Rob Lalka serves in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnerships, where he coordinates partner engagement to deepen ties with business leaders, foundations, and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim-majority countries.  He is the State Department’s liaison to Partners for a New Beginning, a public-private partnership established by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson, and Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent.  In this role, Rob works with the coalition to engage the US private sector to promote entrepreneurship, economic development, interfaith dialogue, and educational programs.  Rob also served as the partnerships coordinator for the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, which brought together more than 275 participants from over 50 countries. Rob previously worked with Wachovia’s Corporate and Investment Banking group in Atlanta, the United Nations Office in Geneva, the World Bank headquarters in Washington, and AmeriCorps in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.  He is a Presidential Management Fellow, and his writings have been published in policy, legal, and historical journals.  He is a graduate of Yale University with honors in both English and history, and he holds his master's degree with a concentration in global public policy from Duke University.