Biographies
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
 Congresswoman Betty McCollum
Betty McCollum is a Democrat serving her fifth term in the United States Congress representing the families of Minnesota’s Fourth District. In 2000, McCollum made history as the second Minnesotan woman elected to serve in Congress since statehood.
As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the State Department and Foreign Operations, McCollum is working to promote effective U.S. leadership in confronting the global AIDS pandemic, supporting investments that reduce extreme poverty and hunger, and improving the status and health of women and children around the world.
McCollum is a strong supporter of expanding the Peace Corps and a co-founder of the Congressional Global Health Caucus. McCollum also serves on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
McCollum holds the prestigious position of Senior Democratic Whip within the House Democratic Caucus. McCollum is a graduate of the College of St. Catherine.
PANELISTS
Mark Blackden
Mark Blackden is currently an IFC Consultant and former Regional Gender Coordinator/Lead Specialist for Africa under the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network of the World Bank.
Blackden has more than 25 years of operational experience with the World Bank in Anglo phone and Francophone Africa, focusing on public sector management, project development and supervision, poverty analysis, building donor and other partnerships, gender, participation, and design/delivery of learning activities. Blackden has worked extensively on initiatives to integrate gender into Poverty-Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs).
Blackden received his Master’s degree in International Relations from Georgetown University.
 Mary Ellen Iskenderian
Mary Ellen Iskenderian is President and CEO of Women’s World Banking (WWB). Iskenderian leads the WWB global team in providing hands-on technical services and strategic support to more than 50 top-performing microfinance institutions and banks in 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
Iskenderian has more than 20 years of experience in building global financial systems throughout the developing world and has become a leading voice for women’s leadership and participation in microfinance, and a strong advocate for the role of capital markets in the sector.
Iskenderian holds an MBA from the Yale School of Organization and Management and a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
 Ellie Larson
Ellie Larson was appointed Executive Director of the Solidarity Center in 2006.
She has taught graduate-level classes on intercultural communications, leadership, and business ethics, as well as seminars on varied topics in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.
She has published numerous articles and speeches and represents the Solidarity Center at international forums.
Larson holds a Master’s degree in International Management from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.
 Linda Wertheimer
As NPR's senior national correspondent, Linda Wertheimer travels the country and the globe for NPR News, bringing her unique insights and wealth of experience to bear on the day's top news stories.
Before taking the senior national correspondent post, Wertheimer spent 13 years as a host of NPR's flagship news magazine, All Things Considered.
From 1974 to 1989, Wertheimer covered national politics and Congress for NPR, serving as its congressional and then national political correspondent.
Wertheimer has received numerous journalism awards. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds honorary degrees from Colby College, Wheaton College, and Illinois Wesleyan University.
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