Washington, DC – IRI today announced that Michael Kostiw, Stephan M. Minikes, John F.W. Rogers, Margaret Tutwiler and Robert B. Zoellick have joined its Board of Directors.
“We are honored to have Mike, Steve, John, Margaret and Bob join the Board of the International Republican Institute,” said IRI Board Chairman, Senator John McCain. “Their commitment to democracy and expertise in international affairs will be invaluable to IRI.”
Michael Kostiw, former Vice Chairman of IRI’s Board of Directors has returned to the board. Kostiw, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, served as the Senior Advisor to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Staff Director for the House Subcommittee on Terrorism and as vice President of International Government Affairs at Chevron Texaco Corporation. As senior advisory at the Central Intelligence Agency, Kostiw traveled the world meeting with key leaders building partnerships with congressional, military and political leaders.
Under the Chairmanship of Congressman Porter Goss, Kostiw led investigations and hearings on terrorist threats as Director of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism.
Kostiw spent more than 20 years with Texaco, Inc. and Chevron Texaco Corporation. He began his career as Manager of International Operations for Texaco heading up their Latin America and West Africa Divisions. He then took over as the General Manager for International Government Affairs where he oversaw the company’s relations with U.S. and foreign government officials. He was appointed Vice President of International Government Affairs at Chevron Texaco Corporation in 2001 a position he held until his retirement in 2003.
Kostiw is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Stephan M. Minikes is the former United States Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a position he held from 2001 until 2005. Minikes is currently Of Counsel to Xenophon Strategies, a strategic public and government affairs firm representing Fortune 500 American and European companies as well as major U.S. trade associations. He is also actively engaged in the oil and gas production business in the U.S.
As Ambassador, Minikes was involved in security, economic and political issues facing the Euro-Atlantic, U.S.-European Union, U.S.-Russia and U.S.-Eurasia relationships. He worked with more than 50 ambassadors representing countries throughout Europe and Eurasia to address a wide range of security-related concerns, including human rights and democratization, conflict prevention, post-conflict rehabilitation, confidence and security-building measures, counter-terrorism and arms control, and economic development. He also led the OSCE to become the foremost international organization at the government level on matters of racism, discrimination, anti-Semitism, migration, immigration and integration.
Prior to his appointment, Minikes practiced law for more than 30 years in New York and Washington, DC with the national law firm of Thelen Reid and Priest, LLP and served as Senior Vice President and a member of the management committee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Minikes also served as Counsel and Chief of Staff to the White House Energy Office and as Counsel to the Chief of Navel Operations (CNO) and as a member of the CNO’s senior staff.
Minikes lectures, principally in academic settings world-wide, on foreign policy, national defense, energy, international trade and finance, and human rights and democracy.
John F.W. Rogers is a Managing Director and member of the Management Committee of Goldman Sachs. He also serves as the firm’s Chief of Staff and Secretary to its Board of Directors. In that role Rogers oversees the company’s executive administration and is responsible for external, investor and government relations. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Rogers was a senior fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University.
Rogers spent more than a decade serving in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He served as Undersecretary of State for Management at the U.S. Department of State, where he was responsible for the Department’s worldwide operations. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and as an Assistant to the President of the United States at the White House.
Rogers is the Treasurer of the Ronald Reagan Foundation, a member of the Advisory Board of the National Museum of American History in Washington, and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Preservation Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Fine Arts Committee of the U.S. Department of State. He is also a member of the Board of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.
In 1985, Rogers was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Reagan. He is a recipient of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alexander Hamilton Award and the U.S. State Department’s Distinguished Service Award.
Margaret Tutwiler is the Executive Vice President for Communications and Government Relations of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), where she is responsible for communications, advertising, marketing and government relations. he also serves on the board of the New York Stock Exchange Foundation, Inc.
Prior to joining the NYSE, Tutwiler served as the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the U.S. State Department and served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco. She also served as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor for Communications.
Before joining the administration of President George W. Bush, Tutwiler worked in a grassroots lobbying firm in Alexandria, Virginia and as Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.
Tutwiler also served in the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. She served as the Spokesman and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs at the U.S. State Department, Assistant to the President for Communications at the White House, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Treasury, Deputy Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and Special Assistant to the President at the White House.
Robert B. Zoellick is a Vice Chairman, International, of Goldman Sachs Group and Chairman of the Board of Goldman Sachs International Advisors. He joined the firm in 2006 as a Managing Director.
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Zoellick served as Deputy Secretary of State at the U.S. State Department from 2005-2006. In addition to leading diplomatic efforts with China, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Sudan, Zoellick was the Chief Operating Officer of the Department.
Zoellick also served in President George W. Bush’s cabinet from 2001-2005 as the 13th U.S. Trade Representative. During his tenure, he completed the negotiations to bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization (WTO); helped launch the Doha Round global trade negotiations in the WTO, completed and enacted free trade agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia and Morocco; enacted agreements with Jordan and Vietnam; completed free trade agreements with five nations of Central America and the Dominican Republic, as well as with Bahrain; and worked with Congress to pass the Trade Act of 2002 , which reinstituted the President’s authority to negotiate trade agreements.
During President George H.W. Bush’s administration, Zoellick served as Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State as well as Counselor to the department. He served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s second term. Zoellick also served as an Executive Vice President at Fannie Mae, where he supervised the affordable housing business.
Zoellick is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, the Department of State’s highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Award of the Department of the Treasury, and the Medal for Distinguished Public Service of the Department of Defense. The German government awarded him the Knight Commanders Cross for his role in developing the United States strategy toward German unification.
Zoellick also serves on the Department of Defense Policy Board.
Top