Strong leadership is all the more vital in a time of volatility and uncertainty—and all the harder to find.
On Thursday night at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Washington, DC—before a packed audience of some four hundred government officials, business executives, military brass, and civil-society leaders—the Atlantic Council recognized four leaders who have met the moment.
Ana Botín, executive chair of Banco Santander, was honored for her leadership of the financial institution and her role as a driving force in the international banking world.
Mike Wirth, chairman and CEO of Chevron, was awarded for his focus on responsible corporate governance and sustained investment in communities—while navigating a period of immense volatility.
Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO’s supreme allied commander transformation, was recognized for his role in preparing the Alliance to prevail in a more contested era, with his leadership of NATO’s efforts to adapt to the changing nature of warfare.
Tanya Tucker, Grammy-winning country music artist and singer-songwriter, was honored for her trailblazing career, which left an enduring influence on American music and culture and shaped generations of artists.
The evening also commemorated the Atlantic Council’s sixty-fifth anniversary and the United States’ 250th birthday. Reflecting on the Council’s endurance through more than a quarter of the country’s journey, Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe noted: “We’ve learned that history never ends. It must continually be shaped. And that’s why we’re here this evening—we have agency.”
Marking 250 years of the United States “is not merely a celebration of what the country was, but a challenge to define what it is and what it must become,” Atlantic Council Chairman John F.W. Rogers said. “We gather at a moment that asks something more of us than commemoration. It asks for clarity, for purpose, and, above all, for dedication.”
Below are more highlights from the evening.
Ana Botín: “We are the writers” of the future
- Botín reflected on how leaders make their mark on the world. She reminded the crowd that “leaders are only as strong as their team,” and that they must “embrace change.” She argued that Santander has lasted nearly 170 years because it has “changed” in response to “waves of transformation” generated by technological advances such as electricity, the telephone, and the internet.
- “At the dawn of the AI era,” she said, “the real question for all of us is not where we come from, but what will we choose to become?”
- Botín said that leaders create their impact by “being bold” and enabling “boldness in others.” But, she added, boldness doesn’t mean unbounded “recklessness.” Rather, it means “the right mix of prudence and risk taking.”
- Botín argued that the United States has shown these leadership qualities, from its decision to take “the calculated risk of independence” 250 years ago to the way it “has embraced change in a relentless quest to make tomorrow better than today.”
- “In our turbulent world, where it is easy to lose faith in progress, let us never forget that the future has yet to be written,” she said. “And we are the writers.”
- Introducing Botín, News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said that she has “an institutional intuition crafted from many years of concentrated creativity; an intuition essential in the age of AI, which is surfacing new opportunities, responsibilities, [and] challenges.”
Admiral Pierre Vandier: “We are the heirs of the foresight of past generations”
- Today, Vandier explained, NATO is at a “critical juncture” as it works to navigate a “fragmented,” “congested,” and “contested” security environment, as shown by the war in Ukraine, which is in its fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
- In this security environment, he said, “freedom is not a stable status,” and threats are constantly changing. “If NATO does not adapt its means to tomorrow’s new threats,” he warned, “it will condemn itself to demise.”
- Vandier explained that as he leads NATO’s efforts to adapt, he is eyeing “three main priorities”: first, to “develop the new capabilities our nations need” to deter and defeat any enemy; second, to “invent a new way of fighting” that increases the likelihood of winning; and third, to foster “interoperability” across the allies. Fighting together, he explained, “requires a common language, common goals, [and] common values.”
- “We are the heirs of the foresight of the past generations,” Vandier said. “[What] was planted as a seed in 1949,” with NATO’s creation, “has now become a leafy tree . . . each country being a branch bearing the fruits of increased defense spending and more innovative capability development.”
- “These fruits,” he added, “have yet to ripen and will demand the same vision, dedication, and perseverance shown by those who acted so boldly decades ago.”
- Retired General Christopher Cavoli, who received a Distinguished Leadership Award in 2024, welcomed Vandier to the stage, saying that his “leadership, his vision, [and] his never-ending energy” are “one of the greatest deterrents our Alliance has. If there is one officer who will make this Alliance ready for the future, it is this man.”
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Mike Wirth: “No leader accomplishes anything alone”
- Wirth argued that “at a time marked by geopolitical uncertainty, technological acceleration, and rising demands on global energy systems, the need for serious, sustained collaboration has never been greater.”
- “Progress depends upon collaboration across borders, across sectors, across differences,” he explained. “No leader accomplishes anything alone.”
- Wirth said that real leadership is about fostering “responsibility and trust” among a group of people. “It’s about building teams, investing in them over time, and earning their confidence, especially when conditions are uncertain and stakes are high.”
- At the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, Wirth said, “it’s worth remembering that America’s greatest strength as always been its ability to renew itself and to lead not alone, but in partnership with others.”
- “That spirit of renewal and shared responsibility,” he explained, “is exactly what is required now.”
- Jon Huntsman Jr., Mastercard vice chairman and former US ambassador to Russia, commended Wirth’s leadership in navigating Chevron “through a period of real volatility,” ranging from today’s geopolitical shocks to the changing demands of the energy transition. Huntsman argued that as a leader, Wirth has strengthened “the foundations of our common security and prosperity.”
Tanya Tucker: Remember the “great leaders” who “sacrificed”
- Tucker spoke about what she felt arriving in Washington, DC, and seeing the Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln memorials. The monuments, she said, reminded her of “the great leaders who sacrificed their lives so that everyone could have an equal opportunity to achieve the American dream.”
- She accepted the award on behalf of “all the men and women who have fought and died for something greater than themselves” and made her career possible.
- Tucker spoke about being an “example of the American dream,” reflecting on how, when she was thirteen years old, her father brought her to Nashville to record her hit song “Delta Dawn”—which she briefly performed a cappella at the close of her speech.
- “Nothing was going to stop him,” she said of her father, calling him her hero and the leader she looks up to. “He went to work for me when I was nine, and he never stopped.”
- Adrienne Arsht, executive vice chair of the Atlantic Council, welcomed Tucker to the stage noting that the singer-songwriter’s career has been “extraordinary,” but “not without challenges.” Arsht praised Tucker for her “resilience” in “the face of imperfect circumstances,” adding that when Tucker returned to music, she did so “with even greater depth, strength, and authenticity.”
Katherine Golden is an associate director of editorial at the Atlantic Council.
Daniel Malloy is the managing editor at the Atlantic Council.
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Image: Atlantic Council Chairman John F.W. Rogers speaks at the Distinguished Leadership Awards on April 23, 2026 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC.