Events

Jalal Abdel-Latif, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Biography

Hamza Saoudi, Economist, Policy Center for the New South

Hamza Saoudi is an Economist at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS). He is a graduate engineer from the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA). He is currently working on topics related to business cycles, unemployment, inequality, and poverty in developing countries. Hamza is also

interested in macroeconomic stabilization policies, international trade and growth, and long-term economic development. Prior to joining the Policy Center for the New South, he contributed to the conception of quantitative models for bank credit risks management.

Aleksandra Gadzala Tirziu, Senior Fellow, Africa Center, Atlantic Council

Aleksandra Gadzala Tirziu, PhD is a globally recognized risk analyst, author, corporate advisor, and university professor. She is Head of Research at The Singularity Group, Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council, and a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen and the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

Aleksandra is author of the highly acclaimed book, Africa and China: How Africans and Their Governments are Shaping Relations with China. Most recently Aleksandra founded Magpie Advisory, a political risk and global foresight research and advisory. She has held senior positions with global risk and strategic consulting firms including Control Risks and Oxford Analytica, Zurich Insurance, the United Nations Development Programme, and leading academic institutions, including Stanford and the University of Oxford. Aleksandra has been featured and interviewed in outlets including CNNMoney Switzerland, the World Economic Forum, Axios, Monocle, The National Interest, Bold Media, the European Parliament, and more. She holds a PhD and MPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford, and an honors BA in Political Science from Northwestern University.

Stephanie Wander, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, GeoTech Center, Atlantic Council

Stephanie Wander is a technology and innovation strategist with a successful track record of launching large-scale projects to solve global grand challenges. Ms. Wander’s approaches integrate innovation best practices and mindsets including design thinking, behavior change strategies, foresight techniques, and expert and public crowdsourcing.

Previously, Stephanie Wander was a Lecturer at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work where she taught graduate Social Work professionals in Design, Innovation, and Disruptive Technology. She is also a former Senior Manager of Prize Development at the XPRIZE Foundation, where she led the design of IBM Watson AI XPRIZE and competitions for on-demand urban aviation and tissue engineering. Ms. Wander was also a contributing designer on the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE and the Global Learning XPRIZE competitions.
Ms. Wander has written and spoken about disruptive technologies and processes, notably at NASA’s On-Demand Mobility Workshop, South by Southwest, and on CXOTalk. She co-authored the chapter “The Power of Prize Competitions” in the book What Matters: Investing in Results to Build Strong, Vibrant Communities. She has also been quoted by various publications including Sports Illustrated, Wired Germany, Vice, Engadget, Digitaltrends.com, Geekwire, Futurism, I Programmer, IFLscience, and The Verge.
Ms. Wander is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Northwestern University. Ms. Wander is passionate about collaborating with experts and teams to identify disruptive change, create meaningful opportunities, and deliver high-impact results through innovation.

Ali Wyne, Senior Analyst for Global Macro, Eurasia Group

Ali Wyne is a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro practice, focusing on US-China relations and great-power competition. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute. Ali has served as a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International

Peace, a research assistant at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. He received dual bachelor's degrees in management science and political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his master in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Ali is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a David Rockefeller fellow with the Trilateral Commission, and a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project. He also serves as a member of Foreign Policy for America's Leadership Circle and a member of the American Pakistan Foundation's Leadership Council. An avid coffee drinker, Ali continues to grow his collection of coffee mugs, cups, and tumblers.