Winter 2025 Speaker Series Line-Up
Javed Ali - Associate Professor of Practice at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
As part of our rush process we will be hosting Professor Ali on January 29th, an associate professor of practice at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy where he delivers courses on counterterrorism and domestic terrorism, cybersecurity, and national security law and policy. Ali brings more than 20 years of professional experience in national security and intelligence issues in Washington, DC. He held positions in the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security before joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation. While at the FBI, he also held senior roles on joint duty assignments at the National Intelligence Council and the National Counterterrorism Center, and the National Security Council under the Trump Administration.
Ali holds a BA in political science from the University of Michigan, a JD from the University of Detroit School of Law, and an MA in international relations from American University. He provides TV and radio interviews on a range of national security issues to US and international networks and similar print commentary in such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Hill, and Newsweek.
Marcus von Kapff - Chief Operating Officer of the City of Detroit
Marcus von Kapff has managed large P&Ls and teams across strategy, finance, sales, and operations functions. He spent the last 20 years at JPMorgan in a variety of general management roles, such as CFO of the Commercial Bank, and ran large sales organizations across Business Banking and Treasury Services. Prior to JPMorgan, Marcus was the International General Manager for Transamerica Commercial Finance and worked at McKinsey & Co. in Los Angeles and Johannesburg, focusing on financial services. A career highlight was working in South Africa, helping to end apartheid era business practices during the Mandela presidency.
Mr. von Kapff recently joined the City of Detroit as Chief Operating Officer to assist with the city’s revitalization. He is responsible for Transportation, Housing, Fire, Water & Sewer, and Permitting & Licensing, as well as Human Resources and IT across city departments. He studied mechanical engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and has his masters in management from MIT, with a concentration in technology innovation. He was also a fellow at Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute focusing on sustainability and democratic development. He serves on the board of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Kendrick Baker - 3L at Michigan Law
Kendrick Baker is currently a 3L at Michigan Law. He has interned for both the US House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as the Federal Reserve, and worked in government relations at JPMC, and consulting at the Department of Defense with Deloitte.
Mr. Baker got to participate with the U.N. in Geneva to help lead negotiations for the U.S. on the Human Right Council’s resolution on the Right to Food. He also prepared and delivered floor speeches for the U.S. at the Human Rights Council on the right to housing, the conflict in Gaza, and the security situation in the Central African Republic. Kendrick worked with NGOs + non-Profits, on the Buttigieg campaign, as well as with the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the Southern District of New York (SDNY).