Scott Bates has led teams, transformed organizations and delivered results at the state, national and international levels of government and policy development across the globe for over twenty-five years. Bates has been on the ground in every conflict zone where American troops have served in this generation. He has worked with elected leaders and activists alike to build and strengthen democracy and governing institutions on five continents, in places as diverse as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, Nigeria, Myanmar and the Persian Gulf.
EXPERIENCE
National Security
Scott Bates has been on the ground in every conflict zone where American troops have served in this generation. He led the US democracy support mission in war torn Kosovo, where he worked in partnership with the United Nations and other international partners to hold elections and launch Kosovo’s parliament. After the attacks of September 11th, Bates went to Afghanistan to support the establishment of the first national assembly after the fall of the Taliban.
Election Security
Scott Bates is a leader at the state and national level on election security. Bates was part of the first meetings between the Department of Homeland Security and state election officials which led to the creation of the Election Infrastructure-Governing Coordinating Council. In Connecticut, Bates organized and led the work of the Connecticut Election Cybersecurity Task Force. In the 2020 elections, he used the Task Force recommendations to develop and implement a plan that secured networks and trained personnel to protect Connecticut’s election infrastructure from cyber threats.
Green Energy
As Founding Chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority, Scott Bates secured a partnership with the largest offshore wind power company in the world to transform Connecticut’s State Pier into a hub for the wind power industry. Soon after completing his term as Chairman of the CT Port Authority, the Office of Connecticut’s Governor Ned Lamont issued a statement saying that in addition to being “the driving force behind recruiting the offshore wind industry to Connecticut, Bates led the negotiation of a 20 year port operations contract that attracted substantial private investment in State Pier.”