Cari previously served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars (appointed by US President William Clinton). In that capacity, he was recognized for recruiting the Honorable Lee Hamilton as president of the center, supporting his appointment as co-chair of the 9-11 Commission and building bi-partisan support from the US Congress. Cari also worked with UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke on the issue of US funding of the UN. He is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as chairman of the advisory board for the Loyola Marymount University Institute on Leadership. Cari was co-founder at Medcap Growth Equity Fund, a healthcare venture fund partnered with the Wellman Center of Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard University Medical School teaching hospital. He served as member of the investment committee and the General Partnership.