Prem Kumar is the Head of the Middle East and North Africa practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, part of DGA Group, and a member of DGA’s Global Executive Committee.  He brings extensive experience at the highest levels of government to help clients do business across the region.

As Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council staff at the White House from 2013 to 2015, Mr. Kumar was responsible for developing and coordinating U.S. foreign policy towards the region. In this position, he chaired regular meetings of senior officials from across the U.S. government to review policy towards individual countries and issues, participated in the President’s meetings with Middle Eastern leaders, and served as the White House representative on the Secretary of State’s visits to the region. Mr. Kumar worked closely with foreign counterparts to prepare summit meetings, negotiate bilateral agreements, and strengthen political and economic ties. Before becoming Senior Director, he served as Director for Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian affairs from 2009-2013.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Kumar was a Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, focusing on the role of the United States in the Middle East.  He also served at the United States Mission to the United Nations, where he represented the United States on Middle East issues in the Security Council, and negotiated resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Lebanon, Syria, and other issues in the region. Before the UN, Mr. Kumar covered Iraq issues at the U.S. State Department in Washington, helping to support the new Iraqi government and to advance the U.S. relationship with the Iraqi Kurds. At the start of his career, he served at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. efforts to build Palestinian governance and security capacity.

Before joining the government, Mr. Kumar was an investment banker and then an equity research associate with Morgan Stanley in New York, where he covered technology and financial services companies and published numerous company and industry reports.

Mr. Kumar has written for or been quoted by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and the Atlantic, and has appeared on CNN, CNBC and PBS.

Mr. Kumar was educated at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Economics.

He is based in New York City and serves on the Board of WIN, the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for the City’s homeless families.