Driving Impact

Please join the Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project (DLIA) for the second episode of Driving Impact Season 2 with Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn. Hear about Director Spahn’s journey from volunteering in Romania after the end of the Cold War to becoming the 21st Peace Corps Director and a renowned leader in the international development field.

Have you ever wondered how Washington’s most influential policy leaders got their start? Please join the Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project (DLIA) for the first episode of Driving Impact Season 2. Host Hadeil Ali explores the exhilarating personal and professional journeys of Washington’s most prominent policy trailblazers.

This first episode features a dynamic conversation with Ambassador Geeta Rao Gupta about her role as Ambassador-at-Large for the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues, her career in India and the U.S., and her experience as the first woman of color in this position.

In the season one finale of Driving Impact, host Hadeil Ali welcomes the Honorable Shawn G. Skelly, Performing the Duties of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, for a conversation on her 20-year service in the U.S. Navy and her leadership in guiding America’s military readiness. The pair discussed her journey to becoming the highest-ranking trans official at the Department of Defense, her love of rock music, and the importance of harnessing diverse talent to advance America’s national security priorities.  

Join our host Hadeil Ali for this week’s episode on global health security with Ambassador Mark Dybul, former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

The pair discussed Ambassador Dybul’s travels to over 110 countries to fight three of the world’s deadliest diseases and his controversial swearing-in ceremony as the first openly gay ambassador with the rank of Assistant Secretary of State.

Join our host Hadeil Ali for this week’s episode on national intelligence with the Honorable Susan M. Gordon, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.  The pair discussed how a zoology degree led to a decades-long career at the CIA, her shock resignation in 2019, and why she thinks women can have it all. 

In this week’s episode, host Hadeil Ali welcomes Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins for a conversation on how a little girl from South Bronx became the first Black Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, or “T” in the State Department. The pair discussed a day in the life of an arms control expert, bomb-sniffing dogs, and what inspired her to pursue all five of her academic degrees. 

In this week’s episode, Hadeil Ali sat down with the Hon. Raj Panjabi, former Special Assistant to the President and White House National Security Council Senior Director. They discussed Dr. Raj Panjabi's experience fleeing Liberia during the breach of civil war, how his own wedding led to the revolution of community healthcare, and what it was like being President Biden's top pandemic official. 

The Hon. Aaron S. Williams served as the Director of the Peace Corps under President Barack Obama. On this episode of Driving Impact, the Hon. Williams sat down with host Hadeil Ali to talk about his upbringing on the South Side of Chicago, his journey from a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic to becoming Peace Corps Director, and how he met Nelson Mandela on his first day as USAID’s Mission Director to South Africa.