Dr. Lewis Rasmussen has spent over three decades in the foreign assistance and development assistance arenas, focused on multi-sectoral facets of conflict prevention and transformation, peacebuilding, security, stabilization, transition, and resilience. His expertise includes strategic planning, program management and leadership, business development, proposal management and technical writing, provision of technical assistance, thought leadership, data and knowledge management, communication and marketing, and internal corporate and external relations.
Lewis spent 13 years with the U.S. Institute of Peace (1988-2000), where among other accomplishments, he co-founded the international conflict resolution skills training program, the Military Fellows program, the police assistance program, and was part of the team that founded the secondary and tertiary teacher training programs. Having left the government in 2001, he has since worked in the private sector on a wide range of USAID programs and programs for the Departments of State and Defense, as well as on projects tied to other donors and funders. His work includes a 19-year tenure with Tetra Tech’s International Development Services Division, and short 2- and 3-year stints with an Alaskan Native Corporation (Alutiiq) and Policy Studies Incorporated, where he was the Director of an international division known as the International Peace and Justice Center, which focused primarily on a social justice orientation toward global health, criminal justice, and dispute resolution. Lewis is currently working as an independent consultant.
Lewis has served for six years as a founding Co-Chair and Board Member of the Stability, Security, Transition & Reconstruction Division of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), and he is currently serving as a Board Member for the NDIA Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict Division. He previously served as Co-Chair of the Society for International Development’s Peace and Security Working Group a decade ago, was a member of the Curriculum Development Committee of the Veterans Institute for Procurement (VIP), and he has been a Co-Chair of the GSA OASIS OSIG U.S. Department of State Tiger Team. He is an active member of the Society for International Development, Alliance for Peacebuilding, and the National Defense Industrial Association.
Lewis holds a BA in interpersonal and organizational communication, an MA in international development and international communication, and he earned his Ph.D. in international relations (with an emphasis on peace, conflict, and security) from The American University. He speaks often on the above issues and has published various books and articles on similar topics.