Mickey Bergman

Michael "Mickey" Bergman is the CEO of Global Reach and the Vice President and Executive Director of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, where his graduate level courses focus on the art of emotional intelligence in international relations and negotiations. Previously, he served as Executive Director of the Global Alliances Program at the Aspen Institute and founded the Solel Strategic Group (SSG).

Bergman has advocated for numerous political prisoners and hostages, including Paul Whelan, Brittney Griner, Trevor Reed, and Taylor Dudley from Russia; Danny Fenster from Myanmar; Otto Warmbier and Kenneth Bae from North Korea; Xiyue Wang, Michael R. White (U.S. veteran), and Robert Levinson from Iran; and the Citgo Six, Eyvin Hernandez, and Savoi Wright from Venezuela.

For his efforts alongside Bill Richardson, Bergman was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and again in 2023. In 2023, Bergman received the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation American Hostage Freedom Award from the Foley Foundation.

Pioneering the field of ''Fringe Diplomacy'', Bergman has developed a unique approach to global engagement that connects individuals in areas typically overlooked by governments and NGOs. He aims to create new political capital by leading professional exchange programs to frontier countries such as North Korea, Myanmar, Cuba, Lebanon, and others.

Bergman is also an accomplished author and commentator. He wrote '' In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad'' and has published numerous articles and opinion pieces. He frequently provides media commentary on cases of Americans held hostage, hostage diplomacy, and international relations, and is recognized as an expert in the fields of Cuba, North Korea, and Myanmar."A Rare Moment for Myanmar — and America" The New York Times, Nov 14, 2012
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Early life and career

Bergman was born and raised in Tel Aviv. He is a former paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces. Bergman graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor's degree. He went on study at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University where he obtained a Master of Science in Foreign Service.

Prior to his work with the Aspen Institute and Solel Strategic Group (SSG), Bergman served for two years as the Director of Congressional Relations and Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Middle East Peace & Economic Cooperation. As president of SSG, the group worked with the Clinton Global Initiative, former Governor Bill Richardson, the Robert Redford Center at Sundance, and the Elders. At the Aspen Institute, Bergman previously directed programs including Partners for a New Beginning, the Emirates-Aspen Partnership, the North-Africa Partnership of Economic Opportunity, and the U.S.-Lebanon Dialogue.

Hostage and prisoner advocacy

Bill Richardson first became aware of Bergman through his humanitarian work in Sudan, which subsequently led to a diplomatic mission to Khartoum. Bergman later took on a leadership role at the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, serving as Vice President and Executive Director. In this capacity, Bergman has collaborated closely with diplomat Cameron R. Hume through the Richardson Center's initiatives.

Israel

In 2007, Bergman and Richardson began back channel negotiations to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israel Defense Forces who had been captured by Hamas a year earlier. They planned a trip to Israel and Egypt. In Israel, they met with Shimon Peres, Tzipi Livni, Ami Ayalon, and Galit's father. In Egypt, they met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Omar Suleiman (politician). Richardson and his team were acknowledged for their role in securing Shalit's release through a prisoner exchange.

North Korea

Kenneth Bae

In January 2013, Bergman, Richardson, and then-Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea on a private diplomatic mission. Their efforts included seeking release of Kenneth Bae, an imprisoned American Christian missionary, charged with crimes related to preaching against the North Korean government. The group delivered a letter to government officials for delivery to Bae. Following the visit, Richardson and Bergman published an opinion piece in The Washington Post, advocating for a reset in relations with North Korea. Bae was ultimately released in November 2014.

Otto F. Warmbier

In September 2016, a delegation organized by the Richardson Center visited North Korea in a humanitarian mission supported by the Obama administration. The delegation included Bergman, Rick Downes, and P. Willey, and at the time was the first such face-to-face contact in nearly two years. They discussed resuming the recovery of American soldiers' remains, aid for flood victims, and the release of Otto F. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student imprisoned in North Korea. Bergman emphasized the need to address both humanitarian aid and the return of Warmbier.

Bergman played an ongoing role in the efforts to free Warmbier, working closely with Richardson and the Warmbier family. His strategy involved engaging directly with North Korean officials, utilizing personal relationships, and leveraging humanitarian gestures to support the negotiations for Warmbier's release. Despite these efforts, Warmbier returned to the U.S. in a coma and died shortly thereafter after 17 months of imprisonment.

Iran

Bergman and Richardson played roles in securing the release of Princeton graduate student Xiyue Wang from Iran in 2019. Wang had been detained in Iran for over three years. Acting on behalf of the Wang family and engaging with Iranian officials for months, the Richardson Center facilitated discussions that led to Wang's eventual release in a prisoner swap with Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani in December 2019.

Following the Wang-Soleimani exchange, they met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

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