Our Leadership
Leadership
Board of Directors
HE Kabine Komara (Guinea) - Board Chair
Guinea’s former Prime Minister is a well-known banker in the African continent and a former director at the African Export-Import Bank in Cairo, Egypt. Born and raised in Guinea, Mr. Komora studied management in Guinea’s capital Conakry, and then abroad in France, the United States and Egypt. He began his banking career at the Central Bank of Guinea and served as Assistant Director for Personnel in the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée as well a as Director of the Alumina Company of Guinea Aluminum. Rising in business and government, he was appointed Guinea’s National Director for Investment, a Member of the National Treasurer Committee Council and the Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Planning and Finance. In December 2008 H.E. Komara was appointed Prime Minister of Guinea and chose not to affiliate with any political party, but instead served the people and country of Guinea directly with a level of dignity and decorum that was widely regarded nationally and throughout the world. Following his Prime Ministership H.E. Komara was High Commissioner of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS) and authored a book that continues to serve as a key reference point on hydro diplomacy. Along with the Global Fairness Initiative, H.E. Komara serves on the Board of international foundations that address peace, security and environmental and water management.
Anna Eliasson (United States)
Anna Eliasson Schamis (Washington DC) is a fundraising and marketing professional with nearly 20 years of experience in international policy, development and humanitarian issues. Previously, Anna served as Vice President of Development and External Relations at the Atlantic Council where she quadrupled the Council’s revenue and led a $25M fundraising campaign for the creation of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. Anna has also served as development directors of both the Aspen Institute and Cornell University. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She served until recently as Vice Chair the Board of Directors of the United States Association for UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). She holds an A.B. from Harvard University and an M.A. and M.Phil. in political science from Columbia University.
Sarah Fox (United States)
Sarah Fox is internationally recognized for her work on labor issues in the United States and throughout the world. As Special Representative for International Labor Affairs at the US Department of State 2015 Ms. Fox led the Department’s effort to promote workers’ rights and improve economic security and working conditions for workers abroad; liaise with the global labor movement, U.S. and multinational companies, and other stakeholders on these issues; and, support and strengthen the labor diplomacy function at American embassies worldwide. In this role she was critical in ensuring that American foreign policy and programs advance internationally recognized labor rights and improve living standards across the globe.
Prior to her appointment to the State Department, Ms. Fox served as legal counsel to the AFL-CIO and as the AFL-CIO’s representative to the International Labor Organization (ILO). From 2010 to 2015, she was a member of the ILO Governing Body and of its Committee on Freedom of Association. She previously served in government from 1990 to 2000, first as Chief Democratic Labor Counsel to the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, on the staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (1990-1996), then by appointment of President Clinton as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board (1996-2000). Prior to that, she was counsel to the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union and was a reporter at the Courier-Express in Buffalo, NY, where she grew up. She is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.
Jan Jones Blackhurst (United States)
Jan Jones Blackhurst is Executive Vice President of Government Relations & Corporate Responsibility for Caesars Entertainment, Corp. In that capacity, she oversees all worldwide government affairs, corporate communications, community relations and corporate-social responsibility programs for the $9 billion corporation. Prior to joining Caesars in November 1999, Jones Blackhurst served two terms as Mayor of the City of Las Vegas. She was the city’s first woman chief executive, and among the most popular mayors in its history, having won reelection in 1995 by a 72 percent margin. While in office, Jones Blackhurst presided over an unprecedented period of economic, social and cultural expansion, one in which the city’s population increased 66 percent, making Las Vegas the fastest-growing major metropolitan area in America throughout much of the 1990s. Today, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Women’s Leadership Board at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She sits on the board of directors of Nevada Public Radio, the Women’s Campaign Fund in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the Gaming Law Advisory Board at the UNLV Boyd School of Law. She is also a member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Federal Club and of Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood. In 2012 she was appointed the Vice Chair of the Clark County Public Education Foundation. Jones Blackhurst graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in English.
Reema Nanavaty (Rebublic of India)
Reema Nanavaty has been working with the Self Employed Women's Association - SEWA - for over 35 years, expanding its membership to over 2.1 million members, making it the single largest union of informal sector women workers in the world. In her role at SEWA Ms. Nanavaty facilitated rebuilding the lives and livelihoods of 6,0000 earthquake-affected rural women and 40,000 riot-affected members. She leads the rehabilitation programs in Afghanistan, and has helped train over 5,000 Afghani women on livelihood skills and facilitated facilitating the creation of a local Association of SEWA. Similarly, she has led the rehabilitation program for war-affected widows in Sri Lanka, providing over 6,000 rural women with vocational training to secure their livelihoods. Ms. Nanavaty facilitated rebuilding lives and livelihoods of 6,0000 earthquake-affected rural women and 40,000 riot-affected members. She is leading the rehabilitation programs in Afghanistan, and helping train over 5,000 Afghani women on different livelihood skills and facilitating the creation of a local Association. Similarly, she has also led the rehabilitation program for war-affected widows in Sri Lanka, providing over 6,000 rural women with vocational training to secure their livelihoods.
Ms. Nanavaty oversees 4,813 self-help groups (SHG), 160 co-operatives, and 15 economic federations in 16 states in India and in 7 South-Asian countries. These collections focus on women’s economic empowerment by building women owned enterprises, building women led supply chains, introducing modern ICT-based tools to improve businesses, and facilitating Green-Energy initiatives and livelihoods. In 2003 Ms. Nanavaty was honored with the fourth-highest civilian award the Republic of India, the Padma Shri, for her contribution in area of Social Services. She is currently the member of the Advisory Council on Gender of the World Bank Group. Ms. Nanavaty was also a member of the International Labour Organization’s High Level Global Commission on Future of Work, and the only member of the commission representing the informal sector workers, women workers, self-employed workers, and the rural workers’ union. In addition, she served as a member of the Working Group for the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy and as a Gender Lead in the working group for the UN's Food System Summit, and was one of the only worker’s representative invited to speak alongside UN secretary General Antonio Gueteras at the UNGA's Official Opening Ceremony of the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021.
Andrew Natsios (United States)
Since 2012 Andrew S. Natsios has served as Executive Professor at the George H.W. Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University, and since 2013 been Director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs. He was Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University from 2006-2012 and former Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2001-2006. He serves as Co-Chairman Emeritus of the Committee on Human Rights in North Korea, a research center in Washington DC. He also served as US Special Envoy to Sudan in 2006-2007 to deal with the Darfur crisis and the implementation of the North South Sudan peace agreement. Retired from the US Army Reserves at a Lt. Colonel after twenty-three years, Natsios is a veteran of the Gulf War. From 1993 to 1998, he was vice president of World Vision US, the international non-governmental organization. Earlier in his career, Natsios served in Massachusetts State Government as a member of the House of Representatives in Boston for 12 years and later as Secretary of Administration and Finance, the chief financial and administrative officer of the Commonwealth. He also served in 2000-2001 as the CEO of Boston's Big Dig, the largest construction project in American history, after a cost overrun scandal.
He is the author of three books: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1997); The Great North Korean Famine (2001); and his latest book, Sudan, South Sudan and Darfur: What Everyone Needs to Know, published in 2012 by Oxford University Press, and has contributed to 13 other books, including two on North Korea. His areas of research are in food security, famines, human rights, foreign aid, humanitarian assistance during civil conflicts and natural disasters.
Sally Painter (United States)
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Blue Star Strategies LLC, Ms. Painters has over 27 years of experience advising corporations, governments, NGOs and multilaterals on international investment opportunities, poverty reduction and on foreign and security policy issues. She has served as a founder of the US Committee on NATO, as Executive Director of the Business Coalition for US-China Trade -- where she helped secure passage of Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China, as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration, and as the Director of International at Tenneco Inc., a fortune 500 company. Ms. Painter has received numerous awards for her work, including The Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit from the Republic of Hungary and The Minister of Defense’s Award for Distinction from the Republic of Latvia. Ms. Painter has an extensive track record working with Central Europe on security and policy issues, including successfully representing many of these countries on their NATO and EU bids as well as a Visa Equity Coalition of seven countries where legislation was passed in the U.S. Congress which allowed their citizens to enter the US visa-free.
Aivis Ronis (Latvia)
Ambassador Ronis is currently an independent business and NATO consultant. Mr. Ronis has served with distinction in the Latvian diplomatic service since its re-establishment in 1991 after Latvia restored its full independence. His civil service to Latvia has included multiple leadership positions within government including as Latvia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Transportation Minister, and Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He has also had a robust careering representing Latvia as a diplomat in the Foreign Service, holding positions as Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador to Mexico, and Ambassador to Turkey, as well Latvia's Ambassador to NATO in Brussels. Ambassador Ronis has worked actively in Latvia’s private sector since his government service, and serves as a consultant to multiple companies and organizations representing Latvia’s interests and promoting investment and engagement in Latvia’s public and private sector. Early in his career Ronis was a TV journalist and a Latvia youth chess champion.
Lamia Senousi (Denmark)
LLamia Senousi is the Chief Communications Officer at Systemiq, based in London, UK. Prior to joining Systemiq, Lamia was the Managing Director of communications and events at C40 Cities, and prior to that the Global Director of Communications, Public Affairs & Events at the London Business School, where she oversaw a team of public relations, communications, events and government affairs experts in London, New York, Dubai and Hong Kong. Lamia also served as a Global Communications and Strategic Partnership Lead at EY (formerly Ernst & Young), where she worked under the former Secretary of State for Finance in Spain and led the development and implementation of a global communications and partnership agenda for the Global Climate Change & Sustainability Practice.
Previously, she worked at Deloitte, LLP in London and PR Newswire. She was also the Campaign Manager & Election Agent in 2015 for the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cities of Westminster and London. Lamia has served in a advisory roles globally and is fluent in Egyptian Arabic, Danish, English, and German.
Rashad Shawa (Kuwait)
Rashad Shawa is Founder and Chairman of the Board, and Chairman of the Founders Committee of the International Water Bank - IWB Holdings. Mr. Shawa also serves as Chairman of the Board of Mai Resources International (Switzerland) AG, and is a Member of the World Water Council in France, and of the Arab Water Council (Egypt). A Senior Executive and International Banker, Mr. Shawa has held a number of positions on the Executive Board and Head of the Middle East of several International Banks in the UK and Switzerland. He was also formerly the Chairman of The International Organization of Private Bank owners and was a Senior Advisor to Bank Privee Edmond de Rothschild. Mr. Shawa serves as a Member of the Board of a number of regional and international institutions and companies, including as past a Member of the International Advisory Board of Babson College in Boston, USA, the world’s number one university for business leaders and entrepreneurs. He also currently sits on the Board of Medurable in France, the International Organization focused on sustainable development goals, climate change and water resources management.
Nik Slingsby (United Kingdom)
Nik Slingsby works as a lawyer and helps the Legal Action for Women Network which provides free legal service for low income women advising on domestic abuse and parental custody issues. He is also involved in the People to People Project building accommodation and sanitation facilities for refugees in Calais. He has a degree in Mandarin Chinese and Economics and has spent a number of years living and working in Asia.
He was the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cities of Westminster and London in 2015 and Chairman of the Westminster Constituency Labour Party.
Zohreh Tabatabai (Iran)
Zohreh Tabatabai is a familiar face in the diplomatic and global business arenas, having spent many years in high profile positions in the United Nations (UN) system. As the chief coordinator of the UN’s Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration, she created new strategies for assembling publicprivate partnerships to assure the success of the event, and she coordinated the activities of more than 100 heads of state who travelled to New York to participate. During her 20 years at UN headquarters, Ms. Tabatabai also served as Focal Point for Women and as Chief of the Public Services Section. Throughout her tenure, she pioneered methods for bringing in outside partners to work on extending the UN’s visibility and effectiveness across a broad range of initiatives. In the year 2000 Ms. Tabatabai moved to Geneva to take up the post of Director of Communication and Public Information at the International Labour Organization, the Geneva-based UN agency that promotes rights at work. Upon leaving the United Nations System, she created a communications and marketing company with special emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). She undertakes various CSR projects for a number of Global companies. Ms. Tabatabai currently serves on the boards of a number of non-governmental organizations, non-profit institutions and charitable foundations.
Karen Tramontano (United States)
Karen A. Tramontano is the Founder of the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), a non-profit organization working to promote a more equitable, sustainable approach to globalization to ensure its benefits reach all people, including the working poor. Before founding GFI, Ms. Tramontano served as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Clinton and counselor to two Chiefs of Staff, Erskine Bowles and John Podesta. Ms. Tramontano's White House portfolio encompassed a wide range of issues, including international trade, transatlantic relations, as well as economic and financial issues involving the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments. She played a major role in shaping policy concerning the WTO, OECD and other multi-lateral institutions, while handling public policy issues involving the World Bank and the IMF. Other specific accomplishments include spearheading the successful White House initiative to bring the Child Labor Convention into law and leading the team that developed the Comprehensive Steel Plan to rationalize global steel production. Additionally, she managed many of President Clinton's international trips, including his visits to India, Pakistan, and Viet Nam. In 2001, she served as Chief of Staff for President Clinton's transition, where she established his office and presence in New York.
Ms. Tramontano is currently the CEO and co-founder of Blue Star Strategies, LLC, which provides corporate, institutional and public sector clients with results-oriented strategies. Prior to founding Blue Star Strategies, she was a Principal at Dutko Worldwide, where she developed comprehensive multi-level government advocacy strategies for complex global issues. Ms. Tramontano also currently serves as Senior Advisor to Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labor Organization in Geneva, is on the Board of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law School. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University Law School and a B.A. from Boston College, and is a frequent commentator for Bloomberg News.
Emeritus Board Chairs
William J. Clinton (Former President, United States)
GFI Founding Board Chair 2004-2008
Bill Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001, an era in which the U.S. enjoyed more peace and prosperity than at any other time in its history. Since leaving office, President Clinton has continued his work on many of the issues that defined his administration, including world trade, the economic empowerment of the poor, and the fight against AIDS around the world. His active involvement in issues of public concern is evident in his work of various foundations and organizations such as the Clinton Presidential Foundation.
José María Figures (Former President, Costa Rica)
GFI Board Chair 2008-2013
José María Figures served as President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. He was the youngest President of a Central American country in modern times. During his tenure he created a comprehensive Sustainable Development strategy through investment in human development and the implementation of innovative environmental policies. Prior to serving as President he was Costa Rica’s Minister of Foreign Trade (1987-1988) and Minister of Agriculture (1988-1990). Has also served as President of the Carbon War Room and has been a leading voice behind the Paris Accords and international climate cooperation.
HE Danilo Türk (Slovenia)
Dr. Danilo Türk served as President of the Republic of Slovenia from 2007 to 2012. Dr. Türk was the first the Slovenian Permanent Representative to the United Nations and served as non-permanent member of the Security Council as well as a member of UN Human Rights Committee. Later he was appointed UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs before returning to Slovenia where in 2007 he was elected as the third President of Republic of Slovenia where he served until 2012. A former professor and director of the Institute for International Law of the University of Ljubljana, Dr. Türk served on the Constitutional Commission of the Slovenian National Assembly co-wrote the human rights chapter of the 1991 Slovenian Constitution.
