In conversation with:

Eric Braverman

CEO, Schmidt Futures

Named by Fortune magazine in 2010 as one of the “40 most influential leaders in business” worldwide under 40 years old, Eric previously served as CEO of Rex Group from 2015-2017, CEO of the Clinton Foundation from 2013-2015, and a partner and co-founder of McKinsey & Company’s government practice — as part of a career at the firm from 1997 to 2013. At the Clinton Foundation, Eric led an effort to secure an endowment, develop infrastructure to support best-in-class operating practices, improve strategic planning and financial management, strengthen board governance and internal controls, and use data effectively. During his tenure, Charity Navigator awarded the foundation a perfect score — and four stars — for transparency and accountability. At McKinsey, Eric was the global leader of McKinsey’s work on government innovation and an expert on the transformation of complex institutions. He counseled heads of state and former presidents, cabinet secretaries, civil service officials, and business leaders in media, entertainment, and technology. Eric also served as an adviser on performance management for former U.S. President Barack Obama’s transition team in 2008. Eric is a senior fellow at Yale, teaching about ethics in public leadership and innovation at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale School of Management, and Yale Law School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale and a juris doctor from the Yale Law School. He is a member of YPO and the New York State Bar, and serves as co-chair of the Families and Workers Fund as well as a member of the boards of Ready, Arena Stage, and other organizations.

Elizabeth Cousens

President and CEO, UN Foundation

Elizabeth Cousens became the UN Foundation’s third President and Chief Executive Officer in 2020. She is a diplomat and thought leader who has worked on the frontlines of peace processes, played an influential role in UN policy innovations from peacebuilding to the Sustainable Development Goals, and helped build public-private partnerships to solve global challenges at scale. She previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council, Alternate Representative to the UN General Assembly, and Principal Policy Advisor and Counselor to the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. She has written widely on conflict management, peace processes, state-building, and the United Nations. She has a B.A. in History from the University of Puget Sound and a D.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

Raj Kumar

President & Editor-in-Chief at Devex

Raj Kumar is the founding President and Editor-in-Chief of Devex, the media platform for the global development community. Devex was born in 2000 when Raj was a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Today, it is an independent news organization and social enterprise with over 100 Devexers around the world serving a global audience of more than one million aid workers and development professionals. Beginning as a kid in Kerala, India, Raj has witnessed firsthand determined and courageous development work in over 50 countries — it’s what drives the Devex mission to “Do Good. Do It Well." He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Save the Children board of trustees, a media leader and former humanitarian council chair for the World Economic Forum, and has interviewed on-camera and on-stage hundreds of global luminaries on the most important challenges of our time. Raj is the author of the book "The Business of Changing the World," a go-to primer on the ideas, people, and technology disrupting the aid industry.