Our Board of Advisors

Susan Eisenhower

CEO and Chairman, 

Eisenhower Group, Inc.

Susan Eisenhower is CEO and Chairman of the Eisenhower Group Inc, which provides strategic counsel on political, business and public affairs projects. For more than thirty years, the company consulted for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies doing business in the emerging markets of Russia, Central Asia and China. Projects now are undertaken almost exclusively in Europe and the United States. 

Since 2004, Susan Eisenhower’s primary focus has been on the intersection of major global developments in the context of US policy and strategic communications/ organizational development. She has written and lectured extensively on these subjects and has appeared on all the major television and radio outlets, while contributing to a range of publications as diverse as the Washington Post and The LA Times to the Naval Institute’s Proceedings and the National Academy of Sciences’ Issues in Science and Technology. On the topic of strategic leadership, her forthcoming book How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions will be published on August 11, 2020 by St. Martin’s Press/MacMillan. 

John Brannen

Former Global Director of Human Resources, Wellington Management Co.

John Brannen was Global Director of Human Resources for Wellington Management Co. from 2001- 2011. He was named a Partner in 2005 and became Managing Director of Wellington Management International Ltd, the London-based affiliate of Wellington Management Company, LLP in 2007. In that role, he oversaw the daily operation of the London office. As Global Director for Human Resources, John was responsible for overseeing the management and development of human resource policies, practices, programs and systems that attracted, retained, and developed a global professional workforce.
 

John’s entire career had been devoted to human resource management. Prior to joining Wellington Management, John spent ten years in Human Resource leadership positions at Fidelity Investments.  Before Fidelity, John was Vice President, Human Resources at Bank of New England, now a part of Bank of America Corporation.
 

John earned his EdM, with a concentration in counseling and consulting psychology, from Harvard University and received his BA from the University of Massachusetts.

Alwyn Dawkins

Executive Vice President, 

Gartner Inc.

Alwyn Dawkins is Executive Vice President at Gartner Inc. and global leader of Gartner Conferences. Gartner is the world's leading business and technology Research and Advisory firm, an S&P 500 company with annual revenues in excess of $4B USD. Gartner Conferences produces 325 plus conferences and attracts more than 100,000 attendees annually, across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia. 

Since being appointed to lead Conferences in late 2008, the division's revenues have increased at a CAGR of 20% per year, growing from less than $97M to more than $500M. With 1,100+ associates located in the USA, UK, Australia, Japan, Brazil and India, Gartner Conferences is one of Gartner’s fastest growing businesses.

Alwyn is a dynamic global leader with deep expertise in international business strategy, sales, marketing and developing high performance teams. He is a member of Gartner's Executive Operating Committee, reporting to the CEO. 

Robyn Kravit

International Business Executive

Robyn S. Kravit is an international business leader with over 30 years of experience in executive management and venture development, especially in China and Far East markets.  Robyn served on the Board of Directors of Willis Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: WSH now NASDAQ: WLTW), as a member of the Audit and Risk Committees.  She was also appointed to the Standing Advisory Group (SAG) of the Public Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in 2012 and served on the Board of the Capital Area chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).  She currently sits on several for-profit corporate advisory boards and is a Director of the Challenger Center, a non-profit headquartered in Washington, DC.  

Robyn is a graduate of Vassar College, earned her Master’s degree at Harvard University and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. 

Gong Li

Former Chairman

Accenture's Greater China

Gong Li, a former Senior Managing Director at Accenture, has more than 30 years of cross-industry business and technology consulting experience, with expertise in organizational strategy and design, business process reengineering, financial management, large change program management and IT infrastructure development. Gong has worked with clients in a variety of industries and has extensive experience working with Chinese enterprises on various programs including corporate restructuring, process transformation and commercialization. 

After his retirement as Chairman of Accenture’s Greater China region in 2015, Gong became an Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University, where he focused on healthcare delivery model and funding mechanism in large developing countries. He is currently on the boards of Tricor Group, Pan Asia Data Holding and Sunrise Group.