Our Founders

Eric Greitens, Chairman

Eric Greitens was born and raised in Missouri, where he was educated in the public schools. He was an Angier B. Duke Scholar at Duke University where he studied ethics, philosophy, and public policy. Selected as a Rhodes and Truman Scholar, he attended the University of Oxford from 1996 through 2000. There he earned a master’s degree in development studies in 1998, and a Ph.D. in politics in 2000.

His research was driven by his humanitarian work in war zones, and his thesis, Children First, investigated the ways in which international humanitarian organizations can best serve war-affected children. He has worked as a humanitarian volunteer, documentary photographer, and researcher in Croatia, Rwanda, Zaire, the Gaza Strip, Albania, Cambodia, Mexico, Bolivia, and India. His award-winning documentary photographs were featured in the publication, Community Strategies for Healing, and his strong, compassionate photographs reflect the dignity and strength of human beings engaged in struggle.

Eric is also a United States Navy SEAL officer, and he has deployed four times during the Global War on Terrorism: to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia. He has served as the Commander of a Joint Special Operations Task Unit, Commander of a Mark V Special Operations Craft Detachment, and as Commander of an Al Qaeda Targeting Cell. His personal military awards include the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

In 2005-2006, he was appointed by the President to serve as a White House Fellow. The White House Fellowship is a non-partisan, non-political appointment that each year brings together professionals from around the nation to serve the people of the United States while learning about leadership at the highest levels of government. It is considered America’s most prestigious fellowship for leadership and public service.

Eric is a sub-3 hour Marathon runner and the winner of the Shamrock Marathon at Camp Fallujah, Iraq. As a boxer, he won two Oxford Boxing Blues and the Gold Medal at the BUSA National Boxing Championships.

Eric used his combat pay from Iraq to start the Center for Citizen Leadership. The aim of the center is to provide fellowships to returning veterans—with special attention to wounded and disabled veterans—to engage in public service work in the United States. Eric currently serves as Chairman of the Center for Citizen Leadership.

Kenneth Harbaugh, Executive Director

Kenneth Harbaugh is a former Navy pilot and graduate of Yale Law School.  He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Duke University in 1996, and attended Navy Officer Candidate School immediately following.  Upon graduating at the top of his class, he attended flight school where he was the top-ranked Navy pilot.  He chose to fly long range intelligence aircraft, and was sent to Electronic Warfare School where he finished as the Class Honor Graduate.

From 1998 to 2002, Kenneth served as an Electronic Warfare Aircraft Commander, leading classified combat reconnaissance missions in hostile environments.  He and his crew deployed to remote locations around the world, sometimes as the only U.S. intelligence aircraft in theatre.  Several of the reconnaissance missions planned and led by Kenneth gained the attention of the Joint Chiefs and President.  He was selected to attend “Top Gun” for intelligence pilots, and was awarded two U.S. Naval Institute Silver Medals for his writing on civil-military relations.

In 2002, Kenneth left flying to serve as an Assistant Professor of Naval Science at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.  From 2002 to 2005, he taught Naval History and advised the largest Freshman Naval ROTC class in the nation.  He served on the Citadel Faculty Council, and contributed commentaries to National Public Radio and Marketplace.  His pieces regularly feature on NPR’s “top e-mailed stories” list.

Following his tour at the Citadel, Kenneth entered Yale Law School in 2005, where he co-founded the Yale Law Veterans Association.  In 2006, he traveled to Afghanistan as a consultant for the International Center for Transitional Justice, where he established a national training program to educate leading Afghan citizens about legal mechanisms for addressing war crimes. 

As a member of Yale’s Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic, Kenneth assisted in drafting legislation empowering Connecticut’s treasurer to divest state pension funds from Sudan in response to the ongoing genocide in Darfur.  Prior to the legislature’s vote, he testified before the State Senate.  The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Kenneth continues to write for NPR and other print publications, and is Executive Producer and co-host of the nationally syndicated weekly radio feature, Your Military Today.  He currently holds an appointment as Guest Fellow at Yale University, and lives in New Haven, Connecticut with his wife and daughter.