We are pleased to announce Annelise Riles, host of the Everyday Ambassador podcast; former Congressman Brian Baird, founder and chair of the National Museum and Center for Service; and Rosie Rios, chair of America 250, as plenary speakers at the Global Ties U.S. 2025 National Meeting.
Annelise Riles, Ph.D., is a professor of law and special advisor to the president for global sustainability at Northwestern University. She received the Maier Prize for lifetime academic achievement from the Humboldt Foundation and is a Chevalier in the Order of the Academic Palms of the Republic of France, in recognition of her contributions to diplomacy. An expert in public and private international law, her scholarship spans a wide range of substantive areas including human rights, managing and accommodating cultural differences, and the regulation of the global financial markets. Annelise is also the founder and director of Meridian 180, a multilingual forum for transformative leadership, and the host of the popular podcast Everyday Ambassador, in partnership with Foreign Policy magazine, which explores how seemingly small acts by ordinary people can bring about big change.
Annalise will deliver remarks on Thursday, February 20 at our Stronger Communities Plenary. This plenary session will celebrate the recipients of the Global Ties U.S. 2025 Citizen Diplomat Award and how local engagement in global affairs through people-to-people exchange programs contributes to stronger communities, workforces, and businesses across the United States.
The Honorable Brian Baird, Ph.D., is a former Member of Congress and clinical psychologist who founded and chairs the National Museum and Center for Service (NMCFS) – a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and inspiring service in all its forms. In both these roles, Congressman Baird visited and worked in areas of extreme crisis and need – war zones and refugee centers; floods, forest fires, earthquakes; poverty-stricken communities, food banks, mental health clinics and homeless shelters – and met extraordinary people giving of themselves to help others in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Their stories of service inspired him to create the NMCFS, which is now working to establish a nationwide network of service exhibits in local museums, schools, communities, and in a signature building near the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Congressman Baird will deliver remarks Friday, February 21 at our Closing Plenary. This session will celebrate the recipients of our Global Ties Network Honors and feature ways that National Meeting attendees can deepen their local and global impact through service.
Rosie Rios is chair of America 250, the U.S. Congressional Commission planning the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. She served as the 43rd Treasurer of the United States and was the CEO of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint. She also initiated and led the efforts to place a portrait of a woman on U.S. currency for the first time in over a century. Rosie served twice on the Treasury/Federal Reserve Transition Teams on behalf of President Barack Obama at the height of the financial crisis in 2008 and again during the pandemic economy of 2020 on behalf of President Biden. She is a graduate of Harvard University and was selected as the first Latina in Harvard’s 388-year history to have a portrait commissioned in her honor. Her personal passion includes serving as Founder and CEO of EMPOWERMENT 2026, an initiative that facilitates the physical recognition of historical American women in classrooms and public spaces across the country.
Rosie will deliver remarks on Friday, February 21 at our Closing Plenary.
Registration for the Global Ties U.S. 2025 National Meeting: Stronger Alliances, Stronger Communities, is open to the public and available until February 7. The National Meeting is the premier annual gathering of international exchange leaders and public diplomacy supporters and brings together more than 600 representatives from government agencies, the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and academia. Learn more and RSVP.