Dan co-founded Local Works Global to build on what he spent over a decade building inside USAID: a program dedicated to locally led development that pushed back against the pressures that tend to undermine it. At Local Works Global, Dan leads organizational strategy, governance, external positioning, and institutional partnerships to drive the fundraising and donor relationships that enable the work.

Dan co-founded USAID’s Local Works program, advancing and operationalizing locally led development principles across the Agency. Dan held multiple leadership roles, ultimately serving in the program's most senior position as Global Coordinator; he oversaw a headquarters staff of 30, an annual budget of $100 million, and programming in over 60 countries supported by nearly 600 USAID staff worldwide. His leadership has enabled everything from deep community-led design phases in the face of Washington pressure to move money quickly to new partnerships with local organizations who knew everything about civil society and very little about American procurement regulations. Dan built a program culture grounded in humility, listening, and respect for existing local knowledge.

Dan holds an MPP in International Policy and Development from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Biology and Anthropology from Haverford College. After fifteen years in Washington, DC, he moved to Minneapolis in 2025 with his wife Amy and daughter Elise. He's since learned firsthand that everything he's heard about Midwestern social capital is completely true. The cold, he reports, is definitely worth it. Before Elise was born, Dan and Amy lived, worked, and traveled the country in a campervan for two years with their cat, Mia Wallace. They attempted to do it again with a nearly three year old Elise. It lasted about four days.