Daniel Speckhard

A former U.S. Ambassador to Greece and Belarus, Speckhard has had a long and distinguished career in government service under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Ambassador Speckhard’s previous positions have included serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary General at NATO and Deputy Chief of Mission in Iraq. Immediately prior to joining LWR, he was a senior advisor to Palantir Technologies, a Silicon Valley company at the forefront of using technology to drive innovative change across the government, commercial and non-profit sectors. A descendant of a long line of Lutheran pastors, Ambassador Speckhard says his Lutheran upbringing instilled in him a strong core value of service to others, and a deep desire to contribute to alleviating poverty, suffering and injustice in the world. A problem solver, a negotiator, a consensus builder and a visionary, Ambassador Speckhard brings to LWR deep experience working at the nexus of economic development, international security and political change, areas closely linked to LWR’s mission to serve people experiencing poverty and marginalization overseas. In the wider policy arena, he served as a nonresident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. He is currently a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council in the Future Europe Initiative and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center. Speckhard has a master’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in public policy and administration, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and started his career in government as a Presidential Management Fellow.