AWARDS: NCAFP’s 2025 Gala Awards Dinner
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
The Metropolitan Club, New York City
On Tuesday, November 18, the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) hosted its 2025 Annual Gala Dinner at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. More than 200 distinguished guests from the diplomatic and policy communities, media, academia, and the private sector joined friends and supporters of the organization for an evening focused on advancing informed dialogue and constructive engagement in American foreign policy.
The program was led by Ms. Jacqueline Adams, Emmy Award-winning journalist and NCAFP Trustee, who served as the host. Ms. Adams guided discussions on today’s most pressing challenges and emphasized the importance of diplomacy in an increasingly complex global environment. Ambassador (ret.) Susan M. Elliott, President and CEO of the NCAFP, delivered remarks underscoring the critical role of connection and thoughtful engagement in preventing and resolving conflict.
NCAFP Trustee and Senior Vice President Donald S. Rice delivered a tribute honoring the legacy of Dr. Donald Zagoria, founder of the NCAFP’s Forum on Asia-Pacific Security. Mr. Rice reflected on Dr. Zagoria’s decades of leadership, his commitment to open dialogue in the Asia-Pacific region, and his enduring impact on the organization’s work in international security and regional stability.
Ms. Susan A. Thornton, Director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security, presented the George F. Kennan Award for Public Service to Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. Ambassador Stephens shared insights from her distinguished diplomatic career, highlighting her experiences in Belfast, Seoul, and other postings, and discussed the hands-on diplomatic efforts required to build peace and strengthen alliances.
NCAFP Trustee Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, presented the Global Business Leadership Award to Mr. Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of The Wall Street Journal, in recognition of his leadership in protecting press freedom and supporting the work of journalists. Mr. Thompson highlighted Mr. Latour’s role in advocating for the release of journalist Evan Gershkovich. In his remarks, Mr. Latour emphasized the essential importance of journalism and access to information.
Chairman of the NCAFP, Tomas Hexner, closed the evening by noting that now is a pivotal moment to support organizations committed to diplomacy. He reflected on the inspiration drawn from a room filled with individuals dedicated to strengthening dialogue and international understanding.
Throughout the evening, attendees engaged with leaders across sectors on the foreign policy challenges shaping the global landscape today. Discussions centered on U.S. global leadership, conflict prevention, and the NCAFP’s longstanding role in facilitating dialogue in regions of geopolitical tension. The event reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to promoting informed policy and supporting diplomacy as a pathway to addressing global challenges.
The NCAFP extends its appreciation to our sponsors, trustees, partners, and community members whose support strengthens our mission and impact.
For questions or inquiries about supporting the NCAFP’s work, please contact our Program Development Officer, Shaina Katz, at shaina.katz@ncafp.org.
Honorees
Almar Latour
Almar Latour is publisher of The Wall Street Journal and CEO of Dow Jones, a world-leading news and business information services company.
A journalist-turned-business leader, Almar combines a passion for news and technology with rich global experience and an entrepreneurial drive. Under his leadership, Dow Jones has doubled digital subscriptions and achieved record profits and revenue, while safeguarding the Wall Street Journal’s reputation as one of the world’s most-trusted news organizations.
Almar has an extensive track record of building successful news media businesses in the digital age. He oversaw the creation of the Barron’s Group, quadrupling the group’s digital audience at Barron’s and MarketWatch, and led the highly successful modernization of The Wall Street Journal’s website during the global financial crisis, setting the stage for the Journal’s first million digital subscriptions. Almar also led the development of The Wall Street Journal in Japan, Korea and China.
Almar has worked on three continents and has been stationed as a journalist in Brussels, London, Stockholm, New York and Hong Kong. Among a wide range of topics, he has reported on Central and Eastern Europe, technology and the rise of mobile phones, the Nordics and the Baltics as well as numerous mega-mergers. In addition to being a reporter, he has served as a bureau chief in New York, the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal online, and the editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones in Asia-Pacific before being appointed the Journal’s Executive Editor.
Almar regularly discusses issues including the business of media, press freedom, global affairs and journalism in the era of generative AI. He started as a news assistant in Washington, D.C.
He is a native of the Netherlands and lives in New York City.
Ambassador Kathleen Stephens
Ambassador (ret) Kathleen Stephens served as a career diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, 1978-2015. She was the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (2008-2011), the first woman and first Korean speaker to serve in that position. Other overseas assignments include postings to Trinidad and Tobago (1978-1980), China (1980-1982), Korea (1983-1989), former Yugoslavia (1990-1992), Portugal (1998-2001), Northern Ireland – where she was U.S.Consul General in Belfast (1995-1998) during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement – and India, where she was U.S. Chargé d’ Affaires (2014-2015).
Amb. Stephens served in Washington at the Department of State and the White House, including as acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs (1993-1995). Earlier in her career she was Director of the State Department’s Office of Ecoology and Terrestrial Conservation, and senior desk officer for the United Kingdom.
Amb. Stephens was President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America from 2018 to 2023, and William J. Perry Fellow for Korea at Stanford University from 2015 to 2018. Earlier, she was Endowed Chair Professor for Language and Diplomacy at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, and Senior State Department Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. She currently chairs the Board of The Korea Society and Pacific Century Institute, and is Vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of The Asia Foundation. She is a senior advisor at McLarty Associates, and a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Amb. Stephens is the recipient of numerous awards, and a regular columnist, lecturer and commentator on topics including U.S. foreign policy, Korea’s modern transformation, and U.S.-Korea relations. She studied at Prescott College, the University of Hong Kong, Oxford University, and Harvard’s Kennedy School. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea from 1975-1977.
