Management


Chas W. Freeman, Jr.

Chairman, Projects International
Managing Member, PI Founders Stake Seed Capital Fund I, LLC

Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm), acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Chargé d’affaires at both Bangkok and Beijing. He began his diplomatic career in India but specialized in Chinese affairs. (He was the principal American interpreter for President Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972.) He remains a frequent visitor to China as well as Arabia.

Ambassador Freeman is a much sought-after public speaker and the author of several books on statecraft and diplomacy. His most recent book on China, Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige, was published in March 2013. He studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and in Taiwan, and earned an A.B. magna cum laude from Yale University as well as a J.D. from the Harvard Law School.

As Chairman of Projects International, Ambassador Freeman has developed new business, arranged international private-sector joint ventures, acquisitions, and other business operations for American and foreign clients.

E-mail: cfreeman@ProjectsInternational.com

Freeman Bio


Peter J.C. Young

President, Projects International
Managing Member, PI Founders Stake Seed Capital Fund I, LLC

As President of Projects International, Peter J.C. Young works in numerous sectors, including energy, natural resources, agriculture, transportation, healthcare, IT and defense industries. His areas of expertise include international negotiations, international trade and business development, strategic marketing and capital markets. Mr. Young has extensive experience in international business, international law and trade policy, and U.S. Government service in the defense and foreign affairs arenas.

Mr. Young earned his B.A. (with honors) in 1982 from Calvin College, his M.Sc. in International Relations in 1984 from the London School of Economics, and his J.D. in 1986 from the University of Michigan Law School.

E-mail: pyoung@ProjectsInternational.com

Young Bio

Imtiaz T. Ladak

Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director, Projects International
Treasurer and Secretary, PI Founders Stake Seed Capital Fund I, LLC

A partner in Projects International since 1997, Mr. Ladak has focused on global trade and investment matters for over twenty-five years, starting in 1988 when he joined Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, an international law firm in Washington, D.C. Over the years, he has worked with some of the world’s leading companies in diverse sectors, such as telecommunications, financial services, electronics, aerospace, agribusiness, IT, and media, to develop and conclude their commercial objectives around the world.

Mr. Ladak received an A.B. magna cum laude in History with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University in 1983, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. from the Cornell University School of Law in 1988.

Mr. Ladak has been actively involved since 1994 with the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of private, non-denominational development agencies working in over thirty countries around the world, including as a Member (1994-2006) and Vice Chairman (1999-2006) of the National Committee of Aga Khan Foundation, U.S.A. Mr. Ladak also served from 2005-2010 as a Trustee of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, based in New York. A native of Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, Mr. Ladak has lived for extended periods of his life in Africa and Europe.

E-mail: iladak@ProjectsInternational.com

Ladak Bio


Landon K. Thorne

Managing Director, Projects International
President, PI Founders Stake Seed Capital Fund I, LLC

Landon K. Thorne has been a principal in international trade, merchant banking, corporate finance and the sponsorship of portfolio real estate investments for more than thirty years. During the 1970’s and 1980’s Mr. Thorne managed a privately held land development and technology transfer group based in the US, Saudi Arabia and the GCC under sponsorship of a member of the Kingdom’s royal family. Subsequently, as Vice President of Continental InterAmerica Corporation and eventual Founder of the Midas Financial Group, Inc., he continued merchant banking, corporate finance and venture creation on behalf of a diverse domestic and international clientele. Mr. Thorne also chairs the Board of Managers of Thorne Heritage Resources, LLC, an entity that oversees and manages a large family mineral rights asset.

Concurrent with his business career, Mr. Thorne served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 2002 at the rank of Colonel with service in Vietnam, Africa, Europe and the Middle East including assignment as a Reserve Military Attaché to Rome, Italy. He is conversant in several foreign languages. Mr. Thorne has held seats on the Boards of numerous businesses, governmental and charitable institutions to include Secretary of the Navy Marine Corps Reserve Policy Board, Trustee, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, and Chair, Lowcountry (SC) Work Force Investment Board. He has written widely disseminated op-ed articles on topics related to international policy and business. Mr. Thorne received his A.B. from Yale University.

E-mail: lthorne@ProjectsInternational.com

Thorne Bio


Alexander H. Platt

Managing Director, Projects International
Executive Vice President, PI Founders Stake Seed Capital Fund I, LLC

Alexander H. Platt has had a thirty-year career in law, business and public service.

During the Reagan Administration, Mr. Platt served as Director of International Economic Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council and Associate General Counsel in the Office of the United States Trade Representative. From 1988 to 1989, he was General Counsel of the National Economic Commission, a bipartisan body established by Congress to examine ways to reduce the federal budget deficit. From 1980 to 1981, Mr. Platt served as a law clerk to Judge Leonard P. Moore of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. From 1989 to 1996, Mr. Platt was a partner in the international law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, where he specialized in international economic and trade policy matters. In addition, from 1981 to 1983, Mr. Platt was an associate in the Corporate Finance Department of the First Boston Corporation.

Mr. Platt received his A.B. cum laude from Bowdoin College. As a Rotary International Fellow, he studied international relations at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his J.D. in 1980 from the Columbia University School of Law. He is the former Chairman of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York City and serves as Vice Chairman of the Chapter (Board of Trustees) of the Washington National Cathedral. Mr. Platt is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the District of Columbia and New York Bars.

E-mail: aplatt@ProjectsInternational.com

Platt Bio