Practice Areas
Speaking Engagements
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Geopolitical Risk
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Multilateral Engagement
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Market Entry & Expansion
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Partnerships
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Crisis Management
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Leadership & Wellness
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Speaking Engagements | Geopolitical Risk | Multilateral Engagement | Market Entry & Expansion | Partnerships | Crisis Management | Leadership & Wellness |
Please reach out regarding interest in any of the following practice areas.
Speaking Engagements
Dorothy is a featured keynote speaker, panelist and foreign policy expert available to participate in speaking engagements across government, corporate, and academic audiences worldwide.
Drawing on 34 years of diplomatic service, culminating in two Senate-confirmed ambassadorial positions and including postings in Beirut, Cairo, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Tunis, Johannesburg, and at the United Nations — she offers audiences a first-hand, ground-level perspective on Middle East dynamics, multilateral diplomacy, and crisis leadership amidst high-threat and volatile environments.
Her talks blend theory and practice, featuring real-world experience with practical insights, whether addressing a boardroom, a policy forum, or a university lecture hall.
Geopolitical Risk
With decades spent inside some of the world's most volatile political and security environments — from the end of apartheid, to the Second Intifada, to the 2020 Beirut port explosion — and with her keen, first-hand understanding of shifting dynamics in the United Nations, Dorothy brings a rare, tested vantage point on geopolitical risk. She helps organizations understand how political and economic instability, regional conflict, and diplomatic transitions can translate into operational and reputational exposure; or how peace initiatives might succeed or fail depending on a range of factors.
Dorothy offers analysis grounded not only in academic study but also based on direct experience, and extensive contacts with knowledge and influence. Monitoring regional developments, Dorothy advises clients on scenario planning and risk mitigation strategies.
Multilateral Engagement
Throughout her diplomatic career, Dorothy has worked in multilateral arenas, culminating in her tenure as Deputy and Acting U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She appreciates the potential of the UN to serve as a forum for addressing challenges that cross borders, particularly matters of international peace and security. She also understands the reality that without leadership and discipline, the multilateral body will founder.
Indeed, the UN is facing an inflection point: the Trump Administration is recalibrating its engagement with and through the UN, conditioning payment of dues and voluntary contributions on far-reaching reforms. Meanwhile, there is no clear front runner among the field of candidates for the election of a new Secretary General, even as the organization desperately needs visionary and transformational leadership.
Dorothy offers advisory services to those who wish to better understand the underlying dynamics, including within the Security Council. She also provides assistance to clients who want to engage with the UN, its subsidiary bodies, and Member State representatives on issues of the day. The 81st UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week (September 22-28, 2026) is fast approaching; Dorothy can help clients engage effectively.
Market Entry & Expansion
Having worked closely with political and economic decision makers across the Middle East and at the UN, Dorothy understands the on-the-ground realities that shape the success or failure of market access and expansion efforts.
Dorothy’s advice helps clients navigate local political, economic, commercial, and regulatory landscapes; build relationships with governmental and other stakeholders, and understand regional dynamics that could influence commercial and trade initiatives.
Partnerships
Dorothy has spent a career building relationships across governments, the private sector, and civil society institutions, with academia, and with thought leaders and influencers — the kind of trust-based partnerships that don't happen overnight.
She helps organizations identify the right partners and build productive relationships with key stakeholders in foreign governments and multilateral bodies. She advises clients on how best to sustain partnerships through periods of geopolitical change.
Crisis Management
As U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy led the U.S. Mission through the catastrophic 2020 Beirut port explosion, the country’s historic economic and banking collapse, sustained political instability, and cross-border conflict between Hezballah and Israel — hard-earned experience few consultants can claim.
Dorothy advises organizations on crisis preparedness, executive decision-making under pressure, and communication strategy when the situation on the ground is changing by the hour.
Leadership & Wellness
Through Shea Global Strategies, LLC, Dorothy offers executive mentoring and leadership coaching, for example by mentoring the State Department’s ambassadorial seminars. In addition to being sought after for discreet advice for ambassadors and foreign policy professionals, Dorothy brings a team-focused and presence-based approach, helping practitioners in high-stress careers and operating in high-threat environments build sustainable wellness habits to enhance their leadership and optimize results.
Dorothy's guiding philosophy is that workplace success is closely tied to health and wellness. Dorothy is a certified instructor of Pilates Mat and Reformer (Levels 1, 2, and 3), the Lagree Method, and Barre. She is currently studying Pilates Springboard and Suspension Training (TRX). Her study of Pilates began as a personal wellness journey that helped her stay grounded while serving in high-stress posts overseas, but quickly evolved to become a way for her to connect with local communities and colleagues, whether in Jerusalem, Cairo, Beirut, Washington, DC, or New York City.