Board of Directors
Mr. John Pratt – Chair
Ms. Elizabeth Wossen – Treasurer
Mr. Oliver Zandona – Vice-Treasurer
Ms. Susan Wilson Bynum
Col. (Ret.) Abbas Dahouk
Ms. Paige Peterson
Mr. Tom Sams
Executive Vice President
Mr. Patrick A. Mancino
| 9:00 A.M. – 9:45 A.M. | Registration, Networking, and Coffee/Tea |
| 9:45 A.M. – 10:00 A.M. | Welcome & Introductions |
Mr. John E. Pratt - Bio
Chairman, Board of Directors
National Council on U.S. – Arab Relations
Mr. H. Delano Roosevelt - Bio
President Emeritus
National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
| 10:00 A.M. – 10:45 A.M. | Fireside Chat with Gen. David Petraeus (U.S. Army Retired) interviewed by Ms. Raghida Dergham |
Ms. Raghida Dergham - Bio
Founder and Executive Chairman, Beirut Institute
Columnist, Annahar Al Arabi and The National
Gen. David Petraeus (U.S. Army Retired) - Bio
Partner, KKR
Chairman, KKR Global Institute
Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency
| 10:45 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. | Model Arab League Video Produced by Converse University |
Mr. H. Delano Roosevelt - Bio
President Emeritus
National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
| 11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. | Regional Outlook |
Mr. Abdelrahman Elbardisi - Bio
White House Correspondent
Al Araby TV
H.E. Amb. Amal Mudallali - Bio
Former Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lebanon to the United Nations
Ms. Mona Yacoubian - Bio
Director and Senior Adviser of the Middle East Program, CSIS
Dr. Fadi Hilani - Bio
Senior Academic Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
Dr. April Longley Alley - Bio
Senior Fellow,
Washington Institute
for Near East Policy
Former Senior Political Advisor UN,
Special Envoy to Yemen
| 12:00 P.M. – 1:30 P.M. | Luncheon |
| 1:30 P.M. | Keynote Addresses & Awards |
Remarks from Ms. Allyson Browne McKithen - Bio
Vice President of International Programs
Trade Center Management Associates
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
Remarks from Summer Internship Dr. John Duke Anthony Leadership Award Winner - Mr. Daniel Chechimi
Former National Council 2025 Summer Intern and Student (Junior) at Wesleyan University
Presenter: Ms. Paige Peterson
Board of Directors
National Council on U.S.-Arab
Relations
Recipient: Dr. Sally Alturki - Bio
President of Dhahran Ahliyya Schools
Educational Book House & Numou Education Centre, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Remarks from HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal - Bio
Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; former Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States of America and to the United Kingdom; former Director General, General Intelligence Directorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Remarks from H.E. Mohamed M. Abou El Enein - Bio
President, Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Arab Republic of Egypt; Founder and Chairman, Cleopatra Group
| 2:15 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. | Emir Abdelkader: A Role Model For Our Times |
Dr. William Lawrence - Bio
Director
North Africa Area Studies
National Council on U.S-Arab Relations
| 2:30 P.M. – 3:30 P.M. | AI, Business, Economics, and Finance Outlook in the Arab Region |
Dr. Robert Mogielnicki - Bio
Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute
Dr. Ehab Elsonbaty - Bio
Partner, New York Office DLA Piper
Mr. Rick Sherlund - Bio
CEO, Sherlund Partners LLC
Mr. Vipin Sahijwani, CFA, FRM - Bio
CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Lynx Investment Advisory
| 3:30 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. | Strategic and Geopolitical Imperatives for U.S.-Arab Relations |
Col. (Ret) David Des Roches - Bio
Professor, Thayer Marshall Institute
Dr. Amin Tarzi - Bio
Politician in Residence and Adjunct Professor, University of Southern California
Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen - Bio
Fellow for the Middle East Rice University's Baker Institute & Co-Director, Middle East Energy Roundtable
Dr. Joseph Kechichian
Senior Fellow, Office of the Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies
Dr. Emma Soubrier - Bio
Director, PRISME initiative and Associate Researcher Université Côte d'Azur, Fletcher School, Tufts University
| 4:30 P.M. – 4:45 P.M. | Conference Closing Remarks and Wrap Up |
| 5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. | After Conference Reception |
| 7:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M. | Concert by Torath Ensemble |
