Agents of Change: Mastering Policy for Impact

Dr. Michael David Miner is a Lecturer in Extension and a longtime member of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Miner has taught at Harvard for over a decade, including courses on intelligence, strategy, and national security. He advises and directs graduate theses in government, foreign policy, and international relations. As part of the Intelligence Project leadership team at the Belfer Center, he examines organizational processes and reform in addition to the role of intelligence in policymaking. Miner also writes case studies used for seminars in organizational and leadership development. He earned his PhD at King's College London studying with the Official Historian of the British Joint Intelligence Committee. Outside of teaching, he speaks to various audiences and organizations on current affairs and advocates for matters of public interest. He previously served on the Fulbright Specialist Roster supported by the US Department of State and volunteered in the United States Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. Miner is president of the Massachusetts Fulbright Association, treasurer of the North American Society for Intelligence History, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Donald Parker is an accomplished executive from the technology and financial services industries with experience as a chief information officer, chief risk officer, and chief technology officer. Parker is also an experienced nonprofit leader with thirty-five years of community service, including multiple terms as the board chairperson of local and national organizations within education, health care, financial services, youth services, and the arts. He has been the driver of the formation of four organic philanthropic entities. Parker has been on the teaching staff of the Harvard Extension School (HES) for courses in public policy, moral reasoning, and global ethnic politics. He holds an ALB concentrated in social science, an ALM concentrated in government, and a graduate certification in social justice, all from HES. Parker is certified in teaching in higher education through the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Parker is a leader in reforming primary and secondary education with a uniquely broad perspective. He is a long-time charter school board member, district superintendent/executive director, and adviser to three Oklahoma State Department of Education administrations. Parker has published locally and nationally on education reform and lobbied at the national and state level.