Four new members join Mason BOV

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam this summer appointed four National Capital Region leaders to the George Mason University Board of Visitors.

The four appointees—Simmi Bhuller, Juan Carlos Iturregui, Mehmood S. Kazmi and Carolyn J. Moss—joined the 16-member board at the annual President’s Planning Conference last month at The MIX.

Leadership elections for the 2019-20 year also took place, with Horace Blackman elected secretary, and Ignacia Moreno and Denise Turner Roth elected at-large members of the executive committee.

The new members bring to the Board of Visitors extensive experience in education, media, law, international business, global communications, technology, executive leadership and other areas.

Simmi Bhuller, of Falls Church, Virginia, serves as executive director of new product development at media outlet Politico. Bhuller, BA Government and International Politics '02, joined Politico in March after spending 16 years at the Advisory Board Company, and subsequently, EAB (formally the Education Advisory Board).

There she oversaw the launch of 18 products within the education industry, working at the intersection of product, sales and account management. She also oversaw management teams in sales and account management and assisted in the growth from serving the first university member to 1,100 universities, colleges and K-12 districts.

Prior to her time at the Advisory Board and EAB, Bhuller was on the staff of a gubernatorial campaign in Connecticut.

Juan Carlos Iturregui, of Bethesda, Maryland, is a practicing attorney and partner at Nelson Mullins, LLP, a national full-service law firm with more than 115 years in operations and 25 offices throughout the country.

Previously, Iturregui served as senior advisor at a global law firm, working with leadership on strategic projects. He specializes in business, regulatory and public policy issues impacting the Americas.

Iturregui works closely with decision makers and sponsors in the United States and various Latin American countries to promote business initiatives, investments, sustainable development, closer hemispheric links and public-private sector partnerships. He is a former member of the President’s Export Council (PEC), the nation’s top advisory panel on international trade and overseas markets.

Mehmood Kazmi, of Great Falls, Virginia, is director of the Office of Business Development at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Kazmi leads a team syndicating content from the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty and other U.S. international media networks to more than 3,000 television, radio and digital affiliates around the world.

Kazmi joined USAGM after two decades of senior leadership and strategic advisory roles in media, technology and investment sectors domestically and internationally. As a private consultant, he most recently led business transformation projects in Asia for media producers, digital services companies and NGOs active in the development of democratic institutions. Kazmi formerly served on the Board of Visitors at Virginia Tech.

Carolyn J. Moss, of McLean, Virginia, has more than 30 years of experience in senior leadership and executive positions with major corporations and state and federal government. She served as deputy to the assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Carter administration and as secretary of administration in Virginia from 1986 to 1990.

Moss previously served as a senior executive with Mobil Oil (now Exxon Mobil) and recently retired as managing director of Dominion’s state and local affairs for the Mid-Atlantic region. She provided strategic policy support on issues related to natural gas, natural gas transmission and pipeline storage. She also served as director of federal affairs and corporate public policy, managing Dominion’s Washington, D.C., office.