WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Beacon Global Strategies (BGS), a leading strategic advisory firm focusing on global public policy, government procurement, and geopolitical risk analysis, continues to strengthen its senior leadership team to better support clients with the promotions of Mr. Andrew Hire, Mr. Josh Kirshner, and Mr. Eric Sayers to the position of Managing Director. Additionally, BGS is pleased to announce the promotion of Ms. Merritt Simon to the position of Associate Vice President.
“I am delighted to welcome these talented colleagues to our leadership team,” said Michael Allen, Partner and Managing Director at Beacon, “Our clients have found their perspective and guidance to be invaluable, and I am confident they will continue to make terrific contributions to the firm in years to come.”
Andrew Hire has assumed the role of Managing Director, where he will continue to lead the firm’s Intelligence Practice and advise clients on matters related to national security. Mr. Hire joined BGS in 2018 as Vice President and Technical Advisor. Prior to joining BGS, he served as Chief of the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) Branch in the National Security Division of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). While leading the C4I Branch, Mr. Hire co-chaired the Senior Information Sharing and Safeguarding Steering Committee which is responsible for identifying and resolving insider threats and security vulnerabilities in classified IT networks across the federal enterprise. From 2006-2012, he oversaw all aspects of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) budget, acquisitions, management reforms, and IT programs. As the OMB Director’s principal adviser on intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), counterterrorism, and nonproliferation issues, Mr. Hire collaborated closely with a range of Senior Directors in the National Security Council and officers in the special operations and intelligence communities. Before joining the National Security Division, he led OMB’s budget and regulatory oversight of the Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Mr. Hire graduated from Indiana University and earned his Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Josh Kirshner has assumed the role of Managing Director, where he will continue to advise clients on complex defense issues pertaining to major defense procurements, policies, exports, and geopolitical risk in the Middle East and Europe. Before joining Beacon in 2013, he served as the Special Assistant for Political-Military Affairs to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. In this role, he served as the Under Secretary’s principal advisor on arms sales and as Special Assistant for International Security and Nonproliferation and was a key contributor to both the President’s Nuclear Security Summit and the creation of the Secretary of State’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues. From 2007-2009, Mr. Kirshner was a Professional Staff Member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence where he focused on HUMINT, terrorism and the Near East/South Asia. In 2006, he was a part of then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s national security team, supporting the Senator’s efforts on the Senate Armed Services Committee and working on issues ranging from foreign policy, to trade, to appropriations. Mr. Kirshner also served at the State Department from 2000-2005, holding positions in the Nonproliferation and Counterterrorism bureaus. Mr. Kirshner graduated from Yale University with an M.A. in International Affairs, including coursework in the law and business schools. He graduated from Binghamton University, cum laude, with a B.A. in Political Science.
Eric Sayers has assumed the role of Managing Director, where he will continue to lead the firm’s Indo-Pacific Practice and advise clients on matters including technology competition, export controls, investment restrictions, trade policy, and regional geopolitics. Before joining BGS in 2018, he was a consultant to the Commander’s Action Group at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) where he served as Special Assistant to the Commander. From 2014-2016, Mr. Sayers served as a Professional Staff Member with the majority staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he managed the Asia-Pacific/Pacific Command policy portfolio and advised Chairman John S. McCain (R-AZ) on regional security issues. Prior to working on the SASC, Mr. Sayers served as Defense Policy Advisor to Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) from 2011-2014. Before working on Capitol Hill, he was a resident Sasakawa Peace Foundation Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS, where his research focused on the U.S.-Japan alliance and maritime security and naval strategy in Asia. Mr. Sayers is Nonresident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He is a term-member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Sayers holds an M.Sc. in Strategic Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore and an M.A. and B.A. in Political Science from The University of Western Ontario.
Merritt Simon has assumed the role of Associate Vice President. Ms. Simon joined BGS in 2018 as an Associate and has extensive experience supporting clients in the Indo-Pacific Practice on issues such as export controls, technology competition, and trade. She brings expertise to her clients from her private sector experience. Before joining BGS, Ms. Simon worked as a Capital Markets and Compliance Analyst at Equity International, a Chicago-based private equity firm investing in real estate platforms in emerging markets. She performed market analysis on a variety of real estate sectors and geographic regions and managed anti-corruption and anti-money laundering compliance for several portfolio companies based in Latin America and Asia. In graduate school, she worked as a research analyst at the National Defense University’s William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies where she analyzed links between transnational organized crime networks and terrorism. Ms. Simon graduated with General Honors from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in Spanish and received her M.A. in International Economics and Latin American Studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
About Beacon Global Strategies
Founded in 2013, Beacon Global Strategies is a leading strategic advisory firm, with over 70 staff and expert advisors, that provides clients an in-depth understanding of national security decision-making to advance objectives and solve problems in Washington and abroad. The Beacon team brings experience informed by their years of service in the White House, State Department, Defense Department, CIA, Justice Department, on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector.
