Board of Overseers

Keith Berwick is currently the Inaugural Recipient of the Keith Berwick Chair of Leadership for The Aspen Institute, and the former executive director of the Henry Crown Fellowship Program. He has also served as the Aspen Institute's Executive Vice President for Seminars and chairman of the Executive Council on Seminars. Mr. Berwick has a varied and extensive background as a historian, educator, Emmy-award winning broadcaster and newspaper publisher.

Lester Crown is Chairman of Material Service Corporation and Chairman of Henry Crown and Company. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Crown serves on the boards of General Dynamics (where he previously served as chairman of the Executive Committee), Maytag Corporation, Northwestern University, The Jerusalem Foundation, Inc., Children's Memorial Medical Center, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Jewish Theological Seminary, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science, and a member of the Board of Governors, Tel Aviv University.

Francis R. Hoffman is the Founder and Principal Architect of the award winning architectural firm Francis R. Hoffman Architects and is the chairman of C.A.G., the Construction Advisory Group, Inc. Hoffman has served as Oral Examiner Commissioner of the California Board of Architectural Examiners and is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards holding professional registrations in California, Florida and Illinois. Mr. Hoffman is an on-going contributor of architectural services to the "Wonders of Reading Program," which provides full library facilities to deserving elementary schools.

Walter Isaacson is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based in Washington, DC. He has been the chairman and CEO of CNN and the editor of TIME magazine. He is the author of Steve Jobs (2011), Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), and Kissinger: A Biography (1992), and coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).

Ann D. McLaughlin Korologos is Chairman Emeritus of the Aspen Institute, having served as Chairman from 1996 through August of 2000, and is also Chairman of the RAND board of trustees. From 1990-1995 she served as president of the Federal City Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization comprised of 150 top business and civic leaders dedicated to improving the nation's capital. She also served as a Trustee and former visiting fellow of The Urban Institute, and on the corporate boards of directors for Nordstrom Inc., Kellogg Co., Host Marriott Corp. and Fannie Mae. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of The Dana Foundation. McLaughlin was a top official in the Departments of Treasury and Interior and served as U. S. Secretary of Labor under President Reagan. From 1989-1990 she served as Chairman of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism. Ann received her bachelor of science degree from Marymount College and did graduate work at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

William E. Mayer is the current Chairman of the Henry Crown Fellowship program Board of Overseers. He is also Chairman Emeritus (2000 - 2008) of the Aspen Institute's Board of Trustees and currently on the Executive Committee. He is a partner with Park Avenue Equity Partners in New York City and the former President and CEO of the First Boston Corporation (CSFB). He is also the former dean of the College of Business and Management at the University of Maryland College Park, and former Dean of the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester. Bill was Chairman of the Board of the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland and is currently on its Executive Committee. He is also a board member of the Acumen Fund, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Vice Chairman of the Middle East Investment Initiative. He also serves on the Board of Directors of numerous private and public companies.

Ranji Nagaswami is chief investment advisor for New York City's pension funds. In her role Ranji aims to restructure the investments of the $115Billion system to balance risks and garner the best possible returns for beneficiaries. Previously, she served as the chief investment officer of Blend equity and multi-asset strategies within AllianceBernstein L.P. As CIO, Ranji was responsible for integrating AllianceBernstein's investing disciplines for growth equities, value equities, fixed income and alternatives to meet a range of institutional and mutual fund client needs. Until October 2008, she served as chief investment officer of AllianceBernstein Investments, the mutual fund division of AllianceBernstein L.P. Until 2005, Ranji was a senior portfolio manager of the Bernstein U.S. Value Equities team. Ranji joined Bernstein in 1999 as a fixed income senior portfolio manager with responsibility for credit research and risk management. Ranji is a member of the Yale University Endowment Investment Committee, the advisory board of the Yale School of Management, a member of the Asset Manager Code of Conduct Advisory Panel at the CFA Institute and a member of the Henry Crown Overseers Board at The Aspen Institute as well as a member of the North American Council of Ashoka, a global fellowship of social entrepreneurs. Ranji earned a bachelor of commerce from Bombay University in India and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. She is a 2005 Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. Acumen Fund currently manages more than $40 million in investments in South Asia and East Africa, all focused on delivering affordable healthcare, water, housing and energy to the poor. The organization also includes the Acumen Fund Fellows Program, focused on building the next generation of business leaders with an understanding of global issues and poverty. Prior to Acumen Fund, Jacqueline founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation. She also founded Duterimbere, a micro-finance institution in Rwanda. She began her career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank. She is currently on the advisory boards of Stanford Graduate School of Business, MIT's Legatum Center, and Innovations Journal published by MIT Press. She serves on the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees and as a member of two World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils, on Social Entrepreneurship and on Water. She is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow, a Synergos Institute Senior Fellow, and she was recently honored with the 2009 CASE Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship Award. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the Clinton Global Initiative and TED. She has an M.B.A. from Stanford and a B.A. in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia. Her recent best-seller is a memoir entitled, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World.

Michael (Mike) Powell is President and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.  He was previously Chairman of the MK Powell Group, a private consulting firm, as well as a partner in Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm with $9 billion in telecommunications and media holdings. Michael previously served as Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2001 to March 2005, and as a commissioner three years prior. He was originally nominated by President Clinton to a Republican seat on the commission in 1997. He led the FCC during one of the most critical periods in its existence, helping it meet the challenges of new technology and outdated policy. As FCC chief, he drove efforts to deregulate the communications industry, which has helped spawn alternative media and new forms of advertising. Prior to his tenure at the FCC, Michael served as Chief of Staff of the Antitrust Division in the Department of Justice. He also served as a policy advisor to the Secretary of Defense, and as an armored cavalry officer in the United States Army. He received a B.A. in Government from the College of William and Mary and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Michael is a member of the 1999 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and a member of the Fellowship’s Board of Overseers.

Margot Pritzker is Founder and President of WomenOnCall.org, which provides women and nonprofits an on-line meeting place to forge productive and efficient skills-based volunteer opportunities.  WomenOnCall.org went national in May 2010 and has over 3,000 members across the country. Margot is also Chair of the Zohar Education Project Inc. which she established in 1995. This is a 15-year project to translate the Zohar, the canonical work of Jewish mysticism, into English.  She is involved in a number of initiatives that affect women and children in the developed and developing world, and has overseen the initiation and progress of schools in remote areas of the Himalayas and Afghanistan. Furthering cultivation of leadership amongst young people has led her to support and become involved with Ashesi University in Ghana. Through the Aspen Institute, where she is a Trustee, she participates in leadership development initiatives throughout the world. She continues her involvement in international issues as a member of the Board of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, as a Trustee of the International Board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and as a member of the Advisory Board of America Abroad Media.  Margot currently serves as a trustee of the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, where she was Chair of the Board from 1993-2001. She serves as a Director of the Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation.  She is also a Trustee of the Corporate and of the Governing Board of the Urban Education Initiative at the University of Chicago’s Charter School.  Born in England, Margot became a United States citizen in 1994. She currently resides in Chicago with her husband, Thomas J. Pritzker. They have three sons. Their extensive travel and knowledge of South Asia has resulted in one of the foremost collections of South Asian art. Margot holds a BA from Northwestern University and an AM from the University of Chicago.

Peter Reiling is Executive Vice President for Leadership and Seminar Programs and Executive Director of the Henry Crown Fellowship Program at the Aspen Institute. In these roles, he oversees the Institute's growing portfolio of leadership initiatives (the Aspen Global Leadership Network) and seminars (including The Aspen Seminar, offered at the Institute since 1950) as well as its flagship leadership program. Peter is a trustee, officer, and senior moderator of the Aspen Institute, a Henry Crown Fellow (Class of 1998), and the founder of the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI), a joint venture between the Aspen Institute and five African business leaders. Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, from 1996 to 2004, Peter was President and CEO of TechnoServe, an international organization helping entrepreneurs across Africa, Latin America, India, and Central Europe to build businesses in their communities. He is co-founder of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs and currently serves as chairman of the board of the Central America Leadership Foundation as well as on the boards of ALI/East Africa, ALI/West Africa, ALI/South Africa, Agora Partnerships, the Energy Access Foundation, and Pegasus Tower Holdings LLC. Peter is a former adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and guest lecturer at the Institute for Developing Economies in Tokyo. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bretton Woods Committee, and was named "Outstanding Social Entrepreneur" by the Schwab Foundation in Geneva. He is a graduate of Georgetown University (BSFS) and the University of California/Berkeley (MBA), with additional studies at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. Peter is married to Denise Byrne and is the father of two children, Dylan and Eva Luna.

Robert K. Steel is New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. He is responsible for the Bloomberg Administration's five-borough economic development strategy and job-creation efforts, as well as its efforts to expand job training, strengthen small business assistance, promote new industries, diversify the economy, and achieve the goals of the New Housing Marketplace Plan, which is designed to build or preserve enough affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers by 2014. He spearheads the Administration's major redevelopment projects, including those in Lower Manhattan, Flushing, Hunters Point South, Coney Island, Stapleton, the South Bronx, and Hudson Yards. Deputy Mayor Steel oversees such agencies as the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Department of City Planning, Department of Small Business Services, NYC Economic Development Corporation and NYC & Company, and he serves as Chair of Brooklyn Bridge Park board.   Prior to his 2010 appointment as Deputy Mayor, Steel was the President and CEO of Wachovia. From 2006 to 2008, Steel was the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Prior to entering government service, Steel spent nearly 30 years at Goldman Sachs, ultimately rising to become co-head of the U.S. Equities Division and Vice Chairman of the firm. He is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and has distinguished himself as Chairman of Duke's Board of Trustees, Chairman of the Aspen Institute's Board of Trustees, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a member of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion, Chairman of The After-School Corporation, and Co-Founder of SeaChange Capital Partners, an organization dedicated to helping nonprofits grow.