ISRM Conference - Individual notices about the speakers

General (ret) Stanley McChrystal

CEO, McChrystal Group

We are delighted to announce that General (ret) Stanley McChrystal has agreed to join the panel for Day 2 of our Virtual Global Conference. He will join Dr Robert MacFarlane, Deputy Director, Civil Contingencies Secretariat, UK Cabinet Office and David Horobin, Director, Crisis Management Cluster, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, in discussing what we need to learn in order to be resilient against future shocks.

A retired four-star general, Stan is the former commander of US and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the US’s counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

He is best known for developing and implementing a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, and for revolutionizing the interagency operating culture.

He founded McChrystal Group in January 2011 to deliver innovative leadership solutions, where he advises senior executives at multinational corporations on navigating complex change in challenging, dynamic environments.

David Horobin F.ISRM

Director, Crisis Management Cluster Geneva Centre for Security Policy

We are delighted that David Horobin, Head of Crisis Management at Geneva Centre for Security Policy, will be participating as a panellist on Day 2 of our Virtual Global Conference.

David has a lifetime of experience on the front lines of complex emergencies. As well as serving as Director Operations Team, Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs at the Department for International Development (DFID), he spent twenty five years at senior regional and global management positions within the ICRC (International Committee for Red Cross /Crescent) including Head of the Rapid Deployment Unit and then Head, Security and Crisis Management.

In March 2017 David was appointed head of the Crisis Management Cluster at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, bringing his experience in developing and applying CM policy, response and training into a wide range of global complex situations in particular for large International Organisations (IO’s, NGO’s) and governments.

Xavier Castellanos

International Federation of Red Cross / Red Crescent Societies Under Secretary General, Programmes and Operations

We are delighted to announce that Mr Xavier Castellanos, Under Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross / Red Crescent Societies, will be joining our conference as a panellist on Day 1, joining Lord Toby Harris, and Dr Stephen Flynn of the Global Resilience Institute, Northeastern University (Boston).

Mr Castellanos has nearly three decades of experience working in emergency humanitarian emergencies and operations. He has also worked at various national and international institutions in public, private and non-governmental organizations.

He joined IFRC in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, which caused severe damage in Central America in 1998, and worked on communication and public information. He later served on missions working in disaster risk management in numerous countries around the world and at the IFRC in Geneva. He has also worked in the
areas of international humanitarian law, volunteerism, strategic planning and training with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Dr Nuha Eltinay F.ISRM

Senior Urban Specialist for Resilience and Disaster Risk Management, World Bank

We are delighted to announce that Dr Nuha Eltinay,
Senior Urban Specialist for Resilience and Disaster Risk Management, World Bank, will be joining us as a Panellist on Day 1 of the ISRM Virtual Global Conference.

Dr Eltinay is a Senior Urban Specialist for Resilience and Disaster Risk Management for the World Bank, focussing on planning and development issues within the MENA region.

She was previously Director of Urban Planning and Sustainable Development at the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI).

She is an award-winning urban planner, PhD holder from the School of Built Environment and Architecture at London South Bank University, and MA holder of International Planning and Sustainable Development from the University of Westminster, working towards building Urban Resilience for Disaster Risk Reduction in the MENA Region context of ‘Climate Change, Conflict and Displacement’.

Stephen E. Flynn, PhD

Founding Director, Global Resilience Institute, Northeastern University 

As Founding Director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University, Stephen E. Flynn leads a major university-wide research initiative to inform and advance societal resilience in the face of growing human-made and naturally-occurring turbulence.

At Northeastern, he is also Professor of Political Science with faculty affiliations in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs.

Dr. Flynn is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on critical infrastructure and supply chain security and resilience.