Darrell M. Blocker is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service officer, retiring at the equivalent rank of a three-star General. He spent the majority of his CIA career undercover, and ran the Agency’s famous training facility known as “the Farm.”
Mr. Blocker is a frequent on-air contributor to ABC News, a nonresident fellow at the Benson-Bertsch Center for International Trade and Security (BBCITS) at the University of Georgia, and an Independent Board Member for Rendeavour, Africa’s largest urban land developer. His TEDx talk, Listen More, Speak Less: Lessons in Kindness from a CIA Operative, has reached audiences who didn’t expect to find operational wisdom there. (They usually do!)
He is a committed mentor and humanitarian, donating time to anti-child trafficking organizations, children’s online safety initiatives, and to children in the foster care system. BPIA (Black Professionals in International Affairs) recently named him Man of the Year, citing his commitment to mentorship and his willingness to open doors many didn’t know they could even walk through.
His work on behalf of the U.S. and the many he has served since his retirement earned him the 2025 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
