Board of Advisors

Donald Tighe

Donald Tighe is a Ph.D. candidate in international relations at the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs. Within a broader focus on conflict resolution, reconciliation, and recovery, his current research targets foreign policy motivations and effectiveness impacts in third party mediation. Donald is also Vice President of External Affairs at In-Q-Tel, the independent non-for-profit strategic investment firm that identifies and advances mission-critical technology innovation to support the U.S. Intelligence Community. Other recent national security and international development work has included managing strategic communications for the Science & Technology directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Science & Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President, as well as for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its Disaster Assistance Response Teams which included travel throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Donald has also traveled extensively as a travel writer, serving for five years as editor of Bicycle USA while communications director and a certified trainer for the nonprofit membership organization the League of American Bicyclists. This work included extensive organizing for group events, with recruitment of sponsors and management of corporate and government relations. He also serves on the steering committee of the nonprofit group Stout Hearts, which supports the Washington-Ireland Program for Service and Leadership, and is president of the Harvard Kennedy School Washington, D.C., Alumni Council. Donald holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelors in economics and political science from Duke University.