Board of Directors and Advisory Council

David Pond retired as a colonel from the U.S. Air Force in 2014 following a 29-year career, during which he served as a combat pilot, Pentagon staff officer, military diplomat, and peacekeeping advisor. Dave led the U.S. Peacekeeping Advisor Team in Darfur. At the Pentagon, he helped lead the Presidential Flight Support program, as well as leading the African affairs division for the Secretary of the Air Force. He currently pilots a Boeing 787 for a major airline.

Seema A. Khan is the Principal of The Seed Advisory Group and cofounder of Million Doors (AI), Johara Global (women’s development), and Astrolabe Enterprises & Denali Aviation Solutions (US military supply chain). Seema has advised the Saudi ministries of Sports, Information & Culture, and Investment. She is a UN Women Entrepreneurship Mentor and Bronze Congressional Medal for Service recipient.

James O’Shea works as an independent author, editor and journalist. In 2022 Jim was named chairman of the board of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) which serves an audience of 27.5 million in 22 counties across the Middle East and Africa. He was also editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, and is the author of three books.

Dr. Stephen Kahn views emergency medicine as a unique lens for understanding what is not working in a community, whether related to health, education, or poverty. Stephen is President of the Abundance Foundation and the Chair of the Harvard Medical School Global Health and Service Advisory Council. He has worked in hospitals in Haiti, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Zambia, and supports clinical capacity building throughout the world. 

George de Lama is president of the Eisenhower Fellowships. A nationally prominent journalist, former international development official and entrepreneur, de Lama became EF’s 10th president in August, 2014. De Lama is a member of the Advisory Board of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and was twice elected to the Board of Governors of the Overseas Press Club of America. The son of Cuban immigrants, de Lama was born in Chicago. He and his wife Carrie, an accomplished independent film maker, live in Philadelphia.

Don Belt worked for 30 years as an award-winning writer and editor for National Geographic. Don now teaches journalism at the University of Richmond. In his Walk on Campus Workshop, he has taught his “Slow Journalism in a Fast World” curriculum in the US, India and China to raise awareness of the Out of EdenWalk project as a resource for educators in fields as varied as journalism, geography, anthropology, foreign policy, history, environmental science, and religion.

Mike Hankinson is Executive VP and Chief Legal Officer of Delta Dental of California & Affiliates, a $10+billion oral healthcare enterprise providing access to quality care to 30+ million people enrolled in dental plans in 15 states, the D.C. and Puerto Rico. A non-profit and highly regulated insurer, Delta Dental operates in a fiercely competitive landscape. As the company’s chief legal officer, Hankinson has expertly surfed those waters for 15 years while steering the corporation as its most senior governance and compliance officer.

Parag Khanna is a leading global strategy advisor, world traveler, and bestselling author. Parag is Founder and CEO of Climate Alpha, an AI-powered analytics platform that future-proofs global investments. He is the author of many books, including “MOVE: Where People Are Going for a Better Future” and “The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict & Culture in the 21st Century.” He is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.

Working across South Asia, Arati Kumar Rao is an independent photographer, writer, artist, storyteller, educator, and National Geographic Explorer. Arati’s first book, Marginlands: Indian Landscapes On The Brink, published by PanMacmillan (Picador) India in June 2023, was shortlisted at both the Atta Galata Bangalore Lit Fest & TataLitLive Awards. Named one of BBC’s 100 Influential and Inspiring women from around the world in 2023, Arati splits her time between the Western Ghats and Bangalore in India. A past Out of Eden Walking Partner, Arati walked 600km across India with Paul Salopek in 2018.

Ann Marie Lipinski is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Ann Marie was the editor-in-chief and senior vice president of the Chicago Tribune. As a reporter at the Tribune, she won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Lipinski is a trustee of the Poynter Institute for journalism and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Timothy J. McNulty was for many years a senior editor and foreign correspondent at the Chicago Tribune. Tim is the author of the book, “The Meanest Man in Congress: Jack Brooks and the Making of an American Century” and has taught journalism at Northwestern University. As a Middle East correspondent, he worked in Beirut and Jerusalem covering conflicts and politics. In the US, he reported in Washington as a White House correspondent.

Dr. Shahid Mahmud is the founder, CEO and Chairman of Interactive Group with over 33 years of experience in the pioneering of communications, information technology, and wireless media in Pakistan. Shahid focuses on the critical needs of society by using connectivity to support health, education, and public safety. In recognition of his efforts, he has been named a Distinguished Fellow by Eisenhower Fellowship in Philadelphia.

Sunny Lambert has spent years working in philanthropy and public service in places as far-flung as Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan. She has specialized in education, child welfare and economic development for women. Born in southern China, she is currently preparing to set up operations in Tbilisi, Georgia.