PRESS RELEASE
WFPG WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS FOR 2019


For Immediate Release
January 25, 2019



We are pleased to announce the addition of seven incredible women to the Women's Foreign Policy Group Board of Directors: Gloria Story Dittus, Laura Cox Kaplan, Michele Lynch, Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall, Kristi Rogers, Evan Ryan, and Samantha Vinograd. We also want to thank the wonderful and committed Directors who completed their terms in 2018: Stephenie Foster, Kate Irvin, Gail Leftwich Kitch, Mary Catherine Toker, and Nancy Ziuzin Schlegel. View WFPG's 2019 Board of Directors



Gloria Story DittusGloria Story Dittus, chairman of Story Partners, is a trusted communications strategist to CEOs, business executives, Congress, and Administration officials. She built three successful companies working with leading companies including Shell, HSBC, Home Depot, Exxon, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, General Motors, Airbus, Southern Company, Noble Energy, British Telecom and Clear Channel. Wired Magazine called her the nation's first "technology Public Affairs maven." She has been awarded multiple Silver Anvils and recognized as Public Affairs Executive of the Year. She serves on numerous boards, including Ford's Theater, the Arthur Page Society, the Public Affairs Council, and the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF). An active mentor, she works with emerging global leaders. Dittus splits her time between Washington and Aspen, where she is actively involved with the Aspen Institute. A native of Augusta, Georgia, she is a passionate golfer and world traveler. @GloriaDittus



Laura Cox KaplanLaura Cox Kaplan is the creator and host of the "She Said/She Said" podcast, and is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University. She has more than two decades of experience in communications, corporate governance, stakeholder engagement, and public policy strategy. Kaplan spent almost 12 years as the Partner-in-Change of Government, Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and a decade on the firm's executive management team. She also served in senior positions at the SEC, the Treasury Department, and on Capitol Hill. She serves as a corporate director at CoStar Group and The Hunt Companies, Board co-chair of Running Start, and on the Board of the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M. Kaplan holds a MA from American University and a BA from the University of Texas at Austin. @LauraCoxKaplan



Michele LynchMichele Lynch is a member of the Public Policy & Government Affairs team at Google, where she leads outreach to the diplomatic community in Washington, DC, and various international organizations. Prior to Google, Michele managed a global technology project at the American Red Cross, which explored the use of emerging technology for disaster response and served as Director in the Office of the Chairman of the Board of Governors. She also worked at the British High Commission in Malaysia, USAID's Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance and the White House Office of Presidential Advance. Michele earned a MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King's College London and a BA in International Relations and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. @michmlynch



Ambassador Capricia Penavic MarshallAmbassador Capricia Penavic Marshall serves as Ambassador-in-Residence at the Atlantic Council. She is also President of Global Engagement Strategies, which advises international public and private clients on the nexus of business and cultural diplomacy. From 2009 to 2013, she was Chief of Protocol of the United States, bearing the rank of Ambassador and setting the stage for diplomacy at the highest levels. She also fostered connections between the foreign Diplomatic Corps and American civil society through the new Diplomatic Partnerships Office. Previously, she served as Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary (1997-2001) and Special Assistant to First Lady Hillary Clinton (1993-1997). She holds a BA from Purdue and a JD from Case Western Reserve. In 2013, she was awarded the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award and the Order of the Cross of Isabel La Católica. She serves on several boards including the Blair House Restoration Fund and Council of American Ambassadors.



Kristi M. RogersKristi M. Rogers is an executive and former senior government official with extensive international leadership experience in the public and private sectors. Her strategic advice and counsel are regularly sought on issues relating to risk management and mitigation, security and disaster response, federal government contracting, the role of business in complex and challenging environments, public-private partnerships, and strategic and crisis communications. Rogers is presently the co-founder and managing partner of Principal to Principal. A recovering start-up CEO, Rogers successfully launched two companies with overseas operations. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Qualys Inc. and the Advisory Council for ForgePoint Capital. Rogers was the founder of the Women in National Security group within Business Executives for National Security. She is also the President of the Michigan State Society, a regular speaker at Michigan State and a frequent speaker on business and security issues.



Evan RyanEvan Ryan, executive vice president of Axios, previously served as assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs (2013-2017) and in the White House as assistant to the Vice President and special assistant to the President for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement (2009-2013). Ryan was a consultant for the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, deputy chair for the governance track of the Clinton Global Initiative, and deputy director of scheduling for First Lady Hillary Clinton and special assistant to the first lady's chief of staff (1994-2000). Ryan has also worked on numerous political campaigns including Senator Joe Biden's 2008 presidential campaign, John Kerry for president campaign, and Hillary Clinton's 2000 senatorial campaign. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and holds a BA from Boston College and an MIPP from the Johns Hopkins SAIS. @EvanMRyan



Samantha VinogradSamantha Vinograd is a National Security Analyst at CNN and a Senior Advisor at the Biden Institute. Named a Woman of the Future by Newsweek in 2018, Vinograd began her career in Iraq as the Deputy Attaché for the US Department of the Treasury and subsequently served on President Obama's National Security Council in several roles including Director for Iraq, Director for International Economics, and Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor. She joined Goldman Sachs in 2013, where her work focused on building public-private sector partnerships across a broad range of policy and business issues, and later led Global Public Policy at Stripe. Vinograd is deeply engaged in social impact work and serves as an advisor to the US Fund for UNICEF. She was named a David E. Rockefeller Fellow at the Trilateral Commission and a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council. @sam_vinograd



The Women's Foreign Policy Group is a non-partisan membership organization committed to promoting women’s leadership and voices in international affairs through our in-depth policy discussions and mentoring activities. We believe that by highlighting women leaders and amplifying their voices, we provide important role models for the next generation and expand the foreign policy dialogue across political divides and across generations. The organization also connects women across sectors, creating a vital network of women with diverse backgrounds and experience.

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Contact: Sydney Rowell, [email protected]