July 8th, 2015  |  Featuring: Madeleine Albright & Colin Powell

The Daniel K. Inouye Institute Fund, a program of the Hawaii Community Foundation, and the University of Hawaii are proud to announce that the Library of Congress will be hosting a distinguished lecture series. Highlighting the importance Dan Inouye placed on bipartisanship and moral courage, the first annual lecture, in a series of five, will address shared values in U.S. foreign policy. The speakers will be Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, and the moderator will be Ann Compton, chief Washington correspondent with ABC News.

The inaugural lecture was formatted as a conversation between the two former secretaries of state. It explored how policymakers and elected officials from different political parties have historically found common ground and cooperation in the areas of foreign policy, diplomacy and international relations

Featured Speaker

Madeleine K. Albright

Former Secretary of State

Madeleine K. Albright is Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. Dr. Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. Named to this role in 1997, she became the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government up to that time.

From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Albright served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and was a member of the President’s Cabinet. She is a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Dr. Albright chairs the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. She is also the president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation and a member of an advisory body, the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board.

In 2012, she was chosen by President Obama to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of her contributions to international peace and democracy.

Featured Speaker

Colin Powell

Former Secretary of State

For over fifty years, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret) has devoted his life to public service, having held senior military and diplomatic positions across four presidential administrations. General Powell served as the 65th Secretary of State of the United States from January 2001 to January 2005.

General Powell served 35 years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of Four-Star General and served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993. He also served as National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan. He is the Chair of the Board of Visitors for the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at his alma mater, the City College of New York.

He is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the America’s Promise Alliance. Powell is a Strategic Advisor at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and serves on the Board of Directors of Bloom Energy and Salesforce.com. He is the author of two best-sellers, My American Journey and It Worked for Me.

Moderator

Ann Compton

ABC News

Ann Compton joined ABC News in 1973. Only weeks after the Watergate scandal came to an end in 1974, she became the first woman assigned to cover the White House on a full-time basis by a network television news organization, and she was one of the youngest to receive the assignment. From 2007-2008, Compton served as the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, coordinating coverage and access issues with the White House staff. On September 11, 2001, Compton was the only broadcast reporter allowed to remain aboard Air Force One during the dramatic hours when President Bush was unable to return to Washington. Reporting for all ABC News broadcasts, Compton has traveled around the globe and through all 50 states with presidents, vice presidents and first ladies. Twice during campaigns, she was invited to serve as a panelist for presidential debates (1988 and 1992), and she was assigned as a floor reporter at the 1976 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. In 2000, Compton became Chief Washington correspondent for ABCNews.com, where she wrote and anchored a digital political column, “On Background.”