Share
Clark Plexico is NDI's resident director in Uzbekistan.
Before joining the Institute, Mr. Plexico led a North Carolina-based international consulting company that assisted corporations, non-profits and government leaders on planning successful international business ventures, trade missions and exchanges. He also designed and led successful legislative and regulatory advocacy campaigns for corporations and non-profits. Prior to this, he was an executive at AT&T leading legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts, as well as the company's philanthropy in North Carolina. Before joining AT&T, Mr. Plexico was elected to four legislative terms in the North Carolina Senate during which he chaired the Education and the Education Appropriations Committees in addition to ad hoc commissions on election law reform and environmental issues. Prior to running for political office, Mr. Plexico lived and worked for over a decade in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia as an international businessman.
Since 2002, he has been a facilitator and faculty member for the Central Eurasian Leadership Alliance (CELA), which has helped more than 300 emerging leaders from Central Asia, the Caucasus and Afghanistan to develop skills, gain experience and build an active network throughout the region. Mr. Plexico is also a faculty member for a similar organization — Middle Eastern Leadership Alliance (MELA) — that works with emerging leaders throughout the Middle East. He has led education and mission groups throughout the Middle East and East Asia, and is a sought after speaker/trainer on managing and leading across cultures.
Mr. Plexico earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., and a master's degree in international relations from the University of Southern California's London program. He studied Middle East politics and culture at Tehran University and the Royal Academy of Philosophy, and is a graduate of the Middlebury College School of Arabic. Mr. Plexico is certified in cross cultural training by the Richard Lewis Company of Great Britain and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business ICE Program. He has taught both American politics and Middle Eastern history at three universities of the University of North Carolina system.
