Check out our Global Leaders Online Program’s speakers for session 3 and register for the last session next week! This week students are examining pandemic diplomacy.We are thrilled to announce our speakers:

Ambassador Eric Rubin was elected as the President of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) after serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria from 2016-2019. After graduating from Yale, Ambassador Rubin became a Foreign Service Officer in Honduras. From 1989 to 1991, he worked in the Office of Soviet Union Affairs. Ambassador Rubin has also served in Kiev, Ukraine as Deputy Political Counselor and Consul General in Chiang Mai, Thailand. From 2011 to 2015 he served as a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

Ambassador (retired) Leslie Bassett settled in San Diego after a 35- year diplomatic career. Ms. Bassett is currently Vice-President of the San Diego Diplomacy Council. She has served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in Manila, Philippines; in Mexico City, Mexico; and in Gaborone, Botswana. Ms. Bassett’s career also includes service in Colombia, Israel, South Africa, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Ms. Bassett is a distinguished graduate of the National War College, holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and received her undergraduate degree in international relations from the University of California at Davis.

Dr. Ezra J. Barzilay is the Country Director of the CDC office in Kyiv, Ukraine, leading the efforts to stem the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and responding to the COVID-19 threat. Dr. Barzilay’s most recent role at CDC was serving as the technical lead of the National Public Health Institute Program in the Center for Global Health. Dr. Barzilay began his career at CDC in 2004 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer. Fluent in seven languages, Dr. Barzilay’s field experience includes disease surveillance, international public health interventions, outbreak investigations, and serving as expert consultant for the World Health Organization.

As a Senior Director for Government Affairs for Gilead, Mikeal T. Pascual is responsible for Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. A former career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, he was most recently a Senior Advisor in the Bureau for Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to this, Mr. Pascual received a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College. From February 2013 to June 2014, he served as Deputy Executive Secretary at the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House, where he managed NSC staff to ensure President Barack Obama received the highest quality policy materials on issues of national security, homeland security, and foreign affairs.

At the conclusion of each week’s programming, students are coming away with a nuanced understanding of a timely, global issues, information about career paths in the field of international affairs and diplomacy, increased cultural competency and understanding through strengthened leadership and civic engagement skills, and a Certificate of Excellence in Global Citizenship on the topic of the week. To learn more and register for the last session, please contact Lulu Bonning at lulu@sandiegodiplomacy.org

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