Ambassador Robert J. Faucher, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, has previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), and Director for the Office of Western European Affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Faucher also held positions as Director in the offices of UN Political Affairs and UN Specialized and Technical Agencies in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

The Ambassador began his career in the Foreign Service in 1985 with his first posting in Suriname. He has held positions as Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. embassies in Belgium, Ireland, Suriname, and Luxembourg. He has also served in the Netherlands, the United States Mission to the European Union, and the United Kingdom. His previous positions in Washington include Deputy Office Director on the EU Desk, Special Assistant in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and Legal Adviser's Office Attorney Advisor for the Middle East and South Asia.

Mr. Faucher grew up in Arizona and holds BA and JD/MBA degrees from Arizona State University, an LLM degree from Edinburgh University, and an MS degree from the National Defense University’s National War College. He is the recipient of multiple State Department performance awards, including two Senior Foreign Service Performance awards, and speaks Dutch and French.

Dr. Glen Goodman is Senior Director for Latin America with ASU's International Development Initiative and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Brazilian Studies in ASU’s School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC). Dr. Goodman and the Latin America team work to harness ASU’s considerable expertise and capabilities to pursue funded projects in the region across development sectors. In SILC, Goodman teaches a variety of courses on Brazilian and Latin American culture and history. He also helps to coordinate research funding opportunities for SILC faculty.

Dr. Goodman’s historical research focuses on German migration and ethnicity in Brazil and has been published in journals such as German History, The Americas, and Global Food History. Prior to joining ASU, he was an Assistant Professor of Brazilian Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as a Fulbright Visiting Professor of History at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. He has secured research support from a number of top funding sources including the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Fulbright, and Fulbright-Hays.

Dr. Lily McElwee serves as President and CEO of the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations. With historic family ties to Arizona, she is passionate about subnational diplomacy and elevating the state’s role on the global stage.

Lily was previously deputy director and fellow in the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, and is a recognized expert in China’s foreign policy and relations with the United States, European Union, and the Global South. She has completed fellowships with the American Council on Germany, the CSIS-USC U.S.-Korea NextGen scholar program, the QUAD Task Force on China’s Strategic Futures organized by ORF America and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Lily has spent significant time living in the United Kingdom, China, and Germany.

Lily concurrently serves as an Adjunct Fellow at CSIS, and is publishing a book on the history of U.S. investment gatekeeping amid the rise of China as a Strategy and Policy Fellow with the Smith Richardson Foundation. She holds a DPhil in China studies and an MSc from the University of Oxford, and a BA with honors in political science from Stanford University.