Neither the Rich Nor the Poor Can Escape Corruption

Speakers for this event

• Allison Quatrini

  Allison Quatrini

  Allison Quatrini holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from The George Washington University. She is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations and Global Affairs in the Behavioral Sciences Collegium at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her research focuses on ethnic politics in China, with an emphasis on how ethnic minorities, particularly the Uyghurs, navigate their relationship with the Chinese party-state. Her current book project, relying on 26.5 months of fieldwork, focuses on Tibetan, Uyghur, and Mongolian holiday celebrations, considering both how the Chinese state has repurposed them to form its own cultural narrative and how minority groups use the celebrations to form counter-narratives that best represent their understandings of themselves. Allison’s published work has appeared in Nationalities Papers, Qualitative and Multi-Methods Research, The Diplomat, Responsible Statecraft, and The Tampa Bay Times. She has also written for the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and the Rising Powers Project at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at The George Washington University. Recently, Dr. Quatrini was awarded a grant to complete research on nationalism and festivals in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

• John Maguire

  John Maguire

  John Maguire, who retired last July, was Director of International Relations and Cooperation of France Medias Monde, a French public service media organization, from September 2013. From March 2012 to September 2013, he was Director of International Development, Audiovisuel Exterieur de la France; from May 2010 to March 2012 he served as Director of International Affairs, Radio France Internationale and from 2004 to 2010 he was head of RFI's International Training Department. Before that he spent six years as Managing Editor of RFI's English service. He has forty years experience in the media world and has contributed work to journalistic outlets in France, Ireland and the United States.

• Michael Marquardt

  Michael Marquardt

  Michael is an experienced CEO, corporate director, and business advisor with broad experience serving companies throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) has awarded him its highest credential of Board Leadership Fellow® for seven years in a row and has invited him as a speaker and author on emerging corporate governance, multicultural management, and global compliance issues at many of its conferences. From 2007 to 2016, Michael served as non-executive chairman of the board of healthcare services and logistics company AA International, the parent company of Asia Assistance, based in Kuala Lumpur, with operations in eight other countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region. After the sale of five of the operating entities to French insurance giant AXA in 2016, Michael was appointed as board chair of the remaining independent companies, including AA International Indonesia, a healthcare and insurance services provider based in Jakarta. In 2016 Michael was elected chairman of the supervisory board of the Paris-based International Assistance Group S.A.S. (IAG). IAG is a global consortium of 150+ independent companies with a combined staff of more than 7,500 that provide medical and security services on five continents. The IAG board has nine members from nine different countries. After his two-year term concluded in October of 2018, Michael was asked to continue to serve on the board’s executive committee. He stepped down in October of 2019 after 10 years of service on IAG’s supervisory board. Since January of 2011, Michael has served as one of four independent directors on the board of Commonwealth Trust Company, Delaware’s largest non-deposit trust company with more than $15 billion in assets under administration. In addition to his board service, over the past eleven years as CEO of Global Kompass Strategies, Michael has served as an advisor to corporations and government clients in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He works closely with CEOs and senior leadership teams on business development, cybersecurity oversight and strategic planning. He also advises boards of directors and audit committees on effective risk management measures, corporate governance, global expansion efforts, and emerging digital technology issues. Michael gained extensive expertise in the areas of risk management, corporate governance, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when former FBI Director Louis Freeh asked him to serve as President of his global risk management firm, Freeh Group International Solutions, in early 2008. Applying his entrepreneurial and international business experience, Michael was integral in developing the firm’s early business relationships and engagements with several Fortune 500© and Global 500© corporations. He also assisted with the group's strategy and business development efforts in Europe. Michael grew up in Berlin and emigrated to the United States soon after witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He had the opportunity to lead a fast-growing technology company before being recruited to lead a new start-up venture in late 1999. Michael served for seven years as co-founder and chief executive of the health services company MediGuide and led its business development initiatives in the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Michael holds a Master’s degree from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of New England. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He earned the CERT Cybersecurity Oversight certificate from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and NACD in 2017. Following his personal passions, Michael serves as vice chair of the board of the American Cancer Society and co-chaired the national search that led to the first woman becoming CEO of this 107-year-old organization. From 2005 to 2014 he served on the board of the Delaware Theatre Company, including four years as chairman. For more information, go to LinkedIn.com/in/MarquardtGlobal, visit MarquardtGlobal.com, or follow Michael on Twitter @MarquardtGlobal. MM-0521-US

• Michela Wrong

  Michela Wrong

  Michela Wrong has spent nearly three decades writing about Africa, first as a Reuters correspondent based in Cote d'Ivoire and former Zaire, and then as the Financial Times Africa correspondent, based in Kenya. From journalism, she moved into book-writing. Previous books include “In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz”, the story of Mobutu Sese Seko, “I Didn’t do it for You”, focussing on Eritrea, “It’s Our Turn to Eat”, an examination of Kenyan corruption, and “Borderlines”, a novel set in the Horn of Africa. Her latest book, “Do Not Disturb”, is a scathing assessment of the Rwandan Patriotic Front and President Paul Kagame. She is based in London.

• Tope Folarin

  Tope Folarin

  Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington DC. He serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He has garnered many awards for his writing, including the Caine Prize for African Writing and the Whiting Award for Fiction. Tope also serves as a board member of the Avalon Theater in Washington DC, the Vice President of the Board of the Pen/Faulkner Foundation, and as a member of the President’s Council of Pathfinder. He was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Masters degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published by Simon & Schuster.