Tim Weiskel
Tim Weiskel is trained as an historian and social anthropologist. He completed his B.A. at Yale University (magna cum laude) in 1969 and undertook graduate work at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (VIe – Section) in Paris and at Balliol College, Oxford where he completed his doctorate (D.Phil) in 1977 as a Rhodes Scholar (New Hampshire, 1969). Mr. Weiskel has received research grants from the Danforth Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Social Science Research Council, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Lilly Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has taught African history, historical ecology, and ecological anthropology at Williams College, Yale University and Harvard University.
Dr. Weiskel has had field experience in Syria, Lebanon and throughout West Africa from Senegal to Gabon. In 1966-67 he worked as the West Africa Representative for the volunteer organization Operation Crossroads Africa, Inc. Since then he has returned to West Africa for field work among the Baule peoples of the central Ivory Coast. Over the last several years he has worked on the environmental implications of public policy choices, and he is principal author of the recent work, Environmental Decline and Public Policy: Pattern, Trend and Prospect (1992), based upon testimony he presented to the United States Senate.
In his research and teaching at Williams, Yale, Harvard, Tufts and Emerson, Tim Weiskel has developed innovative computer applications and software for conducting online social science research and generating published materials on the world wide web.
Yiping Zhou
Yiping Zhou is the Director of the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation at the United Nations Development Programme. He is responsible for the promotion and coordination of South-South cooperation in the global South and on a United Nations system-wide basis. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Cooperation South, one of UNDP’s signature development journals. Before assuming charge of the Unit, Mr. Zhou served as Regional Programme Officer of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific from 1992 to 1997 and Project Management Officer at the Office for Project Services from 1985 to 1992.
He served as Policy Officer in the Department of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade of the Government of the People’s Republic of China from 1980 to 1984 and for a year thereafter as a diplomat in the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations.
Sam L. Ervin
Sam L. Ervin is a visionary leader, social entrepreneur, innovator and executive. For almost 30 years he has creatively worked to improve the present and future lives of aging Americans. His career has been dedicated to pioneering more effective solutions to medical, health and social service needs, and to bringing these solutions to Washington D.C. to inform and enhance national healthcare policy.
Mr. Ervin was a leader in securing 6 acts of Congress between 1984 and 1999 that implemented, extended and expanded Social HMOs. He has extensive experience and insight in legislative and regulatory relations. On television, radio, in publications and at national conferences, he has presented thoughtful predictions regarding the aging of America and healthcare trends. His unique and pragmatic insight springs from progressing through several levels of the health care arena in the course of his career and from articulating lessons learned.
He started his career as a social worker, holding positions as a planner and manager in various aging programs, and ultimately growing SCAN Health Plan from 1 to 650 employees, from 0 to 55,0000 subscribers and from $270,000 to $500 million in annual revenue over 24 years. At SCAN, he was selected as Executive Director in 1978 and appointed President/CEO in 1983. In 2000 he was elevated to Chairman of the Board, in addition to his role as President/CEO.
Building upon the legacy of his extraordinary contributions in healthcare and aging, Sam Ervin is committed to making a positive contribution toward successfully addressing these issues on a broader, international basis.
Noel K. Tshiani
Noel K. Tshiani is currently President of Companie Financière d’Investissement et du Crédit, LLC. Prior to this position, he worked for the World Bank for fourteen years as a senior task team leader, and served as World Bank Resident Representative in Chad from 2004 to 2006. He had previously been an international lending officer with Citibank and JPM Chase for eight years. He is an International banker with 22 years of experience in design and implementation of macro-economic programs, financial sector reforms, design and implementation of debt reduction programs, privatization of public enterprises, private sector development; and lending to governments, banks and corporations. Mr. Tshiani has lead several World Bank missions and has served as a negotiator in the dialogue between the World Bank and borrowing countries. Mr. Tshiani is the author of the Marshall plan for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a national development strategy for the next 30 years.
Mr. Tshiani holds a Doctorate in Economics with specialization in Banking and Finance from Université de Paris IX- Dauphine in France, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) with concentration in Banking and Financial Markets from Adephi University in New York, and a Master’s Degree in Economics from Université de Liège in Belgium. He successfully completed the New Managers Leadership Program at Harvard University Graduate Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has extensively written on monetary policy issues, following his doctoral dissertation on “Central bank independence, accountability and impact on monetary policy, with practical application to the Democratic Republic of the Congo”.
Michael Marshall
Michael Marshall joined United Press International (UPI) in 2003 as editor-in-chief, responsible for the service’s worldwide editorial operations. He has also served on the board of UPI since 1999, when the company was acquired by News World Communications. He hosts the TV show UPI Perspectives that features in-depth interviews of public figures.
From 1986 to 2003 he was executive editor of the monthly magazine, The World & I. He helped shape the international, interdisciplinary, and educational character of the magazine, which in addition to its analysis of current affairs, covered developments in science, the arts, literature, scholarship, and public policy. Recently, MediaGlobal was called upon to launch a special issue of the magazine on Least Developed Countries.
He was also executive director of the World Media Association from 1998 to 2005, an international organization that provides a forum for media professionals and observers to explore issues related to media responsibility and ethics.
Marshall hails originally from England where, in the 1970s, he edited The London Rising Tide, a bi-weekly publication of social and political commentary, and the New Tomorrow, a monthly general interest magazine.
Elizabeth Autumn
Elizabeth Autumn is a Harvard-trained producer and reporter who covers environment, corporate and governance issues for a wide range of publications. She investigates issues of board accountability, financial disclosure, shareholder rights, and corporate behavior and has an MBA in media analysis and ethics. Most recently, Elizabeth covered the Clinton Global Initiative conference, where world leaders, corporations, and philanthropists came together to help solve the problems of poverty and climate change. She has worked as a freelance regional producer for CBS Network News Service in New York and featured stories from satellite feeds for local affiliates in a shared news service cooperative between television networks. In 2004, she was awarded “Lifting Up the World Oneness Award.” She is a member of the Advisory Board of Global Urban Development, and the Screen Actors Guild. At MediaGlobal, Elizabeth serves on the Board and additionally offers pro bono services as Executive Producer and Anchor to The Development Channel, a MediaGlobal upcoming initiative.
Geoffrey P. Wight
Geoffrey P. Wight has served as General Manager of the Eric Hawkins Dance Company through the Dance Touring Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. He later represented the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, developed publishing business for corporate clients, produced polo events with His Highness the Maharaja of Jaipur and served with International Management Group (IMG) in New York, as Director of Special Projects.
For IMG, he created and executive produced the worldwide and NBC broadcast reunion of the Jackson Family, The Jackson Family Honors and USA Network’s To The Ends of the Earth. He organized several special polo events in the United States, England and India through the Polo Ambassador Series with HH The Maharaja of Jaipur that included HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Sultan of Brunei. He has conducted marketing programs on behalf of companies who were sponsors of sports and entertainment events, such as Continental Airlines, Air-India, KLM, Audemars Piguet, Piaget, Concord, Bertolucci, Snapple and The Casino Association of New Jersey. As Executive Director of the American GrandPrix Association, he conducted strategic planning, marketing and packaging for television (ESPN and FOX Sports Net) and produced the Mayor’s US Open Jumper Championship presented by FedEx (Miami); and initiated innovative marketing for the Budweiser American Invitational (Tampa) resulting in the most successful event in its history. At this time, he serves as Chief Executive of MaxTec, a high-tech hurricane protection company based in Florida.