January Fellows with Brian Finlay

*This event is only open to 2024-2025 Fellows.

The World Affairs Council Fellows Program offers a unique professional development opportunity to a small group of greater Seattle's business and community leaders. The Fellows convene monthly for breakfast discussions with carefully selected high-caliber international experts who offer unparalleled insight into current global issues, in addition to meeting throughout the year for additional Council events and dedicated networking opportunities.

About Our Speaker

Brian Finlay is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Stimson Center. Under his tenure since 2016, Stimson has transformed its business model, launched pioneering new engagements across Asia, and industry-defining programming on environmental security, renewable energy, and technology. As a result, the Center has quadrupled in size, and continues to dramatically outperform similarly-sized institutions in global rankings.

Brian previously served as Vice President, Managing Director, and Senior Fellow at Stimson. Prior to joining the Center, he served as executive director of a Washington-based lobbying initiative focused on counterterrorism issues, as a researcher at the Brookings Institution, and as a program officer at the Century Foundation. Prior to emigrating to the United States from his native Canada, Brian served with the Public Health Agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of iMMAP, an information management and data analytics organization focused on improving humanitarian relief and development coordination. Brian was an adjunct professor at American University in Washington, and today sits on the Editorial Board of Global Security, a journal of health, science and policy published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis. With expertise in nonproliferation, transnational crime, counter-trafficking, and supply chain security, Brian holds an M.A. from the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, a graduate diploma from the School of Advanced International Studies, the Johns Hopkins University and an honors B.A. from Western University in Canada.