Areas of Expertise
Leadership, nonprofit management, board governance, and site development
“We have been fortunate to have Dan Wacker providing executive coaching for our Head of School. He has been an excellent sounding board, offering consistently on-point advice drawn from his extensive experience as an executive coach. Finding this type of focus and expertise targeted at the needs of non-profits is challenging; Dan has been a great asset to our school.”
— Rob Collins, former Board Chair, Chesapeake Montessori School, Annapolis, MD
Daniel Wacker | Partner Consultant
Experience
Daniel Wacker is a management consultant, negotiator and attorney with a backgound in organizational leadership, board governance, and site development. Dan has over thirty years of leadership experience as an officer in the Air Force, both active (1971-1980) and reserve (1980-1998), and as an attorney with the Office of General Counsel of Mobil Oil Corporation (1981-2000). During both his military and Mobil careers, Dan spent much of his time on postings outside the United States in France, Korea, Japan, Germany and England. While in the Air Force, Dan served as a Judge Advocate involved in investigations and litigation in Asia and Europe including a two-year assignment as a circuit prosecutor in countries throughout NATO. While in Mobil, Dan negotiated major development projects throughout the world, conducted due diligence investigations, served on the boards of foreign affiliated companies, and led the legal departments of several affiliates. When Dan retired from Mobil after its merger with Exxon Corporation, he was the Deputy Worldwide Managing Counsel of Mobil’s 230+ lawyer worldwide legal department.
Education & Certification
Cert. de Scolarite, 1970, L’Ecole de l’Air (The French Air Force Academy)
B.S., Distinguished Graduate, U.S. Air Force Academy, 1971
J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1974
Visiting Fellow, East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School, 1981
Member of the bars of Wisconsin and New York
Clients
School for Friends, Chesapeake Montessori School, BoardMatch Montgomery
Community Service
Dan is a former board chairman and capital campaign co-chairman of the Washington Waldorf School in Bethesda, MD, where he negotiated a 30-year lease with Montgomery County for a school building and oversaw a $7 million renovation of the leased facility. Dan regularly volunteers at Shepherd’s Table in Silver Spring that serves daily meals to the County’s homeless population and other less fortunate members of the community.
Get to know me
Dan is a member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs which meets twice a month to discuss major issues of foreign policy with members of the Washington foreign policy establishment. When not traveling internationally or serving his Capacity Partners clients, he will often be in his woodworking studio designing and building pieces of furniture using Asian techniques of joinery.
Favorite Quote
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”