Eric Pelofsky

Eric Pelofsky joined The Rockefeller Foundation in 2021 as Deputy Chief of Staff and Vice President in the President’s Office. Previously, Eric served as Senior Director of International Affairs for Shell in the United States, based in its Washington office. A veteran of over sixteen years of government service across three administrations, he has held senior postings in Washington and Baghdad, dealing with numerous Middle East, South Asia, economics, non-proliferation, United Nations, and international law issues. Before leaving the government in January 2017, Eric was a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Senior Director for North Africa and Yemen at the White House (National Security Council), where he focused, in part, on the war in Yemen and our key Gulf Arab partners, the conflict in Libya, and the political and economic transition in Tunisia.

Before joining the National Security Council staff, Eric served as a senior advisor to two U.S. Permanent Representatives to the United Nations (Ambassador Susan Rice and Ambassador Samantha Power); and a member of the Intelligence Agency Review Team for the Obama-Biden Transition. Prior to the Obama-Biden Administration, he served as a professional staff member on the Select Senate Intelligence Committee; an attorney-adviser in the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser; and a deputy general counsel for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. Before joining the State Department in 2000, Eric worked at the law firm White & Case LLP in its corporate and financial services practice. A graduate of Haverford College, Eric received his masters of public policy from Georgetown University and his law degree from Cornell Law School. He has received several awards, including the U.S. Department of State Distinguished Honor Award, the U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Award, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.