Jamala: Songs of Freedom
In collaboration with the Aspen Security Forum
Join us for a screening of “Jamala: Songs of Freedom,” which follows Ukrainian singer-songwriter Jamala in the early hours of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, followed by a panel discussion featuring Natalie Jaresko, chairperson of Aspen Institute Kyiv and managing director of EY Partheon; Beth Mendelson, Voice of America’s executive producer and director of “Jamala”; and Tom Wright, senior director for strategic planning at the United States National Security Council; in conversation with Julia Ioffe, founding partner and Washington correspondent for Puck News.
Paepcke Auditorium, doors at 5:30 pm
While attendance at the events is free and open to everyone, registration is required, and capacity is established on a first-come, first-served basis. Register here.
Parking
Parking is very limited. Please carpool, walk, bike, or ride RFTA.
Natalie A. Jaresko is Managing Director in EY-Parthenon’s Turnaround and Restructuring Strategy practice focused on the Government and Public Sector. At EY, she will lead EY-Parthenon’s sovereign restructuring efforts and large-scale public-sector turnarounds. She has over 30 years of transformational leadership experience in the private, public, and non-governmental sectors. Natalie served as Minister of Finance of Ukraine (2014-16) at one of the most difficult times in Ukraine’s history, rocked by a deep recession, Russia’s initial occupation and war. She led the successful negotiation and implementation of the largest IMF program in history, including a complex sovereign debt restructuring, reduction of budget deficits, introduction of budgetary transparency, improved corporate governance at state owned banks, and reduction of monopolistic practices. Natalie served five years (2017-2022) as the Executive Director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. She led the sustainable exit from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, while restoring the Island’s fiscal health. Notwithstanding environmental and political instability, she focused limited budgetary resources on improving critical public services, while strengthening budgetary practices, financial reporting, and transparency. Earlier she spent two decades in private equity, as co-founder/CEO of Horizon Capital, a fund manager with over $600 million under management, and as President/CEO of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund. She serves as Chairperson of Aspen Institute Kyiv and Commissioner of the CSIS Ukraine Economic Construction Commission, as well as supporting several other philanthropic organizations. She is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPP) and DePaul University (BSC).
Beth Mendelson is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and Executive Producer at Voice of America. Focused on issue-oriented programming, her latest documentary, Jamala: Songs of Freedom, follows Ukrainian singer-songwriter Jamala in the early hours of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and profiles her activism of raising money and awareness for her homeland. Beth Mendelson’s communication career spans 30 years across non-profit organizations, broadcast media, and the U.S. government, including the White House. Prior to her documentary work at Voice of America, Beth Mendelson was the Chief of the Afghanistan Service for 6 years, overseeing television, radio, and web programming. She has been an Executive Producer for major American and European networks, including PBS, CNN, ITN, ARD, and MSNBC. Her work producing documentaries and television specials has taken her to Russia, China, France, and England among other countries. Mendelson’s other work includes films and programming for the World Bank, World Wildlife Fund, Agency for International Development, World Food Program, U.S. Department of State, and the National Civil Rights Freedom Awards; honoring Oprah Winfrey, Paul Rusesabagina, and Ruby Dee.
Thomas Wright is Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council. Previously he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is author of All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power (2017) and co-author, with Colin Kahl, of Aftershocks: Pandemic Politics and the End of the Old International Order (2021).
Julia Ioffe is a founding partner and the Washington correspondent for Puck, a new media company, where she covers foreign policy and national security. Ioffe is a specialist in Russia and Russian-American relations, and her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Washington Post, Forbes, Politico, Foreign Policy, and The New Yorker, where she was a Moscow-based correspondent from 2009-2012. Her book, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy, will be published in March.
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