August 19, 2025

Join Ploughshares on tour for Chain Reaction 2025: Mobilize. Act. Disarm. For the first time ever, we’ll hold luncheon-style events in three cities across the country:  

This year marks the 80th commemoration of the Trinity Test and the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is an opportunity to reflect upon an important question: Can we learn from the mistakes of our nuclear history and pave the way for a safer future?  

The rapidly changing nuclear landscape requires fast thinking and swift action. Ploughshares is uniquely positioned to support and guide the nuclear field through these crises using the lessons learned from our decades of experience to uncover innovative and longer-lasting solutions to one of the world’s greatest problems.  

This year’s theme, “Mobilize. Act. Disarm.” is a call to action. Together, we must galvanize our community to fight for a safe and secure future for everyone, free from the threat of nuclear weapons. Now is a time for urgency.  

A series of events so related that each one initiates the next is known as a chain reaction. Every year we gather leaders in our field, devoted partners, and new advocates to generate bold ideas and strategies to advance policies to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons. You — and every new ally you introduce to Ploughshares — represent critical innovators of change. 

 

We are delighted to announce the speakers for the Chain Reaction luncheons:

 

DR. EMMA BELCHER (All cities)

World-renowned expert on nuclear weapons policy, Dr. Emma Belcher is the President of Ploughshares and an authority on the threat of nuclear weapons and the nuances of nuclear weapons policy. Dr. Belcher began her career as a Public Affairs Officer at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC; served as a national security and international affairs advisor in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister; and held multiple fellowships at prestigious organizations. 

 

 

HABIB BAKO (Washington, DC)

Habib Bako serves as Field Building Director at Ploughshares. In his role, Bako plays a crucial part in advancing the mission of creating a safer world by coordinating action of a range of individuals and institutions. Additionally, as the Founder and Principal of Aligned Minds, LLC, Bako leads a consultancy focused on strategic partnerships, network development, and community engagement. 

 

 

LESLEY M. M. BLUME (San Francisco)

Lesley M. M. Blume is an award-winning journalist, historian, and New York Times bestselling author of Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed it to the World (2020). She often writes about historical nuclear events, historical conflict journalism, and the intersection of war and the arts. Blume has also reported extensively on the 1945 Trinity nuclear test and the birth of the atomic age. 

 

 

BEN COHEN (Washington, DC)

As co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Ben Cohen pioneered many unusual flavors and an equally unusual business philosophy that sought to integrate social concerns into their day to day business activities.  Currently Ben divides his time between the Eisenhower Media Network and Up In Arms – a campaign to shift money from Pentagon excess to social needs.  

 

 

GRETCHEN HUND (Seattle)

Gretchen Hund is the former Director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) Center for Global Security and Ploughshares’ current Board Chair. In her role at PNNL, she focused on identifying emerging issues that may have national security implications. Hund convened experts to identify and investigate emerging threats that are not in the mainstream of current debate but believed to have grave consequence.  

 

 

BEN RHODES (San Francisco)

Ben Rhodes is a national security advisor and consultant. During his tenure as Deputy National Security Advisor in the Obama Administration, Rhodes led the secret negotiations with the Cuban government which resulted in the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and served as an advisor on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. 

 

 

Thank you to our Chain Reaction Committee and Host Committee who help make these gatherings possible:

 

Chain Reaction Committee

Pamela Hamrick, Chair
Phil Ames
Tannaz Banisadre
Ann Krumboltz
Janna Rolland
Stephen Sarewitz

Host Committee

Co-Chairs, Sally Lilienthal Sponsors
In Memory of Mary Lloyd Estrin
John and Mary Feikema
Gretchen Hund and Ted Andrews
Robert and Jennifer Waldron Civic Fund

Advocates
Phil and Sabrina Ames
James B. Blume and Kathryn Frank

Activists
Roxanne Elder
Connie Foote
Drs. Corinna Haberland and Don Mordecai
Scott Sagan and Sujitpan Bao Lamsam

Analysts

John Bowers and Linda Stevens
Jane Dudley
George and Kathy Edwards
Dorothie and Martin Hellman
Ann Krumboltz
Christopher Jones and Martina Lauchengo

Ploughshares