Hillary Thomas-Lake, PhD

Dr. Thomas-Lake has more than 25 years of experience in international development in both the public and private sectors, including in economic growth and competitiveness, partnership development and fundraising, and democracy and governance. Co-founder and Managing Director of the international development consulting firm LTL Strategies from 1999 to 2016, Dr. Thomas-Lake is an expert in conflict management and mitigation. Dr. Thomas-Lake founded HillTop Development Strategies in 2015 to expand upon her work in development ethics, philanthropy, corporate social investment advisory, conflict management and mitigation advisory, civil society’s role in social development, and community-based social enterprises. Dr. Thomas-Lake is an Africanist with extensive experience living and working in Africa and the Caribbean, including Barbados, Benin, Cape Verde, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Guinea, Jamaica, Haiti, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa, and Uganda, among others. Her work in the Caribbean has focused primarily on community and civil society leadership, inclusive economic development among marginalized groups, and community consensus building on viable approaches to key Caribbean social development challenges. She has consulted with the Organization of American States (OAS), and advised the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy (REDLAD).

She holds a Bachelor’s in International Relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, a Master’s in International Relations and a Master’s in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University, as well as a PhD in International Relations, with a concentration in Conflict Management, from SAIS at the Johns Hopkins University. She is fluent in 8 languages, including French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Haitian Kreyòl, and has served as an Adjunct Professor of African Studies and Conflict Management at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Thomas-Lake has also lectured at the Nelson Mandela Municipal University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and at the Johns Hopkins University. She is based in Washington, DC, and serves on several national and international non-profit boards, including the Institute for Mobile Democracy (Haiti), Human Rights Watch (Women’s Rights Division), and the advisory board of the Georgetown University African Studies Program.