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JWI Board

Thomas R. DiBenedetto is Chairman of the Board of Jefferson Waterman International. He is also President and majority owner of Junction Investors, Ltd., a private equity firm, and its affiliate Boston International Group, a money management company. Mr. DiBenedetto has been investing in private equity activities for over 35 years and has been active in telecommunications, technology, real estate, and mining ventures. He is a director of Alexander’s, Inc., a NYSE-listed real estate investment trust, and of several private companies. Mr. DiBenedetto is also Chairman of Route 2 Digital, a new media company, and a partner of the Boston Red Sox Baseball Club. In 2011, Mr. DiBenedetto led a group in acquiring control of the AS Roma Football Club, of which he is currently President and Chairman of the Board. Mr. DiBenedetto was formerly an investment banker at Allen & Company, Inc., Salomon Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. He has served on the leadership council of the JFK Center for Business and Government at Harvard University, and is a trustee of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, the Boston Biomedical Research Institute, and the Kents Hill School in Maine. Mr. DiBenedetto holds a B.A. with honors in economics from Trinity College and a M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and was a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sam Wyman is Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Jefferson Waterman International. Mr. Wyman directs international political advocacy campaigns and assists JWI corporate clients who seek to enter or expand international markets. He is particularly experienced in matters related to information and communications technology, security, and defense and aerospace industries. For 31 years, Sam Wyman was an operations officer with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the Near East, Western Europe and Africa. During his government service career and earlier as a student, Mr. Wyman lived and worked in Egypt, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Spain, developing an in-depth knowledge of these nations’ operations and cultures. Because of his highly respected experience and knowledge, Mr. Wyman was frequently called upon to participate in foreign policy deliberations at the National Security Council level and assist Congressional Oversight Committees. For his service, Mr. Wyman received the Department of State’s Meritorious Honor Award, and during his eleven years as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service was twice recognized with the Meritorious Officer award. Upon his departure from the government, Mr. Wyman was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal by the Director of Central Intelligence. Mr. Wyman holds degrees from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. and the School of International Affairs Middle Eastern Studies Institute at Columbia University in New York. He earned a Certificate in Arabic from the University of Baghdad, is fluent in Spanish as well as Arabic and has a working knowledge of French

Daniel Arnold is a Board Member of Jefferson Waterman International. Mr. Arnold’s in-depth understanding of political, military, and security developments, as well as related U.S. foreign policy, is of strategic value to JWI clients. Through Mr. Arnold’s breadth of contacts at the highest levels, particularly in Asia, JWI is better able to represent client interests on corporate, economic, and political matters. After his retirement from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in 1979, Mr. Arnold served as a consultant to numerous U.S. and international firms on business, political, and economic developments. His insights have helped clients assess new opportunities and have guided their activities in foreign markets. Mr. Arnold has helped form joint mining ventures in strategic metals in China, served one of the world’s largest marketing firms, and assisted a multinational firm with a capital investment project in Thailand. He also has arranged several joint venture projects in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Korea, and has served as a pro bono consultant to the Royal Thai Government. Mr. Arnold has traveled extensively in East Asia, and has worked closely with chiefs of state, senior foreign officials of ministerial rank, and senior business officials. He is currently the Chairman, the President, or a member of the Board of Directors of a number of companies in the United States and abroad. Mr. Arnold’s achievements have been honored with decorations from the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. military and foreign governments, and he has received numerous commendations and letters of appreciation from U.S. and foreign dignitaries. A graduate of Villanova University in Pennsylvania, he is a widely published author on political and military policy issues.

Joseph W. Augustyn is Executive Vice President, Security and Intelligence at Jefferson Waterman International. He brings to JWI clients thirty years of high-level experience in homeland security, counterterrorism, and intelligence issues, as well as extensive knowledge of the agencies and departments responsible for them. Mr. Augustyn’s long career with the CIA included senior positions as Deputy Associate Director of Central Intelligence for Homeland Security, Director of the National Resettlement Operations Center (responsible for defector resettlement), Chief of Staff for the CIA’s Deputy Director of Operations, and the Deputy Division Chief for the CIA’s large East Asia Division. A senior advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Mr. Augustyn was a member of the CSIS panel of experts that produced “Homeland Security 3.0.” He previously was a Principal of Booz Allen Hamilton, focusing on the CIA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, law enforcement, and Department of Homeland Security matters. Prior to that, Mr. Augustyn served as the senior advisor and counsel to John Brennan, then Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, of which Mr. Augustyn was one of the original architects. Mr. Augustyn is a frequent national lecturer and guest speaker on homeland security and intelligence topics, and has written articles published by the Christian Science Monitor and the Huffington Post. The numerous honors and merit awards he has received include the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal and the Intelligence Commendation Medal. Mr. Augustyn pursued doctoral studies at Indiana University, and holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts and Brown University.

Samuel Hoskinson is a Board Member of Jefferson Waterman International. A founding partner of JWI, he previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Hoskinson is a former Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, the body responsible for providing the President of the United Sates and senior Cabinet members with intelligence analysis on international economic, political, and military issues. During the George H.W. Bush Administration, Mr. Hoskinson served as Deputy to the Under Secretary for Economic Policy at the State Department. As a senior member of the National Security Council Staff at the White House, Mr. Hoskinson served under three National Security Advisors – Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, and Zbigniew Brzezinski.In the private sector, Mr. Hoskinson was manager for international corporate strategy at the Bechtel Group, one of the world’s largest engineering-construction firms. He later provided international consulting services to foreign and domestic clients. Mr. Hoskinson has been awarded the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement for his service to the intelligence community. He also received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his contribution to the 1990 Group of Seven economic summit, and a special letter of commendation from President Bush. Mr. Hoskinson holds a B.A. degree from the University of Iowa and an M.A. degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Fuad Kawar is a Board Member of Jefferson Waterman International. His international network of business contacts and—particularly in the Middle East—of government contacts enable him to identify profitable market opportunities for JWI clients, and guide projects from concept to contract. An international business entrepreneur specializing in defense, security, aerospace, and telecommunications, Mr. Kawar has particular expertise in the Middle East and South East Asia. He is fluent in Arabic and English, and enjoys generations-long family ties to the business community throughout the region.His strategic consulting services, offered through a network of affiliated companies worldwide, provide a wide range of market entry and project evaluation services. He regularly identifies overseas business opportunities; provides access to key individuals; conducts market research and risk analysis; advises on contract negotiations; and develops representation/distribution agreements. Benefiting from experience in manufacturing, contracting, and service industries in the U.K., U.S., and the Middle East, Mr. Kawar not only has an in-depth knowledge of the various working cultures and commerce in these regions, but also an appreciation of ever-changing technology. Mr. Kawar was born in Amman, Jordan and educated in the U.K., graduating in business. He then went on to complete a training program in electronic engineering with the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan in both Amman and San Diego, California.

Ambassador Phillip Carter III (Ret.) is a an Executive Vice President of Jefferson Waterman International. The former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, and the former Deputy to the Commander Civil-Military Engagement at the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Amb. Carter brings to JWI clients 34 years of experience in international security, counter-terrorism, social and health development, business facilitation, human rights and good governance. In addition to his ambassadorial positions, Amb. Carter’s extensive service to the U.S. State Department included diplomatic assignments in Gabon, Madagascar, Malawi, Bangladesh, Canada and Mexico, and tours in Washington as Senior Advisor, Acting Assistant Secretary, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Department’s Africa Bureau. Amb. Carter also served as the Department’s Director for West African Affairs and Deputy Director in the Office for East African Affairs. Earlier in his career,  Amb. Carter represented the State Department at the International Monetary Fund for matters related to Africa. In recognition of his outstanding service, Amb. Carter has received several prestigious awards from the U.S., Ivoirian and Malagasy governments. He holds an M.A. in international and development economics from Yale University and a B.A. in economics and history from Drew University. Amb. Carter is a native Spanish and fluent French speaker.

Charles Waterman is the Chief Executive Officer and founding member of Jefferson Waterman International. Mr. Waterman’s decades of experience in the international arena translate into an exceptional ability to forge favorable political environments for clients’ political and commercial ventures. At JWI, Mr. Waterman both oversees firm-wide operations and directly manages client representation, particularly those related to his areas of special expertise. These include Africa and the Middle East, as well as petroleum and mineral resources. Before founding JWI, Charles Waterman held several leading positions within the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. As Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, he oversaw production of intelligence estimates on global issues to support Cabinet-level economic, political and military deliberations. As National Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, Mr. Waterman coordinated the intelligence input to policy deliberations in the Near East and South Asia. As a member of the Foreign Service, Mr. Waterman spent many years living and working overseas in Kuwait, Cairo, Beirut, Amman and Jiddah. Mr. Waterman was awarded the CIA Intelligence Star and Medal and the CIA Meritorious Officer award. A recognized expert in the Middle East, Mr. Waterman has functional expertise in defense and petroleum industries, and has published extensively in foreign affairs journals. Mr. Waterman holds degrees from Brown University in Rhode Island and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in the Middle East and was awarded the Christian Herter Fellowship for outstanding academic performance. He speaks Arabic and French.

Ken Yates is a Board Member of Jefferson Waterman International. He previously served as Senior Vice President for Public Relations at JWI. Mr. Yates has more than three decades of international experience in media relations and public affairs, particularly in East Asia. In three decades as a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State and the United States Information Agency, he was a principal architect of US communications and public relations programming in East Asia, Europe, and Southwest Asia. He managed an American Center and created/operated press facilities for a Presidential summit in South Korea; directed public affairs programming and media relations for U.S. embassies in The People’s Republic of China, Iceland, and Afghanistan; was responsible for policy and public opinion research in Japan; and conducted survey research projects in Lebanon and Iran. These assignments gave Mr. Yates the opportunity to live and work in Korea, Japan, The People’s Republic of China, Iceland, and Afghanistan. Mr. Yates served as a principal advisor on international public relations to the Commander in Chief of Joint US Pacific Forces, with responsibilities for Command’s public and media relations throughout the Pacific and Asia. He served as a diplomatic representative and negotiator for the Department of State at the North Korean nuclear site at Nyongbyun following the 1994 Framework Agreement. Among Mr. Yates’ awards for his public service is decoration by the U.S. Navy for his services with the Pacific Command. He has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. He speaks Korean, Japanese, and some Chinese.