Bill Clifford

Bill Clifford served nearly 10 years as President and CEO of the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) in Washington, D.C., where he led WACA’s national office and represented its nonpartisan nonprofit network of more than 90 World Affairs Councils across the United States. His tenure was distinguished by the establishment of two significant endowments and a variety of nationwide grant-funded “Engage America” programs highlighting major national security and foreign policy challenges.

Currently, Clifford is a nonresident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is also a member of the Korea Economic Institute of America’s advisory council and America250’s international advisory council.

Before joining WACA in September 2013, Clifford spearheaded the revitalization and growth of WorldBoston, a WACA member Council known for innovative programming, access to leaders, and a tradition of advancing public learning about critical international issues. Previously, Clifford served as Asia bureau chief for the pioneering multimedia venture C.B.S. MarketWatch, where he launched and directed news bureaus in Japan and Hong Kong. He got his start in broadcast news with Asia Business News (ABN) T.V. and was a senior correspondent in Tokyo for CNBC Asia. After its merger with ABN, Clifford began his work in journalism, reporting on international economics, finance, and politics for several newspapers.

Clifford holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins SAIS, a B.A. summa cum laude in international relations and French literature from Tufts University, and a C.E.P. from Sciences Po in Paris.