A discussion with the Honorable Rufus Gifford, U.S. Ambassador to Denmark (2013-2017)

Guest: Eric Fanning, the 22nd Secretary of the Army under President Obama

Guests: Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy (via Skype); photographer Al Drago

29th Annual Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics
Jill Abramson
Senior lecturer, Harvard University; political columnist, The Guardian; former executive editor, The New York Times
Jane Mayer
Staff Writer, The New Yorker; author, "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right"
 
David Nyhan Prize for Political Journalism
David Von Drehle
Columnist, The Washington Post
 

Guest: Symone Sanders, CNN Political Commentator & Former National Press Secretary, Bernie Sanders for President and Sophia Bush, Activist and Actress.

With 27 days remaining to the mid-term elections, this will be an important opportunity to engage the Leader in a discussion on key races and the legislative agenda for the next Congress. 

You must enter the lottery to attend:
Enter the lottery now for our Ice Cream and Conversation with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

We will live stream the full conversation on the IOP's Facebook page (Make sure you like our page so that you are notified with the video goes live).

Rumana Ahmed
Harvard Kennedy School, MPA/MC ’19
Senior Advisor, Office for Global Engagement and Strategic Communications, National Security Council (2011 – 2016)
Ned Price
Special Assistant to the President, Spokesperson and Senior Director, National Security Council (2016-2017)
Harvard Kennedy School, MPP ‘10
Gautam Raghavan  
White House LGBTQ & AAPI Liaison, White House (2011-2014)
Raina Thiele
Liaison for Intergovernmental Affairs, White House
Harvard Kennedy School, MPP ‘09
Stephanie Valencia
Former Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Director of Public Engagement
Aneesh Raman ’01
Speechwriter to President Barack Obama (2011-2013)

Guests: Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and former Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK).

Guest: Katie E. Walsh, Advisor, America First Policies; former Chief of Staff, Republican National Committee, and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Implementation, President Donald Trump Administration.

Come have lunch in Lowell House and hear from three former Obama administration officials who have served in senior level positions working to connect the federal government with America’s diverse communities. The event will feature Gautam Raghavan, President Obama's LGBTQ community liaison and member of the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" working group, Rumana Ahmed, former senior advisor to the National Security Council and President Obama's Muslim American community liaison, as well as Aneesh Raman, President Obama's speechwriter and a former CNN foreign correspondent. This event is sponsored by the Harvard South Asian Americans in Public Service (SAAPS) initiative and the Institute of Politics’ Gender & Sexuality in Politics Series.

RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1938724949527511/

Ash Carter
Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Belfer Professor of Technology and Global Affairs, HKS
United States Secretary of Defense (2015-2017)
Vanita Gupta
President and CEO, The Leadership Conference
Reid Hoffman
Partner, Greylock Partners
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn
Latanya Sweeney
Professor of Government and Technology in Residence, Department of Government
Director, Data Privacy Lab, Harvard University
Former Chief Technologist, Federal Trade Commission
David Eaves (Moderator)
Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Eloise Kaehny ‘19
Chair, Institute of Politics National Campaign
Eric Lesser '07 HLS '15
Member, Massachusetts State Senate
Lange Luntao ‘12
Member, Board Trustees for the Stockton Unified School District
Svante Myrick
Mayor of Ithaca, New York
2014 New Frontier Award Recipient
Ryan Quarles HGSE ‘09
Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky
Michelle Wu ’07, HLS ‘12
City Councilor At-Large, Boston City Council
Mark D. Gearan ’78 (Moderator)
Director, Institute of Politics, Harvard Kennedy School