Partner and Co-Chair, Environmental, Social, and Governance practice, Covington & Burling
Former Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
1995-1996 Luce Scholar
Former Ambassador Dan Feldman has served in senior national security positions in the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations and on Capitol Hill, including as the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan under President Obama. In that capacity, he created and led the International Contact Group, comprised of senior officials of more than 50 nations engaged in Afghanistan, which included frequent travel to Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia. He was also a Senior Advisor to the Congressionally mandated Afghanistan Study Group. He most recently served in government as Chief of Staff and Counselor to Secretary John Kerry when he was appointed the first Special Presidential Envoy for Climate by President Biden, where Dan helped drive the U.S. government’s international climate agenda for the first year and a half of the Biden administration, and contributed to key bilateral and multilateral climate discussions, including the landmark UN Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. He previously served in government as the director of Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council in the Clinton Administration and as Counsel and communications adviser to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Dan has been awarded the State Department’s two highest awards, the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award and the Secretary’s Distinguished Honor Award. He also returned then to his legal practice, where he is currently a partner and Co-chair of the Environmental, Social, and Governance practice at the global law firm Covington & Burling. He also co-chairs the firm’s unique Business and Human Rights practice, as well as its Global Problem Solving initiative. He served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and on the South African Constitutional Court. He holds a juris doctorate from Columbia University, a master’s degree in Public Administration from Princeton University, and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University. Dan is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as a former White House Fellow and a former Henry Luce Scholar when he worked at the Hong Kong Law Project in advance of the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
Dan previously served on The Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees from 2017 to 2021 and rejoined the board in 2023 after his most recent stint in government.
