Louis O'Neill has been well prepared to assume leadership roles in the U.S. and abroad. He has extensive experience in law, business and diplomacy and in the private and public sectors.

Louis O'Neill graduated in 1990 from Stanford University with a B.A. in Slavic Languages and Literature with Distinction. He spent 1990-1991 studying at Moscow State University as a Fulbright Presidential Scholar. Mr. O'Neill earned his Master's Degree in Russian and East European Studies from Stanford in 1992, before moving to Moscow from 1992-1993 where he worked as a journalist and a designer for The Moscow Times.

Upon his return to the U.S., Louis O'Neill attended the Harvard Law School, earning a Jurist Doctor cum laude degree in 1996. Mr. O'Neill worked in private practice for four years before moving on to serve the people of New York County as a prosecutor in the Special Prosecutions Bureau of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. There, Louis O'Neill numerous case, including some very high-profile ones. Perhaps his most notorious case was that of a ring of serial brides who repeatedly married foreign men for money.

Each woman claimed to have never been married before when in fact they had been married repeatedly. One woman had 27 marriage applications on file with the City Clerk's Office dating back to 1984. Altogether the six women had applied for 43 marriage licenses. To marry in the City of New York, people are required to fill out and sign an "affidavit and application for a license to marry." One of the questions asked in the application requires that the bride and groom list all prior marriages. Applicants must swear or affirm that the information is true. The completed application is filed with the City Clerk's Office and becomes part of its business records. Only once did any of the six women admit to having married before and the spouse she named was not one of the many city marriages where she had been a bride. This and related cases were covered extensively by all of New York's daily papers, including on the front pages of The New York Post and The New York Times.

In 2004, Louis O'Neill was selected for a White House Fellowship and placed at the Department of State. The White House Fellowship Program was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 as a means of preparing young leaders for career in leadership and public service. During his fellowship, Mr. O'Neill served as Special Assistant for Russian Affairs to Secretary of State Colin Powell and received an insider's view of the day-to-day workings of the highest levels of government.

Immediately following his White House Fellowship, Louis O'Neill joined the Policy Planning Staff of the U.S. State Department and was responsible for helping develop long-term U.S. policy towards Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and the countries of the Caucasus.

Louis O'Neill is currently serving as Ambassador to Moldova and Head of Mission for the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe.