2014 NATO Emerging Leaders Working Group

Heads of state and government from all 28 NATO nations will convene at the NATO Summit in Wales this September to reaffirm the importance of the Trans-Atlantic bond and build a strong foundation for its future. To help Alliance leaders accomplish this task, NATO commissioned a working group of emerging leaders from member countries to provide concrete proposals that support a renewed Trans-Atlantic bond and asked the Atlantic Council to facilitate this process. Through an open and competitive call for applications, the Council selected a representative group of fifteen exceptional emerging leaders to participate in the working group.

pdfRead the Report (PDF)


20140610 NATOemergingleadersreport

These emerging leaders presented their proposals in a report to Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and discussed their recommendations with senior Alliance leaders and experts in Brussels on June 10, 2014. The group previously convened at the Council’s April 2014 Towards a Europe Whole and Free conference in Washington, DC and will meet next at the NATO Future Leaders Summit that the Atlantic Council is organizing alongside the Wales Summit.

Full program background on this initiative is available here (PDF)

Working group members include:

Rowinda Appelman –The Netherlands
President, Youth Atlantic Treaty Association

Tobias Bunde –Germany
Policy Advisor; Head of Policy and Analysis (as of July 2014), Munich Security Conference

Boris Ecker –Slovakia
Desk Officer for the United States, Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

Scott Erwin –United States
Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Company

Lars Ragnar Aalerud Hansen –Norway
Fulbright Fellow and Diplomat, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Michael Hermann –United States
National Security Legislative Assistant, Office of Congressman James Langevin (D-RI)

Gina Maria Jones –United States
Senior Strategic Planner, Defense Intelligence Agency

Joanna Kaminska –Poland
Advisor/Parliamentary Administrator, Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament

Radu Magdin –Romania
CEO, Smartlink Communications

Martin Michelot –France
Program and Research Officer, German Marshall Fund

Sergio Ortiz Martin –Spain
Director and Project Manager, Youth Mediterranean Dialogue; and Assistant to the Director, Jean Monnet Center of Excellence in Freedom, Security, and Justice at Rey Juan Carlos University

Marta Rzechowka –Canada
Captain, Canadian Armed Forces

Mark Simakovsky –United States
Russia Country Director, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia (RUE), US Department of Defense

Emre Tuncalp –Turkey
Managing Partner, Sidar Global Advisors

Claire Yorke –United Kingdom
Doctoral Researcher, Department of War Studies, King’s College London