New York Democracy Forum Dinner 2023

Event offered by:
Foreign Policy Association
National Endowment for Democracy

Event Details

Date:
Thursday, June 29, 2023
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM 
Location:
St. Regis Hotel
2 East 55th Street
New York, NY
Event type
Lunch / Dinner  

Event Description

Please join the Foreign Policy Association and the National Endowment for Democracy for the New York Democracy Forum Dinner 2023 on June 29th at St. Regis Hotel (2 East 55th Street) from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. This year, we will be honoring Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the US. Tickets for this dinner can be purchased on our Eventbrite page or by contacting [email protected].

Event Speakers

    • Ambassador Oksana Markarova - Speaker
      Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States

      Oksana Markarova was appointed the Ukraine’s Ambassador to the USA and arrived in DC on Apr 20, 2021. She served in Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance in 2015-2020 as First deputy Minister and Government commissioner on investments and then since 2018 as a Minister of Finance. During her time at the Ministry she was a co-author of Ukraine’s macroeconomic revival program, has conducted unprecedented fiscal consolidation leading to deficit to GDP of 2% and debt to GDP reduction to below 50%, introduced midterm budgeting, gender oriented budgeting as well as negotiated, structured and coordinated successfully two IMF programs and other IFI cooperation programs. During her tenure she and her team has also created UkraineInvest government promotion agency, Ukrainian Startup fund and an eData ecosystem of government public finance portals including spending.gov.ua, openbudget.gov.ua and analytical instrument BOOST, which opened the majority of the public finance data to the public and increased Ukraine in all major international data transparency ratings.

      Prior to career in public service Mrs. Markarova spent 17 years working in private equity and financial advisory having leadership roles in ITT investment group, Western NIS Enterprise Fund, Chemonics and and World bank, as well as founded Archidata startup electronic archive company in between service positions in 2020.

      Oksana Markarova serves at the Boards of UkraineHouse DC foundation in Washington DC, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukrainian Development Foundation and supports Ukrainian Catholic University and Ukrainian Press Museum-Archive.

      She holds BS and MS degrees in Environmental Science from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine and MPA in public finance from Indiana University with academic excellency and best international student awards.

      Markarova is married with four children and grandson.

    • Damon Wilson - Host
      President & CEO, National Endowment for Democracy

      Damon Wilson is President and CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an independent, nonprofit, grant-making foundation supporting freedom around the world.

      Prior to joining the Endowment, he helped transform the Atlantic Council into a leading global think tank as its executive vice president. Previously, Wilson served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council helping to enlarge a Europe whole, free, and at peace; to secure freedom through NATO enlargement; to deter and counter Russian aggression; and to work with a united Europe as a leading US partner to support democracy in the world.

      Mr. Wilson also served at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq as the Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff, where he helped manage one of the largest US embassies during a time of conflict. Prior to this posting, he worked at the National Security Council as the Director for Central, Eastern, and Northern European Affairs from 2004 to 2006, helping to enlarge NATO, to partner with Germany, and to support a democratic Ukraine. From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Wilson served as Deputy Director in the Private Office of NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson, playing a lead role on the Alliance’s response to 9/11 and its operations in Afghanistan and the Western Balkans.

      Prior to serving in Brussels, Mr. Wilson worked in the Department of State’s Office of European Security and Political Affairs, on the State Department’s “China desk,” and at the US Embassy in Beijing. Mr. Wilson began his service at the State Department as a Presidential Management Fellow helping to plan the Alliance’s 50th anniversary summit, first post-Cold War enlargement, and efforts to prevent genocide in Kosovo.

      Mr. Wilson completed his master’s degree at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs during which he interned in the African Affairs Directorate of the National Security Council. From 1995-1996, he served as the first Hart Leadership Fellow, working in Rwanda for Save the Children’s Children and War Program. Mr. Wilson graduated summa cum laude from Duke University as a Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Scholar. He also studied at the University of Grenoble, France; conducted independent research on democracy in Estonia; and worked for the Unaccompanied Children in Exile refugee program in Croatia and Turkey.

      Mr. Wilson has been decorated by leaders of Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Poland and the Slovak Republic for his efforts to advance transatlantic relations, and by the living governors of South Carolina for his contribution to the state. He is from Charleston, South Carolina; is married to David Van Lear; lives in Washington, DC; and helps maintain his family’s farm in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

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