Ban Ki-Moon
Advances in technology and science have opened up wonderful new opportunities, but they have also exposed us to new risks. As our lives have moved increasingly online, so, too, must our values and principles
Robin Kelly
Robin Kelly is a member of the U.S. House, representing Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District. She assumed office on April 11, 2013. Her current term ends on January 3, 2023. She was elected by Party leadership to serve as chair of the Illinois Democratic Party on March 3, 2021
Prior to her election to the U.S. House, Kelly served as the chief administrative officer of Cook County and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. At the beginning of the 115th Congress, Kelly was assigned to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
She graduated from Bradley University with a master’s degree and received a doctorate in political science from Northern Illinois University.
There’s no need for the US to go in alone to ensure that countries like China and Russia do not write the rules of the road. It’ll be essential for the US and likeminded countries and bodies like the EU to work together guided by our values. Together, we must develop and exercise new plans and operational concepts for AI enabled capabilities and systems, promote the interoperability of military platforms and decision-making procedures, pool resources for cloud computing, best practices for sharing non-sensitive data sets, and develop common standards for tests, evaluation verification and validation.
Ramu Damodaran
Ramu Damodaran joined the United Nations Department of Global Communications in 1996; his responsibilities in the Department have included oversight of relationships with civil society, the creative community and celebrity advocates, publications (including as Chief Editor of the UN Chronicle), the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and the United Nations Academic Impact, which he was asked by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to devise and lead. He has also been secretary of the United Nations General Assembly’s Committee on Information since 2011. He completed his career with the United Nations in May 2021.
His earlier Secretariat assignments included the Departments of Special Political Questions and Peacekeeping as well as speechwriting in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. He was spokesman for the “Durban Review” human rights conference in 2009 and has fulfilled a range of speaking engagements on behalf of the Organization over his career.
As a member of the Indian Foreign Service, where he was promoted to the rank of ambassador, he served as executive assistant to the Prime Minister of India between 1991 and 1994 and earlier in the Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs, Defence, Planning and Human Resource Development.
Before joining government service in India, he worked as a television news anchor, radio producer and host, and university correspondent for All India Radio and the Hindustan Times Evening News. His radio feature on university students in Delhi won the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union award. Ramu also served as President of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council.
Minh Nguyen
Minh Nguyen is the Editor of the Boston Global Forum and a Shinzo Abe Initiative Fellow. She graduated from Brandeis University magna cum laude in February 2024, with a B.A. in History and Politics and minors in Journalism and Religious Studies. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta.
Minh edits and manages the BGF Weekly newsletter and writes the Four Pillars column. She is a contributor to BGF Special Reports, including the Shinzo Abe Initiative Special Report “Addressing World Conflict and Four Pillars for Peace and Stability” and the BGF Special Report for the Riga Conference 2023 “How to Govern AI in an Age of Global Tension.” She is a coordinator of the History of AI Initiative. She has assisted and participated hands-on at BGF events, including the BGF Conference and Ceremony for the World Leader in AIWS Award 2022 and Governor Michael Dukakis’ 90th Birthday Celebration in 2023.
Minh has and continues to work and collaborate with world leaders and leading scholars of BGF and AIWS, from Governor Michael Dukakis and Professor Thomas Patterson to former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and former Japanese State Minister Yasuhide Nakayama. Utilizing her skillsets in in-depth research, flexibility, and punctual professionalism, she is a familiar member of the BGF staff, contributing to the research and production of BGF Statements and Special Reports. With a globe-trotting and global citizen background, she also brings in a multitude of worldviews and inquiries to BGF. She is fluent in English and Vietnamese, and studied Latin and German extensively.
Minh is currently based in Boston. Outside of her work at BGF and passions in current events and the histories and politics of ideologies, she enjoys cheering on the Boston Red Sox and tinkering with computer softwares.