RHUKS T. AKO is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria with a PhD in Law from the University of Kent. He has over 15 years of academic and policy experience, including at Obafemi Awolowo University and the University of Hull, and different positions at the African Union Commission (2015–2023). At the AU, he served as Senior Analyst in the Peace and Security Department and led the Youth for Peace Africa Programme, overseeing the development of key frameworks and implementation plans on youth, peace, and security. His research spans human rights, governance, environmental justice, and conflict prevention, with over 50 peer-reviewed publications. Additionally, he is the recipient of the Volkswagen “Our Common Future” Fellowship and the “Limits to Growth” Fellowship
RUCHIRA GUPTA is the founder and president of Apne Aap, a globally recognized organization dedicated to combating human trafficking and advancing survivor-led solutions. She has developed innovative models centered on the “last girl,” influencing governments, the UN, and NGOs, and helping to shape legislation, transform red-light districts, and build sustainable livelihoods for survivors. Ruchira serves on and manages high-level boards, and her work has been featured in major outlets including The New York Times, CNN, and the BBC. She teaches global affairs, human rights, and modern-day slavery at New York University, advises the UN and international organizations, and is an accomplished author.
MARCEL RAMÍREZ LA TORRE is a public policy and administration specialist with over 20 years of experience advising governments, international organizations, and NGOs across Latin America. His work focuses on fiscal reform, climate governance, biodiversity finance, and sustainable development, with extensive experience in Peru, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. He has led major projects with UNDP, UNIDO, and UN DESA, contributes to the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration, and serves on the editorial board of Public Administration and Development. Marcel is a PhD candidate in Public Administration at the University of Victoria. He holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the Universidad de Lima, with additional training at the Harvard Kennedy School.
ROBERT J. MAJTELES is an impact investor and entrepreneur focused on climate, sustainability, and social impact ventures. He is a Senior Advisor, Impact for Sandy Spring Climate Partners; Senior Advisor, Impact for Eneration; and serves on the boards of Circularity2 and Clara. Rob is also on the faculty of Parsons/The New School. A former CEO of three technology companies and founder of Treehouse Capital, he has decades of leadership, investment, and board experience across private and public companies. A cancer survivor and lifelong learner, he is a passionate advocate for innovation that advances both social good and financial success. He holds degrees from Columbia University and Stanford Law School.
ALLAN MARKS is an advisor, lawyer and board director with decades of experience in international project finance, energy and infrastructure. He serves as Commissioner of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He is a Nonresident Visiting Senior Fellow at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and also a Senior Fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at Columbia University’s Climate School. He teaches law and finance at both the University of California, Berkeley and UCLA, where he is Affiliated Faculty at the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy, and teaches on energy, ethics and sustainability at GW Law, where he is a Distinguished Scholar in Energy Law & Sustainability. Allan is a retired partner at Milbank LLP, where he handled over $100 billion of energy and infrastructure transactions around the world for more than 30 years as a member of Milbank’s Global Project, Energy & Infrastructure Finance Group as well as the firm’s Private Equity, Renewable Energy, Latin America, and Global Risk & National Security practices. He is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and a Contributor to Forbes.
MICHAELA MILLENDER is a researcher specializing in far-right extremism, terrorism, and political violence, with a focus on the intersection of humanitarian issues and security. She has over a decade of experience in the non-profit and think tank sectors, most recently managing the research team at The Soufan Center. Michaela is the author of studies including “Accelerating Hate: The Impact of October 7 on Terrorism and Political Violence in the West,” “Identities Destroyed, Histories Revised: The Targeting of Cultural Heritage and Soft Targets by Illicit Actors,” and “The Exploitation of Gender and Masculinities on the Far-Right.” She holds an MSc in Global Affairs from New York University and a BA in International and Area Studies from the University of Oklahoma.
ARISTOTLE TZIAMPIRIS is professor of international relations and chair of the Department of International and European Studies at the University of Piraeus, where he also directs the MSc Program in American Studies. He serves as vice president of Greece’s National Documentation Center, a standing fellow at New York University’s Remarque Institute, and an academic advisor to the Hellenic American Leadership Council. His work focuses on international relations in Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, and he is the author or editor of more than ten books, including The Monroe Doctrine and the Greek Revolution (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) and The Emergence of Israeli-Greek Cooperation (Springer, 2015). His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post, and The National Interest, among others. He holds a PhD in government and an MSc in European studies from the London School of Economics, and a BA in political science from Middlebury College.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
MICHAEL BAK is a policy and digital rights expert with 25 years of global experience spanning public policy, freedom of expression, digital citizenship, tech and democracy, international development, peacebuilding, and crisis governance. A proven bridge builder and leader, he has worked with startups, multinationals, and multilaterals, including USAID, the UN, and Facebook. Known for his authenticity and commitment to justice, he is an empowering manager and skilled diplomat who represents influential global organizations.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
JONATHAN R. BELOFF, PhD is currently Visiting Research Fellow at the Kigali Genocide Memorial and a former Postdoctoral Research Associate at King’s College London’s Department of War Studies, his research focuses on Strategic Theory and the politics and security of the African Great Lakes and East Africa. Since 2008, he has collaborated with Rwandan and international officials, honing unique methodologies to engage policymakers and elites, gaining deep insights into public policy formation in the region.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
ANDREA BONIME-BLANC is founder and CEO of GEC Risk Advisory, advising businesses, NGOs, and governments on governance, risk, ESG, and cybersecurity. A former senior executive (Bertelsmann, Verint, PSEG), she serves on various boards, including the Cyber Future Foundation and NACD New Jersey. She is also an independent advisor to the Financial Oversight Board for Puerto Rico and the Platform for Social Impact. Andrea is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and recipient of numerous awards, including the 2023 Diligent Governance 100. A global keynote speaker and author of Gloom to Boom (2020), she holds a JD and PhD from Columbia University.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
BETHANY BRANTLEY is a sustainability executive and ESG investor with over a decade of experience in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and ESG integration. She is Head of ESG at IPI Partners, the world’s largest digital infrastructure private equity platform. Bethany has published research for the U.S. Department of Energy and was named a 2022 iMason’s IM100 award recipient. As a non-resident senior fellow at CGA, she will focus on ESG integration in private equity and digital infrastructure for sustainability. She holds a master’s in environmental management from Harvard and a bachelor’s in finance and marketing from Texas Christian University.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
JAG GIL is an entrepreneur and inventor focused on sustainability and global supply chains. She is CEO and Co-Founder of VERTRU, an early-stage venture using big data and AI to track human rights, social, environmental, and climate impacts in global trade. Backed by Europe's largest impact venture fund, VERTRU promotes transparency in supply chains. Jag has served as Technology Partner to the EU, designing digital programs on labor rights in Asian supply chains, funded by global institutions. She holds a US patent for ESG risk monitoring technology and has received funding from top venture firms and foundations.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
CHRISTIANE LEMKE is Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Relations at Leibniz University Hannover and former Director of its Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence. She has held fellowships at Harvard University and NYU, and was the first woman to lead the Lower Saxony state parliament. A media expert on transatlantic security and European affairs, her research focuses on transatlantic relations, climate change policy, gender in migration, and the war in Ukraine. As a non-resident senior fellow, she will mentor CGA graduate students, organize international panels, and co-author a paper on resistance strategies by women's and LGBTQ rights activists in EU countries under right-wing populism.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
HELIDAH OGUDE-CHAMBERT is a Migration and International Development scholar with 15+ years’ experience in conflict-affected settings. Her work focuses on migration, forced displacement, conflict prevention, social cohesion, and inclusion. Using critical theories and mixed methods, she examines how political elites exploit emotions and discourse to influence media and policy, shaping inequalities.
A Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre, she begins as Departmental Lecturer in Migration and Development at Oxford in Fall 2023. She has worked with the World Bank, South African government, and International Crisis Group. At CGA, she will publish a working paper and host events on 2023 Global Refugee Forum initiatives.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING DISTINGUISHED FELLOW
HENDRIK W. OHNESORGE is Managing Director of the Center for Global Studies and a Research Fellow in International Relations at the University of Bonn. He holds degrees from the University of Münster and Bonn, where he earned his PhD summa cum laude. A former Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley and Associate at Harvard's Weatherhead Center, his research focuses on power dynamics, soft power, U.S. foreign policy, and leadership in global politics.
His recent books include Soft Power and the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy (2023). As a non-resident CGA fellow, he will re-examine soft power's origins in realist thought and its role in U.S. policy today.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
APRIL PHAM is a feminist and women’s rights advocate, April is the Senior Gender Advisor and Chief of Gender Unit at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with over 30 years’ experience in social justice, human rights, migrant and refugee rights, and gender-based violence in development and humanitarian settings.
She began as a youth worker in Australia, later advocating for legislative reforms to protect migrant and refugee women. Her activism shaped her state government work on policy, prevention, and reforms addressing violence against women.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
MICHAEL TRAN is is a Managing Director on the Global Energy Strategy Research team at RBC Capital Markets in New York, specializing in energy market fundamentals. He also leads RBC’s Digital Intelligence Strategy (DIS), leveraging data science to identify investment opportunities driven by societal changes and real-time events. With nearly 15 years in research, trading, and investment banking at UBS and BP, he is a trusted advisor to Canadian governments on energy policy.
Michael serves on the Advisory Board of Orbital Insight, the Board of the New York Energy Forum, and the USAEE Business Committee. A frequent media commentator, he graduated with distinction in Finance and Economics from the University of Alberta. As a CGA non-resident senior fellow, he focuses on big data, energy markets, and global energy security, empowering future energy leaders.
CGA NON-RESIDENT VISITING SENIOR FELLOW
ANDRAS VAMOS-GOLDMAN is a retired Canadian diplomat, international lawyer, and social entrepreneur, has focused on international justice since 2000. As Canada’s UN legal adviser, he helped establish the Sierra Leone Special Court and the ICC. He later founded Justice Rapid Response, professionalizing international investigations, earning him an Ashoka Fellowship in 2014.
An adjunct professor at NYU's Center for Global Affairs since 2018, he joined the Board of Diplomats Without Borders in 2019. As a CGA fellow, he advocates for accountability and diplomacy in conflict resolution.