Commission Member
Commissioner Jonathan Stivers is the U.S. Director of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation. He recently served as the Democratic Staff Director on the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and Chinese Communist Party, a Professional Staff Member on the House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, and as the Staff Director of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. In the Obama Administration, Jon served as USAID Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Asia managing a budget of approximately $1.2 billion in foreign assistance and led a staff of approximately 1,200 development professionals in 32 countries in East Asia and the Pacific Islands, South Asia, and Central Asia. Prior to that, Jon was a Senior Advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi responsible of foreign policy and trade issues including U.S.-China relations. He previously served as a USCC Commissioner from 2017-2018. Commissioner Stivers was appointed by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries for a term expiring December 31, 2025.
Commission Member
Commissioner Cliff Sims served as Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications, helping to oversee the 18 agencies of the U.S. intelligence community (IC) and playing an integral role in shifting the IC's funding and focus toward the threat of a rising and adversarial China. Sims was previously Special Assistant to the President and Director of White House Message Strategy. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC, and his opinions on national security, foreign policy, and current events have been published in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The National Interest, and numerous other publications. Commissioner Sims graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama with a degree in Political Science and received an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Commissioner Sims was appointed by Speaker Mike Johnson for a term expiring December 31, 2025.
Commission Member
Commissioner Leland R. Miller is the co-founder and CEO of China Beige Book. A noted authority on China’s economy and financial system, he is a frequent commentator on media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg TV, CNN, and FOX Business, and he has served as guest host of two of the financial world’s top morning news shows, CNBC Squawk Box and Bloomberg Surveillance. Before co-founding China Beige Book in 2010, Leland was a capital markets attorney based out of New York and Hong Kong and worked on the deal team at a major investment bank. An elected life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he returned to W&L as the Williams School’s Executive-in-Residence in 2015. Commissioner Miller was appointed by Speaker Mike Johnson for a term expiring December 31, 2025.
Staff
Nicole Morgret is a Policy Analyst on the Security and Foreign Affairs team. Prior to joining the Commission in 2023, she worked as an analyst on the Center for Advanced Defense Studies’ (C4ADS) Human Security team and as project manager at the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP).
Staff
Graham Ayres is a Policy Analyst on the Economics and Trade team, joining the Commission as a Research Assistant in 2023. He most recently worked as a campaign manager and political staffer in New Hampshire.
Staff
Rachael Burton is a Senior Policy Analyst on the Security and Foreign Affairs team at the Commission. She previously served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) from 2019 to 2023 as the Country Director for China.