Nick O’Connell is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and the associate director for research and development at the School of International Service at American University, where he oversees the school’s external partnerships and grant funding. O’Connell previously worked at the Atlantic Council as deputy director for public sector partnerships. He worked with programs and centers on business development and partnerships with public sector funders. He managed the Council’s US government funding portfolio by identifying opportunities, writing proposals, and negotiating awards, while ensuring compliance with federal regulations. He also contributed regularly to the Atlantic Council’s Italy project, a collaboration between the Europe Center and Middle East Programs.

Previously, O’Connell worked with the European Delegation to the United States as a policy fellow; a series of political campaigns in the Midwest, including in Iowa and Wisconsin; a 2019 regional election in Emilia Romagna, Italy; and the Lampedusa-based nonprofit Migrants of the Mediterranean from 2017 to 2019. O’Connell graduated cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in history and international studies. He is fluent in English and Italian.