John,

The George Washington Initiative was founded with the mission to disrupt and degrade dis- and misinformation (DisMis) ecosystems.

As we work to grow our initiative, we’d like to invite you to RSVP for a VIP ticket to our event, Disinformation in US Politics - A GWI Symposium to discuss the ongoing threat of DisMis to our democracy and what we can do collectively to fight back.

We’re proud to be joined by former Campaign Manager and Senior Advisor to President Biden, Greg Schultz, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and expert in the field of foreign policy and intelligence, John Sipher, disinformation expert and Wilson Center Fellow, Nina Jankowicz, and our very own, Phil Ehr.

Learn more about our panelists here:

Greg Schultz

Greg Schultz has managed winning political campaigns at the local, state, and national level. His career spans work in county government, the Ohio Governor’s Office, and the White House.

As the architect and manager of the winning Biden democratic presidential primary campaign, Greg helped ensure that the candidate’s core strengths and unifying message remained consistent, setting the stage for the general election. In his subsequent role as the General Election Strategist and Senior Advisor, Greg oversaw the campaign’s engagement, coordination, and battleground state efforts with the broad democratic party ecosystem, including the DNC, state democratic parties, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, and outside partners.

Greg also held senior roles in the Obama/Biden campaigns, including managing the 2012 re-election in the key battleground state of Ohio, and joined the White House in late 2013 as the Senior Advisor for Vice President Biden and Special Assistant to President Obama. His profile in the Vice President’s office included overseeing public engagement efforts, such as launching the Cancer Moonshot engagement with business leaders and advocacy groups, as well as co-founding “It’s on Us”, the national organization working to change the culture around sexual assault on college campuses. In addition, Greg oversaw the Vice President’s intergovernmental affairs and served as his political advisor.

After leaving the administration, Greg spent 2017 and 2018 running Biden’s American Possibilities PAC, overseeing his midterm engagement and travel to key districts, states, and communities across the country. With Greg’s direction, Biden helped Democrats win back the House, while strengthening his network in key constituencies.

Greg graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in history and political science and a master's degree in education.

John Sipher

John Sipher is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and the co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment, a production firm providing content and talent to the entertainment industry.

John is a foreign policy, intelligence, and national security expert. His articles have been published in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Politico, Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, Slate, Lawfare, and Just Security, among others. He regularly appears on the PBS NewsHour, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, BBC and speaks to corporate, academic, and governmental groups. He serves as a senior adviser to the Lincoln Project, the Steady State, and the Council on American Security.

In 2014, John retired from a 28-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service. At the time of his retirement, he was a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, the leadership team that guides CIA activities globally. John served multiple overseas tours as chief of station and deputy chief of station in Europe, Asia, and in high-threat environments. He has significant experience working with foreign and domestic partners to solve national security challenges. John also served as a lead instructor in the CIA’s clandestine training school and was a regular lecturer at the CIA’s leadership development program. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. John is from Cortland, New York, and graduated from Hobart College and has a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University.

Phil Ehr

Phil is a retired Naval officer who advanced from Seaman to Commander in a 26-year active duty career. Phil provided strategic advice to senior leaders in Washington, London, and NATO. He flew reconnaissance in the Cold War and combat support in Desert Storm and the Balkans. He served in a combat command staff role for the commander of U.S. forces in NATO Operation Allied Force. His Navy specialties included electronic warfare, strategic intelligence, space technology, and security cooperation. Phil is a U.S. Naval War College graduate and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in international relations. He taught British officers in the U.K.’s Defence Academy. He challenged Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL1) in the 2020 General Election. Phil currently serves as the President of the George Washington Initiative, an information civil defense force that disrupts, degrades, and destroys disinformation ecosystems.

Nina Jankowicz

Nina Jankowicz studies the intersection of democracy and technology in Central and Eastern Europe. She is the author of How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict (Bloomsbury/IBTauris). Ms. Jankowicz has advised the Ukrainian government on strategic communications under the auspices of a Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellowship. Her writing has been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. She is a frequent television and radio commentator on disinformation and Russian and Eastern European affairs. Prior to her Fulbright grant in Ukraine, Ms. Jankowicz managed democracy assistance programs to Russia and Belarus at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. She received her MA in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and her BA from Bryn Mawr College.

Our initiative relies on contributions from supporters like you. Will you chip in a contribution today to help us defeat DisMis ecosystems?

Looking forward to seeing you there,

George Washington Initiative