Ascend Taps Former Ambassadors, CNN Journalist For Advisory Roles: Ronald E. Neumann, Beth Jones, and Tammy Thorp join a roster of experts working for gender equity across the world.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Marina LeGree | marina@ascendathletics.org | 202-403-9901

(Fairfax, VA) November 19, 2025—Ascend, a nonprofit organization that supports women and girls throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan, has named former U.S. Ambassadors Ronald E. Neumann and Beth Jones, as well as award-winning journalist Tammy Kupperman Thorp to its advisory board.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Tammy and Ambassadors Neumann and Jones into these roles with Ascend,” said Marina LeGree, the organization’s Founder and Executive Director. “As we double-down on our work to build a better world through the empowerment of women and girls, it’s crucial to have the support of friends with not only wide-ranging expertise, but the drive and passion to see it through. These three have done so much for Ascend over the years, and I’m proud to connect that work to the organization in this formal capacity.”

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Ambassador Neumann has held three ambassadorships, including serving as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005-07. His work has focused largely on the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, with roles that have taken him to duties in Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Northern Africa, and more. Ambassador Neumann is the author of Three Embassies, Four Wars: A Personal Memoir, and The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan. He has returned to Afghanistan repeatedly and is the author of a number of monographs, articles, and editorials focusing mainly on Afghanistan and stabilization. 

Now president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, Ambassador Neumann oversees a cohort of former ambassadors and foreign policy using their wealth of experience to strengthen American diplomacy. In addition to his role with Ascend, Ambassador Neumann is on the advisory boards of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), Spirit of America, the Middle East Policy Council, and the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan. 

A former Army infantry officer, Ambassador Neumann has received a Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Infantry Badge. In 2018, he received the American Foreign Service Association’s award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy. 

“Ascend has demonstrated an incredible ability to keep operating in Afghanistan and improving the lives of women,” said Ambassador Neumann “With so few bright spots in these dark days, Ascend’s work is well worth supporting for those who care about the future of women and girls in Afghanistan.”

Ambassador Jones served 40 years in the U.S. Foreign Service where she achieved the highest rank of Career Ambassador. Her senior positions included Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, Assistant Secretary for the Near East, and U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan. She also was Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Senior Advisor for Caspian Energy Diplomacy, and Deputy Chief of Mission for U.S. Embassies Bonn and Islamabad. Her other overseas posts were Kabul, Cairo, Amman, Baghdad and West Berlin.

At ExxonMobil for five years, Ambassador Jones worked in the International Government Relations group on oil and gas projects in Russia, Central Asia and South Asia. She led the Business Diplomacy team at APCO Worldwide for five years. She has also served on several nonprofit boards.

Ambassador Jones was recalled to the Foreign Service as Coordinator for the Afghan Relocation Effort after the fall of Kabul, subsequently as Charge’ d’Affaires for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and most recently as Charge’ of U.S. Embassy Cairo.

“I am impressed by the resilience of this organization and am proud to be part of Ascend’s unique promise,” said Ambassador Jones. “With its emphasis on empowerment of women and girls through mountaineering, Ascend seems a contradiction to norms in the very conservative communities they serve. Having hiked in these mountains myself, I was thrilled that they form the firmament for Ascend’s programs encouraging girls’ and women’s leadership and independence.”

Thorp, a former member of Ascend’s Board of Directors, is an award-winning journalist and public affairs practitioner with more than 30 years of experience in public affairs, media, and national security, most recently serving as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Public Affairs. From 2017 to 2020, she led CNN’s coverage of the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, focusing on issues including the Mueller investigation, immigration, and the confirmations of two Supreme Court justices.

Thorp spent nearly 17 years as a journalist for NBC News, where she was nominated for multiple Emmy awards, covering international security, foreign policy, intelligence, defense, and politics both domestically and overseas. In that time, she was based at the Pentagon, State Department, White House, London, and Tel Aviv. Subsequently, she also provided research assistance to the author of Arrows of the Night, a 2011 book that examines the role Ahmad Chalabi played in the U.S. decision to go to war in Iraq.

Thorp is the recipient of the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award, the CIA Director’s Award for Distinguished Service, and a National News Emmy. She served as a National Security Fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government from 2013-14.

“Ascend and its founder Marina LeGree are the real deal,” said Thorp. “The organization began as an idea to empower women in Afghanistan through mountain climbing, giving these women the confidence and tools to guide their own futures and influence their communities. Now, more than a decade later, Ascend is still empowering women globally through mental health and entrepreneurship programs, giving them a say in their own lives. I am inspired by these women and am honored to contribute to this work.” 

Ascend’s Advisory Board brings together influential experts that provide support and insights on the organization’s strategic priorities. As special advisors to Ascend, Ambassadors Neumann and Jones and Thorp take on these new roles at a time of great potential for the organization, as it invests deeper in its five-pillar model focused on physical and mental health, community engagement, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and leadership development. 

“After more than 10 years since our founding, we are poised to move Ascend into the next phase of its work, while safeguarding the organization from current forces that seek to limit gender equity around the world,” said LeGree. “Guidance from Ambassadors Neumann and Jones and Tammy will be pivotal as we go forward, and I’m excited to get to work.”

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ABOUT ASCEND

Ascend is creating a more peaceful and prosperous world by empowering women and girls. Through transformative programming centered on physical and mental health, community engagement, environmental stewardship, and entrepreneurship, we develop leaders who are confident, courageous, and resilient, resulting in greater gender equality across the globe. To learn more about Ascend, visit www.ascendathletics.org.

Press Contact:

Marina LeGree

Founder and Executive Director, Ascend Leadership Through Athletics

marina@ascendathletics.org