Fireside Chat with Hon. Sharon Burke, hosted by Bram Govaerts
Channel: CIMMYT WebCast
Date: 2022-11-08

November 8, 2022.

Join the discussion with the Hon. Sharon Burke, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense of the Barack Obama administration and Joe Biden transition team lead for the climate change agenda, and Bram Govaerts, Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
 
Burke and Govaerts discussed the interconnections between agriculture and peace in the context of the major global challenges faced by society today. Topics included links between the energy sector and food production, competitiveness for resources, and building resilience in agriculture to global shocks, particularly for small-scale farming.
 
Hon. Sharon Burke was the director of New America’s Resource Security program, and was a senior advisor to New America’s Future of War project. She served in the administrations of Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Before joining New America, Burke served in the Obama administration as the assistant secretary of defense for operational energy, a new office that worked to improve the energy security of US military operations. Prior to her service at the Department of Defense, Burke held a number of senior US government positions, including at the Department of State in the George W. Bush administration, and was a vice president and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. She attended Williams College and Columbia University, where she was a Zuckerman and International Fellow at the School of International and Public Affairs. Burke publishes widely and is on a number of boards, including for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
 
Bram Govaerts is Director General a.i. (Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer) of CIMMYT. Govaerts is renowned for pioneering, implementing and inspiring transformational changes for farmers and consumers in meeting the sustainable development challenges. He brings together multi-disciplinary science and development teams to integrate sustainable, multi-stakeholder and sector strategies that generate innovation and change in agri-food systems. His initiatives, excellence in science for impact and the partnerships he inspired have resulted in improved nutrition, nature conservation, and national and international resilience and food security.