Featured Professors

Dr. Brian K. Perkins is the Director of the Summer Principals Academy Program at Columbia University Teachers College Department of Organization and Leadership. As director, Dr. Perkins has reorganized the transformative graduate program under a dynamic new conceptual framework. He is also the former Director of the Urban Education Leadership Doctoral Program at Columbia University Teachers College.

CINDY PACE Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion at MetLife, is the strategy lead for the Global Women’s Initiative, U.S. Diverse Talent, and the Purpose at Work initiatives. She is also a lecturer in professional development and executive education and adjunct professor of organizational leadership at the School of Professional Studies – Columbia University.

DÉBORA THOME is a visiting Scholar at Institute of Latin American Studies (Columbia University). PhD Candidate at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (Rio de Janeiro - Brazil) she studies how institutions shape women’s representation in politics. Beyond her research, she has fought for women’s rights in Brazil, speaking in various conferences about feminism and organizing cultural activities and pro-abortion advocacy groups. Debora also trained more than 300 women from all over Brazil planning to run for office in a program of the Brazilian Government Agency for Women’s Policy. In her master, she studied Conditional Cash Transfers and policies to reduce inequality. Author of a children's book about Brazilian women leaders called "50 brasileiras incríveis para conhecer antes de crescer". She has just finished a book about women and power in Brazil (coming on April).

EUGENIA MCGILL is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of International and Public Affairs and the Interim Director of the Economic and Political Development Concentration at SIPA, where she directs the Workshop in Development Practice and teaches courses in Methods for Development Practice and Gender, Politics and Development. Her teaching and research interests include the social impacts of globalization, development interventions and development finance, particularly gender-related impacts, as well as innovative and inclusive approaches to development planning.

LISA SACHS is the Director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. Since joining CCSI in 2008, she established and now oversees the three areas of focus for CCSI: investments in extractive industries, investments in land and agriculture, and investment law and policy. She has developed a robust research portfolio in each of these areas, and has overseen advisory work in Mozambique, Guinea, Tanzania, Malawi, Namibia, Paraguay and Timor-Leste.

LOREE SUTTON,  Brigadier General (Ret.), MD is the founding Commissioner for New York City’s Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS).  Established in 2016, DVS is the nation’s first municipal-level agency devoted solely to veterans and their families. A career Army psychiatrist, Sutton seeks to demonstrate the essential role of community as the front line of hope and healing, guiding veterans and their families in their journey from ‘doing better’ to actually ‘getting better’ – at home, work, school and life.  Resilient communities build safety nets for catching falls and springboards for launching goals. This ‘whole health’ approach, incorporating peer support, arts/culture, holistic services and clinical treatment, lays the foundation for success by restoring trust and overcoming stigma.

NATHALIE MOLINA NINO is the CEO of BRAVA Investments and the writer of LEAPFROG, The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs (Tarcher Perigee, a Penguin Random House imprint). She is committed to delivering returns to investors while making a catalytic impact on women in the world. In 2012, while at Columbia University, Molina Niño co-founded Entrepreneurs@Athena at the Athena Center for Leadership studies of Barnard College, with the mission of leveling the playing field for women entrepreneurs.

PAOLA BERGALLO is Associate Professor at the School of Law and Adjunct Researcher at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). She holds a J.S.D. and J.S.M. from Stanford Law School, and an LL.M. from Columbia University. Professor Bergallo’s work focuses on public law, health rights, access to justice, gender, and socio-legal studies.

THOMAS TREBAT is the Director of Columbia Global Centers | Rio de Janeiro. He joined Columbia after a lengthy career on Wall Street dedicated to economic research on Latin America. He formerly served as Executive Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University and of the Institute’s Center for Brazilian Studies.  Prior to joining ILAS in February 2005, Tom was Managing Director and Head of the Latin America team in the Economic and Market Analysis department of Citigroup. He joined Citicorp Securities in 1996 as the head of Emerging Market Research.