The Osgood Board

Sheldon L. Ray, Jr.

Chairman, The Osgood Board
Senior Vice President, Investments and Portfolio Manager
Raymond James and Associates, Inc.

Sheldon is a Senior Vice President, Investments and Portfolio Manager at Raymond James and Associates,Inc. in Washington, DC. He has managed global equity and fixed income portfolios for individuals and non-profits for over 20 years. Sheldon's analysis focuses on risk management, corporate governance, global macroeconomics, long-term geopolitical outlook, as well as dividend yields, price-to-earnings ratios
and other fundamentals. He also has over three decades of China experience. He conducts his own research and maintains regular contact with senior government officials, economists, diplomats, regulators
and journalists. He also advises non-profits on investment policy statements, long-term financial goals and sustainable giving strategies.

Sheldon has been active in Rotary for over 30 years, having originally joined in Hong Kong in 1988. He is currently a board member of the Foreign Policy Discussion Group, a member of the Board of Advisors of the SEC Historical Society, Finance Committee Chair for Rotary District 7620 and co-chair of Rotarians for Equality for Black People Committee in Washington.
Sheldon has a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Louisiana State University, and his Certified Portfolio Manager designation from Columbia University. He lives in Washington with his wife, Mary Beth, and is an Eagle Scout.

Nicholas M. Bassey

Deputy VP of the Millennium Challenge Corporation

Nicholas M. Bassey is Deputy Vice President for the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Department of Congressional and Public Affairs, where he works to strengthen relationships with Congress, NGOs, businesses, government officials, and the U.S. public. His portfolio includes the planning, implementation, and oversight of domestic and international communications, media relations, events, and digital and outreach strategies, as well as nurturing strategic relationships with key partners.

Mr. Bassey previously served as Division Chief for Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Institutional Capacity in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s PSE Hub. There he fostered strategic alliances to enhance the Agency’s capacity to leverage private sector resources for international development. Nicholas also served as Director of University Programs for the U.S. Peace Corps, establishing and nurturing partnerships with a range of higher education institutions involved in international development. He also served the Peace Corps as Director of Placement, overseeing the selection and assignment of applicants; managing the operations of the Placement Office; assuring placement program planning and evaluation; and establishing and defining the agency’s Volunteer recruitment and placement goals. 

Mr. Bassey was also Director of the Institute for International Public Policy, where he administered a fellowship program designed to increase diversity in the international affairs workforce and provide support for international education programs at Minority Serving Institutions. His early career was in the nonprofit sector, where he served as Assistant Vice President for Program Development at the Council for Opportunity in Education, Deputy Director of Freedom Schools at the Children’s Defense Fund, and Assistant Program Manager for the Office of Community Service at Morehouse College.

Mr. Bassey earned a B.S. degree from Morehouse College and an M.A. from George Washington University.

Bart S. Fisher

Partner, Law Office of Bart S. Fisher

Bart S. Fisher is the Managing Partner of the Law Office of Bart S. Fisher in Washington, D.C., and a member of the District of Columbia bar. From 1972 through April, 1994, he practiced law with Patton Boggs LLP in Washington, D.C., where he was a partner as of January 1, 1978. He has also been a partner at Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn (1994-1995), and Of Counsel with Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur (1996-2001), Bryan Cave (2002) and Dorsey & Whitney (2003-2004).

He attended Harvard Law School (J.D. 1972), The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and Bologna, Italy (M.A. 1967 and Ph.D. 1970), and Washington University (B.A. 1963). He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Washington University and awarded The Brookings Institution Fellowship in 1968.

Dr. Fisher is Professorial Lecture in American Foreign Policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has also taught international trade and investment at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, George Mason University, and the Elliott School of International Affairs of George Washington University.

He is ex-officio member of the Board of Governors, International Practice Section, Virginia State Bar. He was a participating member of the International Trade Working Group of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion.

He is Chairman of the Give Life Foundation, on the Board of Directors of The Marrow Foundation, and Vice-Chairman of The Institute at Biltmore. He has served as President of the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, which he founded in 1983.

Eleanor L. Gill

International Program Analyst (OSHA, Office of International Affairs)

As an International Program Analyst at the U.S. Department of Labor with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), she serves as the technical advisor for cooperative safety and health activities. She has extensive experience in organizing and coordinating the United States and Europe biennial conferences and maintaining an ongoing collaboration between work groups and stakeholders. In addition, she coordinates OSHA’s participation in the Departmental Visitors’ Program.

She has accrued 30+ years of Federal service in two Federal agencies, including 25+ years of service with the U.S. Department of Labor and five years of service with the U.S. Peace Corps. While at the Peace Corps, she worked in the Office of Medical Services and provided assistance to Peace Corps volunteers and staff serving in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Inter-America regions.

She is deeply involved in community service activities Some of the organizations she has worked and volunteer with include the Rotary Club of Washington, DC and the Metro Bethesda Rotary Club, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Theta Omega Omega Chapter (Ivy Vine Charities, Inc. Vice President of Programs), the National Congress of Black Women, the Bethune and DuBois Institute Program and College for Kids at Howard University, and the History Makers, Mid Atlantic/DC region. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Coaniquem Burned Children Foundation in Santiago, Chile, as a Washington, DC Alternate Director.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Howard University. She enjoys her family, missionary work and helping others.

Jennifer Hara

Director, PPP Services, Institute for Public/Private Partnerships (IP3), A Tetra Tech Company

Jennifer has over fifteen years of experience in the private sector, focusing on government contracts, public relations and communications. Jennifer has an intimate knowledge of innovative financing programs of the US federal government, and of political decision making, international project finance, economic and strategic planning. She has served as President of the prestigious Washington, DC Rotary Club and is now an Assistant/Area Governor for Rotary’s District 7620, which encompasses the District of Columbia, Southern Maryland and the panhandle. She has a Master of Arts in International Economics from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and International Politics from Seattle University. Jennifer is also fluent in Spanish.

Sarah Hillware

Founder, Girls Health Ed and Sr. Consultant, World Bank Group

Sarah Hillware is an award-winning social entrepreneur, global health leader and gender equality champion. She has held roles at the World Bank, WHO and other UN agencies, and has a track record of implementing strategic stakeholder engagement, communications, and consensus-building processes to drive global action and national policy reform. She currently serves as Deputy Director of Women in Global Health (WGH), a 50,000-strong global movement and the largest network of women and allies working to challenge power and privilege for gender equity in health. WGH takes an intersectional approach and includes supporters in 90+ countries and 24 chapters with strong presence in low- and middle-income countries. WGH drives policy change by mobilizing diverse emerging women leaders, advocating to existing leaders to commit to transform their institutions and holding them accountable.

In 2012, Sarah founded Girls Health Ed, a nonprofit changing harmful gender norms through its evidence-based approach to gender-transformative comprehensive health and sexuality education (CSE). Girls Health Ed has trained 150+ women educators and advocates, served 6,000 adolescents and reached approximately 25,000. Sarah currently serves as Board Chair.

Sarah’s research and experience on gender and health disparities in the US and globally have led her to give talks at TEDxBerkeley and the UN through TEDxUNPlaza. Sarah was named to the Leadership Center for Excellence’s 2014 40 Under 40 list, and in 2020, was named a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). In 2021, she was named to Apolitical’s Gender Equality Top 100: Most Influential People in Global Policy.

Dr. Derick Hulme

Professor of Political Science at Alma College

Dr. Derick L. Hulme, Jr., Arthur L. Russell professor of political science at Alma College, is the author of The Domestic Politics of Terrorism: Lessons from the Clinton Administration (2019), The Israeli-Palestinian Road Map for Peace: A Critical Analysis (2009), Palestinian Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy 1969-1977 (2004), and The Political Olympics: Moscow, Afghanistan, and the 1980 US Boycott (1990). He is a nationally recognized leader in experiential education and at Alma College is the director of the award-winning Model United Nations team and the nationally competitive scholarship program. He received his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Charles E. Morrison

President, East-West Center

Charles E. Morrison is an adjunct senior fellow with the East-West Center, having previously served as president from 1998 through 2016.  A former U.S. Senate legislative assistant, he has had extensive involvement in the conceptualization, organization and funding of policy-oriented educational and policy-oriented research and dialogue projects involving U.S.-Asia-Pacific relations.  He has served as chair of the U.S. National Consortium of APEC Study Centers, and from 2005 to 2012, was the international chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).  He is also a past chair of the U.S. National Consortium of APEC Study Centers.   He is a former U.S. Senate legislative assistant and was as a research adviser to two binational Japan-U.S. commissions.  He currently serves on the boards of the Japan Center for International Exchange – USA and the Pacific Century Institute.   Among other projects, he is the chair of the steering committee of the North Pacific Arctic Conference and the co-leader of a project focused on maintaining open economies in a time of increased protectionism.

Morrison holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he also taught Southeast Asian politics and international relations for several year.  He has an honorary degree from the University of the Ryukyus.  For ten years he edited an annual Asia-Pacific Security Outlook.  Recent publications have been on Asian international relations, ASEAN, and APEC.

Julia Nesheiwat, Ph.D.

Commissioner, United States Arctic Research Commission

Haleh Vaziri

Founder, Vaziri Research Management Consultancy

Haleh Vaziri is the founder of VRMC (Vaziri Research Management Consultancy), established in 2010. Her motto is “Asking the right questions, offering you insights for action.” She advises a diverse clientele on issues of democratization, human rights, media markets and public diplomacy vis-a-vis the research management process and proposal preparation, survey questionnaire design, analytic writing, presentations, conference planning and curriculum development. Her clients have included Edison Research, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development and Peace.

Prior to striking out on her own, Haleh worked for over a decade at the InterMedia Survey Institute as the Regional Research Manager for the Middle East and North Africa, implementing audience and public opinion studies for clients seeking to reach media consumers in the MENA. She has supervised and trained qualitative and quantitative research teams in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. She was additionally responsible for studies conducted in Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, adapting market research methodologies to the needs of difficult-to-access populations.

Haleh holds a PhD in international relations from Georgetown University and was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She has authored numerous articles and conference papers, concentrating in large part on Iranian politics. She has co-authored four human rights education guide books, among them, Victories over Violence: Ensuring Safety for Women and Girls, A Practitioner’s Manual (2012). A strong believer in volunteerism, Haleh is a member of the Washington, DC Rotary Club and has served as its Secretary and Ombudswoman.

Gregory M. Williams

Partner, Wiley Rein, LLP

Mr. Williams joined Wiley Rein in 2013. His prior legal experience includes being a partner in Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP and an associate at Covington & Burling LLP. His diverse experience includes handling significant commercial litigation, patent infringement suits, international arbitrations and anti-corruption matters.

Mr. Williams has served as lead or co-lead in litigation matters involving patent infringement, administrative law, contractual disputes, securities actions, insurance coverage and toxic tort. His Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) experience runs the gamut, including managing international internal investigations, conducting due diligence on international agents, joint venture partners and other third parties, and designing corporate anti-corruption policies, practices and training programs.

Mr. Williams received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was editor of the Virginia Law Review. He also holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. from Austin College. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jacques L. Wiener of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Senior Advisory Board

Retired Osgood Board Members and some other distinguished persons are eligible for Board election to a non-voting advisory Board that allows the Board and staff to benefit from their wisdom and support. The inaugural Advisory Board Members are:

Bruce Ellsworth

Foreign Commercial Service Officer in the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce

Bruce’s responsibilities cover the promotion of foreign direct investment to the U.S. from China, the Nordic countries, and Russia, the Ukraine and Eurasia. Until 2016, Bruce served as the Head of Market Access, Patient Advocacy and Public Affairs and as a member of the senior management team of Shire Pharmaceutical in Japan. Bruce also served as Senior Director of Corporate Government Affairs & Policy for the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies in Japan. Earlier in his career, Bruce served as Director of Corporate Affairs and Director of the Office of the President for Hartford Life Insurance K.K., the Japan operations of the Hartford Financial Services Group. Bruce has also served in leadership roles in a variety of industry associations, including twice as an elected member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Bruce has a Master of Arts in International Affairs from The George Washington University in Washington, DC and spent two years as a Research Scholar at Waseda University’s Graduate School of Political Science in Tokyo. He received his Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Austin College in Texas.

Denise Fate

Formerly of Volkswagen

As an executive with Volkswagen of America and Audi of America, Mrs. Fate distinguished herself over a span of 32 years with a variety of international experience. In addition to assignments at VW world headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, 1987-88, and Volkswagen Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong 1994-97, Mrs. Fate also worked on or led global, cross-functional project teams in Puebla, Mexico, and Curitiba, Brazil. This work gave her a unique perspective on the global operations of a major world automotive company. In addition to finance and controlling responsibilities, a key area of focus was supply chain management.

As General Manager of the Audi Academy in the US for many years, her team was regarded for providing progressive training and innovative HR tools to the Audi dealer network in the US and Canada. These had the impact of elevating the professionalism of the dealer staffs.

Mrs. Fate is currently retired and very active in leadership roles in a variety of non-profit organizations. She has been the President of the Charlevoix Historical Society in Charlevoix, Michigan, where she makes her home, for several years.

Mrs. Fate is a 1976 graduate of Austin College, having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts. She also holds a MBA in International Business from the University of Dallas.

She joined the Osgood Board in 2009.

Les Janka

Associate Director, George C. Marshall International Center

In June, 2010, Les Janka was appointed President, Saudi Arabia, for Quincy International after serving from 2007 as President of Raytheon Arabian Systems Company and Vice President, Network Centric Systems Operations, based in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Prior to joining Raytheon, Mr. Janka distinguished himself as an international affairs expert during a 30-year career as a consultant, business executive and multiple assignments in the U.S. government including high level tours on the National Security Council Staff and at the Department of Defense.

In the government sector, Mr. Janka served in the White House under three Presidents: as Special Assistant to Dr. Henry Kissinger, Senior Staff Member on the NSC under President Ford and a member of President Nixon’s delegation to Saudi Arabia in 1974. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern and African Affairs, he oversaw several major arms sales to Saudi Arabia including that of the F-15. He later returned to the White House as Special Assistant to President Reagan and Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

In the private sector, Mr. Janka led the Middle East and Africa government relations and trade advisory practice as executive vice president of one of Washington’s premier foreign policy lobbying and public affairs firms. As an international consultant, he has advised major U.S. and European companies resulting in sales of their military, telecommunications and commercial applications in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Janka’s distinguished public service is also represented by his serving as Vice President of the National Council for US-Arab Relations, as Founder Chairman of the Council for American-Saudi Dialogue, as Chairman of the Board of American Near East Refugee Aid, and as a frequent lecturer and author on the Washington political scene, Middle East affairs and the formulation of US national security policy.

A native of California, he received his BA degree in economics from the University of Redlands and his MA degree in international economics and Middle East studies from the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University.

Tim Kennedy

Chaplain, Washington Episcopal School, Bethesda, MD

Tim Kennedy is a homeland security policy expert with over a dozen years of experience on Capitol Hill, at the White House, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and in the private sector.

On Capitol Hill, he worked for U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX-13) and Speaker of the House Denny Hastert. Kennedy directed operations for the Speaker’s Deputy Chief of Staff and the Speaker’s Counsel/Floor Director and helped to coordinate policy issues, communications, special events, scheduling, and operations. He also focused on Legislative Branch Continuity of Government, Continuity of Operations, and emergency preparedness issues. He worked on the 2005 Presidential Inauguration, the 2004-2006 State of the Union Addresses, the Lying in Honor of Rosa Parks, the Lying in State of President Reagan, and the Lying in State of President Ford. He also assisted Speaker Hastert in editing his 2004 book, Speaker: Lessons from 40 Years in Coaching and Politics. Kennedy served as an Official Proceedings assistant when Hastert served as Permanent Chairman of the 2004 Republican National Convention. When Republicans lost the House majority in 2007, Kennedy accepted a transition position with then Republican Leader John Boehner, assisted the new Democratic majority as they assumed power for the first time since 1994, helped coordinate Speaker Hastert’s transition, and oversaw the archiving of Speaker Hastert’s official papers and memorabilia.

At the White House, Kennedy served as a Policy Director on the Homeland Security Council where he focused on emergency planning, Enduring Constitutional Government, Continuity of Government, and Continuity of Operations issues. He was the White House lead for writing and implementing the President’s National Continuity Policy Implementation Plan pursuant to National Security Presidential Directive 51/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20.

At DHS, Kennedy was Associate Director for Strategic Planning in the Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) where he served as a liaison to Capitol Hill on the first Quadrennial Homeland Security Review and other special projects. He was OLA’s liaison to other DHS entities, including the Office of Public Affairs and the Strategic Planning Team, the Chief Financial Officer and appropriations staff, the Office of Policy, the Secretary’s official travel staff, and the Transition Team. He assisted in efforts to ensure the new Administration would have a successful transition and wrote OLA’s Transition Plan for the Senate confirmation of new political appointees.

In the private sector, Kennedy served as a Senior Consultant with Lockstep Consulting, supporting the DHS Business Continuity and Emergency Preparedness mission. In this role, he directly supported the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security in fulfilling their Continuity of Government and Continuity of Operations responsibilities.

Kennedy graduated with a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, and currently serves as the Chaplain and religion teacher at Washington Episcopal School in Bethesda, MD.

Kennedy is a 1998 cum laude graduate of Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where he earned degrees in Political Science and Religion, served as Student Body President, and was a member of multiple award winning Model United Nations teams. Austin College awarded Kennedy its 2006 Heywood C. Clemons Volunteer Service Award for his efforts on behalf of the College. He earned a master’s degree in Education and Human Development from The George Washington University and a Certificate in Government Executive Leadership from Georgetown University. He is a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive in National and International Security Studies. Kennedy was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, which he still considers home.

Sally Shelton-Colby

Ambassador and Diplomat in Residence at American University

Ambassador Sally Shelton-Colby has held a number of senior positions in the public, corporate and non-profit sectors as well as in international organizations. She has been Deputy Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France; Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Global Programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development; U.S. Ambassador to Grenada, Barbados and several other Eastern Caribbean nations; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America and the Caribbean; and Legislative Assistant for Foreign Policy to then-Senator (later Secretary of the Treasury) Lloyd Bentsen. Most recently she developed and ran a transparency and accountability project for USAID and the Government of Mexico in Mexico City. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy.

She was a Vice President of Bankers Trust Co. in New York City where she was responsible for managing the bank’s political risk in developing countries during the third world debt crisis of the 1980s. She also served on the Boards of Directors of Valero Energy Corporation, a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest oil and gas pipeline company, and the Baring Puma Fund, a closed-ended fund traded on the London Stock exchange and engaged in acquiring emerging market equities.

Ms. Shelton-Colby has served on a number of non-profit Boards of Directors, including Helen Keller International, Helen Keller International Europe (where she was also president), the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the Atlantic Council of the U.S., the Center for International Environmental Law, the American Committee for Aid to Poland, the American Hospital of Paris, and the Pan American Health and Education Foundation, among others.

She was one of the founders and first Chairman of the Board of Directors of UNAIDS, a U.N. entity which coordinates the HIV-AIDS prevention programs of the World Bank, the WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, and UNFPA. She served on two White House Commissions: the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission (Russia), where she was Vice Chair of the Committee on Health and the Committee on Agriculture, and the Gore-Mubarak (Egypt) Commission where she was Co-Chair of the Committee on Education.

Bonnie Wilson

Former Dean of Students, SAIS

Bonnie Wilson served as a SAIS dean overseeing student issues from 1995 to 2013 “the longest serving dean in the history of the school.”  As Associate Dean for Student Affairs she supervised the Offices of Admissions, Financial Aid, International Student and Scholar Services, Student Advising, Student Life, the Registrar, and Career Services.  As Assistant Dean for Student Life she was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the student experience at SAIS.  She was also the liaison for the Bologna Center in Washington.  She has served on the Bologna Committee, Technology Committee, Ph.D. Committee, Budget Committee, and Admissions Committee.  She has also served on the Johns Hopkins University Diversity Leadership Council, the Committee on Campus Violence, and the Student Affairs Coordinating Committee.

Dr. Wilson received her Bachelor’s Degree from the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, where she graduated Valedictorian and Phi Beta Kappa.  She received her M.A. Degree and Ph.D. from SAIS, attending both the Bologna and the DC campuses.  Prior to her appointment as Associate Dean, Dr. Wilson was active in the field of international affairs as a counselor, instructor, and research scholar at the Brookings Institution, the Council on Foreign Relations, the J.W. Rouse Company, the Fund for Fine Arts, and Johns Hopkins University.