Mission Imperative
Forging a path toward American prosperity and global competitiveness by accelerating bipartisan economic, strategic, and technological policy solutions.
Why "Silverado"?
Silverado's name is a nod to the Silverado Trail, a 29-mile route that passes through the heart of California's Napa Valley. When the trail was constructed in 1852, it created a new path toward prosperity for California's workers and merchants, connecting mineral mines in the northern valley to commercial shipping routes in the south. Today, the trail winds through the heart Napa Valley's wine country, offering a scenic view of world-class vineyards and the valley's magnificent mountains.
Like its namesake, Silverado is forging a new path toward American prosperity in the 21st century—and serving up plenty of wine along the way.
History
At the dawn of the 21st century, the U.S. is embroiled in a new contest for global leadership with its strategic competitors. How did we arrive at this moment in history, and what can the past teach us about America's path into the future?
Silverado Team
Dmitri Alperovitch
Dmitri Alperovitch is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, national bestselling author of “World on the Brink: How American Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century,” founder of the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and Co-Founder and former CTO of CrowdStrike Inc., one of the world's largest cybersecurity firms. A renowned thought leader on geopolitics, great power competition and cybersecurity strategy, technology visionary and business executive, Alperovitch has served as special advisor to the Department of Defense and currently serves on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Advisory Council and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's Cyber Safety Review Board. His writings on geopolitics, foreign policy and cybersecurity issues have appeared in major news outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Economist and Foreign Affairs, and he is a regular national security contributor to national and international online and television news programs. Alperovitch is also an active angel investor and board member of multiple high-growth technology companies. He has been named as one of Fortune Magazine's “40 Under 40” most influential young people in business, and Politico Magazine has featured Alperovitch as one of “Politico 50” influential thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics. Alperovitch was also named a "D.C. Tech Titan" and one of the 500 most influential people in Washington by Washingtonian Magazine in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He is the host and creator of Silverado's popular "Geopolitics Decanted" podcast, dedicated to expert analysis of the most pressing national security and geopolitical challenges of our time. In 2023, DHS presented Alperovitch with the Outstanding Americans by Choice recognition for his civic and professional contributions as a naturalized U.S. citizen, the highest recognition of its type that the Department can bestow.
Maureen Hinman
Maureen Hinman is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator. Ms. Hinman, a leading policy expert on the intersection of energy, environment, and the economy, most recently served as Director for Environment and Natural Resources at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. At USTR she led a range of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trade policy initiatives focused on the environmental goods and services sector as well as natural resource conservation. Ms. Hinman previously served as the U.S. Department of Commerce’s senior industry trade specialist leading international policy development and interagency advocacy for the U.S. environmental technology industry. Prior to entering federal service Hinman consulted on regional integration and trade policy implementation at a Washington-based economic policy consultancy. Ms. Hinman serves as a cleared advisor to USTR and Member of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC). She also serves on the Bipartisan Policy Center's Climate and Trade Advisory Council, and as a policy advisor for the Carbon Leadership Council's Center for Climate and Trade. Ms. Hinman was named to Washingtonian Magazine's 2022, 2023, and 2024 "Tech Titan" list. Ms. Hinman has published numerous technical papers on trade and economic security issues, and regularly presents to domestic and international audiences including senior government officials and Members of Congress.
Sarah Stewart
Sarah V. Stewart is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Silverado Policy Accelerator. Ms. Stewart has nearly two decades of experience as an international trade lawyer, trade policy expert, and trade negotiator. In her current role, Ms. Stewart works to implement Silverado's mission in areas including geopolitics, national security, international trade, critical supply chains, and energy and environment. Ms. Stewart's views are featured in national publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Politico, and she is a regular speaker at domestic and international conferences.
Immediately prior to joining Silverado, Ms. Stewart led the public policy efforts at Amazon on U.S. trade policy and export controls matters. From 2013 to 2018, Ms. Stewart worked for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, with her most recent position being the Deputy Assistant USTR for Environment and Natural Resources. During her time at USTR, Ms. Stewart was the lead environment chapter negotiator for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the European Union. Prior to joining USTR, Ms. Stewart served in different legal and policy roles at the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, including spearheading a first-ever international legal group. Ms. Stewart began her career at the Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, where she worked for over five years on behalf of U.S. manufacturing companies and workers.
Ms. Stewart serves as a policy advisor for the Center for Climate and Trade, is a fellow at the National Security Institute, and is on the advisory board of American University's Washington College of Law Program on Environmental and Energy Law.
Debra Delay
Debra Delay is the Chief Operating Officer at the Silverado Policy Accelerator. Ms. Delay is an international business and trade expert with 25 years of professional experience spanning the private and public sectors. Immediately prior to joining Silverado, she served as Director of the Steel and Aluminum Section 232 exclusions program at the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. During her 17+ year federal government career at ITA, she also served as Director of Strategic Planning, Director of Customer Experience; and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service. Earlier in her career, Ms. Delay worked in the Boston, MA office of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, advising small and medium sized companies on exporting. She also worked in sales operations and marketing roles at several private sector firms prior to joining government service. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature from Smith College and holds a master’s degree in International Business and Trade from the Fletcher School of Tufts University.
Andrew David
Andrew S. David is Vice President of Research and Analysis at Silverado Policy Accelerator. Mr. David has almost two decades of experience working on international trade and environmental issues. In his current role, Mr. David led Silverado’s research for publications on China’s semiconductor industry, Russia’s access to foreign technology, and critical minerals supply chains. His research is featured in national and international publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Bloomberg.
Prior to joining Silverado, he worked on trade issues at the U.S. International Trade Commission, where he managed projects on trade, industry competitiveness, and environmental goods. He also authored or co-authored numerous papers and reports on advanced technology products, environmental goods, renewable energy equipment, and other topics while working at the USITC. Prior to joining the USITC, he was a Next Generation Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research. He also worked at the Cadmus Group and the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Duke University and holds master’s degrees from the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Department of Asian Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.
Mahnaz Khan
Mahnaz Khan is the Vice President of Policy for Critical Supply Chains. Ms. Khan has more than 15 years of experience developing international trade strategies and advising on the economic and legal impacts of trade policy measures at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. International Trade Commission, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Prior to joining Silverado Policy Accelerator, she was the Director of South Asia at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where she restarted high-level bilateral trade discussions with South Asian countries, leading to the resolution of longstanding trade barriers for U.S. companies. While at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Ms. Khan spearheaded a number of impactful projects on environmental goods, digital trade, industry competitiveness, and trade preference programs. As a senior industry expert at the U.S. InternationalTrade Commission, she also authored or co-authored over 20 publications and spoke at international conferences on these trade topics. Ms. Khan started her career in the private sector, investigating securities fraud and insider trading at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority during the peak of the 2008-10 financial crisis. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and operations management from Boston University and holds a Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Andy Knipe
Andy Knipe is Silverado Policy Accelerator’s Director of Research and Analysis. Mr. Knipe has more than a decade of experience working on issues related to international trade, economic development, and industry competitiveness. Prior to joining Silverado, Mr. Knipe was an international economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, where he led economic analyses in trade remedy investigations on a wide variety of industries and products. He has authored or co-authored numerous reports and papers involving the solar industry, natural resources, steel products, mining and minerals, and more. Mr. Knipe also served as editor-in-chief and managing editor of the ITC’s Journal of International Commerce and Economics. Prior to the ITC, Mr. Knipe served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, where he worked on projects involving CSR practices, financial management, entrepreneurship, and fair trade certification. Mr. Knipe began his career as a political organizer and nonprofit director, where he managed fundraising and advocacy projects related to renewable energy, conservation, and human rights. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Binghamton University and a master’s degree in global finance, trade, and economic integration from the University of Denver.
David Kelm
David Kelm is a Policy Analyst at Silverado who originally joined the team in the summer of 2023 as a participant in the Catherine Hinman Fellowship program. He holds undergraduate degrees in political science and technical English writing and is currently in his final year at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, pursuing a Master's in International Human Rights along with a certificate in global environmental change and adaptation. David has previously served as a research assistant at the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy. His areas of particular interest lie in the intersections of clean energy transition and human rights.
Paige Graham
Paige Graham is a Research and Policy Analyst at Silverado. She joined us in the summer 2023 as a member of the inaugural Catherine Hinman Fellowship program. Ms. Graham was a student at the University of Georgia, where she completed her undergraduate studies in International Affairs and Spanish. She participated in a 4+1 program and finished her Masters of International Policy with a dual concentration in energy security and non-proliferation. She has experience working as a research assistant at the Center for International Trade and Security and as a legislative fellow for her local Georgia House of Representatives member.
Brooklyn Graham
Brooklyn Graham is an Catherine Hinman Memorial Fellowship alum and current intern with Silverado. She is a M.P.P Candidate at Penn State and President of the Public Policy Association.Brooklyn has presented research at the American Democracy Project conference. Her focus encompasses health, environment, and trade policies, dedicated to fostering sustainable and equitable practices through innovative research and policy analysis.
Strategic Council
honorary chairs
General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)
Partner, KKR and Chairman KKR Global Institute
The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull
Australia’s 29th Prime Minister
strategic advisors
Heather Adkins
Senior Director of Information Security at Google
Michael Allen
Managing Director, Beacon Global Strategies
Robert D. Atkinson
Founder and President, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
George David Banks
Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center
Jeremy Bash
Founder and Managing Director, Beacon Global Strategies
Thomas P. Bossert
President, TrinityCyber, Inc.
Wendy Cutler
Vice President, the Asia Society Policy Institute
Eliot Cohen
Professor, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Nicholas Consonery
Executive Director, The Eurasia Group
Ivo Daalder
President, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Richard Danzig
Former Secretary of the Navy; Senior Fellow, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
John Demers
Former Assistant Attorney General
Mark Galeotti
Principal Director, Mayak Intelligence
Steve Glickman
Founder and CEO, Develop LLC
Robert Ghilduta
President of Nuand LLC
Jamieson Greer
Partner, King & Spalding
Jason Healey
Senior Research Scholar, Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs
Jennifer Hillman
Professor of Practice, Georgetown Law Center
Jane Harman
Distinguished Scholar & President Emerita, Wilson International Center for Scholars
Jamil Jaffer
Founder and Executive Director, the National Security Institute; Vice President, IronNet Cybersecurity
Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
University Distinguished Service Professor emeritus and former Dean of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Richard H. Ledgett, Jr.
CEO, The Ledgett Group
Sandra Joyce
Executive Vice President, Mandiant Intelligence
Sarah Marie Jordaan
Associate Professor, McGill University
Sean Kanuck
Founder and CEO of EXEDEC
Kate Kalutkiewicz
Senior Managing Director, McLarty Associates
Ken Levinson
Chief Executive Officer, Washington International Trade Association (WITA)
Mark Linscott
Senior Advisor, The Asia Group; Senior Fellow, the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center
Jeanette Manfra
Director for Risk and Compliance, Google Cloud
Keith Mularksi
Managing Director, Ernst & Young LLP
Robin Millican
Sr. Director U.S. Policy & Advocacy, Breakthrough Energy
Nazak Nikakhtar
Partner, Wiley Rein LLP
Scott N. Paul
President, the Alliance for American Manufacturing
Katharina Kummer Peiry
Owner and Principal, Kummer EcoConsult
Jennifer Prescott
Director, Amazon Web Services
Catrina Rorke
Senior Vice President for Policy and Research, the Climate Leadership Council
Matthew Rojansky
President and Chief Executive Officer, The U.S. Russia Foundation.
Kristi M. Rogers
Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Principal to Principal (P2P)
Matthew Reisman
Director, Director of Privacy and Data Policy, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Nadia Schadlow
Founder, Scout Strategy Group LLC
Marie O’Neill Sciarrone
Chief Executive Officer, Tribal Tech
Terence P. Stewart
Former Managing Partner, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart
Matthew Spence
Managing Director and Global Head of Venture Capital Banking, Barclays
Chad Sweet
Co-Founder & CEO, The Chertoff Group
Dr. Jonathan Ward
Founder, Altas Organization
Michael R. Wessel
President, The Wessel Group Incorporated
Amy Zegart
Morris Arnold and Nona Jean Cox Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; Senior Fellow, the Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies
Realizing a comprehensive American strategy in the twenty-first century will require creativity and collaboration. Silverado works with a bipartisan group of policymakers, stakeholders, and experts to challenge build support for actionable policy initiatives and ignite a 21c race to the top.