Mike Fitzpatrick has some forty years of experience in international diplomacy and security, with a continuing emphasis on the rule of law and democratic institutional development as bulwarks against internal instability, insurgency, terrorism and transnational organized crime, particularly in Latin America. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor at Dinámica Americas.
Fitzpatrick served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador from 2019-2024. Earlier diplomatic assignments included service in Colombia, Peru (twice), Kenya (where he also covered Somalia and South Sudan), Belgium, The Philippines, and Paraguay. He served as political-military officer in support of the Dayton Peace Talks among Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia/Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and through the deployment of the first-ever joint NATO-Russia peacekeeping forces. Senior Foreign Service Washington assignments included as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South America; Head of the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States; the first Diplomatic Advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff); and, as the Senior Diplomatic Advisor for the UN-authorized Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.
Among Fitzpatrick’s many awards and honors are the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award (the U.S. Government’s highest civilian career award); the Director General’s Award (the State Department’s highest award for diplomatic reporting and analysis); as well as La Orden Nacional “Honorato Vásquez” en el Grado de Gran Cruz, Ecuador’s highest civilian award. Fitzpatrick received his Masters in International Affairs (International Security Policy) as a Fellow at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is also a graduate of Georgetown University. He speaks Spanish.
