Keynote Speakers

Adapting In A New Era Of National Security

LtGen Frank Donovan

USSOCOM | Vice Commander

Lieutenant General Frank Donovan serves as Vice Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command. An infantry, reconnaissance, and special operations officer, he has led Marines and Sailors in all three Marine Expeditionary Forces—commanding units from a Force Recon Platoon to a Marine Division—and directed Naval Task Forces in the 5th and 6th Fleets. His commands include a Marine Corps Security Forces Detachment in Crete, a FAST platoon, and an Eastern PA Recruiting Station, as well as roles in special operations training and expeditionary warfare. Joint tours include serving as J35 at USSOCOM, Branch Chief for the Joint Staff’s T2C2, and Assisting Commanding General at JSOC. He holds a BA in Geography, master’s degrees in Military and Strategic Studies, and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Dr. Mark Esper

Former Secretary of Defense

Dr. Mark T. Esper, a 1986 West Point graduate, served in the Infantry with the 101st Airborne during the 1990–91 Gulf War and commanded a Rifle Company in Italy before retiring in 2007 after 10 active-duty years and 11 in the Guard/Reserve. Post-military, he served as Chief of Staff at The Heritage Foundation, advisor to Senator Hagel and Senate Majority Leader Frist, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Bush. A decorated veteran with awards including the DoD Medal for Distinguished Public Service, he earned an MPA from the Kennedy School and a doctorate from George Washington University. He served as Secretary of the Army before becoming the 27th Secretary of Defense (July 23, 2019–Nov. 9, 2020).

Jake Sullivan

Former U.S. National Security Advisor

Jake Sullivan served as the National Security Advisor for the Biden administration from 2021 to 2025. A seasoned foreign policy expert, he was a senior policy advisor for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Obama administration. At the State Department, he was Director of Policy Planning and a key senior advisor in the Iran nuclear negotiations, significantly shaping U.S. strategy. Sullivan is a Yale College graduate, Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and Yale Law School alumnus who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In January 2025, he joined Harvard Kennedy School as the inaugural Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order.

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