GSR ADVISORY BOARD

Ambassador John Simon (ret)

Ambassador John A. Simon is a Founder and Managing Partner of Total Impact Capital (TOTAL), a merchant bank for the impact investing sector. Ambassador Simon was a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, where he co-authored More than Money, a report on impact investing as a development tool. Previously, Ambassador Simon held a variety of posts in the U.S. federal government, including serving most recently as the United States Ambassador to the African Union and the Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). 

Ambassador Simon also served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Relief, Stabilization, and Development for the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House, the first to hold this post. 

Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz (ret)

Ambassador Yalowitz serves as a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. He is an adjunct professor of government at the Stanford University in Washington Program.

Ambassador Yalowitz served twice as a U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Belarus, from 1994 to 1997, and to Georgia, from 1998 to 2001. Other overseas assignments included Moscow (twice), The Hague, and the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels.  

In 2009,  Ambassador Yalowitz was invited to join the American Academy of Diplomacy, and in 2011 he was elected to membership in the Council on Foreign Relations. Ambassador Yalowitz has authored or co-authored op-eds and articles in publications such as the International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, New York Times , Boston Globe, and Reuters.

Ambassador Patricia Moller (ret)

Ambassador Moller served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea from 2009 to 2012. Moller also served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi from 2006 to 2009 as well as Charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassies for the Kingdom of Morocco and Romania.  

Ambassador Moller joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer in April 1987, following 10 years as an investment banker.

From 2000 to 2002, Ambassador Moller served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Yerevan, Armenia. Moller posting to Georgia began in August 2002, when she traveled to Tbilisi to begin 3 years as Deputy Chief of Mission.

Ambassador Aubrey Hooks (ret)

Ambassador Hooks spent 36 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.

Ambassador Hooks was appointed American ambassador to the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Ivory Coast. Hooks also served in U.S. embassies in Israel, Poland, Turkey, Haiti, Central African Republic, and Zimbabwe.

Ambassador Hooks is currently a consultant on investment in Africa and speaks fluent French. Hooks graduated from the University of South Carolina and received a Masters from the University of Michigan.