Joseph Da Silva is from Norwood, Massachusetts and is placed at the U.S. Small Business Administration. As an infantry officer, he served in both conventional and special operations units, spending 42 months deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout his career, Joe led and managed organizations that conducted counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and foreign military training missions. Most notably Joe commanded a company that secured the largest oil refinery in Iraq where his efforts helped build economic capacity and minimize insurgent financing from black market fuel. He last served at the U.S. Army Cyber Command where he helped lead the command’s talent management efforts. Joe also served as an assistant professor of international relations at USMAs Department of Social Sciences, where he ran the annual national security conference, co-edited a compendium on American grand strategy, and served as an active term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Joe earned an M.A. with honors from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in international economics and strategic studies.
The prestigious White House Fellows program provides professionals from diverse backgrounds with an opportunity to engage in public service for one year by serving in various roles in Federal government. Created in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the White House Fellows program was designed “to give the fellows first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs.” The highly competitive selection process to become a White House Fellow is based on a record of remarkable professional accomplishment, evidence of leadership skills and the potential for further growth, and a commitment to public service. Selected individuals spend a year working as a full-time, paid fellow to senior White House staff, Cabinet Secretaries and other top-ranking government officials. Read More