Dan Baker has more than 20 years of professional experience in both the private and public sectors. Prior to joining the NPCA staff, Dan was a project director and senior technical advisor for youth development at IREX, an international nonprofit working out of Washington, D.C. At IREX, Dan led a USAID-funded project working with political leadership in Guatemala and consults with various other projects and practices to improve the organization's approach to working with youth around the world, and to ensure their inclusion in programming and policies that affect their lives. Dan began his work at IREX in 2017 following 17 years with Peace Corps. Beginning in 1999 in Bolivia, Dan worked as a water sanitation worker and volunteer coordinator. After three years in Bolivia, Dan answered a call for continued volunteer service in Timor Leste, where he was a member of the first group of volunteers to arrive in the new country. After four years as a volunteer, Dan continued on to a 13-year career at Peace Corps in various staff and consultant roles, both in the field and in the Washington, D.C. headquarters office. His first field position was in Costa Rica where he was the Associate Director for a youth development and child protection project. He also notably worked in Ethiopia as the first Director of Programming and Training in that country, and where he oversaw a rapid expansion of the program, including significant work with USAID Feed the Future and PEPFAR programming. Following his tenure in Ethiopia, he served as the Chief of Programming and Training for the Africa Region in Washington, D.C., where he oversaw implementation of region-wide initiatives such as Let Girls Learn, Read for Life, and great advances in the agency's diversity and inclusions efforts. Dan served with distinction during his time as Peace Corps staff, twice receiving the Director's Distinguished Service Award, among other honors, and being selected to the agency's leadership development academy. Dan is a graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina, where he studied history and Spanish. He and his wife Chris (RPCV Jamaica) currently live in Silver Spring, Maryland with their daughters and enjoy frequently visiting their southern roots in North Carolina and Georgia.