Staff and Leadership

Don Baer is a Senior Partner at Brunswick Group. From 2018–20, he was Chair of the global strategic communications firm Burson Cohn & Wolfe, and, from 2012–18, Worldwide Chair and CEO of Burson-Marsteller and a member of the firm’s senior leadership since 2008. From 1998–2007, Don was Senior Executive Vice President for Strategy and Development at media company Discovery Communications, home of the Discovery Channel and media properties around the world. From 1994–98, he was an Assistant to the President and senior adviser for President Bill Clinton, serving as White House Communications and Strategy Director, Chief Speechwriter and Director of Speechwriting and Research. Before working in the White House, Don was a journalist at U.S. News & World Report and The American Lawyer, as well as a media lawyer in New York City. Don served on the PBS Board of Directors from 2010–22 and as its chair for his last seven years. He also served on the Meredith Corporation Board of Directors until the company was sold. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the PBS Foundation, the National Democratic Institute, The City, and the Carolina Beacon.

Michael Cornfeld is President of Heritage Investors Management Corporation, an investment firm which manages stock and bond portfolios for individuals and retirement plans. He has been the Treasurer and served on the Executive Committee of the Investment Adviser Association, the industry’s leading trade association. Mr. Cornfeld has also been involved in the community. Locally, he has served on the Board of Directors and the Investment Committees of the Jewish Social Service Agency, Washington Hebrew Congregation, and the Garden of Remembrance Cemetery. Mr. Cornfeld is a Life Member of the Cornell University Council and a longtime Class Officer. At Columbia University, he has served on the Boards of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Columbia Alumni Association. Mr. Cornfeld received a BA from Cornell University and an MA from Columbia University.

Ann Doerr primarily works in the area of climate change. She serves in various boards to further the work and to promote education in order to bring people together to work on greenhouse gas mitigation as she views climate change as the existential crisis of our time. She is delighted to serve on the board of Planet Word because of its devotion to language and the promotion of critical thinking.

Susan Engel is Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Founding Director of the Program in Teaching at Williams College. Her research interests include the development of curiosity and invention in childhood, and more generally, teaching and learning. Recently she has begun new research assessing the intellectual impact of college. She is the author of nine books, including The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood, The End of the Rainbow: How Educating for Happiness (Not Money) Would Transform Our Schools, and A School of Our Own: The Story of the First Student-Run High School and a New Vision for American Education, which she wrote with her son, Samuel Levin. Her newest book, The Intellectual Lives of Children, was published in January 2021 by Harvard University Press. She was a founder of, and the educational advisor to an experimental school in New York State for 18 years. She has written op-eds about education for The New York Times, Bloomberg News, Atlantic, The Nation, and Time Magazine, among others

Samia Farouki is the Founder and CEO of Hii-Finance, Corp., a global investment company. Mrs. Farouki has also dedicated herself to causes focused on education, the arts, and women’s empowerment. She is currently a member of the board of governors of the Middle East Institute, serves on the boards of the Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, King Hussein Foundation, the King Hussein Cancer Center, the Kennedy Center International Committee for the Arts, Bridges for Understanding, and Tomorrow’s Youth. Mrs. Farouki has also been a member of the boards of the Lab School of Washington, Folger Shakespeare Library, Vital Voices, Corcoran Gallery, D.C. region Teach for America, Arab American Cultural Foundation, and Washington Opera Company, and she was the co-chair of the Aspen Institute Middle East programs. She holds degrees from the American University of Beirut and George Washington University. She has been living in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband A. Huda Farouki for more than forty years.

Ann Friedman is the Founder and CEO of Planet Word and the developer behind the restoration of the Franklin School, the museum’s home. Her interest in literacy began with a lifelong love of reading, early work as a copy editor and translator, and a later career as a beginning reading and writing teacher in the Montgomery County Public Schools. From 2010-2016, she served as the Chair of the Board of the SEED Foundation, the parent body of the nation’s only public, inner-city, college-prep boarding schools, where she currently serves as Vice Chair. She was recently elected a trustee of the American Alliance of Museums. She has served on the board of the National Symphony Orchestra for more than a decade in various roles. She is a founding board member of the Downtown DC Foundation. She and her husband, Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times foreign affairs columnist, live in Bethesda, MD, and have two adult daughters.

Tom Friedman is the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. He has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at The Times – in 1983 and 1988 for international reporting and in 2002 for Distinguished Commentary. In 2004, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club Award for lifetime achievement and the honorary title Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. He is the author of six bestselling books: From Beirut to Jerusalem; The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization; Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11; The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century; Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – And How it Can Renew America; and That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World We Invented and How We Can Come Back, co-written with Michael Mandelbaum. His latest book, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations 2.0, was updated and released in 2017.

Jay Goldberg is an attorney and CPA who concentrates in tax, estate planning, and probate. For over 30 years, he has practiced as a partner with the firm Gaasedelen and Goldberg, P.A., in Edina, MN. Outside of work he is active on the board of the Sholom Foundation which supports the Sholom Community Alliance, which provides a broad continuum of residential, social service, and health care services, primarily for older adults. He previously served as the President of the Sholom Foundation. Jay is also a member of the board of the Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation, which funds innovative projects that foster connections between individuals, communities, the environment, and the world at large. Jay graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in business. He received his JD from the University of Minnesota. Jay and his wife, Ilene, have two adult sons. His two grandchildren live in the Washington, D.C., area, providing motivations for regular visits to the area.

Ken Greer is a brand strategist, change agent, technology geek and creative spark. He’s known as the “go to guy” for big ideas. Ken’s combination of creative visioning and strategic thinking has been the driving force behind the transformation of both consumer brands and business-to-business enterprises. Ken holds a Master’s Degree from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Carleton College. He is nationally recognized for innovative thinking and a unique ability to create compelling brand value. He is a frequent speaker on engagement strategies, coping with disruptive influences, and building brand loyalty. Ken is the Chief Marketing Officer of Augeo, a global leader in enterprise engagement and loyalty platforms.

Sara Mark Lesk is passionate about making museums joyful, engaging, and relevant places for learning and discovery for everyone. In her role as senior educator and manager in the Education Division at the National Gallery of Art, Sara led the Art Around the Corner program, the Gallery’s multiple-visit program for students, teachers, and families from under-resourced schools in the DC region. She co-produced the Gallery’s first massive open online course, Teaching Critical Thinking Through Art. Sara has developed multidisciplinary learning materials for the National Park Service, the Phillips Collection, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Museum of American History/Lemelson Center, Hillwood Museum and Gardens, and more. Before receiving her master’s degree in Museum Education, Sara worked for many years as a book editor and researcher at Time-Life Books and as an editorial director at Time-Life for Children. Sara serves on the board of Live It Learn It, an experiential learning organization that brings under-served students to museums and monuments in D.C.

Caron Garcia Martinez is Director of the Center for Business Communications at American University’s Kogod School of Business, as well as a former diplomat and public relations executive, a writer, and a consultant. Her teaching, service, and research interests include peer-to-peer learning and team dynamics, educational equity and access, and diversity and inclusion policies that move from aspiration to action. A native Californian, Caron graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts and served a five-year term (2012-2017) on the Williams College Board of Trustees. Her two tours as a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department included cross-cultural programming in both the Media and Culture offices of the U.S. Embassies in Mexico City and Quito, Ecuador. Caron earned her MS in Organizational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science during the five years she lived and taught in London with her husband and three sons. A passionate reader and literary citizen of Washington, D.C., Caron holds an MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University and is a published short story, fiction, and non-fiction writer. Caron advises the non-profits Nyumbani and Love, Light, and Melody, which improve education, relieve poverty, and reduce marginalization for children in Kenya and Nicaragua. She currently lives in Northern Virginia with her family.

Craig Mundie is President of Mundie & Associates. He joined Microsoft in 1992 and retired in 2014 as Chief Research and Strategy Officer (since 2007) and the Principal Technology-Policy Executive (since 1998). Previously he was the CEO and co-Founder of Alliant Computer Systems. He was co-Executive Chairman of Bridgewater Associates (2015-2016). He is a Director of the Institute for Systems Biology. He advises Microsoft, Exicure, Ironnet Cybersecurity, SomaLogic, OpenAI, and the Cleveland Clinic. Craig Mundie served Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama on the NSTAC and was on Obama’s PCAST.

Jonathan Plutzik is the owner of The Betsy – South Beach, a luxury hotel with a unique commitment to philanthropy, arts, culture, and education (PACE) programming, and home of The Writer’s Room. Jonathan is former Vice-Chairman of Credit Suisse, Chairman of video game designer Firaxis Games and Chairman of Fannie Mae’s Board of Directors. He is a board member of Miami Jewish Federation, the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau. He served 12 years as Chair of Coro New York, the city’s top leadership training organization. Jonathan received his B.A. from Brandeis University and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Joseph Sassoon is a professor in the School of Foreign Service and History Department at Georgetown University where he holds the al-Sabah Chair in Politics and Political Economy of the Arab World. Prior to Georgetown, he founded and served as Managing Partner of a wealth management and advisory group, ACP Partners LLP, advising families in Europe and the Middle East on their investments. Previously, he served as General Partner of Goldman Sachs and Head of the Wealth Management business in Europe and the Middle East.

Dr. Sassoon has authored many books and articles, including The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire (2022), Anatomy of Authoritarianism in the Arab Republics (2016) and Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘th Party: Inside an Authoritarian Regime (2012). Dr. Sassoon received his PhD from St. Antony’s College, Oxford.

Dov Seidman is a successful entrepreneur, CEO, best-selling author, and teacher. He has devoted his life and career to elevating individual and organizational behavior, inspiring principled performance, nurturing a culture of moral leadership, and building institutions committing to scaling deep, sustainable, human values in the business arena and across all spheres of society. Dov is the Founder and Chairman of The HOW Institute for Society, a global nonprofit, and LRN, the leading ethics and compliance firm. Dov is also the author of the New York Times best seller “HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything.” Dov holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in moral philosophy from UCLA and Oxford, a law degree from Harvard (’92), and an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College. Dov serves on the board of directors at The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, The 92Y, The Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, and Planet Word. In the Fall of 2022, Dov was appointed a Hauser Leader at The Center for Public Leadership at The Harvard Kennedy School.

Marsha Semmel is an independent consultant working with cultural and educational organizations on leadership development, strategic planning, and partnerships. She published Partnership Power: Essential Museum Strategies for Today’s Networked World in 2019. She is currently co-editing a new volume, Seize the Moment: How Museums Can Prepare for the Post-Pandemic Age, to be published in 2021.

Semmel is Adjunct Faculty at the Bank Street College Graduate School of Education’s Leadership in Museum Education Program. From 2003-13, she was Director for Strategic Partnerships, Deputy for Museum Services, and Acting Director at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). At the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for 12 years, Semmel concluded her service as Director, Division of Public Programs. She has been President /CEO of Conner Prairie, a history museum near Indianapolis; President/CEO of the Women of the West Museum in Denver; and Chair of the Arlington County Commission for the Arts. Semmel’s current board service also includes the Council of American Jewish Museums.

Doug Siegler is a partner in the Private Wealth Planning practice of the Washington, D.C., office of Venable LLP. He received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and his B.A. from Princeton University. Doug has been widely recognized for his work in the private wealth sector, with rankings in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, Washingtonian, and Super Lawyers. He is a past member of the Governing Board of St. Albans School and a former board member and general counsel of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Charlotte, have two children, Rachel and Nathaniel.

Tina Small is active in the community and serves on the Executive Committee of the National Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors. Her focus has been on Education and Outreach. Tina and Albert Small, Jr. were initial partners of the NSO In Your Neighborhood program. Additionally, the Smalls have been instrumental in the establishment of the Tina and Albert Small Jr. Center for Collaborative Design at Tulane University School of Architecture. The Small Center benefits students, local non-profits, and the broad New Orleans community through a variety of partnerships with over 100 Community projects since hurricane Katrina. Tina has been a longtime board member of the Edlavitch DCJCC, and serves on the advisory board of Yachad. Tina previously has held leadership roles with The Wolf Trap Foundation, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and Sidwell Friends School.

Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, playwright, teacher, and author. She is said to have created a new form of theater. Smith’s theater combines the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance. Her most recent play, Notes from the Field, looks at the vulnerability of youth, inequality, the criminal justice system, and contemporary activism. HBO recently premiered the film version of Notes from the Field. The New York Times named the stage version among The Best Theater of 2016 and Time magazine named it one of the Top 10 Plays of that year.

President Obama awarded Smith the National Humanities Medal in 2013. Other honors include the prestigious MacArthur Award, The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for achievement in the arts, the George Polk Career Award in Journalism, two Tony nominations, and several honorary degrees. She was runner up for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Her play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was recently named one of the best plays of the last twenty-five years by The New York Times.

She has appeared on television programs including Black-ish, For the People, Nurse Jackie, and The West Wing. Movies include The American President, Philadelphia, and Rachel Getting Married. She is a professor at New York University.

Ralph Smith is the founding managing director of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, an effort to increase rates of third grade reading proficiency for children from low-income families that includes a network of more than 360 communities, representing 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada—with 3,900 local organizations and 450 state and local funders (including 185 United Ways).

Previously, Smith taught Corporations and Securities Law and Education Law and Policy as a member of the Law Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania for two decades, during which time he also served as Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer for the School District of Philadelphia and as senior advisor to Philadelphia’s mayor on children and family policy. Smith led efforts to design and implement the school district’s landmark voluntary desegregation plan, negotiate some of the nation’s first education reform-driven teacher contracts, and develop Children Achieving, a district-wide blueprint supported by the Annenberg Challenge.

Smith is the founding director of both the National Center on Fathers and Families and the Philadelphia Children’s Network, and a national leader of the Responsible Fatherhood movement.Among Smith’s recent honors are the Fred Rogers Leadership in Philanthropy Award from Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Family and the Jane Addams Distinguished Leadership Award from the United Neighborhood Centers of America.

Rick Soskin serves as and President and CEO of R&A Investments, LLC. He has an extensive record helping companies of all sorts navigate ownership changes, acquisitions, and the ever-changing landscape of technology. Mr. Soskin has used his expertise to benefit a variety of organizations, from the startup HealthEZ to the giant tech retailer Best Buy. He has also serves in a number of board and advisory positions. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a JD from the University of Minnesota.

Jerry Tarde is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Golf Digest, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery. His 40-year tenure as the chief editor of Golf Digest is the longest run in media. Since Tarde joined the magazine in 1977, Golf Digest has expanded to 1.65 million print circulation, and GolfDigest.com has become the largest golf website with an audience of 10 million monthly unique visitors. A national trustee of the First Tee, Tarde has received a Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association, and lifetime achievement awards in journalism from the PGA of America, the Masters Tournament, and the National Golf Foundation. He and his wife Beth live in Fairfield, CT.

Lynn Thoman’s focus is international business, innovation, health, education, the environment, and scaling social impact. She has worked in business, non-profits, and government. She is a professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and also founder of Atlas Prize. At Columbia, she teaches on scaling social impact and creating successful public private partnerships. She founded Atlas Prize to enable businesses and non-profits to innovate faster by using the crowd to innovate. She previously worked at American Express in international marketing, strategic planning, and finance. As a Vice President of American Express, she was responsible for setting the direction for marketing for all countries outside the US. She also developed restructuring plans for American Express businesses in the UK, Europe, and Asia. In the non-profit sector, she serves on many non-profit boards and has also variously been co-president and co-chair of the Lowenstein Foundation. She has also served on government committees such as the Secretary of Transportation’s Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking. Thoman is a member of boards of organizations focused on government and policy (Brookings Institution, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, and Princeton University’s Center for Economic Policy); health (Harvard Global Health Advisory Council); education (Harvard Graduate School of Education); and leadership (Steering Committee of Women in Leadership at Princeton). She is also a member of the ACCION Women’s Network, the New York Academy of Sciences and the Economic Club of New York. She was formerly a member of the Harvard Medical School board and co-chair of the Advisory Council of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Thoman holds a BA from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She has worked in over 40 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America and has lived in China.

Natalie Winston is the Executive Producer of Booking and Specials at NPR. She runs NPR’s day to day booking operation and is the point person on all major interviews. She also oversees the network’s live coverage of planned and unplanned breaking news, including elections. Before taking on this role, she was the Executive Producer of All Things Considered on the weekends.

A graduate of Williams College, Natalie is married to Dan Winston. They have two young children.