Zaid Zaid

Zaid A. Zaid is Director, Head of U.S. Public Policy at Cloudflare, where he leads the company’s public advocacy efforts with the U.S. government, think tanks, and industry groups. He has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. In 2023, Zaid launched Cloudflare’s Project Cybersafe Schools at the White House, a program that provides free cybersecurity services to small public school districts across the United States. Before joining Cloudflare, Zaid was the Head of Strategic Response Policy for North America at Meta, where he managed crisis responses to high profile issues involving U.S. politics, elections, and other sensitive incident responses. During his time in the Obama Administration, Zaid served as Special Assistant to the President and Associate White House Counsel where he advised senior officials on policy, risk management, and congressional investigations, and represented a witness before the Congressional Select Committee on Benghazi. He also worked as Senior Attorney Advisor at USAID, where he addressed sensitive issues like an alleged covert action program in Cuba, counter-terrorism vetting policies, and LGBTI inclusion. In private practice at WilmerHale, Zaid handled internal investigations for clients across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and maintained an active pro bono practice. Zaid’s diplomatic career includes serving as a political officer during the U.S. invasion of Iraq, where he worked as a liaison between the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council. He also served at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, U.S. Embassy Cairo, and he studied Arabic at the Foreign Service Institute in Tunis. Zaid is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Truman National Security Project fellow, and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. He also chairs the Advisory Committee for the Council of Global Equality and serves on the board of the HALO Trust USA. Zaid earned degrees from Columbia Law School, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board. Zaid lives in Washington, D.C. with his husband and their three children.