Grant Harris is CEO of Connect Frontier LLC and advises companies and organizations on strategy, policy, and mitigating risk with respect to working in emerging markets.  For four years, Harris served as the principal advisor to President Barack Obama on issues related to sub-Saharan Africa, serving as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the White House from August 2011 to August 2015.  During that time, Harris conceived of the historic U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, at which President Obama hosted 51 African leaders in Washington, DC, in 2014.  The Summit generated $33 billion in new commitments to support trade, investment, and development across Africa.  While at the White House, Harris also initiated President Obama’s Doing Business in Africa Campaign; launched the President’s Young African Leaders Initiative, to support emerging leaders; and was the primary architect of the U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa.  Prior to this position, Harris was Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to Susan E. Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  Previously, Mr. Harris was an associate at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where he focused on international financings and business transactions.  Prior to that, Harris served in the African Affairs Directorate at the White House under President Bill Clinton.  Harris holds a law degree from Yale Law School, a Master’s in Public Affairs, with Distinction, from Princeton University, and a B.A., with Highest Honors, from the University of California, Berkeley.