Kevin Fashola is a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute and the founder of Conscious Citizen, an initiative and platform focused on bringing mindfulness, strategic empathy, and greater human consciousness into public leadership, national security, and foreign policy. A former Biden administration official, he most recently served as a chief of staff and senior advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.

Fashola has more than a decade of experience across US national security, diplomacy, and foreign policy. At the Department of Defense, he held senior advisory roles focused on China, strategic competition in the Global South, Europe and NATO, Africa, the Middle East, counterterrorism, and international security. He previously served at the US Department of State and as a foreign policy advisor in the US House of Representatives, working with the Congressional Black Caucus on legislation and policy concerning national security, human rights, and US engagement abroad.

He holds graduate degrees in international affairs and public policy from Columbia University and the Hertie School in Berlin and is currently pursuing a master’s in public administration at the Harvard Kennedy School.