Academy faculty
The faculty members are senior representatives from academia, the public and private sectors, NGOs and the media who have distinguished themselves in their fields. They are committed to our mission of promoting informed and values-driven leadership in an interdependent world. Faculty members provide intellectual and practical support in various ways such as leading a weekly discussion session or hosting a Global Introduction event at their organization and providing guidance to fellows by drawing on their own leadership experience.
Dr Leslie Vinjamuri
President and CEO, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri is the president and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She joined the Council in 2025 after serving as director of the US and the Americas programme at Chatham House. She is chair of the faculty of the Queen Elizabeth II Academy at Chatham House (from 2018-2024, she was Dean of the Academy). Dr. Vinjamuri is also Professor of Practice in International Relations and Diplomacy at SOAS University of London, where she was previously professor of international relations (tenured). She is a Marshall Commissioner and vice chair of the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs.
Dr Vinjamuri was previously founding co-director and then director of the Centre on Conflict, Rights and Justice, and later cochair of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS University of London. Dr. Vinjamuri also sits on the advisory boards of Princeton University’s Reimagining World Order, LSE US Centre, and LSE IDEAS. She is a regular contributor to international broadcast media, especially CNN, Bloomberg, and BBC.
Shaharzad Akbar
Executive Director, Rawadari
Shaharzad Akbar is the Executive Director of Rawadari, a human rights organization focused on Afghanistan. Shaharzad, currently in exile, is a human rights leader and the former Chairperson for Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. She has also previously worked as Senior Adviser to the Afghan President and Country Director for Open Society Foundations in Afghanistan. Shaharzad is an Honorary Fellow with Wolfson College, University of Oxford. Shaharzad’s writing has appeared in Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, CNN, Just Security, Justice Info and other international outlets. Shaharzad is a recipient of multiple international awards for her human rights work including the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights (2021) and Hrant Dink Award (2022).
Professor José M de Areilza
Secretary General, Aspen Institute España
José M de Areilza is secretary general of Aspen Institute España and Professor of Law & Jean Monnet Chair at ESADE, Ramón Llull University, Barcelona. He has served as adviser to the Spanish prime minister and has been dean of IE Law School at IE Business School in Madrid.
Ilker Baburoglu
CEO, MedTrade Energy & Commodities; CEO, YPO Global One
Ilker Baburoglu is currently serving as a founder at various multi-national energy & commodity trading companies, working to improve and contribute to energy security and reliability for various geographies. Ilker has a diverse background in mega-project development, investments in natural resources, power generation, and critical infrastructure projects especially in emerging markets. He previously held senior-level positions at multinational groups based in Europe, UK, Africa, and Middle East, and served as the executive director of an investment firm, which was one of the founding members of World Economic Forum Global Growth Companies initiative. He co-founded an investment company in Africa to contribute to responsible minerals and hydrocarbon projects in the region. Ilker is dedicated to good corporate governance and capacity-building efforts to encourage inclusive economic growth and social development in challenging geographies.
Ilker is a member of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council, Washington DC. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Koc University, Bogazici University, and a member of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization).
Jessica Cecil
Founder and director, BBC Trusted News initiative
Jessica Cecil is the founder and director of the Trusted News initiative, the leading global coalition of major tech companies and news organisations taking practical steps to counter disinformation. Previously, she led the initiative focusing the BBC’s digital services in the UK and worldwide. She is a former Controller of BBC Make it Digital which inspired a new generation to get creative with digital technology. With partner organisations, BBC Make it Digital developed a codeable computer, the BBC micro:bit, and gave it free to one million 11 and 12-year-olds across the UK, with a further four million now in the hands of children in 50 countries, from Finland to Singapore. Before this, she was Chief of Staff to four BBC Director-Generals. She is an Emmy-nominated programme maker and senior journalist, and was Assistant Editor of BBC Newsnight. She is a Trustee of the University of Bristol, on the advisory boards of Rand Europe and IntoUniversity, on the International Committee of the Wallace Collection and is a former non-executive Director of the London Ambulance Service.
Professor Alexander Cooley
Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard College and Director of Columbia University’s Harriman Institute
Professor Cooley’s research examines how external actors—including emerging powers, international organizations, multinational companies, NGOs, and Western enablers of grand corruption—have influenced the development, governance and sovereignty of the former Soviet states, with a focus on Central Asia and the Caucasus. Cooley is the author and/or editor of eight academic books including, Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia (Yale University Press 2017), co-authored with John Heathershaw, and more recently, Exit from Hegemony: the Unravelling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020), co-authored with Daniel Nexon.
In addition to his academic research, Professor Cooley serves on several international advisory boards engaged with the region and has testified for the United States Congress and Helsinki Commission. Cooley’s opinion pieces have appeared in New York Times, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs and his research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the Open Society Foundations, Carnegie Corporation, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, among others. Cooley earned both his MA and Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Kenneth Cukier
Deputy Executive Editor, The Economist
Kenneth Cukier is the Deputy Executive Editor at The Economist in London and coauthor of the award-winning book Big Data, a NYT Bestseller translated into over 20 languages, and of Framers on the power of mental models and the limits of AI. He is a regular commentator on technology in the media and a popular keynote speaker, from TED to WEF. Cukier was previously a research fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Oxford’s Saïd Business School. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock GCMG
Chairman, Gatehouse Advisory Partners Ltd; Chairman, Lambert Energy Advisory Ltd.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock is chairman of the strategic advisory company Gatehouse Advisory Partners Ltd, and of the oil and gas specialists Lambert Energy Advisory Ltd. and of the oil and gas specialists Lambert Energy Advisory Ltd.
Sir Jeremy was a career diplomat from 1969 to 2004, developing specializations in the Middle East, transatlantic relations and the United Nations. His postings included Dubai, Washington, Saudi Arabia, Paris and New York. He served as political director in London from 1996 to 1998, as UK ambassador to the UN in New York from 1998 to 2003 and as UK special envoy for Iraq, based in Baghdad, from 2003 to 2004.
Dr Champa Patel
Executive Director, Governments and Policy, Climate Group
Champa Patel is the Executive Director for Governments and Policy, which includes leading on the strategy, development and growth of Climate Groups work with subnational and national governments, including the Under2 Coalition, and international institutions. She also leads on the organisation’s policy development and advocacy strategies. Most recently, Champa was Director of Innovation and Deputy Director of the Future of Conflict Program at the International Crisis Group. She was formerly director of the Asia-Pacific programme at Chatham House managing policy research on the region.
Xenia Wickett
Founder, Wickett Advisory executive coaching
Xenia helps organizations and private individuals realise their full potential and has a global client base. She has extensive international experience spanning NGOs, academia, and government, and is currently a Commissioner for the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission and a member of the Executive Committee of the Pilgrims and Programme Committee at Ditchley Park.
She served with the US government as Director for South Asia on the National Security Council and at the State Department as Special Adviser at the Homeland Security Group and as an Officer in the Bureau of Non-Proliferation. Shortly after 9/11, she was detailed to the US Office of the Vice President to help launch the Office of Homeland Security Affairs.
Xenia also previously worked as head of the US and Americas programme and Dean of the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs at Chatham House, and as a member of committees and groups at both the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Economic Forum, as well as in senior positions at Equinor, the PeaceNexus Foundation, and Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center.
Dr Rhodri Williams
Senior Adviser, Wallbrook
Dr Rhodri Williams is Senior Adviser to Wallbrook, part of Anthesis, and a member of the Advisory Board of Bolttech, a leading insurtech. From 2013 to 2025 he worked for AIG, the international Insurance organisation, where his roles in New York and London included Chief of Staff and Head of International Public Policy. From 1990 to 2013 Rhodri was a member of the British Diplomatic service, serving in Embassies in Austria and Jordan, and in a wide range of UK-based senior policy roles covering Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
He is a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University and a member of the Development Advisory Board of Swansea University. From 2022 to 2025 he was a Member of the Council at Chatham House. Rhodri has a First Class Bachelor of Arts degree and a Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University, where he was Gwilym Gibbon Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College from 1983 to 1985 and Tutor in Modern History at St Peter’s College from 1985 to 1990.
