Abigail Friedman is Founder and CEO of the Wisteria Group, an international advisory firm dedicated to expanding the international presence and effectiveness of business and nonprofit clients. Ms. Friedman brings to her work over 25 years of experience as a U.S. diplomat. As White House National Security Council director for Afghanistan in the Obama administration she advised the president on Afghanistan policy and negotiated the U.S.-Afghan Strategic Partnership. Prior to that, she was embedded in a U.S. brigade in Afghanistan where she managed an international development team. Her diplomatic portfolios have included: speechwriter and political adviser to Ambassador Walter Mondale; North Korea issues, including as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Six-Party Talks; the Balkans, including participation in the 1995 Dayton Peace negotiations for Bosnia and Herzegovina; and UN oversight of the destruction of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction during the first Gulf War. Ms. Friedman received her B.A. with honors from Harvard University and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.