Insights Series

Chris Walsh, Director of Freedom and Democracy at the Bush Institute, and Joseph Kim, Program Manager of Global Policy at the Bush Institute, will headline this webinar exclusively for Bush Center supporters at 11:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday, June 2. Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, the Kelly and David Pfeil Fellow at the Bush Institute, will moderate the conversation. Registrants will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Walsh manages programs that advance free societies globally and strengthen democracy domestically. On the global front, he leads projects to support dissidents and democracy advocates through skills development, collaborative networks, and storytelling. These efforts also highlight U.S. leadership that champions democracy, freedom, and human rights in the world, as well as the importance of maintaining strong alliances among democratic nations.

Domestically, Walsh supports the Institute’s broader efforts for strengthening American democracy. He leads projects promoting pluralism, civility, and civil discourse. This work seeks to equip leaders with insight and tools for practicing these values-based habits in their communities and contributing to a healthy democracy.

Kim was born and raised in North Korea. At the age of 12, his father died of starvation, and he was separated from his mother and sister. In 2006, Kim escaped North Korea via China, where he connected with an international NGO called Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). A year later, he left China for the United States and claimed refugee status under the North Korean Human Rights Act, signed by President George W. Bush in 2004. In 2013, Kim delivered a TED Talk on the importance of hope and published a memoir, Under the Same Sky.

Previously serving as the Executive Vice President and Interim President at Freedom House, Bibbins Sedaca brings over 15 years of expertise on American foreign policy, US and global democracy issues, freedom, human rights.

Find more information on our global policy work on the Bush Center’s website.

PREVIOUS INSIGHTS:

Insights Series Call: The Situation in the Middle East

Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, the Bradford M. Freeman Managing Director of Global Policy at the Bush Institute, and an expert on global issues, will headline this webinar exclusively for Bush Center supporters at 11:30 a.m. CT on Friday, May 1. Chris Walsh, Director of Freedom and Democracy at the Bush Institute, will moderate the conversation. Registrants will have the opportunity to ask questions.

In her role at the Bush Institute, Trudeau leverages her decades of experience as a senior member of the U.S. Foreign Service and her significant knowledge of international relations, diplomacy, and strategic communications to lead the development of the Bush Institute’s global policy portfolio.

As a diplomat for the U.S. Department of State, Trudeau served as deputy chief of mission in Baghdad, Iraq. Before that, she worked in Ukraine as a senior advisor for the Bureau of Global Talent Management and acting deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. Trudeau was also based in Pakistan, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, among other overseas postings for the U.S. Foreign Service. In Washington, she served as the acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of Global Public Affairs and as the principal deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.

Find more information on our global policy work on the Bush Center’s website.

Insights Series Call with Robin Berkley, Ann Kimball Johnson Director of Education at the Bush Institute

Robin Berkley, an expert on education issues, headlines the first 2026 “Insights” webinar exclusively for Bush Center supporters at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3. Bush Institute Program Manager Will Cullen will moderate a conversation and take your questions for Berkley, who has spent two decades improving opportunities for children and families. She has worked in leadership roles at the Texas Education Agency as well as EducationCounsel, a national, mission-based education consulting firm that combines policy, strategy, law, and advocacy to improve the U.S. education system. She also served as the Executive Director of Horton’s Kids, a site-based organization in southeast Washington, D.C. that serves 500 children and families living in an under-resourced public housing community.

Today, Berkley is the Ann Kimball Johnson Director of Education at the Bush Institute, where she develops and oversees research and policy work in the Institute’s education portfolio. She is particularly focused on assessment and accountability, K-12 literacy, statewide longitudinal data systems, and post-secondary readiness so that students are prepared to become successful members of their communities. She also oversees the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.

View the following articles from Berkley:

• Bush Institute Monthly Education Update (Jan 2026)
• An Overview of School Choice: Charters, Magnets, Educational Savings Accounts, and More