Barbara McDowell Foundation Approves New Advisory Committee Members
The Barbara McDowell Foundation announces the approval by its Board of Directors of the addition of two new Advisory Committee members, William (Bill) Baumgartner and Christina Biebesheimer, on Monday, June 19, 2023.
About Bill Baumgartner:
Bill is a former U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral and experienced senior executive in both the public and private sector. In 2013, he completed a 33-year career with the Coast Guard. As a Rear Admiral, Bill served as The Judge Advocate General/Chief Counsel (TJAG) of the Coast Guard managing the Coast Guard’s worldwide legal program with over 250 attorneys, including a trial and appellate court system. He also served as the Seventh District Commander directing all U.S. Coast Guard operations in the Southeast U.S. and the Caribbean Basin, including safety and regulation of shipping, environmental protection, search and rescue, aids to navigation, law enforcement, maritime homeland security and national defense. From 2013-2017, Bill was the Senior Vice President, Global Marine Operations, for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. where he managed a fleet of 49 cruise ships operating throughout the world. Since 2018, he has led Baumgartner & Associates, LLC, a maritime consulting practice. Bill graduated from the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in 1980 with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and Marine Engineering. He has an MBA from the University of New Orleans and a JD from Harvard Law School where he was an editor on the Harvard Law Review.
About Christina Biebesheimer:
Christina has worked for much of her career to make it possible for ordinary people and marginalized groups in developing countries to be able to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to seek redress from wrongs and accountability from government. From 2005 - 2016, she was Chief Counsel for Justice Reform and then Manager of Justice, Rights and Citizen Security in the World Bank. She led a diverse team of world-class experts on rule of law reform operating in locations ranging from conflict settings to capitals of leading economies, with budgets in tens of millions and project portfolios in excess of $200 million. From 1989 - 2005 Christina focused on strengthening justice, public sector management and violence prevention at the Inter-American Development Bank, where she was first an Attorney and then Principal Specialist in Modernization of the State. From 1986 - 1989 she was an Associate with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. Christina has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) of Arlington County, as Hague Visiting Chair on the Rule of Law, as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University, as editor and author of publications on justice in development, and as a foster parent. Now retired, Christina continues to work for justice for the poor and accountability to the public: she serves on the Hearing Committee of the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility; as a volunteer lobbyist for RESULTS, advocating before the U.S. Congress for policies to end poverty; and on the Governance Committee of Foundry United Methodist Church. Christina is a graduate of the University of Iowa, the Universidade Classica de Lisboa, and Harvard Law School.
About the Advisory Committee
The Foundation’s Advisory Committee assists the Grant Committee of the Board of Directors in the review and selection of the Foundation’s annual grant recipients.