Full Name
Samar Ali
Job Title
International Counsel - Bass, Berry & Sims and
Company
One Million Conversations Campaign Lead
Speaker Bio
Samar Ali is a mediator who reaches across critical divides to broker deals and build bridges to protect vulnerable communities across the world. Her career has spanned tenures at the White House, the South African Supreme Court, the State Government of Tennessee, and today as an entrepreneur and national security lawyer who works locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Both her multidisciplinary experiences across borders and upbringing in small-town Tennessee directed her interests toward working to strengthen democratic institutions, processes and principles through establishing the E Pluribus Unum Foundation and leading the One Million Conversations national campaign in an effort to counter hate and fear in America today.
Working on a memoir that chronicles her family’s century long journey for peace, equality and a sense of belonging, Samar hopes to transcend partisanship and build consensus towards civility and mutual respect. Additionally, she is working on a film by Emmy Award-nominated director Michael Collins, Out of Many One, about the meaning of American citizenship today and the future of America’s Democracy. The World Economic Forum recently selected Ms. Ali as a Young Global Leader. The White House Fellows Foundation has awarded Samar with the White House Fellows IMPACT Award. Vanderbilt University also honored Samar with the 2018 Young Alumni Professional AchievementAward. Samar is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Truman National Security Project. She was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014 by The Tennessean and was also recently recognized as a “Rising Star” in the mid-South by Super Lawyers. She is frequently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the Hill, Forbes Magazine, the New York Times, the Nashville Business Journal, C-SPAN, NPR, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Tennessean.
Samar started her career practicing law at Hogan Lovells US LLP’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and helped establish its first presence in the Middle East before she returned home to the United States to become a White House Fellow. As a White House Fellow in President Barack Obama’s administration, Ms. Ali worked closely with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, where she focused on bi-lateral National Security negotiations on behalf of the U.S. Government in Europe and the Middle East. Following this appointment, Samar joined President Jimmy Carter on an International Election Monitoring Delegation to the 2012 Egyptian Presidential Elections.
After Ms. Ali’s time working in federal government, she returned to her home state, Tennessee, to serve as Assistant Commissioner for International Affairs to Governor Bill Haslam, managing Tennessee’s global relations and establishing its international strategic plan to benefit both urban and rural counties. This strategy led to Tennessee being recognized by the IBM Institute of Business as the top state in the nation for foreign investments and her work was highlighted in the 2012 and 2013 New York Times articles, “Under Attack as Muslims in the US” and “New Path for Trade: Selling in China,” respectively.
After her work in state government, Samar returned to the private sector and co-founded Lodestone Advisory Group, a multi-national consulting firm specializing in innovation, internationalization, and investments. Samar also maintains her law practice through Bass Berry & Sims in Washington, D.C. and Nashville, TN, where she works at the intersection of civil rights and national security law. Through her law practice, Samar continues to work as a third-party mediator in conflict zones around the world.
Samar is an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University School of Law, where she teaches courses on negotiations, post-nation state theory and international relations. In addition, Samar serves as a Board Member to Winrock International; Vanderbilt Law School; Vanderbilt University’s Board of Distinction; the Foundation for Society, Law & Art in South Africa; and Nashville Public Radio. She is also a Commissioner on the Nashville Metro Council Human Relations Commission, whose mission is to protect the personal dignity, peace, safety, security, health and general welfare of all people in Nashville and Davidson County.
During her time at, and after graduating from law school, Samar served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gilbert S. Merritt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Honorable Edwin Cameron, now of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. While an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University, Samar was elected the school’s first Muslim-American Student Body President and was elected to Pi Sigma Alphagraduating cum laude. She and her husband live in Nashville, TN.
Working on a memoir that chronicles her family’s century long journey for peace, equality and a sense of belonging, Samar hopes to transcend partisanship and build consensus towards civility and mutual respect. Additionally, she is working on a film by Emmy Award-nominated director Michael Collins, Out of Many One, about the meaning of American citizenship today and the future of America’s Democracy. The World Economic Forum recently selected Ms. Ali as a Young Global Leader. The White House Fellows Foundation has awarded Samar with the White House Fellows IMPACT Award. Vanderbilt University also honored Samar with the 2018 Young Alumni Professional AchievementAward. Samar is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Truman National Security Project. She was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014 by The Tennessean and was also recently recognized as a “Rising Star” in the mid-South by Super Lawyers. She is frequently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the Hill, Forbes Magazine, the New York Times, the Nashville Business Journal, C-SPAN, NPR, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Tennessean.
Samar started her career practicing law at Hogan Lovells US LLP’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and helped establish its first presence in the Middle East before she returned home to the United States to become a White House Fellow. As a White House Fellow in President Barack Obama’s administration, Ms. Ali worked closely with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, where she focused on bi-lateral National Security negotiations on behalf of the U.S. Government in Europe and the Middle East. Following this appointment, Samar joined President Jimmy Carter on an International Election Monitoring Delegation to the 2012 Egyptian Presidential Elections.
After Ms. Ali’s time working in federal government, she returned to her home state, Tennessee, to serve as Assistant Commissioner for International Affairs to Governor Bill Haslam, managing Tennessee’s global relations and establishing its international strategic plan to benefit both urban and rural counties. This strategy led to Tennessee being recognized by the IBM Institute of Business as the top state in the nation for foreign investments and her work was highlighted in the 2012 and 2013 New York Times articles, “Under Attack as Muslims in the US” and “New Path for Trade: Selling in China,” respectively.
After her work in state government, Samar returned to the private sector and co-founded Lodestone Advisory Group, a multi-national consulting firm specializing in innovation, internationalization, and investments. Samar also maintains her law practice through Bass Berry & Sims in Washington, D.C. and Nashville, TN, where she works at the intersection of civil rights and national security law. Through her law practice, Samar continues to work as a third-party mediator in conflict zones around the world.
Samar is an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University School of Law, where she teaches courses on negotiations, post-nation state theory and international relations. In addition, Samar serves as a Board Member to Winrock International; Vanderbilt Law School; Vanderbilt University’s Board of Distinction; the Foundation for Society, Law & Art in South Africa; and Nashville Public Radio. She is also a Commissioner on the Nashville Metro Council Human Relations Commission, whose mission is to protect the personal dignity, peace, safety, security, health and general welfare of all people in Nashville and Davidson County.
During her time at, and after graduating from law school, Samar served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gilbert S. Merritt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Honorable Edwin Cameron, now of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. While an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University, Samar was elected the school’s first Muslim-American Student Body President and was elected to Pi Sigma Alphagraduating cum laude. She and her husband live in Nashville, TN.
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