Mycal Ford

Mycal Ford is an open source analyst whose focus areas include international illicit finance and tools of economic statecraft. Previously, he worked at the Department of Defense, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, the Hudson Institute, and Sayari Labs, a Washington DC-based tech startup, where he used publicly available information to investigate individuals and companies engaged in international sanctions evasion, narcotics trafficking, WMD proliferation, money laundering, fraud, and various other forms of transnational crime.

In December 2018, Mycal was named as a Black American National Security Next Generation Leader by the Diversity in

National Security Network for his contributions to U.S. national security. In September 2017, he served as a U.S. delegate to the first-ever U.S.-China Social Cultural Dialogue, where he discussed the changing diplomatic landscape in the twenty-first century,

its impact on the US-China relationship, and the importance of overcoming preconceived notions in the relationship. Mycal earned a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the School of International Service at American University and a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Studies and Political Science from Pacific Lutheran University. During his studies, he received the Department of Defense David L. Boren Fellowship (China) and both the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (China) and Fulbright (Taiwan). During his Fulbright, Ford used Hip-Hop dance to facilitate conversations around racial diversity in the United States to young Taiwanese students.

 Mycal simultaneously holds the position of Co-Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the Boren Forum. He is also a Young Leader with Pacific Forum and a member of the Critical Language Scholarship Alumni Society.