Adam Ereli

Adam Ereli is Vice Chairman of Mercury’s Washington, D.C. office and co-leader of the Mercury International Affairs operation. Ambassador Ereli is a proven leader and innovator in the fields of foreign government relations, international education, business development, commercial advocacy, and media relations and crisis communications. Before joining Mercury’s Washington D.C. office, Ambassador Ereli built a 24-year career as a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State. During his distinguished tenure, the Ambassador developed close relationships with leaders in government, business and the media in the United States and the Middle East. Most recently, Ambassador Ereli served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs, where he oversaw U.S. government cultural and educational exchange programs with foreign governments, and managed a budget of $650 million. In addition to cultivating outstanding relations with Congressional staff in support of this significant budget appropriation, Ambassador Ereli forged cooperative agreements with numerous foreign governments to expand the size and scope of educational and cultural exchanges. As Ambassador to Bahrain from 2007-2011, Ambassador Ereli tripled U.S. foreign direct investment, including significant joint-venture partnerships with such industry leaders as Occidental Petroleum and Thomson-Reuters, as well as the $3 billion sale of Boeing aircraft to the national carrier. He also negotiated important base access and security cooperation agreements on behalf of the United States. As Deputy Spokesman for the Department of State from 2003-2006, Ambassador Ereli managed strategic communications, media relations, messaging and crisis communications for Secretaries Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. He has appeared in hundreds of hours of on-the-record briefings, interviews and talk shows on U.S. and foreign news networks in English, Arabic and French. In addition to traveling with the Secretary, Ambassador Ereli played a pivotal role in leading the administration’s communications response to numerous international crises during this period, including the Ukrainian Orange Revolution, the global tsunami of 2005, the 2006 surge of U.S. forces to Iraq, and the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Ambassador Ereli has led complex interagency negotiations with foreign governments that have produced important agreements for U.S. interests. In Qatar, he concluded a Status of Forces Agreement that paved the way for the deployment of forces that were critical to the success of operations in Iraq in 2003. In Iraq, he helped secure passage of a Strategic Framework Agreement, which provided the legal basis for continuing the U.S. military presence in Iraq. He oversaw the implementation of a Free Trade Agreement with Bahrain, resolving a number of contentious issues and doubling bilateral trade. Ambassador Ereli’s career at the State Department spanned the tenures of Secretaries Baker, Christopher, Albright, Powell, Rice, Clinton and Kerry. Prior to joining the diplomatic corps, Ambassador Ereli was an investigative reporter in Paris, France, where he wrote on politics and international affairs. Ambassador Ereli has a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He speaks French and Arabic.