Donald Pearce – ECTI Lead Instructor
Senior Advisor / Global Risk, Monitorship, and Investigations Practice – Torres Trade Advisory
1050 Connecticut Avenue NW
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
(By appointment only)
Phone: +1 877-977-9250
Email: Don@torrestradeadvisory.com
Twitter: twitter.com/n0wmd
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pearcedx
Donald Pearce, a retired Special Agent from the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), is an experienced investigator and subject matter expert on strategic trade control policy, transnational criminal investigations, export control systems, and national security issues. After 30-plus years of government service in both domestic and international roles, Mr. Pearce established Sentinel LLC; a consultancy focused on the intersection of international trade, technology, geopolitics, and security, and partners with Torres Trade Advisory, to provide guidance that keeps companies safe, compliant, and prosperous.
Before his retirement in 2020, Mr. Pearce served as the acting Unit Chief for Liaison and Interdiction, providing subject matter expertise to international organizations, other government agencies, and industry worldwide. Mr. Pearce was the principal author of the 2016 amendments to the Wassenaar Arrangement’s Best Practices for Export Control Enforcement, drawing on over 30 years of customs and strategic trade control experience. He used his knowledge of cyber investigative and forensics techniques to partner with the FBI on a targeted outreach program focused on export control-related cybersecurity issues, significantly increasing awareness in the industry. His career included prosecuting precedent-setting cases, establishing the Regional Export Control Officer (ECO) position at the US Embassy in Singapore, coordinating successful interdictions of dangerous goods, and protecting the international supply chain through successful public/private cooperative efforts. Singapore was his second overseas tour, as he previously had served as the ECO in Moscow, Russia from 2004 to 2007. From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Pearce was detailed to the FBI-Joint Terrorism Task Force, where he led a criminal intelligence team investigating the 9/11 attacks, as well as contributing to several high-profile counterterrorism cases.
In 2010, Mr. Pearce was awarded the Commerce Department Silver Medal for investigative excellence in the PPG Industries case, which uncovered a conspiracy to supply specialty coatings for an unauthorized nuclear end-use in Pakistan. The resulting $3.75 million in criminal and administrative fines represent one of the largest monetary penalties for export violations in the history of BIS. He also has been awarded the Commerce Department Gold Medal for his participation in protection operations for the Secretary of Commerce during his 2003 visits to Baghdad, Iraq and Kabul, Afghanistan, and a Bronze Medal for his contributions to the Export Control Officer program.
Mr. Pearce holds a Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York.
