RESEARCH FELLOW, Carnegie Mellon University

RESEARCH FELLOW, The University of Alabama

RESEARCH FELLOW, The University of Alabama

RESEARCH FELLOW, The University of Alabama

Director

Celine Nehme is the Director of Individual Giving at the Public Rights Project, a national civil rights nonprofit. With nearly a decade of experience leading development strategies, she has secured significant philanthropic investments for social justice organizations. Previously, she served as Development Director of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, a leading justice reform nonprofit in California, and held fundraising roles with the Vera Institute of Justice, the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge, Human Rights for Kids, and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

A child of immigrants and a lifelong advocate for reforming the criminal legal system, Celine brings both personal commitment and professional expertise to her work. Her focus sits at the intersection of development, communications, and thought leadership, where she leverages storytelling and strategic donor engagement to advance nonprofit missions.

Celine serves on the Board of Directors of the Brave House, which supports immigrant women in New York City, and Welcome Home, which builds community spaces for formerly incarcerated people in Los Angeles. She earned both her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s in Public Administration from Binghamton University. A proud Brooklyn native, she is fluent in French and splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.

Director

Alani Bass is a skilled problem-solver with extensive experience in content strategy and management, brand development and storytelling, audience research and analysis, community engagement and growth, and email marketing. She is currently the Director of Communications and Marketing at The Marcy Lab School in Brooklyn, New York, where she leads the development and execution of communication strategies to help the school better engage with its audiences. Before joining The Marcy Lab School, Alani worked as a Strategist at MADEO, a digital agency with a focus on social impact, where she led end-to-end communication strategies in collaboration with client organizations and the MADEO team. Her responsibilities included managing client communication and relationships, conducting research and discovery with key stakeholders to understand organizational priorities and challenges, developing strategic recommendations and solutions based on gathered insights, and leading cross-functional project teams to ensure the quality and success of the work.

Prior to that, Alani worked as a Marketing Coordinator at The Studio Museum in Harlem. Her achievements included defining social media strategy, optimizing email marketing strategy, managing the production of creative for campaigns, and advising on messaging and tone for all Membership and Annual Giving campaigns. Alani earned a Master of Science in Management from the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Rochester.

Alani lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Director

Karim Farishta is the Senior Director for Strategic Solutions at C3 AI and an Adjunct Graduate Lecturer at The George Washington University. At C3 AI, he leads digital transformation efforts across state and local governments, helping these entities harness the power of enterprise AI to modernize operations and better serve the public through high-value AI use cases that address mission-critical challenges.

At The George Washington University, Karim teaches a graduate course titled “Cities and States in National Security.” As cities and states increasingly lead global problem-solving, the course equips students with the tools to rethink the foreign policy toolbox, challenge conventional approaches to diplomacy, and examine how subnational actors are reshaping national and global security.

Karim previously served as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Defense in the Biden Administration. In that capacity, he led national security initiatives at the intersection of emerging technology, public policy, and multi-level governance. At the Pentagon, he facilitated partnerships among federal, state, and local leaders on issues such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, critical infrastructure, and supply chain resilience—aligning inputs from across the interagency with the priorities of governors and mayors nationwide.

Before joining the Department of Defense, Karim was Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Alliances at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), where he led the organization’s $1.1 billion philanthropic launch and helped establish the Anti-Hate and Belonging National Network. His work consistently focuses on leveraging technology to combat misinformation, protect vulnerable communities, and build systems rooted in trust and safety.

Karim’s earlier public service includes roles in the Obama White House, where he coordinated crisis response efforts and the presidential transition, and on the Biden-Harris Campaign in Texas, where he served as AAPI Director and drove a historic increase in minority voter turnout using innovative data and outreach strategies.

He holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard University and a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University. He is a Fulbright Scholar, Schmidt Futures International Strategy Forum Fellow, Truman National Security Fellow, and Atlantic Council Millennium Fellow. He is a former board member at the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership.

He lives in Washington, D.C.

Executive Advisory Board Chair

Between 2022 and 2025, Cory Weaver served as the Senior Director at KMSG, where he supported the Managing Director in operational strategy, client management, and project oversight.

With more than a decade of professional experience, his areas of expertise include management consulting, pre-transactional due diligence, social impact strategy, and managing bespoke anti-money laundering/corruption investigations.

Cory has collaborated with a number of renowned organizations, including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (The Giving Pledge), The New York City Health Department, and Miller & Chevalier Chartered.

Before KMSG, Cory contributed his talents to firms such as Deloitte, The Risk Advisory Group, and worked alongside Congressman Jim Cooper. (TN-5). He holds a BA in Spanish from The University of Alabama and an MA in Latin American Studies from Vanderbilt University. Originally from Birmingham, AL, Cory now resides in Washington, DC.

Director

An experienced private equity economist, researcher, consultant, and firm leader, Jacob Ledbetter is an expert in economic research, presentation skills, financial data, economic data analysis, and banking. As a Senior Researcher at Silicon Valley Bank, he was responsible for engaging in internal and external thought leadership, focused on various parts of the innovation ecosystem. He authored quarterly research reports in the Global Fund Banking (GFB) division, introduced new internal thought leadership, presented research findings to sales teams, and developed processes for more efficient and accurate report development.

Prior to that role, Jake served as the Chief Operating Officer at Bella Private Markets, where he oversaw the operations of the firm, provided guidance on all projects, and reviewed any external deliverables. He also served as a Principal and an Associate, engaging in a broad range of research related to private equity and venture capital, including modeling cash flows of a large PE fund of funds, analyzing LP and GP performance, and researching macroeconomic trends in emerging markets.

Jake was also a Research Assistant at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a Summer Associate at Summit Consulting, LLC. He holds a Master's Degree in Economics from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was an exchange student and a William Jefferson Clinton Scholar at the American University in Dubai, and earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the CFA Institute in August 2021.

Jake and his husband, Sakil, live in Boston, MA.

Director

Robert Harris is a banking executive with enterprise-wide experience leading DE&I, ERM, Regulatory Risk Management, Community/Economic Development Lending, Political/Community Affairs, Corporate Philanthropy, Community Engagement, lending and deposit product development, and project management for a $50B financial institution. He is currently an Outreach & Emerging Markets Executive at Cadence Bank. His role involves leading the strategic vision and approach of the bank towards underserved and underrepresented communities, which is aligned with the company's mission to help people and communities prosper. Prior to joining Cadence Bank, Robert worked for BancorpSouth, where he served as Senior Vice President, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, and Director of Community Lending. He was also a Vice President and Community Lending Officer at the same institution.

Robert's other professional experiences include serving as Vice Chair Executive Committee (Advisory Board) at the Blackburn Institute at The University of Alabama and serving on the Board of Trustees (Samford University) at Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. Additionally, he has been on the Academic Staff at Alabama Boys State, where he assists annually 600+ rising high school seniors complete an immersion process in government and civics.

Robert holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational and Interpersonal Communication and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from The University of Alabama. While at the university, he was also the President of the Graduate Student Association and a member of the Blackburn Institute.

He lives in Tupelo, MS.

Director

Michael Sheldrick is a Co-Founder and the Chief Policy, Impact, and Government Affairs Officer for Global Citizen. Through Global Citizen's campaigns over the past decade, $40 billion has been distributed to anti-poverty efforts worldwide. Michael has worked with world leaders such as Prime Ministers and Presidents on campaigns to end extreme poverty. He was one of the four Co-Founders who spearheaded the first major Global Citizen advocacy campaign in 2011, which saw $118 million announced for polio eradication efforts. He served as an Executive Producer of Vax Live in 2021, a campaign that saw 26 million vaccines committed to developing countries. He oversaw the production of "One World: Together At Home" and "Global Goal: Unite For Our Future" campaigns, which reached millions of people in over 150 countries and saw $1.6 billion announced in cash grant funding in support of the WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Michael's experience includes overseeing and growing Global Citizen's grants, philanthropy, impact measurement, government relations, advocacy, and digital campaigns teams, which collectively include 30 team members based in offices around the world. He is an expert in government relations, campaigning, strategic partnerships, social impact, article writing, grant writing, stakeholder management, public speaking, philanthropy, leadership, media relations, and corporate social responsibility.

Michael is a board member for the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and the Advisory Board of Parliamentarians for the Global Goals. He has spoken on global affairs, activism, and development at numerous conferences/summits around the world, including C20, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, TEDx, Vatican Youth Symposium, and Ditchley House. He earned a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) with Distinction and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) (H1), First Class Honours in Political Science and International Relations from The University of Western Australia and also completed the Mishpatim Seminar on International Law at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He and his wife, Xinyi, live in Brooklyn.

Director

Luke de Castro is a lawyer with Gilbert + Tobin’s Ventures team, advising high‑growth Australian startups in renewables, health sciences and deep tech on capital‑raising, governance and commercial strategy.

Committed to justice reform, Luke served on the founding committee of the WA Justice Association, Western Australia’s first student‑led law‑reform charity focused on reducing incarceration rates and improving interactions with the criminal justice system.

Outside of law, Luke built the extreme sports YouTube channel StuntsAmazing from the ground up, growing it to over one million subscribers and 500 million views through athlete partnerships and viral content. He also co-founded CupKings, a reusable drinkware brand aimed at phasing out single-use plastic cups, which has sold over 100,000 units and recently secured investment on Shark Tank Australia.

He lives in Sydney.