American Council On Germany

Video Discussion: COVID-19 and the Mess It Creates for the Global Economy
2020-04-22 11:30 - 12:30 (America/New_York)
The ACG and Atlantik-Brücke will host a digital discussion as part of the 2020 German-American Conference on COVID-19 and the Mess it Creates for the Global Economy.
Speakers:
Dr. John Lipsky, Peter G. Peterson Distinguished Scholar, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies; former First Managing Director, International Monetary Fund.
Professor Dr. Andreas Dombret, Global Senior Advisor, Oliver Wyman; Former Board Member, Deutsche Bundesbank.
Sigmar Gabriel, former Vice-Chancellor and former Federal Minister; Chairman, Atlantik-Bruecke e.V.
Moderated by:
Steve Sokol, President, American Council on Germany
Registration for this event has ended.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Cities in Germany and the United States
2020-04-24 10:00 - 11:00
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe, cities are faced with unprecedented challenges. The ACG will host a series of conversations with ACG program alumni and other experts, who work at the local level, on how local communities are confronting the myriad challenges posed by the pandemic.

Join us for the first conversation on Friday, April 24, at 10:00 am ET with representatives from Cleveland, Heidelberg, Knoxville, and Leipzig on the impact of COVID-19 on cities in Germany and the United States. Speakers include Tobias David, Chief of Staff for the Lord Mayor, City of Leipzig; Blaine Griffin, City Council Member, City of Cleveland; Irmintraud Jost, Head of Science and Communication Division of the Office of Economic Development, City of Heidelberg; and Stephanie Welch, Deputy to the Mayor and Chief of Economic and Community Development, City of Knoxville.

To register for this discussion, please click here.
Tobias David grew up in Leipzig (in the former GDR/East Germany) and spent most of his school years under the conditions of the GDR dictatorship. Even as a teenager he was involved in opposition groups under the protection of the Catholic Church and became politically active early on. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989, driven by the peace and civil rights movement, had a lasting impact on his life. After studying political science and communications, he worked for many years as Managing Director of a communications agency. In 2004, he moved to the Saxon State Parliament as Advisor to the Vice-President. Since 2008, Mr. David has been the closest strategic advisor to the Mayor of the City of Leipzig. He was a participant in the ACG’s McCloy Leadership Mission on Urban Affairs and Sustainability in 2016. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989 — which ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany — began in Leipzig. Today Leipzig is not only one of the largest cities in Germany but also the fastest-growing German city.
Blaine A. Griffin is a Cleveland City Council Member for the racially and economically diverse Ward 6 area of the City of Cleveland. He serves as the Majority Whip on the Council Leadership Team and he is the Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. He serves on the Finance, Safety, Operations and Workforce and Community Benefits Agreement Committees. Mr. Griffin is the former Executive Director of the Community Relations Board for the City of Cleveland, a cabinet role for the Mayor of the City of Cleveland. He serves on many boards and committees including the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Association (NOACA) focused on roads and infrastructure, Doan Brook Watershed Committee and the United Way of Greater Cleveland Equity and Inclusion Committee. Mr. Griffin received a B.A. in Communications from Malone College in Canton, Ohio.
Irmintraud Jost is the Head of Science and Communication Division of the Office of Economic Development for the City of Heidelberg. Prior to joining the city administration in September 2019, Ms. Jost worked in the field of international higher education and research for more than a decade. After studying at the Free University of Berlin and holding journalistic and editorial positions in Hamburg, Berlin and London, Jost moved to New York City and served as the New York Bureau Chief and U.S. Correspondent for Axel Springer Foreign News Service. The founding of her own communications firm and her consulting work for companies and organizations in the U.S. and Europe led to joint projects with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and many other academic and cultural institutions. In order to strengthen the cooperation and exchange between German universities and colleges with partners in the United States, Ms. Jost established several foreign offices of German institutions. From 2008 until 2019, she headed the New York liaison office of the University of Heidelberg.
Stephanie Welch serves as the Deputy to the Mayor and Chief of Economic and Community Development for the City of Knoxville. For more than two decades, Ms. Welch has worked to build strong, healthy and educated communities in Knoxville and East Tennessee. Her career began in public health, with a focus on community engagement and strategic planning to promote healthy eating, active living and health equity. From 2013 to 2019, she worked as a VP and then President of Great Schools Partnership, a non-profit that works closely in support of Knox County Schools. Ms. Welch has served in the U.S. Army Reserves for 19 years and holds the rank of Major and is the Executive Officer for a medical unit in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2017, she was elected to serve Knoxville’s First District for a term of four years on city council. As a first-time elected official, she worked to continue the positive momentum underway in Knoxville to ensure strong neighborhoods, healthy investment and value for diversity. In February 2020, she assumed her current role. Originally from New Hampshire, Ms. Welch moved to Knoxville in 1995 to attend the University of Tennessee to earn a dual master’s degree in Public Health and Nutrition.

Resilience and Adaptation: Challenges to Democracy During the Corona Crisis
2020-04-28 11:00 - 12:00
Resilience and Adaptation: Challenges to Democracy during the Corona Crisis
The pandemic is challenging democratic institutions and practices all around the world. Governments have an obligation to respect the basic rights of citizens in uncertain times – but are they? Join Stefan Kornelius and Kori Schake for a conversation about how democracies respond to this unprecedented crisis.
Stefan Kornelius has been Foreign Editor of the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung since 2000. In his reporting career, he has covered Germany’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the chancellorship of Helmut Kohl, and defense issues in Europe. From 1996 to 1999, he served as the paper’s Washington correspondent. His biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, entitled Angela Merkel, the Chancellor and her World, has been translated into 13 languages.
Dr. Kori Schake (1999 ACG Young Leader) is the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Before joining AEI, she was the Deputy Director-General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. She has also taught at Stanford, West Point, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, National Defense University, and the University of Maryland.
Please register here.

The Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Europe's Far Right
2020-04-30 11:00 - 12:00
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, far-right parties in Europe were dominating the headlines with provocations on government failures and anti-immigrant rhetoric and significantly influencing political debates in Germany and other European countries. The pandemic has changed the political dynamic, in some cases weakening the far-right’s popularity, and in other cases, like Hungary, enabling far-right politicians to consolidate more political power.
Please join us for a Hot Topics Call (video edition) on April 30 at 11:00 am (ET) with Emily Schultheis, an American freelance journalist based in Berlin, to discuss the effects of the outbreak on Europe’s far right, and on German politics in particular.
To register for the call, please click here.

Emily Schultheis is a freelance journalist based in Berlin focusing on the rise of right-wing populism. Her research focuses primarily on Germany, but also explores parallels with populist parties in neighboring countries including Austria, Hungary and Poland. During the last two years, she held a fellowship with the Institute of Current World Affairs and was a Robert Bosch Foundation fellow. Her reporting has appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times, NBC News, World Politics Review, BBC Online, Spiegel Online International, Deutsche Welle, and Der Tagesspiegel, among other outlets. Emily is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and received her B.A. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

Resilience and Adaptation: The Future of Liberal Democracy and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-06 10:00 - 11:00
Resilience and Adaptation: The Future of Liberal Democracy and the Corona Crisis
Are autocracies better positioned to fight pandemics than democracies? Join American political scientist and author Francis Fukuyama and Daniela Schwarzer, Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations, for a discussion about how the current crisis is handled by different regimes.
Please register here.

Video Discussion with Ambassador Emily Haber and Ambassador John B. Emerson
2020-05-07 10:00 - 11:00
The American Council on Germany is delighted to partner with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) to host the German Ambassador to the United States Emily Haber in conversation with ACG Chairman Ambassador John B. Emerson, Vice Chairman at Capital Group International, on Thursday, May 7, at 10 am ET. (Bios for both speakers are included below.)
This webinar builds on the successful partnership between ACG and WACA during the German government’s Deutschlandjahr USA initiative in 2018 and 2019. Our event will take place as part of a series of events hosted by World Affairs Councils across the country under the auspices of a special, inclusive “ideas summit,” titled Putting the World Back Together and branded as CxC: Amplified.
CxC: Amplified is a full week of activities designed to amplify voices on foreign and security policy across the country. Open to the public, these events will bring together thought leaders, experts, and citizens to discuss one central question: How will the world be put back together as we chart our way through this unprecedented period?
To register for the call, please click here. We hope you can join us for this timely discussion.
Emily Margarethe Haber has been German Ambassador to the United States since June 2018.
Prior to her transfer to Washington, DC, she served in various leadership functions at the Foreign Office in Berlin. In 2009, she was appointed Political Director and, in 2011, State Secretary, the first woman to hold either post. Thereafter, she was deployed to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, serving as State Secretary in charge of homeland security and migration policy from 2014 until 2018.
Emily Haber has many years of experience with Russia and the former Soviet Union. She held various posts at the German Embassy in Moscow, including Head of the Political Department. At the Foreign Office in Berlin, she served as Head of the OSCE Division and as Deputy Director-General for the Western Balkans, among other positions.
Emily Haber holds a PhD in history and is married to former diplomat Hansjörg Haber. The couple has two sons.
Ambassador John B. Emerson was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany on January 17, 2018. He is vice chairman of Capital Group International, Inc. and has 19 years of industry experience, all with Capital Group.
He most recently served as the United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2015, Ambassador Emerson was awarded the State Department’s Susan M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career ambassador, and in 2017 he was awarded the CIA Medal and the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Public Service award.
Prior to accepting the ambassadorial posting, John Emerson was president of Private Client Services for the Capital Group Companies. Before joining Capital, he was deputy assistant to President Clinton where he coordinated his economic conferences, served as the president’s liaison to the nation’s governors, and led the administration’s efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement and the extension of China s MFN trading status. Additionally, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on his Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Before working in the Clinton White House, John Emerson served as Los Angeles Chief Deputy City Attorney, and was a partner in the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg, and Phillips.
Ambassador Emerson holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from Hamilton College, a juris doctorate degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelors degree in philosophy from Hamilton College. He is based in Los Angeles.

Local Impact of COVID-19 and Transportation
2020-05-08 11:00 - 12:00
While ridership on public transportation has dropped dramatically across the United States during the coronavirus outbreak, millions of Americans are still riding public buses and trains, putting themselves and anyone they encounter at risk as they commute to work, go to the grocery store, or visit the doctor. At the same time, since the start of the pandemic, the use of motor vehicles has fallen dramatically in the United States and Europe – and air pollution and congestion with it. In cities in the U.S. and Europe, as residents begin to return to work and try to avoid busy public transit systems, local governments are considering reallocating streets for cycling and walking.
Join us for on Friday, May 8, at 11:00 am ET for a conversation about the future of mobility and transportation in cities – during and after the pandemic. Drawing on alumni from ACG programs, speakers include Laurin Sepoetro, Public Policy Planner for Uber Germany; Jana Kugoth, Mobility and Transportation Reporter for Der Tagesspiegel; Brandie Lockhart, Director of Urban Design for Houston Metro; and Jesse Mintz-Roth, the Vision Zero Program Manager for the Department Transportation in San Jose, CA.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CgbrTF4mS3C6geXDsaggBw

Laurin Sepoetro is the Manager of Public Policy Germany for Uber and leads on public transit partnerships, Future of Work and inclusive mobility. Before joining Uber, he worked as a policy adviser in the European Parliament and at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He holds an MSc degree in Public Policy and Human Development from Maastricht University. In 2019, he participated in the ACG’s Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.
Jana Kugoth works as an editor for Tagesspiegel Background, an exclusive briefing for decision makers in the mobility and energy sector. Previously, she wrote for the online magazine Gründerszene.de, especially about start-ups and new business models in the mobility and logistics sector. After studying media science, German language and literature, and library and information science in Berlin, she first trained as a journalist with the Berlin based business and energy magazine Bizz Energy, for which she also reported on the world climate conferences in Paris and Marrakesh. In 2019, she was a participant in the ACG’s Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.
Brandie Lockett is currently spearheading the research and design of Houston METROs Urban Transit Design Guideline Manuals. A collaborative effort that will aim to guide transit design consultants to develop transportation infrastructure as public space. With a Bachelors of Architecture from Tuskegee University, a Masters in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University – Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and a Certificate in Real Estate Development from University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate; her enthusiasm for urbanism inspires communities to use urban design strategies in planning and development projects; whether rural, suburban or urban, to help bring out vibrant opportunities in unlikely places. Brandie has been a part of international design forums and workshops discussing social, ecological, and infrastructural issues and solutions globally. In 2018, she participated in the ACG’s Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.

Jesse Mintz-Roth is Vision Zero Program Manager at the San Jose Department of Transportation. In this role he oversees a staff of 10 including crash data analysis, street redesign engineering, traffic safety education, and safe routes to schools. Vision Zero is the city’s initiative to reduce traffic fatalities. In February 2020, the city committed $6.8 million to the first year of a five year Action Plan which will redesign arterial streets to reduce speeds with a particular focus on lowering pedestrian fatalities which have risen in recent years. Before moving to California from New York City in December 2018, he worked for 2 years as Senior Advisor for Transportation Improvements at the New York City Department of City Planning, and for 7 years at the New York City Department of Transportation, where he was a Senior Project Manager working on Vision Zero street redesign projects. In 2018, he was a participant in the Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.

Resilience and Adaptation: Globalization and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-12 11:00 - 12:00
Resilience and Adaptation: Globalization and the Corona Crisis
The current pandemic has slowed the global economy. It has exposed the interdependence inherent in global supply chains. Will things snap back when the concerns over the virus subside? Join us for a discussion with Thorsten Benner, co-founder and director of the Global Public Policy Institute, and Shannon O’Neil, the Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, about globalization in volatile times.
Please register here.

Global Order in Crisis Mode: Coping Strategies of the West
2020-05-14 11:00 - 12:00
As part of the 2020 Virtual German-American Conference, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke cordially invite you to join a video discussion on: “Global Order in Crisis Mode: Coping Strategies of the West”
Thursday, May 14, 2020
11:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern Standard Time
with
Omid Nouripour, Foreign Policy Spokesperson of the Green Parliamentary Group, German Bundestag; Member of the Board, Atlantik-Brücke
Ambassador Victoria Nuland, former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. State Department; Senior Counselor, Albright Stonebridge Group
Moderated by: Dr. David Deißner, Executive Director, Atlantik-Brücke
The international community has been faced with an unprecedented health and economic crisis in recent months. While global leadership seems to be divided by political differences and is struggling to find common ground, restrictions due to COVID-19 are still in place. In light of these challenges, our guests will explore possible coping strategies for the Western alliance.

Emerging from the Lockdown: How Cities are Coming Back to Life During a Pandemic
2020-05-15 11:00 - 12:00
As lockdown restrictions begin the lift, cities are faced with a new set of challenges. Join us for a discussion with William Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh, and Ullrich Sierau, Lord Mayor of Dortmund, on how their cities have coped with the pandemic – and how they are preparing for the future.
This event is being held in cooperation with the Office of International Relations and Sustainable Development of the City of Dortmund and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh.
Click here to register.

Resilience and Adaptation: Digitalization and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-19 11:00 - 12:00
Resilience and Adaptation: Digitalization and the Corona Crisis
In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, many businesses have closed. Many people are working from home – but not everyone is able to do so. An almost complete lock-down has magnified many existing social inequalities and the digital divide. Thought leaders in the fields of AI the impact of digitalization Gesche Joost and Mona Sloane will talk about the benefits and barriers created through digitalization in this unprecedented time.
Please register here.

Did We Miss the Warning Signals? Global Trends and New Security Threats
2020-05-21 10:00 - 11:00
As part of the virtual 2020 German-American Conference, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke will host a video discussion on “Did we miss the warning signals? Global trends and new security threats,” with Ambassador Boris Ruge, Vice-Chairman of the Munich Security Conference and Gregory F. Treverton, Professor of the Practice of International Relations and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California and former Chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Moderated by: Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress and a Senior Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.
With the spread of COVID-19, an unprecedented public health crisis has brought global travel to a halt and slowed international commerce. The current environment was almost unimaginable as recently as January of this year. Or, should we have seen this coming? Our guests will discuss whether or not we should have anticipated this pandemic and how the definition of security threats is evolving.
Ambassador Boris Ruge took up his assignment as Vice-Chairman of the Munich Security Conference in August 2019. He previously served as Director Middle East/North Africa at the Foreign Office in Berlin, as German Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and as Deputy Chief of Mission at the German Embassy in Washington, DC.
Having joined the Foreign Service in 1989, much of Ambassador Ruge’s career has been focused on security policy and stabilization. He worked at NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Kosovo air campaign and later served as Chief Political Adviser to two successive Commanders of the Kosovo Force and as Head of the Political Department at the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At the Foreign Office he was also in charge of European security and defense issues.
Following undergraduate studies at the University of Cologne, Ambassador Ruge received a master’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a diploma in international relations from the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University and was a participant in the 2005 course of the Royal College of Defense Studies in London. He is married and has three daughters and one son.
Gregory F. Treverton is Professor of the Practice of International Relations and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California.
He served as chairman of the National Intelligence Council from September 2014 to January 2017. Earlier, he directed the RAND Corporation’s Center for Global Risk and Security, and before that, its Intelligence Policy Center and its International Security and Defense Policy Center. He also was associate dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
He has served in government for the first Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, handling Europe for the National Security Council and as vice chair of the National Intelligence Council, overseeing the writing of America’s National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs). In addition to RAND, he has taught at Harvard and Columbia universities, has been a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and also Deputy Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and transatlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She currently holds the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress and is a Senior Fellow at The Brooking’s Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe. She served as the inaugural Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at Brookings from 2014 to 2019.
Prior to working at Brookings, Dr. Stelzenmüller was a Senior Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), where she directed the influential Transatlantic Trends survey program. She is the former director of GMF’s Berlin office. From 1994 to 2005, she was an editor for the political section of the German weekly DIE ZEIT, where she had also served as defense and international security editor and covered human rights issues and humanitarian crises.
She has worked in Germany and the United States, and speaks English, French, German, and Spanish. Dr. Stelzenmüller holds a doctorate in law from the University of Bonn (1992), a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1988), and a law degree from the University of Bonn (1985).

Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Education
2020-05-22 11:00 - 12:00
Friday, May 22 at 11:00 am – “Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Education” with Susana O’Daniel, Director of Public Affairs for the Arkansas Education Association; Daniela Schneckenburger, Commissioner of the Department for School, Youth, and Family for the City of Dortmund; and Laura Ward, Vice President of Talent Development, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Click here to register.

Resilience and Adaptation: Civil Society and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-26 11:00 - 12:00
Resilience and Adaptation: Civil Society and the Corona Crisis
The current pandemic has forced civil society to grapple with new challenges. The spread of COVID-19 has led some communities to develop new ways to look after each other – and respect social distancing guidelines. In other areas, the social fabric has been tested. Join experts and practitioners Nina Lemmens and Daniela Kaisth for a discussion about the ways in which civil society is coping with the current crisis and how the philanthropic community is responding.
Please register here.

The Merkel-Macron EU Recovery Fund: A Historic Moment for Europe?
2020-05-29 12:30 - 13:30
Just over a week ago, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined forces in proposing a 500 billion euro EU recovery fund to help respond to the corona virus crisis. If other EU member states agree to the plan, it would be an important step forward for a more unified Europe – and it might bring the bloc closer together rather than fracturing it. But, the proposal is not without controversy.
Please join us for an online discussion on Friday, May 29 at 12:30 pm (ET) with Bundestag member Metin Hakverdi (SPD) titled “The Merkel-Macron EU Recovery Fund: A Historic Moment for Europe?”

POSTPONED Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Digitalization
2020-06-05 11:00 - 12:00
The coronavirus outbreak has demonstrated ways in which digitalization has helped communities by allowing many people to work from home and enabling students to continue their education via remote learning. We’ve also seen how technology can assist with healthcare both in terms of service and tracking the pandemic. However, the crisis has also exposed a continued “digital divide” – a gulf between those with access to technology and those with little or no access – that has a profound impact on equity in communities. And the increased use of technology also raises concerns about cyber-security and data privacy.
Join us on Friday, June 5, at 11:00 am ET for a conversation about digitalization and cities – during and after the pandemic. Drawing on alumni from ACG programs, speakers include Sunanna Chand, Vice President of Systems Reinvention at Teach for America, Bruce Clark, Executive Director at Digital Charlotte; and Devin Dienes, Project Manager at Digitalstadt Darmstadt.

Racial Injustice And National Security
2020-06-09 11:00 - 12:00
Over the past two weeks, protests have erupted across the United States following the killing by police of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis. Racial injustice has long been an issue for civil rights activists, but it also has a national security dimension.
Against the backdrop of racial injustice and inequality at home, join us on Tuesday, June 9, at 11:00 am ET for a virtual discussion on “Racial Injustice and National Security” with Bishop Garrison (2017 ACG Young Leader), Director of National Security Outreach at Human Rights First, President and Co-Founder of the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, and former Defense and Homeland Security Official under the Obama Administration.

Bishop Garrison, Jr. is a graduate of United States Military Academy at West Point and an Operation Iraqi Freedom Army veteran.
He served in multiple national security positions in the Obama Administration to include Advisor to the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These efforts included serving as the Executive Director of the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee as well as a role as Deputy Lead on a TSA Blue Ribbon Panel that reviewed the airline passenger screening system. Following his time in the Administration, he served as the Deputy Foreign Policy Adviser on the Presidential campaign of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Along with two Bronze Stars, a Combat Action Badge, and a Meritorious Service Medal, his civilian accolades include participation as a member of the Obama Administration’s National Security Leadership Workshop. He is also a graduate of the College of William and Mary Law School as well as the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership’s Political Leaders Program at the University of Virginia. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Council for a Livable World, a non-profit focused on the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons, as well as the Northern Virginia Regional Advisory Board of the non-profit Urban Alliance.
In 2017, he served as an American Delegate for the American Council on Germany’s Young Leaders Conference in Munich and Berlin as well as a member of Cultivate the Karass Campfire Cohort III. He is also the recipient of 2017 Taylor Revelry “Citizen Lawyer” Award from the College of William and Mary Law School.

Virtual Discussion with Amb. Emily Haber and Amb. John B. Emerson
2020-06-09 14:30 - 15:00
The ACG and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council will host a video discussion with German Ambassador to the United States Emily M. Haber and Ambassador John B. Emerson, Chairman of the ACG and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany.
The Ambassadors will be taking questions from livestream participants during our audience Q&A. CLICK HERE to register.
H.E. Emily Margarethe Haber has been German Ambassador to the United States since June 2018. Prior to her transfer to Washington, DC, she served in various leadership functions at the Foreign Office in Berlin. In 2009, she was appointed Political Director and, in 2011, State Secretary, the first woman to hold either post. Thereafter, she was deployed to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, serving as State Secretary in charge of homeland security and migration policy from 2014 until 2018. Emily Haber has many years of experience with Russia and the former Soviet Union and held various posts at the German Embassy in Moscow.
H.E. John B. Emerson was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany on January 17, 2018. He is Vice Chairman at Capital Group International. Previously, he served as United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from August, 2013 until January 20, 2017. He served at a particularly challenging time, and in 2015 Ambassador Emerson was awarded the State Department’s prestigious Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career Ambassador. He also served on President Obama’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

We’re In This Together: Science and the Fight for Global Health
2020-06-11 11:00 - 12:00
It has been more than three months since the first lockdown measures were introduced in the United States, and many states and communities are now in the process of reopening. The precautions have helped flatten the curve, but the coronavirus is still spreading at home and around the globe. COVID-19 will continue to spread until a vaccine has been found.
Join us for a virtual discussion on Thursday, June 11, at 11:00 am ET on “We’re In This Together: Science and the Fight for Global Health” with Dr. Kathrin U. Jansen, Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research and Development for Pfizer Inc. Kathrin U. Jansen, PhD, is Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer Inc, and a member of Pfizer’s Worldwide Research and Development leadership team. She oversees a fully integrated, global vaccines research and development organization, with responsibilities ranging from discovery to registration and post-marketing commitments of first-in-class or best-in-class vaccines to prevent or treat diseases of significant unmet medical need. More recent accomplishments are the global licensures of Prev(e)nar13® to prevent pneumococcal diseases and the development and licensure of Trumenba®, the first vaccine licensed in the United States to prevent invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B.
Dr. Jansen received her doctoral degree in microbiology, biochemistry & genetics from Phillips Universität, Marburg, Germany. Following completion of her formal training, she continued her postdoctoral training at Cornell University working on the structure and function of the acetylcholine receptor. She then joined the Glaxo Institute for Molecular Biology in Geneva, Switzerland, where she focused on basic studies of a receptor believed to be a drug target to treat allergies. Dr. Jansen was appointed an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania – School of Medicine in 2010.
Before the Wyeth acquisition by Pfizer in 2009, Dr. Jansen served as Senior Vice President at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and on Wyeth’s Research and Development Executive Committee since 2006 and was responsible for vaccine discovery, early development and clinical testing operations. Dr. Jansen also briefly worked at Vaxgen as Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President for Research and Development with responsibility for the company’s late stage development programs. Prior to joining Vaxgen, Dr. Jansen spent 12 years at Merck Research Laboratories where she directed or supported a number of vaccine efforts, including Merck’s novel bacterial vaccine programs and viral vaccine programs (rotavirus, zoster and mumps, measles and rubella). Dr. Jansen initiated and led the development of Gardasil®, the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine.

Resilience and Adaptation: Social Inequity and the Corona Crisis
2020-06-15 10:00 - 11:00
The combined public health and economic crises have exacerbated social inequity in our societies. Social injustice and police brutality have led to widespread protests and unrest. From essential workers risking their lives on minimum wage to poor living conditions to inadequate access to health care and the digital world, we must right many existing wrongs in the United States and in Europe. German sociologist Jutta Allmendinger and American community leader Bill Strickland will discuss how to heal and preserve the fabric of our communities. This event is being held with support from the Thomas Mann House.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6Q4-fYVYTT6d31sCcIW8hQ
Prof. Dr. Jutta Allmendinger, President of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and Professor of Educational Sociology and Labor Market Research at Humboldt University
Bill Strickland, community leader and Founder and Executive Chairman of the non-profit Manchester Bidwell Corporation

Transatlantic Defense Cooperation? The US Military Drawdown in Germany
2020-06-17 11:00 - 12:00
The Trump administration recently announced a new cap on U.S. forces based in Germany which will result in a reduction of 9,500 troops. The decision was made within the context of the ongoing transatlantic debates about NATO defense spending by individual members and evolving security threat perceptions. Does this move strengthen or weaken the United States, and how does it impact NATO and transatlantic relations?
Join us for a virtual discussion on Wednesday, June 17, at 11:30 am ET with Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis and former Commanding General, United States Army Europe, and Dr. Claudia Major, Head of the International Security Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Resilience and Adaptation: Climate and the Corona Crisis
2020-06-23 11:00 - 12:00
The corona crisis demonstrates that nature ultimately cannot be controlled. It does not negotiate nor does it abide by the rules of maximizing economic benefits. Climate change has long been on the global agenda – but it has not been taken seriously by everyone. Does the current moment provide an opportunity to address environmental concerns in a new way? Experts Claudia Kemfert and Jennifer Morgan will discuss the lessons learned from the pandemic regarding the impact for the climate as well as how recovery funds can be used to push for a green transition in the United States and Europe.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_15ddjYeiS4GPydU8MuyWZA
Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, Professor of Energy Economics and Sustainability at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and head of the Energy, Transportation, and Environment Department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)
Jennifer Morgan, International Executive Director of Greenpeace International

The Impact of COVID-19 on the United States
2020-06-25 11:00 - 12:00
Online Presentation and Discussion with Andrew Frank, Founder & President, KARV Communications; and Eric Andrus, Executive Vice President, KARV Communications.
Andrew Frank and Eric Andrus of KARV Communications will present an overview of the present situation in the United States as the business sector and all of the nation grapple with the pandemic’s enormous global economic and societal impact. They will discuss the complex communications challenges companies doing business in the U.S. may face as the economy begins to reopen – amidst an enduring pandemic and civil rights activism.
KARV Communications has examined public health and economic realities in the U.S., assistance and regulatory initiatives by government and private sector entities, and the potential business and political ramifications of these developments – and will provide insights of interest to companies doing business in the U.S. as well as enterprises around the world.
ACG Young Leader alumnus Andrew Frank brings a wealth of experience in a number of areas, including crisis communications, public affairs and media skills. Prior to founding KARV Communications, he served for 15 years in various positions at Strategy XXI Partners and Kreab Gavin Anderson, including Managing Partner. From 1992-1997 he was a political appointee in the Clinton Administration, including Managing Director of the United States Information Agency’s New York Foreign Press Center, and Senior Advisor for Communications to the Director of U.S.I.A. beginning in January 1993. Andrew graduated from The George Washington University in Washington D.C., and studied at Syracuse University’s London Centre. He is a former Adjunct Professor of Crisis Communications at Fordham University Graduate School of Business, a guest lecturer at Columbia University, American University and others.
Eric Andrus is a senior strategic communications strategist with more than three decades of experience advising corporate, government, and non-profit leaders on a range of critical reputational, financial communications, and positioning issues. Before joining KARV, Eric served as a partner at Finsbury, where he helped the firm’s Fortune 500 clients advance their business goals while facing complex changes and challenges. He received two political appointments during the Clinton Administration: Director of Communications for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Director of the U.S. Information Agency’s New York Foreign Press Center. Eric previously held senior media strategist and spokesperson positions with two New York City economic development agencies, and served as an account executive with Geto & de Milly, Inc., a New York City-based firm specializing in public and government relations. Earlier in his career, Eric served in communications-related positions for a number of presidential, congressional, and state-wide political campaigns. A long-standing member of the Board of United Neighborhood Houses, Eric graduated from Emerson College with a B.S. degree in Mass Communication.

Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Digitalization
2020-06-26 11:00 - 12:00
The coronavirus outbreak has demonstrated ways in which digitalization has helped communities by allowing many people to work from home and enabling students to continue their education via remote learning. We’ve also seen how technology can assist with healthcare both in terms of service and tracking the pandemic. However, the crisis has also exposed a continued “digital divide” – a gulf between those with access to technology and those with little or no access – that has a profound impact on equity in communities. And the increased use of technology also raises concerns about cyber-security and data privacy.
Join us on Friday, June 26, at 11:00 am ET for a conversation about digitalization and cities – during and after the pandemic. Drawing on alumni from ACG programs, speakers include Sunanna Chand, Vice President of Systems Reinvention at Teach for America, Bruce Clark, Executive Director at Digital Charlotte; and Devin Dienes, Project Manager at Digitalstadt Darmstadt.

Resilience and Adaptation: Rethinking Civil Society
2020-06-30 11:00 - 12:00
The corona crisis is affecting almost every aspect of civil society. It is having an impact on individuals, families, and organizations – with long-lasting reverberations for the institutions that shape civil society. Against the backdrop of simultaneous public health and economic crises, there are calls for greater social equity. What does civil society need to address the current challenges? How can institutions and practices adapt to best serve their communities? Practitioners and experts from Germany and the United States will take on these and other questions. Join us on June 30 at 11:00 am ET for a video discussion with Brian Gallagher, President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way Worldwide; Melanie Harrington, Senior Director for Affiliate Equity Programs at the ACLU; and Dr. Andreas Rickert, Founder and CEO of PHINEO.

The European Council Presidency: Can Germany Bring Europe Together?
2020-07-02 11:00 - 12:00
On July 1, Germany will assume the six-month rotating Presidency of the European Council. Germany takes on this role at a critical juncture for the European Union. The public health and economic implications of the corona crisis, Brexit and European cohesion, and the state of the transatlantic relationship are only some of the issues on the agenda. What is expected of Germany in 2020? Join us on Thursday, July 2 at 11:00 am ET for a discussion about Germany and the future of Europe with Dr. Ulrike Guérot, Head of the Department for European Policy and the Study of Democracy at the Danube University in Krems (Austria) and the founder of the European Democracy Lab in Berlin. Dr. Ulrike Guérot is professor at the Danube University in Krems, Austria and head of the Department for European Policy and the Study of Democracy. Moreover, she is the founder of the European Democracy Lab in Berlin, a think-tank generating innovative ideas for Europe. Besides working and teaching at universities in Europe and the United States, Ulrike Guérot has worked at and directed several European research institutes and think tanks. Her books (“Why Europe Must Become a Republic” in 2016 and “The New Civil War – the Open Europe and its Enemies” in 2017) hit best-selling marks in Germany and beyond. Her work has been widely translated and published throughout Europe.

Resilience and Adaptation: Culture and the Corona Crisis
2020-07-07 11:00 - 12:00
Social distancing requirements have abruptly put a halt to most cultural events. While museums and libraries in some communities in the United States and in Europe slowly start to re-open, concerts, performances, and many other cultural events are being cancelled for the rest of the year. How can cultural institutions survive under such circumstances – and will they adapt? What can artists, musicians, and cultural managers do? What will the future look like for cultural institutions? Join us on Tuesday, July 7 at 11:00 am ET for a conversation with Elke Buhr, Chief Editor of Monopol, Germany’s largest contemporary art magazine, and Adrian Ellis, Chairman of the Global Cultural Districts Network and Founder/Director of AEA Consulting, on the unique challenges facing the arts and culture in this unprecedented time.

Resilience and Adaptation: Media and the Corona Crisis
2020-07-14 11:00 - 12:00
ournalism and the media play an indispensable role in democracies – especially in times of crisis. How can journalists keep the public informed about the world around them in the midst of a lock-down and with social distancing in place? How can they gather information for their reporting and opinion pieces? And, how does one ensure that alternative facts do not masquerade as opinion? Joining us to discuss the challenges facing the media in Europe and the United States during the pandemic are two editorial page editors.
Join us on Tuesday, July 14 at 11:00 am ET for a conversation with with Sewell Chan (2014 ACG Young Leader), Editorial Page Editor for the Los Angeles Times, and Anna Sauerbrey (2018 ACG Kellen Fellow), Opinion Page Editor for Der Tagesspiegel and monthly contributor to the New York Times. Sewell Chan oversees the editorial board and the Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion pages of the Los Angeles Times. He was named to the position in April 2020. He previously served as a deputy managing editor, overseeing foreign and national news coverage; the front page; the Data and Graphics Department; the multiplatform copy desks; newsletters; and the editorial library. He also supervised the home page and audience engagement teams and helped reorganize them into an integrated News Desk.
Before joining The Times in September 2018, he worked for 14 years at the New York Times, where he was a metro reporter, Washington correspondent, deputy Op-Ed editor and international news editor. He began his career in July 2000 as a reporter at the Washington Post, reporting on local government, education and social services.
A native New Yorker, he grew up in an immigrant family and was the first in his family to finish college. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in social studies and received a master’s degree in politics from Oxford, where he studied on a British Marshall scholarship.
Anna Sauerbrey heads the opinion pages of Der Tagesspiegel and Tagesspiegel Causa, her newspaper’s online magazine for debate. She writes essays and comment for her own newspaper and a monthly column on German politics and culture for the New York Times. The development of Tagesspiegel Causa was supported by Google’s Digital News initiative.
She studied middle and modern history, political science and journalism in Mainz and Bordeaux. From 2005 to 2009, she was a research assistant at the History Department of the University of Mainz. She worked as an intern at the F.A.Z. and ZDF, among others, and was a freelancer for the Mainzer Rhein-Zeitung for several years. In 2009, Ms. Sauerbrey completed a traineeship at the Berliner Tagesspiegel and became a staff member of its opinion editorial department. In 2013, she was an Arthur F. Burns Fellow at the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 2018, she was awarded an Anna-Marie and Stephen M. Kellen Fellowship for Berlin-based Journalists. She conducted research on the role religion plays in American politics.

A Bastille Day Discussion: Emmanuel Macron, France, and Europe’s Place in the World
2020-07-14 14:00 - 15:00
The American Council on Germany is delighted to partner with the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Townhall to host a conversation with ACG Chairman Ambassador John B. Emerson, Vice Chairman at Capital Group International, and former ACG President William M. Drozdiak, nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe and a senior advisor with Europe with McLarty Associates, titled “A Bastille Day Discussion: Emmanuel Macron, France, and Europe’s place in the world” on Tuesday, July 14, at 11 am PT. (Bios for both speakers are included below.)
This special discussion will focus William Drozdiak’s new book, THE LAST PRESIDENT OF EUROPE: Emmanuel Macron’s Race to Revive France and Save the World, where Drozdiak argues that Macron is the last staunch leader working to hold the European project together. The book delves into the plethora of challenges facing Macron at home and abroad — including Trump’s attacks on NATO and the international order, European politics, the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protesters, the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and the endless turmoil of Brexit. The conversation will move beyond Drozdiak’s book to an in-depth discussion regarding Franco-German relations, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and European Union post-pandemic recovery fund, and Europe’s role on the world stage.
To register for this webinar, please click here. We hope you can join us for this timely discussion.

Fighting Unemployment during the Corona Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective
2020-07-17 10:00 - 11:00
Under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/19, the American Council on Germany and the Heidelberg University Association partnered to hold a series of in-person “Heidelberg Lectures.” Over the next few months, we plan to continue this collaboration in an online format as part of WunderbarTogether 2020.
We hope you can join us on Friday, July 17 at 10 am EDT, for the first of four events. Heidelberg University’s Prof. Dr. Welf Werner – who also serves as the Director of the Heidelberg Center for American Studies – will discuss “Fighting Unemployment during the Corona Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective.” Born in Göttingen, Prof. Dr. Welf Werner was trained in economics, finance, management, and economic history at the Freie Universität Berlin and Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Before joining the faculty of International University Bremen as Professor of International Economics in 2004, he taught U.S. economic policy and history as lecturer and assistant professor at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies. Welf Werner received his Ph.D. and venia legendi from the Economics Department of the Freie Universität in 1992 and 2003, respectively. He was a John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for European Studies in 1994 and returned to the United States in 1997 as a research fellow at both Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and George Washington University.
In February 2018, Welf Werner was appointed Professor of American Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at Universität Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. His research and teaching focus on U.S. domestic and foreign economic policies while giving due regard to their intertwining with history and political science. His interdisciplinary cooperation has occasionally gone beyond the social sciences, as, for example, with the volume Wie viel Ungleichheit verträgt die Demokratie? Armut und Reichtum in den USA, co-edited with Winfried Fluck in 2004. Specific research interests have touched upon fields such as international trade in services, financial market globalization, monetary regime change, natural disasters and international risk management, globalization and inequality, welfare state reform, and the economic determinants of populism.

Welf Werner has occasionally advised private companies and industries on their international endeavors and engaged in public sector consulting, including for the economics ministries of Germany and Jordan. He has been granted research funding and academic honors from institutions such as Harvard University, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, VolkswagenStiftung, the German Academic Exchange Service, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Bundesverband Deutscher Banken, Bremer Landesbank, and Stiftungsfonds Deutsche Bank.
