Don Eberly

Don Eberly researches civil society, international development, civic renewal, corporate citizenship, community organizations, and private philanthropy. He was named a Senior Fellow of The Trinity Forum in 2006.

Recently he was a Senior Fellow at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research. Before joining SIPR, Don served as a Presidential appointee in key international policy positions, including Senior Counselor for International Civil Society at USAID and Director of Private Sector Outreach and Coordination for tsunami reconstruction at the State Department. In addition, he served for two years in post-Baathist Iraq, including stints as a Senior Ministry Advisor in Baghdad immediately following the invasion and as Director of Social Policy and Private Assistance for Iraq at the Pentagon and State Department.

Previously, Don served in the White House as an aide to President George W. Bush, holding the position of Deputy Assistant to the President in 2001–2002. He also served as an aide to President Ronald Reagan.

An internationally recognized author, civic entrepreneur, and advocate for civil society and private philanthropy, Don’s career also includes a decade in senior policy positions with Congress and another decade in the non-profit community, where he created organizations that strengthen community and civic life. Among these are the National Fatherhood Initiative and the Civil Society Project. In 1995, he contributed to the Presidents’ Summit on Volunteerism in Philadelphia. In addition, he served on the Commission on Civic Renewal and the Council on Civil Society.

Don’s writing career includes his authoring/co-authoring of eight books on topics of community, character, and culture. His Building a Community of Citizens: Civil Society in the 21st Century has been published in Arabic and has been widely distributed in the Middle East. Through hundreds of articles, essays, and interviews, he advocates the “third way” of relying more on voluntary civic institutions, or “mediating institutions,” as a means of meeting pressing social and humanitarian needs, strengthening democracy at home and abroad, and promoting the renewal of core values. 

Don’s work has been covered by all major media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Governing, National Public Radio, and PBS television.

He holds Master’s degrees in fields of government from George Washington University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and has performed doctoral studies at the School of Public Affairs at Penn State University.