David Pemberton

David currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at USAID where he is leading the drawdown of operations and personnel and the transition of core functions to the Department of State.

He has extensive experience in international trade and economic policy, having served as the State Department’s lead on trade policy for both East Asia and Europe. While posted to the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, David’s trade expertise was pivotal to launching the Department’s first interagency “Deal Team” which grew to a Department-wide initiative to ensure U.S. economic superiority over China throughout Africa and the rest of the world.

A versatile and mission-driven leader, David also served as the Political Advisor to the Secretary’s Coordinator for Cyber Issues. In this role, he strengthened cyber alliances across Europe and coordinated public attributions of cyber attacks, holding our nation’s greatest adversaries accountability for their actions on a global stage.

David holds a B.S. in Biblical Studies with a minor in Ancient Greek and an MBA in International Business from Liberty University. He speaks Armenian, Portuguese, and Urdu. A staunch advocate for civil liberties, David is a member of Feds for Freedom, where he worked to protect the rights of federal employees, including successfully protecting them from COVID vaccine-related firing