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Connecticut, as we all know, is actually a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Yet only half of Connecticut residents said they were proud of the state in a recent survey, even though 73% felt it was a good place to live. Part of the challenge is that Connecticut has not defined itself around its resources and attributes; there are few who can describe  what’s wonderful about our state and those in Fairfield County might see it merely as a suburb of New York. Governor Lamont is determined to change that so that people know better what makes Connecticut special.

Anthony M. Anthony is an executive marketing and communications professional currently serving as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the State of Connecticut. As the first CMO, he oversees the newly created Office of Statewide Marketing and Tourism, working tirelessly to shape and promote a compelling narrative about Connecticut as an exceptional place to live, work, and play.

Previously, Anthony served as the Special Advisor and Communications Director to Governor Ned Lamont, where his storytelling skills and strategic guidance contributed to Governor Lamont’s high approval ratings.

Anthony’s expertise was built over the years in the private sector as a creative director and strategist at boutique brand communications agencies in New York City guiding Fortune 500 brands across the tech, media, consumer packaged goods, hospitality, and healthcare sectors.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Anthony enjoys a good cup of coffee, cooking for his wife and two children, and voraciously consuming pop-culture from the last 70 years.

Aaron Cooper has dedicated his career to pre-k through grade 9 independent school education.  He has been a teacher, coach, advisor, and administrator for the last 22 years.  Aaron Cooper joined New Canaan Country School in July 2018.

Aaron earned an Ed.M. in Private School Leadership and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University; he received his B.A. in the Growth and Structure of Cities from Haverford College, and a diploma from Groton School.

Juliet Cain is a cofounder of the Darien Pollinator Pathway with Deepika Saksena. The DPP seeks, through events and publications as well as through advocacy at the state and local levels, to help eliminate the use of pesticides in our yards and public spaces and to restore pollinator populations with native plantings. As former Chair of the Darien Beautification Commission, Juliet spearheaded the native plantings on the slopes at the Darien Town Hall.

Darien Pollinator Pathways is a part of a larger undertaking to create a corridor of adjacent properties—private residences and public spaces—that provide safe habitat for birds, bees, butterflies and other insects. The goal is to make Darien one big pollinator pathway with private, commercial and municipal spaces being pesticide free and hosting native plants. Native plants, as opposed to invasives, are plants that existed before Europeans arrived. These plants will be more resilient, low-maintenance and healthy choices for gardens, and will support native insects and birds—enhancing our natural ecosystems.

Even while veterans are often welcomed home from combat tours as heroes, they also may encounter long term neglect in health care, disorientation and PTSD, and even homelessness. This presentation will address these challenges, their scale, their conditions, and programs that seek to address them.

Brigadier General, (Ret.), USA, Ronald P. “Ron” Welch is the Connecticut Commissioner of the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs. Ron enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 22, 1978, and served on active duty with the 2 Ranger Battalion of the 75 Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis Washington. During his active-duty service, he attained the rank of sergeant and completed Basic Airborne School, Ranger School, Jungle Warfare Course, USMC Amphibious Recon Scout Swimmer Course, Jumpmaster Course, Primary Non-Commission Officer Course, USMC Scout Sniper Course, Emergency Medical Technician Course, Special Operations and Tactics Course, and the Pathfinder School. On May 4, 1981, he sustained serious injuries during a line of duty parachute accident. He left active service after completing his tour of duty on October 2, 1982.

He returned home and joined the Connecticut National Guard and eventually attended Officer Candidate School and on August 11, 1984, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. He then served full-time in numerous positions in the Connecticut National Guard’s Infantry units as a rifle platoon leader, company commander, and various staff positions. He was promoted to Colonel on October 1, 2004, and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2005 to 2006 as a senior American advisor to an Afghan National Army, Infantry Brigade located in Eastern Afghanistan, providing training, advice, and conducting combat operations.

He retired from military service in 2017. Following his retirement, General Welch sought opportunities to provide support for veterans and active-duty service members and families, and he accepted a position as Vice President of Military and Family Services for Veterans Rally Point with Easterseals Capital Region and Eastern Connecticut, a nonprofit organization that provides expanded access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities for those with disabilities and the veteran population.

Brigadier General Welch is a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992 and a Master of Science degree in organizational management in 2007. He also earned a Master of Strategic Studies in 2011 from the U.S. Army War College.

He resides in southeastern Connecticut. His oldest son Stephen is a combat veteran with three tours. He is a full-time Physician Assistant for the CT National Guard, previously serving in the ED at Yale, a daughter Katherine is attending Quinnipiac University in the Occupational Therapy master’s program. And his youngest son Ethan is entering his senior year at Pennsylvania State University majoring in Public Health.

HBS Community Partners

Harvard Business School Club of Connecticut Community Partners (CP) is a group of HBS alumni who work with Connecticut nonprofits on a pro-bono basis. CP works with about 17 nonprofits each year, largely strategic planning assignments of 3-4 months and staffed by  5-7 volunteers. CP also provides 1-2 scholarships for outstanding nonprofit leaders to the HBS program SPNM (Strategi Perspectives in Non-profit  Management), a one week intensive program using the case method for nonprofits taught by HBS professors. CP also awards the Turbo Award of $ 20,000 every other year to a nonprofit who can best leverage this amount. CP will celebrate its 20^th anniversary in 2025.

Andrew Traub will discuss the Community Partners organization and three local case studies of clients as a means of introducing the program to DMA members who may be involved with non profits and service agencies that may be good candidates for pro bono consulting assistance or members who may want to contribute. A speaker from Post 53 will discuss their organization as well as CP’s strategic planning project for them.  Andrew will also discuss  CP work with Darien Community Fund and the Bruce Museum in Greenwich.

Andrew Traub has been a board member of the Harvard Business School Club of Connecticut for 13 years. He has worked on forty projects in social services, education and the arts. Andrew has been board president and chaired several subcommittees. Andrew, a third-generation retailer, worked in this industry for over 40 years as a C level executive of retail and wholesale companies and a consultancy in retail strategy and international brand development. He has been a keynote speaker in both the US and China. Andrew and his wife, Lois, who is a retired attorney, live in Stamford; they have three daughters who live in Arlington, Virginia; Croton on Hudson, NY; and Los Angeles; and four grandchildren.

Arranged by Jan Selkowitz and Tom Mullaney

Bonnie Siegler is the founder and creative director of award-winning, multi-disciplinary, graphic design studio, Eight and a Half. The author of Dear Client, a guide for people who work with creatives, and Signs of Resistance, a visual history of protest in America, she also taught design in the graduate schools of Yale University and the School of Visual Arts for many years. She lives in Westport.

Helene Stapinski is the nationally bestselling author of three memoirs: Five-Finger Discount, Murder in Matera, andBaby Plays Around. She writes regularly for The New York Times; her work has also appeared in The Washington Post,New York,Travel & Leisure, and dozens of other publications. She teaches at New York University and lives in Brooklyn.

Annelise Osborne is Chief Business Officer at Kadena, a blockchain technology company, where she is focused on upgrading finance. Annelise has over 20 years of experience in finance, credit, real estate, family office, risk, structuring, governance, and digital assets. She was previously Head of Institutional for Arca Labs, working with companies to drive blockchain innovation through strategic partnerships and advisory services as well as COO of Propellr, a broker dealer in digital assets. Annelise spent 12 years at Moody’s Investor Service running teams in structured finance. She is a thought leader, board advisor, university lecturer and author. Her book, From Hoodies to Suits: Innovating Digital Assets in Traditional Finance, hit shelves in June. Annelise holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics from The College of William and Mary.

Jon E. Zagrodzky serves as First Selectman for the Town of Darien, having been elected to this position on November 7, 2023. Jon’s prior Town roles include: member of the Board of Selectmen; member and chairman of the Board of Finance; member of the Town and Police Pension Board; member of the Public Works Garage and Ox Ridge School Building Committee Board; member and president of the Darien Historical Society.

Until his December 2023 retirement, Jon served as COO and CFO at Rhône Group, LLC, a middle market private equity firm, where he was responsible for finance, operations, human resources, administration, information technology, and business planning. Prior to Rhône, he was CAO and Chief Compliance Officer at Oak Hill Capital Management and before that spent 16 years at McKinsey & Company.

Jon earned a BA in Economics and Romance Languages from Washington & Lee University and an MBA from The Wharton School.  He is a commercial pilot and owns a Piper Seneca III. Jon moved to Darien with his wife, Sara, and their two children, Maggie and Jack, in 2005.

John Sullivan, our American ambassador who was on the diplomatic front lines when Putin invaded Ukraine,  will share a behind-the-scenes account of how U.S.-Russia relations hit their nadir

For weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, John J. Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, was warning that it would happen. When troops finally crossed the border, he was woken in the middle of the night with a prearranged code. The signal was even more bracing than the February cold: it meant that Sullivan needed to collect his bodyguards and get to the embassy as soon as possible. The war had begun, and the world would never be the same.

In Midnight in Moscow, Sullivan leads readers into the offices of the U.S. embassy and the halls of the Kremlin during this climactic period—among the most dangerous since World War II. He shows how the Putin regime repeatedly lied about its intentions to invade Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the attack, while also devoting huge numbers of personnel and vast resources to undermining the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia. And he explains how, when Putin ultimately gave the order to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he proved that Russia was not just at war with its neighbor: it was also at war, in a very real sense, with the United States, and with everything that it represents. But while Putin decided how this conflict started, its ending will be shaped by us.

With his unique perspective on a pivotal moment in world history, Sullivanshows how our relationship with Russia has deteriorated, where it’s headed, and how far we should be prepared to go in standing up to the menace in Moscow.

Mark Nunan, a long time DMA member and prolific convener and presenter, will provide a focus on Slovenia, its history and place historically in Europe and in the geopolitics of the 20th century—the nature of the country, its experience in the world wars, its post-war assimilation by Yugoslavia, and its eventual emergence as an independent nation.

Slavoj Žižek, philosopher and Director of the Birbeck Institute of the Humanities at London University is the best-known Slovenian public intellectual. He has pointed to the many paradoxes characterizing the Balkans, and his home country, as follows.

“This very alibi confronts us with the first of many paradoxes concerning Balkan: its geographic delimitation was never precise. It is as if one can never receive a definitive answer to the question, “Where does it begin?” For Serbs, it begins down there in Kosovo or Bosnia, and they defend the Christian civilization against this Europe’s Other. For Croats, it begins with the Orthodox, despotic, Byzantine Serbia, against which Croatia defends the values of democratic Western civilization. For Slovenes, it begins with Croatia, and we Slovenes are the last outpost of the peaceful Mitteleuropa. For Italians and Austrians, it begins with Slovenia, where the reign of the Slavic hordes starts. For Germans, Austria itself, on account of its historic connections, is already tainted by Balkanic corruption and inefficiency. For some arrogant Frenchmen, Germany is associated with the Balkanian Eastern savagery—up to the extreme case of some conservative anti-European-Union Englishmen for whom, in an implicit way, it is ultimately the whole of continental Europe itself that functions as a kind of Balkan Turkish global empire with Brussels as the new Constantinople, the capricious despotic center threatening English freedom and sovereignty. So Balkan is always the Other: it lies somewhere else, always a little bit more to the southeast, with the paradox that, when we reach the very bottom of the Balkan peninsula, we again magically escape Balkan. Greece is no longer Balkan proper, but the cradle of our Western civilization.”

That’s a lot to think about! Mark will try to sort it out.

Mark, who currently lives in Slovenia, was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1953. At an early age, he moved to Alabama. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1976. He continued his education at Stanford University, where he was awarded a master’s in 1979 and a Ph.D. in 1983. Mark also studied at L’ENS (L’école normale supérieure) and at the University of Paris-Sorbonne in Paris as part of his Ph.D. program.

Mark started his career at COS Inc. in 1982 in Palo Alto, Calif., and then transferred to Paris and New York City, where he retired as a senior vice president in 2018. COS is a private firm that provides business and economic development services, assisting companies and governments to research, develop and implement new business expansion opportunities globally.