Yohannes Abraham was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on September 19, 2022, after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Prior to assuming this position, Abraham served as Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the U.S. National Security Council (NSC). In this role, he oversaw NSC operations, the facilitation of the national security policy process, the White House Situation Room, and planning for President Biden’s diplomatic engagements at home and abroad. Before joining the NSC, Abraham was the Executive Director of the Biden-Harris Transition. Alongside current White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and former Senator Ted Kaufman, Abraham managed all aspects of transition planning and execution, including the national security, economic, and domestic policy planning teams and the Cabinet selection process. Abraham served in several White House roles during the Obama-Biden Administration, including as Senior Advisor to the National Economic Council and as Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement. He later helped set up the Obama Foundation as interim Chief Operating Officer. Abraham has also worked in the Vanguard Group’s global investment unit and taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government A native of Springfield, Virginia, Abraham holds a BA from Yale College and an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.

Steven Okun, Founder and CEO of APAC Advisors and Senior Advisor to McLarty Associates, is a leader on corporate public affairs, ESG, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement. A 21-year resident of Singapore, he spent the first twelve years of his career in Washington, DC, including in the Administration of President Bill Clinton as Deputy General Counsel at the US Department of Transportation. As KKR’s first Director of Asia Public Affairs from 2011-2017, he was one of the first people in the region working on ESG in private capital. From 2003-2010, he created and led Public Affair for UPS Asia. An in-demand speaker in the corporate and the financial services sector, Steve also appears frequently across global media, provides the weekly International News Review for MONEY FM (Singapore) and contributes commentary to Nikkei Asia, The Straits Times, The Business Times, Eco-Business and Asia Times.