Mr. Daniel Fennell, J.D., is an American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the grade of Minister Counselor. In over two decades of service in the public sector he has served abroad in Guatemala, Iraq, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada, and Ghana. In Washington, he served in the office of the Secretary of State for both Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, the International Organizations Bureau, the Office of Iraq Affairs, and the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, and on the faculty of the National War College. He served on a Provincial Reconstruction team (PRT) on a Forward Operating Base in an active combat zone in Iraq, co-led the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala as the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), the U.S. Embassy in Accra as Acting DCM, and the U.S. Consulate General in Calgary as Acting Principal Officer, coordinating over 20 U.S. government agencies. Prior to joining the State Department, he served as a staff attorney in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and as a civilian with the U.S. Army JAG Corps in Germany.
Mr. Fennell earned his Bachelors degree in English and American Literature with Honors from Brown University, a Juris Doctor from Rutgers University, and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs, where he received the Chancellor’s Award. He has received multiple State Department Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, the Secretary’s Award for Expeditionary Diplomacy, citations from the FBI, and the U.S. Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service. Mr. Fennell is a former qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the sport of rowing. He is fluent in Spanish and has a basis in Arabic and French. He plays the guitar and the conga drums and is a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. He is married to Maria Prieto, a private contracts attorney.