Daniella Ballou-Aares

Daniella Ballou-Aares is the Founder and CEO of the Leadership Now Project, a national membership organization of business and thought leaders committed to fixing American democracy. A seasoned executive who galvanizes business leaders to use their collective influence to renew and safeguard American democracy, Ballou-Aares has worked as an executive, senior public official and advisor to CEOs and political leaders for more than 20 years.

Ballou-Aares began her career at Bain & Company, working across the firm’s offices in the US, South Africa and the UK. From there she became a founding Partner at Dalberg, where she led the Americas business and transformed the startup into a global strategy and data analytics firm with 25 offices worldwide. She spent five years in the Obama Administration as the Senior Advisor for Development to the Secretary of State, serving under Secretaries Clinton and Kerry.

Her perspectives have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Fast Company, POLITICO, and the World Economic Forum, among others. Ballou-Aares is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a 2014 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPA from the Kennedy School and graduated cum laude from Cornell with a BS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering.