About
Our Mission
The Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab (LDNS Lab) advances character-driven leadership, diplomacy, and national security education and training in support of the full range of university enterprises. Led by diplomatic and national security professionals, The Lab dedicates itself to learner-centered solutions and thought leadership through a global network of partners employing state of the art learning tools.
Events, Timely Announcements and News
Interviews
Support the LDNS Lab
The Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab will center on diplomacy, character-driven leadership
“The launch of the LDNS Lab demonstrates the opportunities ASU can offer our community by leveraging the university’s presence in Washington, D.C., and Phoenix. Freakley, Polt and O’Donnell each have decades of strategic knowledge and experience that our students and faculty can learn from to further engage with issues of importance locally, nationally and internationally,” said ASU President Michael Crow. "We are excited to give learners this chance to engage with and learn from the most experienced and distinguished diplomacy and leadership experts our university has to offer.”
Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab team
LDNS team
Benjamin C. Freakley
Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Retired
Special Advisor to the President for Leadership Initiatives, Arizona State University
Co-founder, Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab
Ambassador Michael C. Polt
ASU Ambassador-in-Residence and Professor of Practice
Co-founder, Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab
Kathy Cook
Executive Director
Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab and
Military and Strategic Initiatives, Office of University Affairs
Ambassador Roderick Moore
Professor of Practice, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University
Ambassador Edward B. O’Donnell
Professor of Practice, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University
Co-founder, Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab
Ambassador David J. Scheffer
Professor of Practice
Ashley Wright
Program Manager, Sr.
Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab
School of Politics and Global Studies
Kristi Hickman
Administrative Specialist
Leadership, Diplomacy, and National Security Lab
Zoë Zarola
Program Coordinator, LDNS Education Programs
Leadership, Diplomacy, and National Security Lab
Ally Lakis
Research Aide
Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab
Distinguished Faculty and Practitioners
Distinguished university fellow
Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, U.S. Army (Ret)
ASU Distinguished University Fellow
Distinguished fellows
Vern M. “Rusty” Findley
Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force, Retired
John F. Goodman
Lieutenant General, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired
Marcela Monahan
Brigadier General, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired
Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum
Ambassador
Jennifer M. Short
Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force, Retired
Keith M. Smith
Rear Admiral (Upper Half), U.S. Coast Guard, Retired
Junior fellows
James Africano
Fall 2025
Aman Barekzai
Fall 2021
Drew DeBenedetti
Fall 2024
Julia Döll
Fall 2023
Stirling Ewing
Fall 2023
Anish Kolan
Spring 2024
Robert Lavender
Fall 2022
Kai Macauley
Summer 2026
Zahraa Manasir
Spring 2026
Emily Marroquin
Fall 2025
Mariah Maury
Spring 2022
Lillian Meyer
Spring 2025
Thomas Morgan
Fall 2023
Efren Trejo Pantaleon
Spring 2025
Devin Parker
Spring 2023
Jesus Manuel Rendon-Silva, Jr.
Spring 2025
Sophia Said
Fall 2024
Sydney Selde
Fall 2021
Ryan Sheldon
Spring and Fall 2026
Loren Smith
Fall 2023
Blake Su
Spring 2024
Ella Wofford
Fall 2022
Chelsea Wright
Summer 2026
Jamshid Yarzada
Spring 2022
Angel Zelaya
Spring 2023
ASU World Innovators
Esther Akafia
Ghana
Youth
Giorgi Akhmeteli
Georgia
Human Rights
Mohammad H. Al-Tarawneh
Jordan
International Lawyer, Trainer, and Consultant for International Corporations and INGOs
Founder of Al-Tarawneh Law Firm and Blue Umbrella
Abdalaziz Alhamza
Syria
Journalism
Bashar Alsorri
Palestine
Youth
Ezzeddine Ben Rhima
Tunisia
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Judge Selamawit Girmay Birhane
Ethiopia
Regional Director, Human Rights Monitoring and Investigation Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
Youth/Government Reform
Dr. Dael Dervishi
Albania
Head of International Relations and Projects Office
Head of Public Law Department at Law Faculty Luarasi University
Mira Y. Dumbuya
Sierra Leone
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)
Police Planning Officer Police Division, United Nations, New York.
Founder, Next Generation Reformers (NGR), Sierra Leone.
Sokayna El Allam
Morocco
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Eman Sayed ELabd
Egypt
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Economist, Ministry of Finance Egypt
Maryam Faghih Imani
Iran/Norway
Human Rights
Ljubomir Filipović
Montenegro
Government Reform
Edlira Gjoni
Albania
Government Reform
Talitha Goldmann-Kefalas
Germany
Transformation Expert (W4G)
German Ministry of the Finances
International Leadership Coach/ Self-employed
Rosie Gomez
United States
Chief of Staff/Senior Advisor
Human Trafficking
Administration for Native Americans
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
León Hernández
Caracas - Venezuela
Investigador / Docente
Centro de Investigación de la Comunicación
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello
Zaw Tu Hkawng
Myanmar
Human Rights
Founder and Program Manager, Through the Eyes of Agony Art Program for Myanmar’s Displaced Children, Myanmar
Vimal Kumar
India
Human Rights
Batu Kutelia
Georgia
Ximena Lainfiesta
Guatemala
Human Rights
Siham Mamand
KRD, Iraq
Dr. Erkaiym Mambetalieva
Kyrgyz Republic
Government Reform
Founder & CEO, Central Asian Research Institute on Corruption and Money Laundering
Docent at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
Zaheer Abbas Maseed
Pakistan
Chairperson at HEELA Institute for Research and Development
Sahana Mishra
India
Human Rights
Nathalie Mondésir
Haiti
Diego Mora Bello
Colombia
Chief Communications Analyst
United Nations Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Peace in Colombia
Lida Noory
United States
Lida Noory has more than 20 years of experience across federal and non-governmental sectors, working with international governments, civil society, private sector, and academia on foreign and domestic related policies as well as international development.
Michael Petric
Singapore
Aliz Pocsuvalszki
Hungary
Educator, Community Organizer
Judge Jerlie Requerme
Philippines
Government Reform
Gantuya Sainkhuu
Mongolia
Author and Executive Director of SIS
Narges Shahi
Iran
Research and Development Partner Women Empowerment Advocate
Youth Trainer and Educationist
Kateryna Smagliy
Ukraine
Government Reform