Executive Team

A. Lawrence Chickering, Founder and President
Lawrence Chickering, founder and President of EGG, has worked for more than thirty years on designing and implementing reforms of government institutions and policies to empower disadvantaged people. EGG is the third policy institute he has either founded or co-founded. In the mid-1980s, he founded the International Center for Economic Growth (ICEG), which promotes reform through affiliates in 117 countries. In its first ten years, it played a significant part in promoting reforms in more than 50 countries. In the early 1990s he advised the Soviet planning agency Gosplan on a strategy for economic reform, and he worked in Egypt to increase the voice of Egyptian economists in the national debate on economic reform. Mr. Chickering has a long-time interest in conflict resolution and his 1993 book Beyond Left and Right is perhaps the leading philosophical call for a new U.S. political debate. His experience in reframing issues to broaden political support is crucial for EGG, promoting an issue that is controversial in some places. EGG started as a program of ICEG but is now independent. He is currently working on two new books: one presenting a strategy for promoting girl's education, and a second, co-authored book on citizens and foreign policy. Mr. Chickering has been associated with may international organizations, including Freedom House, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Pacific Council for International Policy, and Search for Common Ground. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the Yale Law School, and is currently a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institutions.

Safeena Husain, Executive Director
Safeena Hussain is the CEO and founder of Center for Experiential Learning based in Mumbai, India. She has over ten year's experience in designing and executing educational programs for international students around the world. She is currently engaged in programs for South Asia Studies department, University of California Berkeley, Oregon University, and for Antipodeans, an Australian organization devoted to youth leadership programs. Form 1997 to 2004, Ms. Hussain was the Executive Director for Child Family Health International (CFHI). She was responsible for managing and supporting a rang of International Development Exchange(IDEX), a non-profit organization in San Francisco. She serves on the Advisory Council of the Clarence Foundation and runs a free school for underserved rural children in the Himalayas. Ms. Hussain holds a BS form the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, and was born and raised in New Delhi, India.

S. Michelle Mathai, Director of Operations

Michelle Mathai joins the EGG team with seven years of foreign policy experience, a lifetime of globe-trotting, and an enthusiasm for helping girls achieve beyond their wildest dreams.   During her studies at Colby College in Maine, Michelle was introduced to the non-profit world through internships with The Sierra Club, in Washington, D.C. and Outward Bound in New York, NY.   Michelle was a founding Board member of a chapter of MBAid, a non-profit designed to provide internships to MBA students in developing nations, at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Business, as she was studying for her International MBA.  Soon after graduation, she joined the ranks of the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer in 1999.  Her various assignments included Auckland, New Zealand, Washington, D.C., and Berlin, Germany.

James McIntosh, Director of Development
After studying Political Science at the University of Oregon, James moved to Washington, D.C. to work as an intern in the Congressional Office of Jerrold Nadler. In June of 2000, James accepted the position of Business Manager of the AEI Press at the American Enterprise Institute. During his four years at the AEI Press James managed corporate accounts, was responsible for the marketing to the academic market, and developed a business model to increase the Press's profitability. In 2004 James moved to his native San Francisco to pursue his passion for fund raising and public policy, particularly education reform. As well as directing the fundraising efforts at EGG, James has worked as a consultant to the Pacific Vascular Research Institute, a nonprofit organization conducting clinical research and outreach focused on preventing death and disability from vascular diseases. He continues to serve on their development committee.

Aparna Tamhankar, Director of Program, India

Aparna Tamhankar received a post-graduate degree in social work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.  She joins EGG with 15 years of experience in the NGO sector focused on health, women’s empowerment, disaster management, rural development, and education.  She has closely worked with street children, bar girls, and people living with HIV. Aparna has also consulted for Global Equal Access, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Bharat Petroleum Co., Avert Society, Children’s Future India, The Population Foundation of India and many local NGOs.  She also conducts corporate soft-skill training workshops focused on strategic leadership and stress management.