A Foundation for a New Middle East

Jeffrey Talpins is the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer and Founder of Element Capital. Mr. Talpins provides strategic direction for Element and is responsible for all major investment decisions for the investment funds managed by Element.

Mr. Talpins pioneered Element’s Modern Macro style of global macro investing, an evolved approach that integrates macro fundamental, systematic, and relative value analysis in the formation and implementation of financial market views. Over the last decade, Element Capital has been consistently recognized as a top performer in the alternative asset management industry and as a leader within the global macro space through various awards and accolades. Before he launched the Element Capital Fund in 2005, Mr. Talpins was the Head Trader of Citigroup’s fixed income options franchise, which managed one of the largest proprietary risk exposures within the company’s capital markets business. Prior to joining Citigroup, Mr. Talpins began his career at Goldman Sachs where he traded agency mortgage options and pass-through securities.

Mr. Talpins has been the driving force behind the charitable efforts at Element Capital, including a donation matching program for employees and a reduced fee share class for charitable investors.

The Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation is dedicated to conserving open spaces and wildlife, strengthening U.S. economic and foreign policy, creating educational and other opportunities for children to achieve their full potential, conserving open spaces and wildlife, and various additional initiatives.

Mr. Talpins serves on the boards of Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy and the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and is involved with a number of other policy institutes as well. Mr. Talpins is the Founder and Chairman of the N7 Foundation. Mr. Talpins launched the N7 Foundation in order to broaden and deepen regional integration between Israel and Arab and Muslim states.

Mr. Talpins graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1997, having earned a B.S. with Distinction in Economics and Applied Mathematics.

Oren Eisner serves as President of the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation and President of the Family Office of Mr. Talpins. Mr. Eisner is the Founder of the N7 Foundation, which works to strengthen ties between the United States, Israel and Arab and Muslim countries. The N7 Foundation works directly with governments in the Middle East and beyond to produce actionable policy recommendations that will deliver tangible benefits to all people of the region. Previously, Mr. Eisner was at QVT Financial LP, a multi-strategy hedge fund manager. Mr. Eisner graduated with distinction from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science.

Gershom Sacks is the Director of the N7 Foundation.

Mr. Sacks joins the N7 Foundation after nearly fifteen years serving the U.S. government. Most recently, Sacks served at the National Security Council as Director for Gulf Affairs, Director for Transnational Affairs, and Policy Advisor to the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.

In these roles, Mr. Sacks created, coordinated, and implemented U.S. policy in the Middle East. He advanced efforts to develop a framework for the potential normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, conceive and launch the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, advance the U.S.-Bahrain Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement, and recognize the United Arab Emirates as a Major Defense Partner during UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed’s historic visit to the United States.

Mr. Sacks also supported work to secure a ceasefire in Gaza through a hostage release deal, prevent and de-escalate conflicts throughout the Middle East, and defend Israel against two of the largest ballistic missile attacks in history. Mr. Sacks also led efforts to deepen U.S. partnerships in the Arabian Gulf through intelligence and security cooperation and worked to identify opportunities to secure critical infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa and harness the full potential of artificial intelligence.

At the Department of State, Mr. Sacks served at the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, where he spearheaded strategic messaging campaigns and helped lead the largest merger in Department history, modernizing how the United States communicates to foreign publics. He served as Press Attache at U.S. Embassy Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic and U.S. Embassy Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where he led press and public diplomacy initiatives. Prior to overseas assignments, Mr. Sacks conducted energy market analysis at the Bureau of Energy Resources, helped to forge public-private partnerships in the Secretary’s Office for Global Partnership’s, and worked at the Office of the Historian.

Mr. Sacks graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. with a Bachelor’s of Science in Economics. He is the recipient of several U.S. government awards and taught courses on U.S. foreign policy at Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg.

Emily Milliken is the Deputy Director for the N7 Foundation.

With experience spanning think tanks, consulting firms, journalism, and the U.S. Congress, Milliken blends expertise in operations, communications, and research.

Prior to joining the N7 Foundation, Milliken oversaw the N7 Initiative’s research, publications, communications, and finance portfolios, securing participation in global conferences, managing a congressional staff fellowship program, and working with former government officials on a variety of publications. Milliken previously served as Senior Vice President and Lead Analyst for Askari Defense and Intelligence, LLC where she provided open-source intelligence analysis to mid and senior level military officials in the Gulf region and as a junior fellow for the American Foreign Policy Council’s Middle East and Countering Islamic Extremism programs.

A skilled writer and analyst focused on the Gulf, Yemen, Jordan, and Islamic extremism groups, she is a frequent commentator in domestic and international media outlets, earning her accolades such as being named to the 2023 Middle East Policy Council’s 40 Under 40 list. She completed her MA in Middle East Studies and International Economics at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 2021 and graduated from Notre Dame of Maryland University with a BA in Political Science in 2019.

Cassidy McGoldrick is the Associate Director for the N7 Foundation. Previously, McGoldrick worked for the N7 Initiative, where she co-led the first privately sponsored Congressional Delegation focused on the Abraham Accords and supported research and events to advance regional integration. She organized high-level conferences and dialogues across the Middle East and represented the N7 Initiative in meetings with policymakers, diplomats, and thought leaders from more than 25 countries. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, McGoldrick interned with a member of the Israeli Knesset, researching infrastructure and development, coordinating meetings with foreign ambassadors, and assisting with his campaign during the Israeli legislative election. McGoldrick graduated from Emory University with highest honors, earning a double major in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies. She conducted research in Emory’s Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies department and wrote her honors thesis on Arab media representation of the Abraham Accords.

Afaq Hussain is Senior Policy Advisor at the N7 Foundation for the Middle East Integration and Director and Founding Member of the Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals (BRIEF), New Delhi. With nearly two decades of experience in policy research and advisory, his work spans international trade, trade facilitation, regional economic integration, transport connectivity, and logistics.

At the N7 Foundation, Afaq focuses on advancing regional connectivity and trade facilitation as drivers of economic integration across the Middle East. His work examines the evolving trade and logistics landscape of the region, including emerging multimodal transport corridors, port connectivity, and the policy and regulatory frameworks required to facilitate cross-border trade. A key area of focus is the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), particularly its economic potential, operational requirements, and implementation challenges, as well as its broader implications for regional cooperation and global trade networks.

Previously, Afaq served as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. His research examined the economic dimensions of the Middle East, with a particular emphasis on IMEC, exploring the corridor’s economic viability, connectivity potential, and operational considerations. His work contributed to policy discussions on regional infrastructure development and economic cooperation.

Afaq has also served on the Infrastructure Connectivity vertical of NITI Aayog’s (Government of India) India@75 initiative, contributing to India’s long-term development agenda. An alumnus of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on Smart Ports, he brings an international perspective to policy research and dialogue on trade, transport infrastructure, and connectivity.

In addition, Afaq is a 2026 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Government of Australia supported MAITRI Fellow at the Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI), University of New South Wales, Sydney. His fellowship research focuses on critical minerals value chains, with particular emphasis on opportunities for India-Australia cooperation.

Zack Apt is the Program Assistant with the N7 Foundation.  

Prior to joining the N7 Foundation, Apt was a Research Assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy for the Project on Arab-Israeli Relations. He assisted Institute fellows with background research for written publications and coordinated high-level conferences. Apt also interned with MAX Security Solutions, a geopolitical risk analysis firm, focusing on trends in the Middle East affecting the business community. He graduated from UCLA with a BA in Political Science and a minor in Statistics. While at UCLA, he interned at the Burkle Center for International Relations and the Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.