David A. Duckenfield is the President and a partner at Balsera Communications. He has over 20 years’ experience in public diplomacy, corporate and marketing communications, brand building, crisis communications and public policy. Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese, started his professional career as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the United States Information Agency (USIA), serving in Mexico City and Bogota. He later moved on to become the senior communications manager and then director of marketing for NBA Latin America. Duckenfield was a senior official in the Obama Administration, where he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Public Affairs.
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He became a partner at Balsera Communications in 2007, launching a federal government practice that designed and executed campaigns for the Department of the Interior (National Museum of the American Latino Commission), the FCC and GSA. His award-winning PR campaigns include PRWeek Multicultural Campaign of the Year and the HPRA Bravo Awards for Best Media Event, Health and Nutrition Campaign. Duckenfield received a MA in Latin American Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.; earned a BA in History from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire; and graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.