FP Virtual Dialogue: Uniting Against Corruption

Maria Ressa is a Filipina journalist, businesswoman, author, and global terrorism expert who serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the online news website ‘Rappler’, which she had co-founded in 2012. She is the first independent Filipino Nobel laureate. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2021 for her fight to defend freedom of expression in the Philippines. During her early career, she had co-founded ‘Probe Productions’ with Cheche Lazaro to launch the award-winning investigative journalism series 'Probe Profiles'. She then worked for CNN for 17 years as Manila Bureau Chief and Jakarta Bureau Chief. Later, she had a six-year stint as the ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs division head. She has also written two books on the rise of terrorism in Southeast Asia, 'Seeds of Terror' and 'From Bin Laden to Facebook'. Throughout her illustrious career, she has received numerous honors and awards for her fearless and truthful journalism, including the 'Golden Pen of Freedom Award', the 'Knight International Journalism Award', the 'Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award', the 'Journalist of Courage and Impact Award' and the 'IX International Press Freedom Award'. Ressa, who has redefined journalism by combining traditional broadcast, new media and mobile phone technology, believes that "It’s about the news, and telling it well. The ratings will follow." She is unmarried and dedicates all her time to "fighting disinformation, fake news and attempts to silence the free press."

Richard Nephew brings a wealth of experience both inside and outside the government to the position of Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption.  He is returning to the Department from Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, where he was a Senior Research Scholar.  Prior to his tenure at Colombia, Richard served as deputy special envoy for Iran, Principal Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy, and Director for Iran on the National Security Staff.  He also served in the Department’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, as well as in the Office of Nonproliferation and International Security at the Department of Energy.  Richard holds a Masters in Security Policy Studies and a Bachelors in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

The appointment of Derek Mitchell as NDI’s third president is a homecoming. Beginning in September 2018, he returned to NDI just over two decades after he departed the Institute in 1997, at the conclusion of nearly four years as Senior Program Officer for Asia and the former Soviet Union. Since that time, Mitchell has had a distinguished career in and out of the U.S. government, in which he has witnessed the connection between democracy and international security. From 2012-2016, Mitchell served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma). He was America’s first ambassador to the country in 22 years. From 2011-12, he served as the U.S. Department of State’s first Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma, with the rank of ambassador. Prior to this appointment, Mitchell served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA), in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In that capacity, he spent six months as acting APSA Assistant Secretary of Defense, and was responsible for overseeing the Defense Department’s security policy in Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central Asia. For his service, he received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Distinguished Public Service in August 2011. From 2001 to 2009, Mitchell served as Senior Fellow and Director of the Asia Division of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). From 1997 to 2001, he served as Special Assistant for Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Mitchell was the principal author of the Department of Defense’s 1998 East Asia Strategy Report, the last such report produced by DoD. Mitchell began his work in Washington as a foreign policy assistant in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) from 1986-88. Most recently, Mitchell has been a senior advisor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as well as a lecturer for the Stanford-in-Washington program. Mitchell has authored numerous books, articles, policy reports, and opinion pieces on international affairs. He is the coauthor of China: The Balance Sheet—What the World Needs to Know Now about the Emerging Superpower (2006), and China and the Developing World:  Beijing’s Strategy for the 21st Century (2007). Mitchell received a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Virginia. He was a visiting scholar at Peking University in 2007.  He speaks Mandarin Chinese proficiently. His wife Min is a former television journalist. They live in Washington, D.C., with their beloved dog Bernie.

Sanjay Pradhan joined the Open Government Partnership in May 2016. Sanjay serves as the CEO of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). He leads a partnership of 77 countries and 106 local governments – together representing more than 2 billion people – along with thousands of civil society organizations, working together to make governments more transparent, participatory and responsive to citizens, and less corrupt. Sanjay leads OGP’s policy dialogue with Heads of States, ministers and civil society organizations, and serves as OGP’s global spokesperson. His latest public talk showcases how OGP renews democracy at a time of threat. Sanjay earlier served as the World Bank’s Vice President for Leadership, Learning and Innovation and the Vice President of the World Bank Institute, and the Director for Governance. Mr. Pradhan is a global spokesperson and distinguished speaker on governance and anticorruption issues, appearing in major world forums including the TED Global Conference, the UN General Assembly, the European Parliament, the BBC World Debate, South by Southwest, London Anti-Corruption Summit, IACC, Virtual Leaders’ Summit at UNGA, and OGP Global Summits. He has published widely, and was a principal author of the 1997 World Development Report. He holds a Ph.D. and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. At the 2022 World Economic Forum Davos, Sanjay was awarded Social Innovator of the Year 2022 by The Schwab Foundation for being “a tireless champion of good governance and fighting corruption”.

Delia Ferreira Rubio is the Chair of Transparency International (elected in October 2017 and re-elected in November 2020). She is a Lawyer graduated from Córdoba National University (Argentina) and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Ph.D. degree in Law from Madrid’s Complutense University (Spain). She is Member of the Vanguard Committee of the WEF Partnership Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) and Member of the Board of the UN Global Compact. She served as Member of the Steering Committee of OGP - Open Government Partnership (2018-2021), and as Co-chair of the Global Future Council on Anticorruption of the World Economic Forum (2019-2020) She was Chief Advisor for several Representatives and Senators at the Argentine National Congress from 1990 to 2005, advising the Constitutional Committee of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and she also served as Advisor at the National Accounting Office for two years. She has consulted on Political Finance, Anti-corruption and Transparency related issues with various international organizations (IFES, UNDP, OAS, IADB, IDEA, NEEDS, ERIS, CAPEL, DEMOCRACY INTERNATIONAL, COUNTERPART, UNWomen among others) and NGOs around the world. She was President of Poder Ciudadano in Argentina (2008-2010). She has authored numerous publications on Transparency and Anti-corruption, Political Corruption, Public and Parliamentary Ethics and Comparative Politics, among other subjects.

Maggie Lake is a veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering business, technology, politics, and international affairs. She started her career at Reuters, where she worked in both the New York and London bureaus covering economics and global finance. In 2001, she joined CNN International, where she served as a correspondent and anchor for the network’s flagship business shows. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed the world’s top CEOs, celebrities, and politicians and has been a consistent champion of economic inclusion and sustainable development. She has served as a weekly contributor for NPR and moderated events for the United Nations, World Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, and Global Citizen. She now runs the communications consultancy Maggie Lake Media and is a founding board member of the newly created Rutgers University Center for Women in Business.