Future of Global Business Conference 2024

David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Carlyle Group

Rubenstein is co-founder and co-chairman of the Board. He was elected to theBoard of Directors effective July 18, 2011. Previously, Rubenstein served as co-chief executive officer of Carlyle. Rubenstein is a Baltimore native and is the chairman, CEO, and principal owner of Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles. 

Prior to forming Carlyle in 1987, Rubenstein practiced law in Washington, D.C., with Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge LLP (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP). From 1977 to 1981, Rubenstein was deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy. From 1975 to 1976, he served as chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments. From 1973 to 1975, Rubenstein practiced law in New York, New York with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. 

Among other philanthropic endeavors,  Rubenstein is chairman of the Boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Gallery of Art, the Economic Club of Washington, and the University of Chicago; a Trustee of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Institute for Advanced Study, the National Constitution Center, the Brookings Institution, and the World Economic Forum; and a director of Moderna, Inc., the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Rubenstein is a member of the American Philosophical Society, Business Council, Harvard Global Advisory Council, Madison Council of the Library of Congress, Board of Dean’s Advisors of the Business School at Harvard, Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, and Board of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community. 

Rubenstein is a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa. Following Duke, Rubenstein graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review.

Joseph Amato (B’84), President and CIO of Equities, Neuberger Berman

Joseph V. Amato serves as president of Neuberger Berman Group LLC and chief investment officer of equities. He is a member of the firm’s board of directors and its audit committee. His responsibilities also include overseeing the firm’s fixed income and hedge fund businesses.

Previously, Amato  served as Lehman Brothers’ global head of asset management and head of its Neuberger Berman subsidiary, beginning in April 2006. From 1996 through 2006, Amato held senior level positions within Lehman Brothers’ capital markets business, serving as global head of equity research for the majority of that time. Amato  joined Lehman Brothers in 1994 as head of high yield research. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Amato spent ten years at Kidder Peabody, ultimately as head of high yield research. 

He received his Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University and is a member of the University’s board of directors. He currently serves on the board of advisors at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy. 

Joseph Baratta (B’93), Global Head of Private Equity Blackstone’s Board of Directors Member

Joseph Baratta is the global head of private equity and a member of Blackstone’s Board of Directors. He is also a member of the firm’s management committee and serves on many of the firm’s investment committees.

Baratta joined Blackstone in 1998, and in 2001, he moved to London to help establish Blackstone’s corporate private equity business in Europe. Since 2012, Baratta has served as the firm’s global head of private equity and is located in New York.

Baratta has served on the boards of many past Blackstone portfolio companies. Currently, he serves as a member or observer on the boards of Ancestry, Candle Media, First Eagle Investment Management, Medline, and Merlin Entertainments Group. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgetown University, is a trustee of the Tate Foundation, and serves on the board of Year Up, an organization focused on youth employment. 

Before joining Blackstone, Baratta was with Tinicum Incorporated and McCown De Leeuw & Company. Baratta also worked at Morgan Stanley in its mergers and acquisitions department. Baratta graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University.

Caroline Berson, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Government Affairs, PepsiCo

Caroline Berson is the corporate affairs chief of staff and vice president, global public policy and government affairs at PepsiCo. In this role, she oversees geopolitical advisory, global thought leadership, and serves as the primary liaison between PepsiCo and the Washington, D.C., diplomatic community.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, she served in two presidential administrations at the White House National Security Council and National Economic Council as senior advisor for international economics. In that role, she helped coordinate U.S. policy related to international finance, trade, investment, energy, and environmental issues, and advised the President’s representative to the G-7, G-20, and APEC.

Benson previously served as the national security briefer to the office of the U.S. Vice President, where she was responsible for providing daily updates on a wide range of global issues. Prior to that, she served as an analyst at the Department of the Treasury, where she was a subject matter expert on Iran and several other countries across the Middle East and Africa, writing frequently on sanctions, banking, energy, and transportation issues for the U.S. President and senior U.S. policymakers. Benson began her career in journalism with her work appearing in Slate Magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the New Haven Independent. Benson earned her M.A. in government from Johns Hopkins University and her B.A. in English from Yale University.

Sven Dharmani (MBA’99), Principal and Consultant, EY

Sven Dharmani is a principal and consultant at EY, recognized as one of the Top 25 Automotive Consultants of 2024 by The Consulting Report. With a focus on strategy development, process re-engineering, and sustainable solutions, Dharmani brings extensive expertise in supply chain strategy, operating model design, and manufacturing operations. His work spans multiple industries, including automotive, transportation, and industrial manufacturing.

Dharmani has driven innovation through Industry 4.0 technologies such as AI, machine learning, predictive maintenance, digital twins, IoT integration, RFID, GPS tracking, and advanced analytics. His global experience covers North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa.

He holds an MBA in Operations and Strategy from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business , a bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering from Thapar University, and completed the Harvard Executive Leadership Program.

Quentin Dupont, Swan Family Ignatian Assistant Professor, Georgetown University

Quentin Dupont, S.J. is the Swan Family Assistant Professor at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and is a member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, Dupont completed a Ph.D. in Finance and Business Economics at the University of Washington in Seattle. . His research interests include the role of trust in economic and financial decisions, the consequences of misconduct, and corporate governance.

As an undergraduate, Dupont studied economics and accounting at the Catholic University of Lille, in France. Dupont  also holds master’s degrees in Finance and Banking (University of Paris), Business Administration (University of Washington), Philosophy (Fordham University), Divinity and Theology (both from Boston College). Dupont’s academic work is published in the Review of Accounting Studies and the Journal of Business Ethics. He has also written about Catholic Social Teaching and Ignatian spirituality.

Ricardo Ernst, Director of the Baratta Center for Global Business and Managing Director of the Latin American Leadership Program, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business

Ricardo Ernst is the Baratta Chair in Global Business and Professor of Operations and Global Supply Chains, Director of the Baratta Center for Global Business, Managing Director of the Latin American Leadership Program and former Deputy Dean, all at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. He holds a Civil Engineering degree from the Universidad Católica Andres Bello and an MBA from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración, both in Venezuela. He received an MA degree and his Ph.D. in Operations Management from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He joined Georgetown in 1987. His research interests include strategic analysis of global supply chain systems at both macro and micro level. He has published five books and more than 40 publications in academic journals and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the virtual Journal “Globalization, Competitiveness and Governability” published by Georgetown University.

Ernst’s research interests include strategic analysis of logistics systems (supplier –manufacturing – distribution linkages) at both macro (strategic positioning of logistics, marketing/manufacturing interfaces) and micro level (models and methods of inventory control, inventory classification procedures). He has been involved in developing metrics and performance evaluations for the logistics requirements and challenges for coordinating complex supply chain projects including non-for profit organizations like the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and EX-IM Bank. He has consulted with several national and international firms, including General Motors, Michelin, Rockwool, Casa Cuervo, FEMSA (Coca-Cola), Wal-Mart, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and The World Bank. 

Ernst has been awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award for the International Executive MBA program, the Joseph F. Le Moine Award for Graduate and Undergraduate Teaching Excellence at Georgetown University, and the MBA Core Curriculum Award, at The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania. He has also been listed as one of the Best Professors by Business Week magazine.

Anil Khurana, Executive Director of the Baratta Center for Global Business and Research Professor of the Practice, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business

Anil Khurana is the founding executive director of the Baratta Center for Global Business and research professor at Georgetown McDonough. He is a successful industry leader and business executive, with expertise in strategy, operations, investing, digitization, finance, innovation, AI, climate-tech and sustainability, and mobility. Until 2022, Khurana was a senior partner with PwC Strategy and was the managing partner of PwC’s $7.5B global industrials and automotive business unit. 

He now serves on public and private corporate boards in the United States, Europe, and Middle East; is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors; and supports several social causes such as education equity, children’s education and emotional health, and homelessness and family care. He received his Ph.D., MBA, and M.S. (engineering) degrees from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, where he was a Ford Fellow and a fellow with the William Davidson Institute.

Nick Lovegrove, Professor of the Practice, Georgetown University

Nick Lovegrove is a professor of the practice at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, where he teaches undergraduate, graduate, and executive education courses on business and public policy, strategic decision-making, analytical problem-solving, management and organizational behavior, and leadership. He also serves as the academic director of Georgetown’s Executive MBA program.

Before he became a Georgetown professor seven years ago, Lovegrove spent more than 30 years with McKinsey & Company in London, England and Washington, D.C. As a senior partner of the firm, he led two global practices and became the managing partner of the D.C. office. His book The Mosaic Principle and related articles addressed the challenge of building a broadly gauged career and life in an era of increased professional specialization and siloed behavior. 

From 2001 to 2004, Lovegrove served in the British government as a special advisor to British prime minister Tony Blair. He has also served on several non-profit boards, including Teach First, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Chatham House Foundation, which he chaired. 

Lovegrove earned a master’s degree in modern history from Oxford University; a master’s degree in public policy (MPP) from Harvard University’s Kennedy School; and an MBA from INSEAD, France.

Ellen McClain, CEO and President, Year Up United

Ellen McClain is chief executive officer and president of Year Up United, a national workforce development organization committed to ensuring equitable access to economic opportunity, education, and justice for all young adults. With an annual operating budget of more than $170 million, Year Up United is one of the fastest growing nonprofits in the nation.

McClain first joined Year Up United in 2015 as chief financial officer. In 2021, she became the organization’s chief operating officer, and in 2022, she was elected to serve as Year Up United’s president. In late 2023, McClain was appointed by Year Up United’s National Board of Directors to serve as the organization’s next chief executive officer, succeeding Year Up United’s founder Gerald Chertavian. 

Over the course of her time at Year Up United, McClain has applied deep executive leadership skills to help the organization successfully navigate double-digit growth in students served, sustain itself through a pandemic, and advance a mission-aligned diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging practice – an initiative rooted in her ongoing commitment to creating an environment where Year Up United employees, students, and alumni are seen, heard, and respected for all aspects of their identity. 

McClain earned a B.A. in economics from Brown University in 1986 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1993. 

Stephen Milam, Executive Vice President, DENSO International America, Inc.

Stephen Milam is the executive vice president of DENSO in North America. Based at the company’s regional headquarters in Southfield, Michigan, he leads North America Corporate and Business Planning, Digital Transformation, Finance, and Purchasing. 

Milam first joined DENSO in 2006 as a manager of purchasing at DENSO’s thermal manufacturing facility in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 2012, Milam was promoted to vice president of business planning for DENSO’s North American thermal business, a role in which he led the group’s business strategy, resource management, profit creation, and financial planning. In 2013, he added the role of president of DENSO Manufacturing Canada, Inc., to his existing role in business planning and divided his time between the United States and Canada. In 2019, Milam was promoted to executive vice president responsible for the North American electrification and powertrain business units as well as corporate functions. Prior to joining DENSO, Milam worked at Ford Motor Company in various purchasing and program management positions. 

Milam earned a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in psychology from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Bob Pragada, CEO, Jacobs

Bob Pragada is the chief executive officer of Jacobs. Pragada  joined Jacobs in 2006, and over time he has held several senior management positions such as senior vice president, global sales; group vice president, northern region (United States and the Republic of Ireland); and vice president, field services. 

He returned to Jacobs in 2016 after having served as president and CEO of the Brock Group to take on the role of president of the global industrial and buildings and infrastructure lines of business and then chief operating officer in November 2019. Pragada was appointed to his current role in January 2023 and has led the efforts of the company’s spin-off and merger of its critical mission solutions and cyber and intelligence government services businesses with Amentum, a leading global engineering and technology solutions provider, to create a new, publicly-traded player in the government services sector.  

Pragada earned a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, and a Master of Science in engineering and management from Stanford University.

Geof Rochester (B’81), founder, GRC Advising

Geof Rochester is a strategic advisor to nonprofit and brand leadership in business, marketing, and communications. Recognized as a thought-leader across corporate sustainability and responsibility, he brings distinctive and dynamic experience with the world’s leading conservation NGOs, media companies, and consumer goods brands. Rochester founded GRC Advising in 2019 to drive social purpose, optimize networks, and scale brands for maximum potential, all in pursuit of a purpose-driven world.

Rochester has served in global roles as managing director and chief marketing officer of The Nature Conservancy, executive vice president for marketing at World Wrestling Entertainment, and senior vice president for marketing at Showtime Networks. Earlier in his career, Rochester served in senior marketing positions with Comcast Communications, Radisson Hotels International, and P&G.

Rochester is on the board of AppHarvest and mindSpark. He regularly speaks on the topics of brand purpose and sustainability. He is a native Bajan, a graduate of Georgetown University, and received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sherri Rossoff, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, RockCreek

Sherri Rossoff is a Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at RockCreek, focusing on firm management, and legal matters. Prior to this, she was senior counsel at the World Bank in the legal finance group, where she concentrated in the areas of pension investments and asset management, focusing on alternative investments. She has acted as counsel to the World Bank’s Pension Finance Committee and provided technical assistance to various central banks globally on governance and investment management best practices.

Sherri serves on the Global Board of Directors of 100 Women in Finance; she has served as Chair of the Markets Advisory Council of the Council of Institutional Investors. She also serves on the Board of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, the largest D.C. not-for-profit serving youth and young adults experiencing homelessness. She began her career as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton in New York. Sherri earned her law degree from New York University School of Law and her B.A. in Economics and Political Science, summa cum laude, from Queens College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Rich Voorberg, president, Siemens Energy North America

Richard Voorberg is president of the North America Hub of Siemens Energy, based in Orlando, Florida. In this role, Voorberg has regional responsibility for the energy business in the Americas,which includes the company’s generation, industrial applications, renewables/wind, and transmission divisions.

Previously, Voorberg served as the head of service in North America, where he was responsible for managing all aspects of large power service, including gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, and nuclear. Additionally, he is involved in the American Petroleum Institute (API), National Petroleum Council (NPC), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and Advanced Airfoil Components (AAC).

Voorberg has over 30 years of experience with Siemens Energy including extensive involvement in the manufacturing, commissioning management, project management, and marketing aspects of the power generation business. He was responsible for the design, project management, and building of a brand-new factory at the Charlotte, North Carolina, site for gas turbine manufacturing.

Voorberg holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and his MBA from ESMT in Berlin, Germany.