#NotTheCost 5th Anniversary Speakers

Madeleine K. Albright, Former Secretary of State and NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright is a professor, author, diplomat, and businesswoman who served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. Dr. Albright received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Obama on May 29, 2012. In 1997, Dr. Albright was named the first female Secretary of State and became, at that time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. As Secretary of State, Dr. Albright reinforced America’s alliances, advocated for democracy and human rights, and promoted American trade, business, labor, and environmental standards abroad. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Albright served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and was a member of the President’s Cabinet. From 1989 to 1992, she served as President of the Center for National Policy. Previously, she was a member of President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Council and White House staff and served as Chief Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Edmund S. Muskie. Dr. Albright is a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Dr. Albright is Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. She also chairs the National Democratic Institute and serves as the president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation. She is a member of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Policy Board, a group tasked with providing the Secretary of Defense with independent, informed advice and opinion concerning matters of defense policy. Dr. Albright also serves on the Board of the Aspen Institute. In 2009, Dr. Albright was asked by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to Chair a Group of Experts focused on developing NATO’s New Strategic Concept.

Colleen Bell, Executive Director of the California Film Commission and former United States Ambassador to Hungary Colleen Bell was appointed executive director of the California Film Commission (CFC) by Governor Gavin Newsom on May 23, 2019. As Film Commissioner, she oversees governmental efforts to facilitate motion picture, television, commercial and new media production statewide. She works directly with all levels of state and local government to promote California as a production locale and create production-related jobs. In addition to directing the CFC’s wide range of services, she is also tasked with educating legislators, production industry decision makers and the public at large about the value of filming in California. Prior to leading the CFC, Ms. Bell had a distinguished career in entertainment production, business and diplomacy. She was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 2014 - 2017. As Ambassador and Chief of Mission of U.S. Embassy Budapest, Ms. Bell led engagement on military cooperation, law enforcement and economic development between the U.S. and Hungary. She supervised a team of more than 300 while working on initiatives including treaty negotiations, cybersecurity, migration, biotechnology, cultural diplomacy, support for Ukraine and women’s issues. For her work as U.S. Ambassador, Ms. Bell was the first woman bestowed the Dr. Iván Völgyes award for business promotion from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary. In addition, she received the Order of Merit Middle Cross, which is the second-highest State Order of Hungary.

Martin Chungong, Secretary General for the Inter-Parliamentary Union Martin Chungong made history in 2014 by becoming the first African to be elected IPU Secretary General. After 14 years working in the Cameroonian Parliament, he spent more than 20 distinguished years within the IPU before being elected Secretary General. For more than three decades he has dedicated his professional life to promoting democracy worldwide. He has become a leader in the field of developing programmes to help parliaments become more transparent, accountable, representative and effective democratic institutions and has further contributed to establishing governance benchmarks to strengthen democracy. Mr. Chungong has also built an impressive portfolio in the promotion of dialogue and conflict resolution, issues that remain at the heart of the IPU’s work. His focus on helping countries emerge from conflict or in transition has been widely acknowledged by the IPU membership and IPU partners globally. In addition, he is an International Gender Champion, part of a network of decision-makers, male and female, who have committed to breaking down gender barriers.

Ini Edo, Actress and NDI Ambassador for Women's Empowerment in Nigeria Iniobong Edo, popularly known as Ini Edo is an Award-winning Nollywood actress who rose to fame after featuring in more than two hundred movies since her debut Nollywood blockbuster movie “World Apart,” which earned her the award of the Most Promising Actress in Nigeria at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMMA). Off-screen, Ini Edo has become prominently involved in charity projects and philanthropic activities which include helping young women through her non-governmental organization Girls Empowerment Mentoring System (GEMS). As a result of her philanthropic activities she was appointed by the United Nations as the UN Habitat Youth envoy in 2011. Ini Edo attended Cornelius Connely College in Uyo, where she obtained her West African Senior School Certificate and then proceeded to the University of Uyo where she graduated with a Diploma in Theatre Arts. Thereafter, Ini Edo went to the University of Calabar and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in English. In 2016, Ini Edo was appointed by the Governor of Akwa Ibom state as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Culture and Tourism. After the 2019 general elections in Nigeria she was reappointed by the Governor to serve in the same role. In 2020, Ini Edo was appointed by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as the ambassador for women empowerment programs.

Jeanine Mabunda Lioko Mudiayi, MP and former Speaker of Parliament, Democratic Republic of Congo The Honourable Jeanine Mabunda Lioko Mudiayi was the first woman elected President of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Congo, serving from April 24th, 2019 to December 10th, 2020. She has been a Member of the Congolese Parliament since 2011, having been re-elected in 2018, as a National Deputy of Bumba, Équateur Province. From 2014 to 2018, Mrs. Mabunda served as the Personal Representative of the President to combat sexual violence and child soldier recruitment. As part of this mission, she implemented a program to combat impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence and worked with victims to ensure that their voices would be heard, and justice would be served. She facilitated a dialogue between communities, various institutional stakeholders, and the victims themselves, to better understand the issues and what must be done to address them. During her tenure in this position, instances of sexual violence in the DRC were reduced by 85%, but much work remains to be done. The progress toward combating child soldier recruitment was recognized by the United Nations in 2017, when the armed forces of the DRC were removed from the UN’s list of parties to armed conflict that recruited child soldiers. From 2007 to 2012, Mrs. Mabunda served as Minister of Portfolio and Public Enterprises, charged with reforming the DRC's state-owned enterprises. At that time, state-owned enterprises employed over 100,000 workers and the country was facing several socio-economic challenges.

Fadzayi Mahere, National Spokesperson for the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance Fadzayi Mahere practices as an advocate at the Harare Bar. Her main fields of practice include constitutional law, human rights law and administrative law. She also takes on appellate criminal work and specialised crime. She holds a Masters in International Law from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Zimbabwe. She has also completed the executive leadership course at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government entitled “Leadership for the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage.” Prior to reading law at Cambridge, Fadzayi worked in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague and for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She was also awarded a Pegasus Fellowship from the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in London, which enabled her to work in various Chambers in London, including Essex Court Chambers and Doughty Street Chambers. She has marshalled with Judge Paget QC at the Old Bailey, London’s Oldest Criminal Court in 2010. In addition to her practise as an advocate, Fadzayi is also a law lecturer in the fields of Property Law and Administrative Law.

Dr. Nomafrench Mbombo, Western Cape Minister of Health and the Democratic Alliance Women’s Network Federal Leader in South Africa Dr. Nomafrench Mbombo, was born and bred in Mdantsane Township in East London, Eastern Cape, SA. She is currently the Western Cape Health Minister having assumed the position on 1 January 2015. She is the first woman ever appointed in this position in this Department. Before being appointed as the Health Minister, she was the Minister at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sports. She is a mother, a human rights activist and nature lover. Before entering into politics, Dr Mbombo was an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. She holds a PhD in the area of Gender and Human Rights (UWC), Masters in Maternal & Child Health (UKZN) and a Bachelors in Nursing Science (UFH). She previously worked in provincial and local government health departments in the Eastern Cape and KZN respectively. Dr. Mbombo has held advisory and consultative roles to various ministries of health in Africa and in multinational organisations across the globe. Her area of interest and closer to her heart is community empowerment as agency to reclaim the voices of the populations at risk such as young women, girls, rural women and minority groups. She lives with her life mantra, “Where I am planted, I grow.”

Derek Mitchell, President of the National Democratic Institute 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.

Ana Natsvlishvili, Member of Lelo For Georgia Ana Natsvlishvili is a Georgian lawyer and a politician. She served as a Parliamentary th Secretary of the 4 ​ President of Georgia (2018), a head of the leading Georgian human ​ rights watchdog - Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (2014-2017), a chair of the Coalition for Transparent and Independent Judiciary (2015-2017), the largest national coalition of NGOs focusing on judicial reforms. As a chair of GYLA, Ana initiated a first of its kind femicide monitoring and awareness raising project in Georgia (2014-2015) which unveiled systemic problems in Georgian law and practice concerning femicide prevention, investigation and punishment; she also initiated a documentary movie voicing the stories of femicide victims and advocated recommendations for systemic change to deliver justice to femicide victims. Ana was a member of the Georgia’s State Constitutional Commission (2017) where she successfully advocated for the inclusion of a number of important human rights guarantees, including the substantial equality clause between men and women (now enshrined in the article 11 of the Georgian Constitution). Ana was awarded “A Human Rights Defender of the Year” (2017), an award established by leading universities in Georgia. Ana has intensely written and spoken at different conferences both in Georgia and abroad about human rights, democracy and rule of law in Georgia; in her capacity as a human rights expert she worked at different times for COE, UN OHCHR, OSCE/ODIHR, OSF/OSGF, etc. Ana teaches human rights law at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) and Georgian American University (GAU). Ana is an elected MP, however she is boycotting the fraudulent results of the 2020 Parliamentary elections, together with the rest of the opposition political parties in Georgia. She is a Political Council member of a Political Union “Lelo for Georgia.”

Åsa Regnér, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination and Programme Results of UN Women Ms. Åsa Regnér serves as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, since May 2018. Ms. Regnér served since 2014 as Minister for Children, the Elderly and Gender Equality of Sweden, where her focus was on concrete results in the implementation of Swedish gender equality policies as well as a shift towards prevention of violence against women and the involvement of men and boys in gender equality work. She has extensive experience in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment, having held various leadership positions in government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations. She has led important processes and campaigns as a leading advocate for feminism and gender equality in Sweden and beyond. She has built and managed strong partnerships with a range of key stakeholders, including women’s movements and civil society, both at the global and in country contexts. She previously served as UN Women Country Director in Bolivia (2013-2014) and Secretary-General of Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning, Swedish International Planned Parenthood Federation branch. She also served as Director of Planning, Ministry of Justice (2004-2006) and as Political Adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office (1999-2004). She began her career in women’s rights as a volunteer for a Swedish NGO in La Paz, Bolivia (1990-1991) and moved to the Ministry of Labour working on Gender and labour market issues for several years in the 1990s. Ms. Regnér holds a master’s degree in Democratic Development from Uppsala University.

Maria Ressa, Co-founder and CEO of Rappler A journalist in Asia for 35 years, Maria Ressa co-founded Rappler, the top digital only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines. As Rappler’s executive editor and CEO, Maria has endured constant political harassment and arrests by the Duterte government, forced to post bail nine times to stay free. Rappler’s battle for truth and democracy is the subject of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival documentary, A Thousand Cuts. For her courage and work on ​ ​ disinformation and ‘fake news,’ Maria was named Time Magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year, was among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019, and has also been named one of Time’s Most Influential Women of the Century. She was also part of BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2019 and Prospect magazine’s world’s top 50 thinkers. In 2020, she received the Journalist of the Year award, the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, the Most Resilient Journalist Award, the Tucholsky Prize, the Truth to Power Award, and the Four Freedoms Award.

Brenda Santamaría, Chief of the Electoral Observation Section Organization of American States Chief of the Electoral Observation Section, leading and coordinating activities related to the deployment of Electoral Observation Missions (EOMs) of the Organization of American States. Brenda has served as Interim Director of the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation of the OAS between February and July 2018. Since she joined the electoral team in 2007, Brenda has participated in more than 80 Electoral Observation Missions in the Americas. She has more than 20 years of professional experience in elections, international relations, journalism and institutional communications. She holds a Master's Degree in International Studies from Torcuato Di Tella University and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires.

Gretchen Whitmer, 49th Governor of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is a lifelong Michigander who is focused on getting things done that will make a difference in people’s lives. She’s an attorney, an educator, former prosecutor, State Representative, and Senator. But the most important title she boasts is MOM. Inspired by her family, she’s devoted her life to building a stronger Michigan for all and governed through unprecedented, colliding crises. As Governor Whitmer has led Michigan through this extraordinary time, she’s remained focused on doing the right things: acting decisively, following the science, and listening to the experts. Her leadership helped get the once in a century pandemic under control and laid the groundwork to rebuild Michigan’s economy back stronger than ever. The Governor ran on fixing the damn roads, cleaning up drinking water, and expanding opportunity for all. In two years, the Whitmer’s administration has created 11,000 new auto jobs while working to diversify the economy, made the largest investment in K-12 schools in state history without raising taxes, established the Michigan Reconnect and Futures for Frontliners programs to create a more dynamic, educated workforce, and is fixing crumbling roads and water infrastructure while creating 7,500 jobs in the process. She remains dedicated to investing in small businesses, the lifeblood of our communities, making sure they have the support they need to stay afloat and help rebuild our economy.