Department of Defense

Ret. Colonel Christopher Kolenda

Screen+Shot+2021-01-25+at+4.29.06+PM.jpg

Christopher Kolenda

Retired Army Colonel

Ret. Colonel Christopher Kolenda recently served as the Senior Advisor on Afghanistan and Pakistan to Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy, and three 4* Generals in Afghanistan. He was decorated with the Department of Defense’s highest civilian award for his work on strategy. In 2007-08, he commanded an 800-soldier task force in Kunar and Nuristan provinces where he pioneered an innovative approach to counterinsurgency in one of the most violent areas of the country. His unit is the only one in the history of the war to have motivated a large insurgent group to stop fighting and join the government. His advice has been adopted by three Secretaries of Defense and the President of the United States. He was selected to be the Secretary of Defense’s representative in exploratory talks with the Taliban from 2010-2013. He is the only American to have fought the Taliban in combat and engaged them in high-level diplomacy.

He is the founder of the Strategic Leaders Academy, which helps nonprofits and small businesses maximize their impact by developing their Leadership, Culture, and Strategy. He is the editor and coauthor of Leadership: The Warrior's Art, which has appeared on the professional reading lists of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. His most recent book, The Counterinsurgency Challenge, maps the journey of a leader in a difficult and dangerous conflict.

On September 16, 2020 Ret. Colonel Christopher Koldenda participated in “Longest War - How Do We End It? Koldenda and Johnson discuss the impact of the war, how it can be ended, and recent events with our military that have made headlines.

Kori Schake

original-1.jpg

Kori Schake

Foreign policy expert

Kori Schake has held several high positions in the U.S. Defense and State Departments and on the National Security Council, and was a foreign-policy adviser to the McCain-Palin 2008 presidential campaign. Schake is currently the Deputy-Director General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Schake's first government job was with the U.S. Department of Defense as a NATO Desk Officer in the Joint Staff's Strategic Plans and Policy Division from 1990 to 1994. She also spent 2 years (1994–1996) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as the special assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Strategy and Requirements.

During President George W. Bush's first term, she was the director for Defense Strategy and Requirements on the National Security Council. Projects she contributed to include conceptualizing and budgeting for continued transformation of defense practices, the most significant realignment of U.S. military forces and bases around the world since 1950, creating NATO's Allied Command Transformation and the NATO Response Force, and recruiting and retaining coalition partners for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Schake spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2018.

Twitter: @KoriSchake

Maurice Sonnenberg

aa.jpg

Maurice Sonnenberg

American intelligence and financial advisor

Maurice Sonnenberg is a board member of Chertoff Group’s board of advisers. He is currently Co-Chair of the National Commission for the Review of the Research and Development Programs of the United States Intelligence Community, and a member of the Special Navy Advisory Panel to the Secretary of the Navy at the Department of Defense.

His professional experience includes being appointed to the U.S. Observer Team to observe Central American elections during the Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush and Bill Clinton Administrations, as well as being appointed to the President’s Export Council and White House Task Force on International Trade during the Jimmy Carter administration.

Sonnenberg introduced Steny Hoyer at a Breakfast and Discussion at The Common Good in 2009.

Tommy Sowers

gg.jpg

Tommy Sowers

Academic, politician, entrepreneur

Tommy Sowers was the 2010 Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Missouri’s 8th congressional district. He is a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer where he achieved the rank of Major.

In 2010, Sowers ran and lost against incumbent Representative Jo Ann Emerson. After the campaign, Sowers worked as the Senior Advisor to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the nation’s first and largest non-profit focused on improving the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families.

In 2015, Sowers co-founded Goldenkey Networks, Inc., which includes GoldenKey, a venture backed real estate startup. Sowers currently serves as the Southeast Regional Director of MD5 National Security Technology Accelerator, a US Department of Defense program that works with research universities and the venture community to provide solutions for the immediate problems of warfighters.

Twitter: @sowers