BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Making A Difference
PETER CECCHINI
Director
Mr. Cecchini is the Global Chief Market Strategist and Co-Head of Equities for Cantor Fitzgerald. Formerly, he was Chief Strategist and Head of Special Situations at BGC Partners, a Cantor Fitzgerald affiliate. Previously, Mr. Cecchini was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Seven Bridges Management, LP. Seven Bridges was an event-driven, special situations hedge fund seeded by Ulysses Management (the successor to Odyssey partners). The fund took long and short positions throughout companies’ capital structures and invested selectively based on a macro-thematic approach. Before his role at Seven Bridges, Mr. Cecchini spent four years at BNY Mellon's predecessor, Mellon Financial Corporation (within its Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies, LLC subsidiary), most recently as a Managing Director and group head of distressed investing. He directed securities selection, portfolio construction and portfolio hedging. Until its acquisition by Mellon Financial, Mr. Cecchini spent three years as an analyst and senior analyst at HBV Capital Management.
Corporate Governance
Mr. Cecchini served on the Board of Directors of Ormet Corporation, a North American integrated aluminum producer. He is a noted expert on corporate governance and restructuring and has chaired or served on numerous equity, unsecured, secured and bank steering committees.
Television
Mr. Cecchini speaks routinely at conferences and appears on various media outlets, including Bloomberg TV and CNBC.
Education
Mr. Cecchini holds an MBA from Columbia University (Dean's List), a JD from Boston University School of Law (American Jurisprudence Scholar) and a BA in Economics from Haverford College. He is an inactive Member of the NY State Bar.
BENJAMIN JENSEN
Director
Dual appointments as Associate Professor: Marine Corps University, Command and Staff College and Scholar-in-Residence, American University, School of International Service. Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Dr. Jensen’s teaching and research explore the changing character of political violence and strategy. At the Marine Corps University, he runs the Advanced Studies Program. The program integrates student research with long-range studies on future war-fighting concepts and competitive strategies in the U.S. defense and intelligence communities.
Publications
Dr. Jensen’s book, Forging the Sword: U.S. Army Doctrine, 1975-2010, was published by Stanford University Press in 2016. His second book, Cyber Strategy: The Changing Character of Cyber Power and Coercion, was published by Oxford University Press In 2018.
Dr. Jensen also writes a column on the changing character of conflict for War on the Rocks, entitled “Next War.” He has also written opinion pieces on the changing character of war for the New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Times, USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, Philadelphia Inquirer, Al-Hayat and the Daily Star.
Research/Grants
Dr. Jensen has received grants and research support from the Hewlett Foundation/University of California-Berkley, the U.S. Marine Corps, Minerva Initiative, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Smith Richardson Foundation and Centre national de la recherche scientifique (French National Center for Scientific Research). He is an alumnus of the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies Basin Harbor Workshop, the Bridging the Gap Initiative and the American Academy for Strategic Education. Dr. Jensen has also supported multiple U.S. government agencies including contributing to Joint staff studies and war games on transnational threats and great power competition, counterinsurgency doctrine, intelligence community scenarios on the future of Afghanistan, studies on cyber operational art, and red team assessments for the NATO headquarters in Afghanistan.
Television
Dr. Jensen is a regular commentator on military issues and has appeared on BBC, Fox News, National Public Radio, and Canadian Television.
Education
Dr. Jensen received his bachelor’s degree in English and communications from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, an MA in international affairs, international peace and conflict resolution from American University, School of International Service, a master’s of science in strategic intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College (Defense Intelligence Agency) and his PhD in international relations (international politics, international security) from American University, School of International Service.
MICHAEL HANNAGAN
President & Director
Mr. Hannagan has a diverse background in the fields of advertising, law and finance. Prior to his injury, Mr. Hannagan was a senior member of the Financial Restructuring Investment Banking group at Raymond James and Associates (RJ). At RJ, Mr. Hannagan worked primarily for borrowers across all industry sectors analyzing their business operations and financial situation, raising capital, selling all or part of their companies or their assets, negotiating with lenders or otherwise resolving capital structure issues. He testified in federal court and resolved billions of dollars in claims. Prior to RJ, Mr. Hannagan was a sales-trader of distressed and high yield debt and equity for 5 years at Miller Tabak Roberts Securities.
Before moving to his positions in finance, Mr. Hannagan practiced law at several Wall Street firms including Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Mr. Hannagan’s legal practice involved complex financial restructurings, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, securities law and general corporate advisory work.
Starting out in the field of advertising, Mr. Hannagan worked for McCann-Erickson Worldwide where he produced centralized advertising material for usage across 40+ countries. He worked closely with colleagues in each market to adapt the materials to their language and needs. In his initial position in Frankfurt, Germany, Mr. Hannagan worked on the General Motors Europe account, which was the largest advertising account in the world at the time. Subsequently, out of London, UK, Mr. Hannagan was the European Coordinator for the United Parcel Service (UPS) account and worked closely with the Worldwide Advertising Director for UPS. For his work on the UPS account and on behalf of the agency, Mr. Hannagan accepted the award of Best Global Television Campaign from Media and Marketing Europe.
Education
Mr. Hannagan earned a B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. He is an inactive Member of the NY State Bar.
ALLY HANNAGAN
Fundraising Coordinator
Ally knows more about living with spinal cord injury than most people ever could because she has been living through it with her dad since she was nine years old. As a result of the accident, she has been forced to grow up quickly. Her home and childhood in New York City come to an end, and she began anew in Los Angeles. Ally hung up her downhill racing skis and picked up her debate trophies. Her language and technological skills, level of maturity, and unique background make her a force to be reckoned with and the ideal person to spearhead the fundraising efforts for the foundation.