SAIS Black Alumni Panel

In celebration of Black History Month, the SAIS Development and Alumni Relations Office, the Office of Admissions and the Black Student Union are pleased to invite you to a panel discussion featuring Black SAIS alumni reflecting on their career paths and leadership roles post-graduation. The discussion will feature:

• Jonathan Burks, Vice President for Global Public Policy, Walmart
• Rachel Clayton, Consultant, Accenture Federal Services
• Whitney Muse, Chief of Staff, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy
• LTC (P) Raven Bukowski Stein, Deputy Legislative Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Defense

A networking mixer will follow the official program. This event is open to SAIS alumni, current students, and prospective applicants.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Jonathan Burks is vice president for global public policy at Walmart where he leads the global retailer’s efforts to analyze and develop positions on pressing public policy issues. In August 2022, the Senate confirmed Burks to serve on the Board of Directors of the US Institute of Peace. Prior to joining Walmart, he was a partner at the Brunswick Group, the global critical issues consultancy, where he was the co-lead for the U.S. public affairs offer. Before moving to the private sector, Burks spent nearly two decades in public service culminating in his service as the chief of staff to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, acting as the Speaker’s principal adviser on policy, strategy, and management. Previously, he also worked for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell as his advisor on budget and appropriations issues, as policy director of the House Budget Committee with a focus on defense budgeting, as director of legislative affairs at the Securities and Exchange Commission, as senior advisor (chief of staff) to the Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, and as a policy advisor in the transition office of the newly created Director of National Intelligence. Early in his career, he served four years at the White House working first for Vice President Cheney and then for President Bush in a variety of positions including as the Vice President’s staff secretary, associate staff secretary to the President, and special assistant to the President for policy in the Chief of Staff’s office. During a leave of absence from government service, Burks was the deputy policy director on the 2012 Romney for President campaign. Burks has a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor of science in foreign service from Georgetown University.

Rachel Clayton is a Consultant at Accenture Federal Services where she leads the delivery of tech enablement and training solutions for the Department of State. Clayton’s past experiences include research roles at the Brookings Institution Center for Universal Education and government affairs roles for the New Orleans City Council. She received her Masters of Arts from SAIS in 2020, studying International Economics and Latin American Studies, and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and English from Tulane University.

Whitney Muse is the Chief of Staff of the Grid Deployment Office, after serving as the Chief of Staff for the Office of Electricity. She was most recently a manager in Deloitte's federal energy practice, where she provided policy and regulatory analysis of domestic and international power sector projects. Previously, she worked at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners implementing capacity-building programs for energy regulators around the world.

LTC (P) Raven Bukowski Stein is a 2003 Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy. As a junior Military Intelligence officer, she served the Army in a number of leadership and staff roles at the tactical level. LTC Stein completed three combat tours in Iraq as a Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems platoon leader (2004-2005), an Infantry Brigade Combat Team S2X (2005-2007), and as a Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Company Commander (2008-2010). Following company command, LTC Stein attended the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C., graduating in 2012 with a M.A. in International Economics and Strategic Studies. While a graduate student LTC Stein interned at the Center for Army Analysis, where she supported detailed planning for military contingency operations with a special emphasis in Northern Africa. LTC Stein next joined the rotating faculty of United States Military Academy’s Department of Social Sciences, where she taught Theories of International Relations, Anthropology, and Intelligence and Policy. In 2014, LTC Stein served at Ft. Campbell, KY as the S2 for 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), deploying twice as the J2 for Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Syria. In 2016, LTC Stein was selected for the White House Fellowship, where she served as a Director of Defense Strategy and Policy on the National Security Council. In 2017, LTC Stein transitioned from the White House to the Pentagon to serve as Syria Country Director in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy (USDP). LTC Stein now serves as a Deputy Legislative Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, providing legislative support and advice to the Director for Operations and the Director for Strategic Plans and Policy on all matters covering U.S. Central Command, U.S. Africa Command, and U.S. Special Operations Command.