Join the Women's Foreign Policy Group and The Norwegian Embassy on March 8th, 2024, at The Residence of the Norwegian Ambassador in The United States for "International Women’s Day Celebration 2024: Creating a More Secure World." 

To commemorate International Women's Day, we pay tribute to the pivotal contributions of women in national security with a special focus on the 2nd anniversary of the war in Ukraine. We aim to create an empowering event celebrating women's achievements while delving into the complexities of women's engagement in global security efforts. We will explore how women shape the national security landscape and pave the way for a more inclusive and secure world.

Opening remarks will be delivered by Anniken Krutnes, Ambassador of Norway to the United States. A keynote address will be delivered by Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States. Panelists include Sonata Coulter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Melinda Haring, Senior Advisor, Razom for Ukraine; and Constanze Stelzenmüller, Director of the United States and Europe Center, Brookings Institution. The conversation will be moderated by Olivia Gazis, CBS News.

The event format will be a 45-minute panel discussion followed by a 15-minute audience Q&A. Following the panel program, there will be a networking reception.

 Interested in attending but not a member? No problem! We have a variety of different membership levels to fit your needs. As a WFPG member, not only are you invited to attend events like this, but you also receive complimentary admission to all other in-person and virtual professional development and mentoring programs, such as Career Pathways and Mentor Minutes. Additionally, you will gain access to exclusive member experiences and opportunities.

 Date:
Friday, March 8, 2024 | 5:30 - 7:30 PM ET 

 Location:

Anniken Ramberg Krutnes An expert in security policy, law of the sea, and Arctic issues, Ambassador Krutnes has served with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since beginning as a trainee in 1994. In her previous position with the Ministry, she served as Deputy Director General of the Department of Security Policy. Before that, she was Norway’s Ambassador for Arctic and Antarctic Affairs. Ambassador Krutnes has had postings in several European countries, including ambassadorship of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Oslo and a Master of Science in Economics and Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics, and has also studied international management at Universittá Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy. Ambassador Krutnes is a Commander of the Norwegian Order of Merit, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands). She is married and has three adult children.

Oksana Markarova: Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States (since February 2021) , Permanent Observer of Ukraine to the Organization of American States (since May 2021), and Ambassador of Ukraine to Antigua and Barbuda (since July 2023). Served in Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance in 2015-2020 as First Deputy Minister and Government commissioner on Investments and then since 2018 as a Minister of Finance. During her time at the Ministry, she was a co-author of Ukraine’s macroeconomic revival program. During her tenure she and her team has also created UkraineInvest government promotion agency, Ukrainian Startup fund and an eData ecosystem of government public finance portals including spending.gov.ua, openbudget.gov.ua and analytical instrument BOOST, which opened the majority of the public finance data to the public and increased Ukraine in all major international data transparency ratings. Oksana Markarova serves at the Boards of UkraineHouse DC foundation in Washington DC, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukrainian Development Foundation and supports Ukrainian Catholic University and Ukrainian Press Museum-Archive.She holds BS and MS degrees in Environmental Science from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine and MPA in public finance from Indiana University with academic excellency and best international student awards. Makarova is married with four children and a grandson.

Sonata Coulter is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State overseeing policy toward Russia and Central Europe. Immediately prior to assuming her duties, she served as Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. Previously, Ms. Coulter served as Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia from September 2018 to June 2021. Her other overseas postings include Political/Economic Chief in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, Senior Economic Officer in Monrovia, Liberia, as well as earlier assignments in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, Russia. In Washington, she worked as assistance coordinator for the Caucasus in the Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia, covered Iran sanctions in the Economic Bureau’s office of counter threat finance and sanctions, and served as desk officer for Chad and Central African Republic in the Office of Central African Affairs. Ms. Coulter is originally from Los Angeles, California. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and French from Columbia University, and a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University. She speaks Russian and French.

Melinda Haring is a senior advisor at Razom for Ukraine and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Previously, she was the deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and editor of the Atlantic Council’s popular publication, the UkraineAlert blog. She is the author of the report Reforming the democracy bureaucracy (FPRI, 2013) coauthor of Biden and Ukraine: a strategy for the next administration (Atlantic Council, 2021), Biden and Belarus: a strategy for the next administration (Atlantic Council, 2021), Ukraine’s internally displaced persons hold a key to peace (Atlantic Council, 2017), and a contributor to Does democracy matter? (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). Haring has worked for the Superhumans Center, Eurasia Foundation, Freedom House, and the National Democratic Institute. A graduate of Georgetown University, she holds an MA in Government with a certificate in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies. Haring is the chair of the board of East Europe Foundation in Kyiv, Ukraine, and a member of the supervisory board of Right to Protection in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Constanze Stelzenmüller  is the Director of the Center on the United States and Europe and the inaugural holder of the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and trans-Atlantic Relations at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. A German native herself, she is an expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy, as well as international law and human rights. From 2019- 2020, Dr. Stelzenmüller held the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress and from 2014-2019 served as the inaugural Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Prior to joining Brookings, she directed the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and later served as Senior Transatlantic Fellow with the organization, heading the Transatlantic Trends Program. Dr. Stelzenmüller’s work in the think tank sphere follows a distinguished career in journalism, including the role of Defense and International Security Editor in the political section of DIE ZEIT from 1994-2005. She has contributed to a variety of publications, writes a monthly column for the Financial Times, and is a frequent commentator on American and European news outlets.

Olivia Gazis covers intelligence and international security issues for CBS News, where she has conducted rare, news-making interviews with top American and foreign officials, including Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, CIA Deputy Director David Cohen, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, and others. She has traveled worldwide with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and contributes reporting on intelligence, foreign policy and other security topics across CBS News platforms, including broadcast, radio, online and streaming programs. 

She was previously an Investigative Fellow with Hearst Newspapers, where her reporting team earned a Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism. Gazis received a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a master’s degree with honors from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she studied at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. She is a Fulbright Scholar. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and their two young children.

 The Women's Foreign Policy Group is a non-partisan organization committed to promoting women's leadership and voices in international affairs through in-depth global issues programming and mentoring. Not a WFPG member? Get engaged with our programming and events: