intel Corporation

Jane E. Shaw, Ph.D., has been a director of Intel since 1993 and is Chair of the Board of Directors and of the Board's Executive Committee. Dr. Shaw retired in June 2005 from the Chair position of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Aerogen, Inc., a company developing drug-device combination aerosol products for patients with respiratory disorders. She was President and Chief Operating Officer of ALZA Corporation, a pharmaceutical company from 1987 to 1994. Dr. Shaw is a director of McKesson Corporation.

Samuel Thenya, 2008 Fellow from Kenya

Dr. Samuel Thenya is founder and director of Nairobi Women’s Hospital (NWH) and a pioneer in HIV treatment and gender violence remediation in Kenya. NWH was the first in east or central Africa devoted exclusively to the care of women. He is formerly chief resident in the University of Nairobi’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Medical Officer with the Nairobi Hospital. Dr. Thenya is actively involved in various public health and entrepreneurial initiatives.

Christine Todd Whitman, President, The Whitman Strategy Group

Christine Todd Whitman is a highly respected leader and advisor on environmental issues affecting communities, nations, and private industries. She served as the first female governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2001 to 2003. Gov. Whitman is now the president of The Whitman Strategy Group, a consulting firm that specializes in environmental and energy issues. She sits on the Governing Board of the Park City Center for Public Policy, is co-chair of Clean and Safe Energy, is co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, which she founded, and is chair of the Executive Committee for Eisenhower Fellowships.


John Wolf, President, Eisenhower Fellowships

Before assuming the presidency of Eisenhower Fellowships on August 16, 2004, John Wolf served with the Department of State, entering as a Foreign Service Officer in 1970. He was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation on October 2, 2001. In June 2003, President Bush appointed him as Chief, U.S. Coordinating and Monitoring Mission for the Middle East peace process. Wolf served from 1999-2000 as Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of State for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy. He served as Ambassador to Malaysia from 1992-1995. He was designated as APEC Coordinator in January, 1996, and confirmed as Ambassador to APEC in February, 1997.