Dr. Melinda Crane has given speeches and moderated events and discussions for a wide range of international organizations and firms. She is a frequent guest and commentator on German television and radio and regularly analyzes US policy for the news broadcaster n-tv. An experienced TV anchor, she is senior political analyst at DW TV and also hosts the DW talk show “To the Point”. In 2014 she was awarded the Steuben-Schurz Media Award for her service to transatlantic understanding.Dr. Crane studied history and political science at Brown University and law at Harvard. She wrote her dissertation on the political economy of development assistance at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.As International Affairs Consultant to the discussion show “Sabine Christiansen” she produced interviews with Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and George Bush, among others.Her journalistic experience includes work for the “New York Times Magazine,” ”The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine,” “The Boston Globe,” the “Christian Science Monitor” and German newspapers and magazines.

Samantha Gross is the Director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative and a Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. Her work is focused on the intersection of energy, environment, and policy, including climate policy and international cooperation, the transition to a net-zero emissions energy system, energy geopolitics, and global energy markets.