As our interdisciplinary team of experts continues to grow in 2024, Lexpat is thrilled to announce that Darrell M. Blocker has joined the firm as our Senior Strategic and Global Intelligence Advisor.  Darrell joins Lexpat after an exceptional 32-year career in the U.S. Intelligence Community including 28 years as an undercover CIA operative, where he earned the CIA’s Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.  His many other awards include the George H. W. Bush Award for Excellence in Counterterrorism, the Iraqi Campaign Citation for contributions to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the USAF Commendation Medal for Korea, and the Expeditionary Campaign Medal for Panama.  For over three decades, with assignments spanning Africa, Asia, Central America, and Europe, Darrell was intimately involved in some of the most complex and consequential national security and geopolitical challenges facing every U.S. President from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump.

At the time of his retirement from public service, Darrell was the most senior black officer in the CIA’s Clandestine Service with the rank equivalency of a three-star general.  Darrell served as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service, Chief of the CIA’s iconic operational training facility, Deputy Director of the Counterterrrorism Center, Chief of the Africa Division, and multiple tours as a Chief of Station.

Darrell continues to work in and with the intelligence community and national security sectors. In 2018, he founded DMB Consulting Services, a strategic crisis management and executive advisory firm whose clients include MOSAIC Security, CT-Watch, and ABC News, where he serves as an on-air subject matter expert on the Islamic Republic of Iran, North Korea, and Counterterrorism. His consulting focus has been advising high-net-worth individuals and businesses operating in the defense, national security, international affairs, and energy sectors.

“It’s wonderful to join Lexpat’s incredible team of experts and innovators,” Darrell says. “I look forward to contributing to this collaboration of elite and results-driven professionals.”

Darrell’s work with Lexpat will focus principally on our private advisory practice  but will also be available to consult on and provide subject matter expertise for the public sector programs that Lexpat supports.

“During Darrell’s exceptional career, he has traveled the world to gather the most sensitive information, advise the highest-ranking policymakers and key business leaders on some of their most complicated challenges, and train the best of the best to make the world safer for freedom, democracy, trade, and commerce,” says Lexpat’s Managing Director, Adam Pearlman, who also leads Lexpat’s Private Advisory Division. “The stories he can tell, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg. His experience and leadership around the world bring a perspective to global affairs that only a chosen few could ever hope to have. The only people more excited about Darrell joining the team are our clients!”

“A true changemaker and results-oriented advisor, Darrell is a truly wonderful addition to our team,” says Jane Ellen Paschall, Lexpat’s Chief Operating Officer and head of Public Sector Services.  “His insights as a former senior intelligence operative complement several fields of our practice, including security cooperation, counterterrorism programs, trade and sanctions compliance, cross-cultural business negotiations, countering human trafficking, physical security reviews, and energy matters. We are all thrilled to be working with him!”

Since emerging from the shadows, Darrell has been highly engaged in public life. His contributions to public discourse in international security affairs include being a frequent contributor to ABC News’ coverage of world events, and serving as a nonresident fellow at the University of Georgia’s Center for International Trade and Security. His revered TEDx talk, “Listen More, Speak Less:  Lessons In Kindness From A CIA Operative,” is one of his several speeches and interviews that have amassed thousands of views. He also volunteers with and serves as a board member for Peace4Kids.org (supporting the foster care community), is a member of the leadership council for Black Professionals in International Affairs, and serves as Chairman of the GreenMet Board of Directors.

Lexpat Global Services is a team of counselors, consultants, and capacity-builders. We feature elite lawyers, consultants, investigators, and program officers serving private industry and public sector clients, especially those working at the intersection legal and security issues.  To learn more about Lexpat’s team and services, visit www.lexpatglobal.com.  To contact Darrell or any of our experts, email us at [email protected]