USUN Rome welcomes the arrival of Ambassador David J. Lane as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on April 16, 2012, confirmed by the United States Senate on May 24, 2012, and officially sworn into office on July 19, 2012.
Immediately prior to his appointment, Mr. Lane served as Assistant to the President of the United States and Counselor to the Chief of Staff in the White House. During the Clinton Administration, he held key appointments including Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of Commerce and Executive Director of the National Economic Council. He also worked as a foreign policy advisor in the United States Senate.
Mr. Lane has more than twenty years of experience working in leadership positions across sectors. He has spent a good part of his career in non-profit service, and from 2001 until 2011 helped develop and promote public policies focused on enabling people around the world to lift themselves out of poverty.
Mr. Lane was previously the President and Chief Executive Officer of the ONE Campaign, a global advocacy organization focused on extreme poverty, development, and reform. Before that, he was the Director of Foundation Advocacy and the East Coast Office of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he helped lead that organization’s advocacy and public policy work on a wide range of matters, including global development and global health. He has also worked as a management consultant advising on strategic planning issues. Mr. Lane previously served as Vice-Chair of Transparency International USA, and he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
A native of the State of Florida, Mr. Lane earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, and his Master of Public Affairs from the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Ambassador Lane arrived in Rome on July 21st, and will present his credentials to the Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on August 6th. We look forward to further strengthening our relationship with the Rome-based food and agriculture agencies under his tenure.
