2025 marked fifty years after the end of the war in Vietnam, and efforts to address the legacies of war and support reconciliation have become the cornerstone of an increasingly robust US-Vietnam relationship. The comprehensive strategic partnership that now exists between the US and Vietnam was not inevitable, but rather the result of significant effort from a broad range of actors to reconcile and forge a forward-looking partnership.
This discussion considers the key role that philanthropic institutions and other non-government stakeholders played in addressing the legacies of war pre-reconciliation and during the early reconciliation period, and how they helped inspire and catalyze U.S. government prioritization of war legacies and reconciliation efforts.
Featured Speakers
Ambassador (Ret) Karen B. Stewart, U.S. Senior Foreign Service, U.S. Department of States (Opening Remarks)
Karen Brevard Stewart retired as a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service in 2025 after close to 48 years of service with the Department of State. Ambassador Stewart had overseas postings in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Laos, Pakistan, Belarus, and the Marshall Islands. She held three ambassadorial appointments: Belarus, Laos, and the Marshall Islands.
In retirement, she has joined the Board of Directors for the nongovernmental organization Legacies of War to raise awareness and support for clearing unexploded remnants of war.
Susan Berresford, Former President, Ford Foundation (Retired)
Susan Berresford (she/her) is a prominent American philanthropist and former President of the Ford Foundation. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1966 with a degree in political science.
As President of the Ford Foundation, Berresford oversaw the distribution of billions of dollars in grants to organizations working to promote social justice, economic development, and education. During her tenure, she prioritized funding for women’s rights, environmental sustainability, and cultural diversity, and also established the foundation’s International Fellowship Program, which has supported thousands of scholars from around the world.
Berresford has been recognized for her contributions to philanthropy and public service with numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. She continues to be an influential voice in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, advocating for the importance of collaboration, innovation, and social justice in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges.
Terry Lautz, Fellow, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Terry Lautz is former vice president and program director for East and Southeast Asia at the Henry Luce Foundation. He has authored and edited three books on the history of US-China relations. Terry has served as a trustee and chair the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the Lingnan Foundation, and the Yale-China Association. He is currently a fellow at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Tim Rieser, Senior Aide for Senator Welch
Tim Rieser graduated from the Putney School, in Putney, VT in 1970, and received his BA in history from Dartmouth College in 1976. He received his JD from the Antioch School of Law in 1979. From 1980-83, Tim worked as a public defender in Barre, VT, and in 1984 spent a year as a teaching assistant under Professor Roger Fisher at the Harvard Law School Negotiation Project. In 1985, Tim began working for U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on judiciary issues, and then shifted to foreign policy in 1987. In 1989, when Senator Leahy became Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Tim joined the Subcommittee as a professional staff member. In 1995, Tim became the Democratic Clerk for what by then was the Subcommittee on the Department of State and Foreign Operations, and has held that position ever since, handling appropriations for the operations of the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. foreign assistance programs. Since 1995, Tim has also served as Senator Leahy’s senior foreign policy aide.
Andrew Wells-Dang, Nonresident Fellow, Southeast Asia, Stimson Center
Dr. Andrew Wells-Dang is a leading international specialist in the politics and society of mainland Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). His research interests include legacies of war, civil society-state relations, and U.S. foreign policy towards the region. Dr. Wells-Dang is a senior advisor to Mission: POW-MIA, chair of the board of the War Legacies Project, and a fellow of the Southeast Asia Peace Institute.
Susan Hammond, Executive Director and Founder, War Legacies Project (Moderator)
Susan Hammond, the daughter of a U.S. Vietnam veteran, became interested in post-war Southeast Asia after traveling to Vietnam and Cambodia in 1991. In 1996, after earning her MA in International Education from NYU, Susan returned to Vietnam to study Vietnamese.
She became involved in fostering mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and addressing the long-term impacts of war while working as the Deputy Director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development (FRD) from 1996 to 2007. During this time, she lived internationally in New York, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos coordinating programs for FRD. In 2007, Susan returned to her home state of Vermont and founded War Legacies Project.
In 2019, she received the Vietnam Order of Friendship medal for her more than two decades of work in Vietnam. She also stays involved with local issues in her home town serving as an elected member of the Rockingham Select Board.