Global Board of Advisors

Overview

The Global Board of Advisors (GBA) consists of prominent individuals, including business leaders, noted academics, and former government officials from developed and emerging-market countries. The prestigious group provides CFR with insight about their regions and also offers a mechanism for members of the GBA to join discussions on international relations and the U.S. role in the world. The GBA has no role in CFR governance. The Global Board is chaired by David M. Rubenstein, CFR Board chairman.

Members of the Global Board of Advisors, taken at the October 2024 Annual Meeting
Members of the CFR Global Board of Advisors Ivan Villegas

Members of the Global Board of Advisors

Henadi Al Saleh, Chairman, Agility, Kuwait

Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management, Allianz SE, Germany

Julie Bishop, Chancellor, The Australian National University, Australia

James Brocklebank, Managing Partner, Advent International, United Kingdom

David Cameron, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom 

Anatoly Chubays, Visiting Professor in Practice, London School of Economics; Former Chief Executive Officer, Rusnano, Russia

Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Nigeria

Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer, Eni, Italy

Paul G. Desmarais Jr., Chairman, Power Corporation of Canada, Canada

André Esteves, Senior Partner, BTG Pactual, Brazil

José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, Executive Chairman of the Board, FEMSA, Mexico

Christoph Heusgen, Chairman, Munich Security Conference, Germany

Fred Hu, Founder and Chairman, Primavera Capital Group, China

Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chairman, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Sudan

Ali Y. Koç, Vice Chairman, Koç Holdings A.Ş., Turkey

Frank Lowy, Chairman of the Board, Lowy Institute, Australia

Andrónico Luksic Craig, Chairman, Quiñenco S.A., Chile

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, India

James Mwangi, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Equity Group Holdings, Kenya

Takeshi Niinami, President and Chief Executive Officer, Suntory Holdings Limited, Japan

Lubna Olayan, Chair of the Executive Committee and Deputy Chair, Olayan Financing Company, Saudi Arabia

Gbenga Oyebode, Cofounder and Of Counsel, Aluko & Oyebode, Nigeria

Victor Pinchuk, Founder, EastOne Group, Ukraine

Carlos Rodríguez-Pastor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Interbank, Peru

Suzan Sabancı, Chairman, Akbank, Turkey

John Sawers, Former Chief, Secret Intelligence Service MI6; Founder and Executive Chairman, Newbridge Advisory, United Kingdom

Javier Solana, Former Secretary-General, NATO; President, ESADEgeo–Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, Spain

Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, OCP Group, Morocco

Tidjane Thiam, Executive Chairman, Freedom Acquisition I Corporation, France and Ivory Coast

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark, Denmark

Patrick Walujo, Cofounder and Managing Partner, Northstar Group, Indonesia