Nonresident Fellow
A 2025 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for “exemplary commitment to national security, global stability, mentorship, humanitarian work, and advocacy for diversity in national security,” Darrell M. Blocker is 1986 graduate of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in Psychology. As a Nonresident Fellow at UGA’s Benson-Bertsch Center for International Trade and Security (CITS) he returns to campus biannually to speak with and mentor CITS and SPIA students interested in government service. Check out his TEDxUGA talk in April 2022 entitled “LISTEN MORE, SPEAK LESS: LESSONS IN KINDNESS FROM A CIA OPERATIVE.”
Darrell was a proud 4-year member of UGA’s Men’s Glee Club and Air Force ROTC Detachment and later served as a commissioned USAF officer in the Republic of Korea and Texas. He served as an intelligence officer for six consecutive Presidential Administrations (Reagan to Trump), including four years as a USAF analyst and 28 years as a CIA operative before retiring in 2018. He was later considered one of President Biden’s top nominees to be Director CIA. This was widely reported in press and news articles by ABC News, the Wall Street Journal, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Fox News, CNN, the New York Times, the Daily Beast, and the DailyMail.
Darrell is a board director, senior corporate director, and a former member of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations Leadership Team. He serves as an Independent Board Director for Rendeavour, Africa’s largest urban land developer, focusing on building new cities across Sub-Saharan Africa; as an Advisor to the Black Professionals in International Affairs’ Leadership Council; as Strategic and Risk Advisor to Ragnar AI’s “The Grid” project, an innovative roll-up of a group of integrated and complimentary businesses united under a shared vision of curative healthcare, athletic performance, mental wellness, and innovation; and as Board Member and Advisor to Hunter Baron, a financial services business development firm.
He launched DMB Consulting Services in 2024 and runs a trusted strategic geopolitical, crisis-management and executive-advisory firm working across the defense, national security, entertainment, and non-profit sectors. DMB is fluent in the languages of both strategy and culture and offers a rare, holistic lens on systemic risk to clients ranging from private equity firms to private individuals. Discretion and transparency are the keystones of our practice and there is no issue too small or challenge too daunting for our team of experts to tackle across the globe and business sectors. We focus on building trust and connection, establishing effective communication, and underscoring the importance of cultural awareness and sensitivity in addressing global business challenges. DMB’s team of advisors includes a unique sweep of experiences which allows them to provide counsel at the intersection of security, intelligence, and civilization-scale resilience—advancing their vision for global stability and both sustainability and long-term investment in emerging markets.
