Adam Blackwell is an international affairs and security expert, whose career began as a representative of the Government of Canada in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Kenya. He served in a variety of diplomatic assignments, at headquarters and in the field, including as consul-general in Mexico and at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City. He also served between 2002 and 2005 as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Dominican Republic and from 2005 to 2006 as director-general of strategy and services in the Bilateral Relations Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (now the Department of Global Affairs).

Ambassador Blackwell continued his international career at the Organization of American States (OAS) at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., first as assistant secretary of finance and administration in 2006; then as secretary for external relations in 2008; and finally, as secretary for multidimensional security from 2009 to 2016, during which time he contributed to and coordinated production of the 2013 OAS report, “The Drug Problem in the Americas.” Also, while at OAS, he chaired the Interamerican Commission on Drug Addiction and the Inter American Commission Against Terrorism. Since 2016, he has served as a vice president international of Development Services Group, Inc., a research and consulting firm headquartered in Bethesda, Md., where he is currently leading an effort on behalf of the U.S. Department of State to monitor and analyze incidents of terrorism worldwide.