How to stay optimistic in an age of crisis

David Miliband is president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, where he oversees the agency’s humanitarian relief operations in more than 40 war-affected countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs in 28 United States cities. From 2007 to 2010, Miliband was the secretary of state for foreign affairs of the United Kingdom. In 2006, as secretary of state for the environment, he pioneered the world’s first legally binding emissions reduction requirements. He was a member of Parliament from 2001 to 2013. Miliband graduated from Oxford University and received a master’s degree in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

David Leblang is the Randolph P. Compton Professor of Public Affairs at the Miller Center and currently serves as interim associate dean for undergraduate experience and strategic initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences at UVA. Leblang is also the Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Endowed Professor of Politics and a professor of public policy at the University's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. A scholar of international political economy, Leblang has published broadly on topics including political development, global financial markets, international economic crises, and global migration. His most recent book, The Ties that Bind: The Political Economy of Global Immigration (with Benjamin Helms), was published in 2023 by Cambridge University Press.

Harriet Kuhr is the executive director of the International Rescue Committee in Charlottesville and Richmond.  She joined the IRC in 2004, first working with the IRC as manager of resettlement services in Atlanta before taking her current position in 2010. A graduate of the University of Virginia, her previous professional experience includes more than 20 years working in the field of international cultural exchange.