Nathaniel Barnes is a corporate executive, diplomat, entrepreneur and scholar, with over thirty-five years of senior executive management experience, and a 2005 Presidential candidate in Liberia. Nathaniel’s outstanding competence and leadership were asserted in his transformational approach to finance, development and diplomacy in important roles including as Finance Minister of Liberia; Director General of the National Social Security & Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) – Liberia; Liberia Permanent Representative to the United Nations; Liberia Ambassador to the United States and Cuba; and Nortel Networks in Finance, Internal Control and Marketing.

In these high-profile offices, inter alias, Barnes played a pivotal role in lifting of economic sanctions on Liberia and the return of Liberia as a responsible member of the comity of nations, following many years of conflict. In the last few years, Barnes has been drawing on his distinguished broad experience to provide advisory services on international political, social and economic issues in Africa, particularly, in post-conflict environments.  He is a lecturer at the African Methodist Episcopal University graduate school in Liberia, and the author of Left Brain, Right Brain: Thoughts and Musings of a Servant on Globalization, Poverty, Conflict, Humanity.