Dr. John A. Pennell
Dr. John A. Pennell is a contractor with the U.S. Department of War’s (DOW) Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) as Editor-in-Chief of PRISM: The Journal of Complex Operations and as an Instructor, Curriculum Developer, and Senior Practitioner. He’s a Research Fellow with Arizona State University’s (ASU) Future Security Initiative and Professor of Practice with ASU’s School of Politics and Global Studies; a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Global & National Security Institute (GNSI) at the University of South Florida (USF); a Non-Resident Fellow with the Irregular Warfare Institute (IWI)-Europe Program; and a Senior Diplomacy Fellow with Narrative-Strategies. Dr. Pennell is also a guest speaker and lecturer on information operations, hybrid warfare, post-conflict governance, and new technologies with U.S. and international universities, the U.S. State Department, and U.S. professional military education institutions. Dr. Pennell is a retired US Senior Foreign Service Officer with 20+ years of field experience including in active combat and hybrid warfare zones. He’s also a published author, including a 2024 book on Russia’s irregular warfare activities in Syria and Ukraine. He holds a PhD from King’s College London and masters degrees from the National War College and American University.
David Taube
David Taube is a strategic business executive and values-driven operator with a career spanning private equity, management consulting, and C-suite leadership. He's passionate about building high-integrity organizations that scale with purpose and deliver lasting value—for customers, teams, and communities. David previously worked in Private Equity at L2 Capital, a top-decile middle-market investment firm, leading acquisitions, recapitalizations, and portfolio value creation initiatives. he built roll-up strategies, and drove results through a data-driven, operator-first approach. David spent over a decade during early career at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), as an expert consultant in value creation, M&A, and shareholder activism. He advised over 200 clients globally and received multiple firmwide awards for innovation and leadership. David is a CFA charterholder with dual degrees in Business Administration and Political Science from UC Berkeley. He is committed to impact beyond business—actively engaged in rapid-response global humanitarian efforts.