Why The Transatlantic Alliance Matters: Protecting Ukraines Children And Europes Next Generation

Sally A. Painter is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Blue Star Strategies, LLC. She provides corporate, institutional, and public sector clients with external affairs, foreign and security policy guidance, and global business development strategies. Sally's work focuses on supporting the democratic, economic development, and rule of law aspirations of countries around the world, particularly those undergoing transition. She is a key leader and trusted advisor in the European space, representing global businesses and governments on their most important investment and foreign policy issues, including NATO, EU, and OECD accession and the historic legislation passed by the U.S. Congress allowing their citizens to enter the U.S. visa-free.

From 1993-1995, Sally was a senior advisor in the Clinton Administration, where she managed the Office of Business Liaison's outreach and advocacy program for the late Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown, providing strategic advice and advocacy for U.S companies bidding on overseas contracts. Previously, Sally served as director of international at Tenneco Inc., a Fortune 500 company and was instrumental in the creation and management of the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue and the French American Business Council.

Sally also serves on the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council as a senior advisor to its Future Europe Initiative, a member of the International Advisory Board of GLOBSEC and the Board of Directors of the GLOBSEC U.S. Foundation. Sally is also a board member of the U.S. Committee on NATO, Truman National Security Project, Global Fairness Initiative, and the Muslim Jewish Conference.

She is the recipient of the Golden Laurel Branch Award from the Republic of Bulgaria, Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit from the Republic of Hungary, and the Minister of Defense Award for Distinction from the Republic of Latvia. She is also a producer of the Broadway theater production ANN, a dramatization of the life of former Texas Governor Ann Richards and a certified downhill ski instructor.

Mariam Lambert, a Belgian citizen based in the Netherlands, transitioned from a 20-year career as civil servant at the European Patent Office to humanitarian work in 2023. As co-founder and CEO of the Emile Foundation, she has dedicated her life to aiding children worldwide. 

Following the Ukrainian conflict escalation in 2022, she has been personally providing emergency relief to front line civilians and hospitals, while coordinating and advocating for the return of the forcibly deported Ukrainian children, demonstrating her commitment to humanitarian causes.

In June 2025, she was invited to the 2025 GLOBSEC Forum in Prague to participate in the panel "Children's Protection during Armed Conflict." (Recording available here).

She and her team are working tirelessly to locate the missing children and raise awareness about situations faced by children in armed conflicts, travelling to over 27 countries since 2023, including Brazil, the Emirates, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia, as well as to institutions such as the United Nations and the European Parliament. In order to build an international coalition of countries and organisations willing to create a mechanism of implementation of international law designed to make the return and care of those children as fast as possible.