Louis F. O’Neill is an experienced practitioner with deep knowledge in both law and diplomacy.  His interest and expertise in Eastern Europe has been evident since the beginning of his college career.  Louis F. O’Neill graduated in 1990 from Stanford University with a B.A. in Slavic Languages and Literature, with Distinction.  He spent 1990-1991 studying at Moscow State University as a Fulbright Presidential Scholar and traveling the country researching the Soviet-era environmental movement.  Leaving Moscow a few weeks before the 1991 coup attempt, Mr. O’Neill earned his Masters Degree in Russian and East European Studies from Stanford in 1992, before moving back to Moscow from 1992-1993 where he worked as a journalist and a designer for The Moscow Times newspaper.

After his immersion in Russian society, Louis F. O’Neill chose to attend the Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1996 with honors.  After another year in Moscow working on legal reform with the Russian government, Mr. O’Neill went into private practice where he worked for four years.  “Louis O’Neill” received the Legal Aid Society’s 2000 Pro Bono Award for his work on criminal appeals in New York.  In 2001, he became part of the Special Prosecutions Bureau at the New York County District Attorney’s Office.  A division of the DA’s Office’s Investigations Bureau, Special Prosecutions investigates and prosecutes white collar crime cases such as employee embezzlement, insurance fraud, forgery, unauthorized practice of law, thefts committed by attorneys and other professionals and schemes to defraud the public at large. The Bureau also handles elder abuse financial crime cases and arson cases.

After spending nearly four years in public service at the DA’s office, Louis F. O’Neill’s career path took a turn towards Washington, D.C., when he was selected to be a White House Fellow.  Founded in 1964, the White House Fellows program is America's most prestigious program for leadership and public service. White House Fellowships offer exceptional young men and women first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government.

White House Fellows typically spend a year working as full-time, paid special assistants to senior White House Staff, the Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries and other top-ranking government officials. Fellows also participate in an education program consisting of roundtable discussions with renowned leaders from the private and public sectors, and trips to study U.S. policy in action both domestically and internationally. Fellowships are awarded on a strictly non-partisan basis.  The WHF exists to recruit talented young Americans – like Louis F. O’Neill – into a program that will familiarize them with the workings of higher government. The ultimate goal of The White House Fellowship Program is to create statesmen for the next generation.

Upon completing his White House Fellowship, Louis O’Neill went to work for the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, whose members analyze and map out U.S. foreign policy in the longer term.  Mr. O’Neill’s broad experience with law, public policy and diplomacy made him a useful addition to the team.