Advisory Board
Diana Pallais
Microsoft Corporation
Diana Pallais is a Geopolitical Strategist with the Advanced Strategies and Policy division at Microsoft Corporation. Diana’s charter at Microsoft is to help align the company’s business interests with the public interest of its host markets worldwide. The ultimate goal is to bolster Microsoft’s commitment to exemplary corporate citizenship. In particular, Diana has concentrated on studying the necessary conditions for information technology (IT) to be an engine of citizen empowerment and economic development. In this process, she has specialized on the implications of various IT business models and software development processes for wide and direct adoption of IT. Diana is also a political and economic advisor on different corporate initiatives, most notably the Trustworthy Computing initiative which encompasses Microsoft’s commitment to digital privacy, security, reliability, and business integrity.
Jennifer Potter
Initiative for Global Development (IGD)
Jennifer Potter has provided executive leadership of the Initiative for Global Development (IGD) since 2003. IGD supports effective U.S. policies and fosters private sector engagement to expand economic development in poor countries. IGD’s Frontier 100 program connects the most successful CEOs operating in frontier markets with leading CEOs from the United States and Europe in order to create lasting poverty reduction through relationship building, knowledge sharing and targeted initiatives. Prior to leading IGD, Jennifer served as Executive Director of Global Partnerships, an NGO that pioneered microfinance work in Central America. Her early career included ownership in two urban planning and development companies and the Peace Corps in Thailand. She chaired the board of the award-winning Seattle Housing Authority for eight years, and serves on the boards of Harbor Properties, Global Washington and the alumnae board of Chatham College. She is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.
William B. Stafford
Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle
Bill Stafford is president of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, which exists to promote the Greater Seattle region as one of North America’s premier international gateways and commercial centers. Between 1971 and 1990, he was employed with the City of Seattle in a number of positions, including Deputy Mayor to Charles Royer and Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations, where he was responsible for the national, state, regional and international relations of the city. Bill serves on the Seattle Community College Chancellor’s Roundtable, and is currently a member of the United States Department of Commerce’s District Export Council. He also serves as chair of the Seattle Sister City Commission, is a member of the International Advisory Board of the University of Washington’s Center for International Education and Research, and executive board member of the Japan America Conference of Mayors and Chamber of Commerce Presidents.
Herman Uscategui
Starbucks Coffee Company
Herman Uscategui is a director, international business development for Starbucks Coffee Company. Responsible for new markets development, including partner
selection process, negotiations, and coordination of overall project deliverables. Prior to joining Starbucks, Herman was director, Worldwide Projects at Westin Hotels & Resorts corporate offices in Seattle. He was responsible for international hotel management development and franchises agreements. Herman started his responsibilities at Westin representing then Westin’s parent company, Aoki Corporation of Japan in international business ventures. He started his business career in Tokyo, Japan with Aoki Corporation. He received a Master in Engineering from Saitama University/University of Tokyo and doctoral studies from the University of Tokyo in Japan. He also holds a Master in Economics from Temple University in Japan and is fluent in several languages.
Jeff Vincent
Laird Norton Company
Jeff Vincent has been leading the Laird Norton Company since January of 2001, overseeing current investments and managing the company’s day-to-day activities. With more than 20 years of business experience, Jeff has experience as a CEO, CFO, corporate development officer, and strategy consultant. He has restructured business operations, bought and sold more than 15 companies, and directed a variety of strategic initiatives in product development and international expansion. Over the past 15 years, Jeff has worked exclusively with privately held family companies. He is a director of Pro-Build Holdings, Inc. and a member of the Washington State Board of Education.
Bob Watt
Boeing Company
Bob Watt retired as vice president of State & Local Government Relations and Global Corporate Citizenship for The Boeing Company in 2007. Prior to coming to Boeing in January of 2002, Bob was president and CEO of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, a position he held from November 1995 through December 2001. Bob’s career has included leadership positions with PhyCom Corporation, as deputy mayor of the City of Seattle under Mayor Norm Rice; five years as president of Family Services of Seattle/King County and more than 12 years at Youth Eastside Services, the last five as its executive director. He currently serves as chair of The Seattle Foundation board, chair of the White Center Making Connections Partners Group, and as a vice chair of Thrive by Five, Washington State’s public/private partnership for early learning. He is a member of the board of Casey Family Programs, the Business Partnership for Early Learning and the Seattle Children’s’ Hospital Foundation. He also serves as a member of the Institute for Learning and Brain Science Advisory Board.
Akhtar Badshah
Microsoft
As senior director of Microsoft Community Affairs, Akhtar Badshah manages Unlimited Potential, a global initiative to promote digital inclusion and increased access to technology skills training in underserved communities. Before joining Microsoft, Badshah was the CEO and president of Digital Partners Foundation, a Seattle-area nonprofit organization whose mission is to use the digital economy to benefit the poor. He established the organization’s core programs in India, Africa, and Latin America, and developed the Digital Partners Social Venture Fund, which
supports the expansion of IT-based anti-poverty efforts around the world. Badshah also helped to develop the Digital Partners Social Enterprise Laboratory, an initiative that mentors and provides seed money to entrepreneurs whose vision and business models use information and communication technologies to empower the poor and their communities. Badshah serves on the Advisory Board for the Development Gateway Project of the World Bank, World Links India, World Corp, Teachers without Borders, and the Datamation Foundation India.
Kristi Branch
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Kristi is Senior Program Manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and an internationally recognized expert on social impact assessment, public involvement, and institutional analysis. She served as the interim director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security of Battelle, and has worked on community and natural resource development in a variety of countries in Africa and Asia. Kristi has played an active role in the application of social impact assessment techniques to the identification and evaluation of environmental policies and implementation strategies. She is a specialist in helping organizations achieve effective involvement of interested and affected parties to achieve transparency, build confidence, and reduce tensions. Her principal areas of interest are environmental and energy security, regional stability, and the role of nonproliferation and human security in international development. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia, and currently serves as a Trustee of the World Affairs Council.
Carol Lewis
Philanthropy Northwest
Carol is the CEO of Philanthropy Northwest and serves as the Managing Partner of The Giving Practice. Carol served as Corporate Secretary and Chief Administrative Officer for Coinstar, Inc., as executive director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and as the City of Seattle’s Deputy Mayor under former Mayor Charles Royer. She currently serves on the boards of the Seattle Parks Foundation, Washington Women’s Foundation, the Nesholm Family Foundation, and as a trustee for Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. Carol earned a BA in Economics and Political
Science at Stanford University, and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Jennifer Martin
The Seattle Foundation
Jennifer is the Program & Donor Services Officer for The Seattle Foundation, and leads the Foundation’s international philanthropic services. She serves on the New Solutions Impact Council for United Way of King County and is on the Board of Directors for City Club, a non-partisan, nonprofit education organization dedicated to informing citizens and building community leadership in the greater Seattle region. Prior to The Seattle Foundation, Jennifer managed youth programs at the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County for five years. Previous experience also includes working for public relations agencies in Chicago and Seattle supporting a number of for-profit and nonprofit clients. Jennifer received her B.A. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and a Master of Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.
