Policy Adviser, American Compass
Mark DiPlacido is a Policy Adviser at American Compass. Before that, he worked on Governor Ron DeSantis's campaign for President. He has also worked as the Deputy Assistant Trade Representative for Public Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Heritage Action, and the U.S. Senate. He is a graduate of Yale University.
Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Gordon Hanson is the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School (Remembrance for Peter Wertheim) and Academic Dean for Strategy and Engagement at Harvard Kennedy School. He is best known for his research on the labor market consequences of globalization, including pioneering work on the China trade shock. Hanson’s current research addresses the causes and consequences of regional job loss, the effectiveness of place-based policies in alleviating regional economic distress, and how the energy transition will affect local labor markets. This work is part of the Reimagining the Economy project at the Kennedy School, which Hanson co-directs with Dani Rodrik. Hanson’s related scholarship touches upon immigration, the globalization of production, and economic geography. He has published extensively in top economics journals, is widely cited for his research by scholars from across the social sciences and is frequently quoted in major media outlets. Hanson is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and past co-editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Journal of Development Economics. He received his PhD in economics from MIT in 1992 and his BA in economics from Occidental College in 1986. Prior to joining Harvard in 2020, he spent two decades at UC San Diego, where held the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at UC San Diego and was founding director of the Center on Global Transformation. Hanson previously served on the economics faculties of the University of Michigan and the University of Texas.
Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Eric Kadel is engaged in a wide variety of corporate, transactional and regulatory matters. He is a member of the Firm’s Corporate and Finance, Financial Services, Investment Management, Alternative Investment Management, Cybersecurity, and Commodities, Futures and Derivatives Groups. With regard to financings, Mr. Kadel regularly represents participants in capital markets transactions, and dealers and end users in connection with structuring and documenting a wide variety of swaps and other derivatives, including equity, credit default and commodity swaps, options and forwards. Mr. Kadel’s work in the investment management area includes advising public and private investment companies and investment advisers on a wide variety of transactional, regulatory, compliance and other matters, including registration and regulation. Mr. Kadel also advises clients of the Firm regarding developments in the laws regulating the financial services industry and on cybersecurity issues. Mr. Kadel is currently an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School.
In addition, Mr. Kadel is one of the principal partners in the Firm’s International Trade and Investment practice. He counsels and represents clients on questions about U.S. economic sanctions, including those administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), United States antiboycott requirements under the Export Administration Regulations administered and enforced by the Commerce Department’s Office of Antiboycott Compliance within the Bureau of Industry and Security, Bank Secrecy Act/anti‐money laundering laws and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). Mr. Kadel’s practice includes analysis of proposed transactions and business relationships; due diligence and design and review of compliance procedures and strategies; and internal investigations, voluntary disclosures and government enforcement actions. Mr. Kadel also regularly advises clients regarding questions arising under Exon-Florio and the transaction review process administered by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), and has represented clients before CFIUS on many national security reviews.
Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
David Cohen, who leads the firm's Financial and Business Integrity Group, provides clients with anti-money laundering, financial and trade sanctions advice; represents US and foreign-based clients in matters implicating national security, including CFIUS and cybersecurity; conducts internal investigations; and defends clients facing government investigations. His practice has a strong emphasis on disputes involving US and foreign regulators and enforcement agencies, often involving cross-border issues, as well as proceedings in US and foreign adjudicative venues.
Before rejoining the firm in 2017, Mr. Cohen served for eight years in senior presidentially appointed positions. From 2015–2017, Mr. Cohen was Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he helped manage the Agency's domestic and worldwide operations, oversee its strategic modernization, and lead foreign intelligence collection, all-source analysis, covert action, counter-intelligence and foreign liaison relationships. Mr. Cohen also directed special projects on the impact of new technologies on the Agency and on how best to work with US companies to advance the CIA's mission. At the conclusion of his tenure, Mr. Cohen was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA's highest honor.
Previously, Mr. Cohen served for four years in the US Department of the Treasury as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, where he managed the department's policy, regulatory, enforcement and intelligence functions aimed at combating illicit finance, including money laundering and other financial crime, and disrupting financial support to nations, organizations and individuals posing a threat to national security. He directly supervised the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which implements financial and economic sanctions, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the anti-money laundering regulatory and enforcement agency. Mr. Cohen was instrumental in developing and implementing sanctions against Iran, Russia, North Korea, ISIS, al Qa'ida and other terrorist organizations, for which he was described as “President Obama's favorite combatant commander” and as the administration's “financial Batman.”
Mr. Cohen previously served for two years as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, overseeing policy development related to sanctions and money laundering. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cohen served in Treasury's general counsel's office, where he helped craft legislation that formed the basis of Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, the post-9/11 legislation that provided new tools to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Prior to his most recent government service, Mr. Cohen practiced law in Washington DC for nearly 20 years, including as a partner at WilmerHale. His practice at WilmerHale focused on complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance advice.
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gates Corporation
Matthew R. A. Heiman joined the Company in May 2026 and has served as the Company’s Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since June 2026. As Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Heiman is responsible for all legal functions for Gates, including securities and corporate governance, M&A, litigation, commercial, regulatory, compliance, patents and trademarks, real estate, employment and labor, sustainability and environmental matters. Prior to joining Gates, Mr. Heiman held senior legal leadership roles at Waystar, where he served as Chief Legal & Administrative Officer from 2023 to 2025 and as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that, he was with Johnson Controls, where he served as Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and Associate General Counsel. Mr. Heiman has been a Senior Fellow for the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law since 2018.
Principal in the International, BGR Group
Lester Munson is a Principal in the International at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he consults with foreign governments, corporations and advocacy groups. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and speaks regularly on the foreign policy role of Congress and on U.S. foreign assistance issues. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, a Visiting Fellow at George Mason’s National Security Institute and a commentator on Fox News Channel and the China Global Television Network.
Mr. Munson joined BGR Group in November 2015 after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He was most recently Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership.
Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff for Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois. During his tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson served as Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Mr. Munson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.
Counsel to the Firm, Cascadia Cross-Border Law
Margaret Stock focuses her practice on immigration and citizenship law. She is a nationally known expert on immigration and national security laws, and has testified regularly before Congressional committees on immigration, homeland security, and military matters. As a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Military Police, U.S. Army Reserve, Margaret has extensive experience with U.S. military issues. She has also worked as a professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and she has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Alaska. Margaret served as a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration from 2008-2012. She regularly authors articles on military-related immigration issues, and is well-versed on “parole in place” for military family members and the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (“MAVNI”) Program. Margaret authored the book Immigration Law & the Military, which was published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association in 2012.
The Art of the Tariff: The Trump Administration and Trade
Mark DiPlacido, Gordon Hanson, Eric J. Kadel
Join the Federalist Society for a debate on the role of tariffs during the Trump...
The JCPOA Withdrawal
David S. Cohen, Matthew R. A. Heiman, Lester Munson
In 2015, the United States, along with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and...
United States Immigration Law in a World of Terror
Margaret D. Stock
By Margaret D. Stock*I. Introduction The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have spurred a...