Clancy was born in the Kimberley in remote Western Australia, and grew up in Darwin in the Northern Territory. Most recently, he served as senior adviser to Australia’s Minister for Trade, where he led on Indo-Pacific trade issues, including Southeast Asia and India trade policy, as well as on energy, critical minerals, and export finance. He has previously held a number of trade and public policy roles at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, and at the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Clancy comes to Princeton having studied law, international relations and Indonesian language during his undergraduate studies at the University of Adelaide. He has studied and worked in Indonesia and is an admitted lawyer. In his spare time, Clancy enjoys running, playing the piano, and promoting Indonesian language studies and culture.

Simon is a British Diplomat who has served in the U.K. Diplomatic Service for the last 11 years, specialising mostly in Middle East policy work. For the past three years, he served as the Political Counsellor at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, playing a key role in coordinating the U.K. government’s response to the Gaza conflict and broader regional issues. Simon has also been posted to Beirut and Amman, where he studied Arabic, and worked on the Ukraine conflict and Brexit. Whilst at SPIA, he is looking forward to spending time reflecting on recent challenging professional experiences, learning from colleagues and diversifying his understanding of public policy. In his spare time, he enjoys playing/watching almost all sport, and traveling.

Dilan started his career through Teach For America (TFA) as an 8th grade English teacher in his hometown of Richmond, California. He later served as legislative staff in the Office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley. Most recently, he was the National Policy Director and Strategic Advisor to the CEO at Teach Plus, a teacher leadership and policy organization. In this role, Dilan advised the CEO on organizational strategy and external affairs and led federal policy advocacy on behalf of the organization. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors of The West Contra Costa Public Education Fund in Richmond, California, an organization that has made college possible for him and many other students in the community. He is a candidate for the Master in Public Policy degree at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

Dana is a senior political advisor. Her professional journey spans over 15 years at the heart of Israeli politics, where she has worked across government institutions, policy design, and high-stakes negotiations. In her most recent role, Dana led political operations for the Israeli Opposition Leader, after serving in a similar capacity in the Prime Minister’s Office. Over the years, she designed and led legislative initiatives and shaped national policy through senior positions in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dana was instrumental in the formation and maintenance of Israel’s 36th government, the “Change Government.” Since 2023, she has coordinated the opposition’s parliamentary response to the ongoing judicial overhaul crisis. Her work reflects a deep engagement with coalition-building, institutional resilience, and democratic governance. Dana holds a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she specialized in civic education, and is a graduate of executive programs in negotiation and leadership at Harvard University. Originally from Kibbutz El-Rom in northern Israel, Dana resided in Jerusalem with her partner and their three children prior to coming to Princeton.

Austin is a career diplomat with the U.S. Department of State. He most recently served in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs as Spokesperson. Prior to this, the Department posted him and his family abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Munich, Germany; and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Before joining the Foreign Service, Austin was a Peace Corps volunteer in Madagascar and organized international programs for an environmental nonprofit. Born in Colorado, he grew up largely in Texas and Arizona, with a short stint in Ecuador. A father of two and husband to a public school teacher, Austin enjoys reading science fiction, golf, fishing, and gardening.

Kunthida is a Thai academic and political leader dedicated to educational reform and democratic development. She holds a B.A. in English from Chulalongkorn University and an M.A. in Intercultural Communication from Finland. As Director of the Progressive Movement Foundation and former Member of Parliament, Kunthida leads comprehensive initiatives to transform Thailand's education system and strengthen democratic institutions. During her parliamentary tenure as Deputy Leader of the Future Forward Party, she spearheaded the party's education portfolio and contributed significantly to national education reform efforts. Her policy expertise encompasses education reform and early childhood education improvement, areas where she continues to drive systemic change through strategic advocacy. Following the Constitutional Court's disbandment of the Future Forward Party, Kunthida faces a ten-year restriction from formal political participation. However, she maintains her commitment to reform through policy advocacy and organizational leadership.

Anna grew up on the beach of Central Coast of California. She graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in 2014 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and later in 2022, with a graduate degree in Human Resources Management from George Washington University while working full time. Since graduating and commissioning as an Active Duty Officer in 2014, she has sailed all around the world on ships home-ported in Miami, Florida, Charleston, South Carolina, Ketchikan, Alaska and most recently, Kodiak, Alaska. With nearly eight years of sea-time including two years as a Commanding Officer in Alaska, she has unending passion and love for the sea and the crews that sail together through drug interdictions, Search and Rescue operations, federal fisheries enforcement, and National Security missions. This past summer, Anna completed her demanding and rewarding tour as the Executive Officer of Coast Guard Cutter ALEX HALEY in Kodiak, Alaska, and sailed the Bering Sea for the last time. She is hoping to continue her public service career in the Coast Guard at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, by supporting policy development at the highest strategic level for the Service. When she's not wearing the uniform, she is an avid macaron baker, laser-engraving enthusiast, watercolor painter, and anything that allows her to be creative.

Makhan is a Malian innovation and entrepreneurship professional dedicated to building practical, scalable solutions for inclusive development. After completing his studies in Senegal and Japan, he returned to Mali where he supported local startup ecosystems at Impact Hub Bamako and later led innovation programs at UNDP’s Accelerator Lab. Alongside these roles, he founded Sahel Analytics, a data company offering services in data collection, AI-driven insights, geospatial intelligence, and custom-built interactive platforms to support evidence-based decisions. He also manages Daddy’s Farms, a growing family agribusiness venture focused on sustainable production and transformation. At Princeton, Makhan is focusing on policies for sustainable and inclusive growth, with a particular interest in innovation strategy. He aims to explore how artificial intelligence can power a distributed model of innovation – one that supports different stages of product development and is backed by a catalytic fund to scale high-impact solutions across Africa.