Meet Our Team
The Foley Foundation is led by a committed Board of Directors and a hard-working full-time staff. We promise to support the families of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad with compassion and moral courage — and we promise to inform public debate and policy through research and education.
Board of Directors
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Diane M. Foley is President and Founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, JWFLF, which she created in September 2014 less than a month after the public beheading by ISIS in Syria of her son James W. Foley, an American freelance conflict journalist.
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Ellen Shearer is the William F. Thomas Professor Emerita of Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
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Ali Soufan is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Soufan Group. A leading national security and counterterrorism expert, he plays a significant advisory role in global intelligence issues.
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Rana H. Altenburg is associate vice president for public affairs at Marquette University. She leads the university’s governmental and community relations priorities and has worked at Marquette since 1996.
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Peter has been a member of the Leone, McDonnell & Roberts, Professional Association team since 2003. In his current role as Principal, he is responsible for multiple pension, 401(k) and 403(b) plan audits.
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Before retiring in 2019, Fernando Colina had a long career in Information Technology, having worked for large (IBM), small (CDB Software), and mid-sized (BMC Software) companies. There he held technical, management, and executive positions.
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Mark Donig is a Washington-based corporate attorney whose practice fuses international venture capital, technology, and commercial diplomacy.
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Chris Costa is the executive director of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor for Georgetown University with the Security Studies Program –Walsh School of Foreign Studies.
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Richard Gingras is global Vice President, News at Google. In that role Gingras guides Google’s strategy in how it surfaces news on Google search, Google News, and its smart devices.
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David Levinson is one of the seven children of Robert “Bob” Levinson, considered to be the longest held hostage in American history. After Bob was taken captive by Iranian authorities in March 2007, David and the Levinson family relentlessly advocated for Bob’s safe return, building relationships across the United States government and private industries, and…
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Neda Sharghi is the former Chair of The Bring Our Families Home Campaign, an advocacy campaign led by family members of Americans currently held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.
Staff
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Benjamin Gray leads the overall operations of the Foley Foundation to include strategic planning and execution, partner relationship management, legislative and policy advocacy, advocacy on behalf of hostage families, program oversight, fundraising, and leadership of the staff.
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Amy plans, organizes, and executes each of the Foley Foundation’s major fundraisers and events to include the annual Foley Freedom Run and Foley Freedom Awards. She is the primary contact for corporate sponsors, manages the Foundation’s media operations, and is the New Hampshire office manager.
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As Education Program Director, Tom cultivates relationships with Foundation partners, including non-profits, universities, and media organizations. He also maintains, updates, and develops the James W. Foley Journalist Safety Curricula with Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication, Foley Foundation board members, and other safety experts.
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Liz serves as a touchpoint for the families of hostages and wrongful detainees, advocates for them and their loved ones with government officials. She also conducts research on behalf of the Foley Foundation to advance evidence-based policy focused on the effectiveness of the U.S. government hostage enterprise, the needs of hostages and wrongful detainees and…
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Patti provides administrative support in the Foundation’s New Hampshire office.
Foley Fellows & Interns
Malavika Ramakrishnan
Medill Foley Fellow – Summer/Fall 2024
Sophia Tiedge
Marquette Foley Fellow – Fall/Winter 2024
Advisory Council
Peter Bergen
Mickey Bergman
David G. Bradley
Beth Cooper
Hugh Dugan
Robert C. D’Amico
David Ewald
Ryan Fayhee
Dennis Fitzpatrick
Kathy Gest
Sam Goodwin
Richard Griffin
Delphine Halgand
Luke Hartig
Dr. Bruce Hoffman
Kate Joyce
Michael Joyce
Bob Klamser
Eric Lebson
Diane Lebson
Emily Lenzner
Tresha Mabile
Bryan Maxwell
David McCraw
Sarah Moriarty
Wendy Morigi
Mouaz Moustafa
Ursula Oaks
Doug Patteson
Daniel Presnell
Jason Rezaian
Yegi Rezaian
Robert Saale
Ameer Shalaby
Dana Shell Smith
Joel Simon
Jere Van Dyk
Judy Woodruff
Nizar Zakka
