Dalia Blass

Dalia Blass, Senior Managing Director, is Head of External Affairs and a member of BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee. External Affairs manages the firm’s key reputational and policy challenges and opportunities. The global group, which includes Corporate Sustainability, Global Public Policy, Social Impact, Long-term capitalism, and Academic Engagement, is focused on deepening BlackRock’s relationships with key stakeholders, creating forums for research, dialogue and debate, and advocating on behalf of the interests of our clients.

Prior to BlackRock, Dalia was Director of the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Under her leadership, the Division of Investment Management finalized more than 70 regulatory initiatives to modernize the regulatory framework for investment companies and investment advisers, improve the investor experience through modernized disclosure and outreach efforts, elevate the standards of conduct for financial professionals, and re-evaluate the role and responsibilities of fund boards of directors. Dalia was a member of the SEC’s senior-level Covid-19 Market Monitoring Group and contributed to the staff’s report on the U.S. Credit Markets Interconnectedness and Effects of the Covid-19 Economic Shock. Dalia also co-chaired the Financial Stability Board’s Technical Experts Group on Money Market Funds.

Dalia previously served in a number of leadership roles in the Division of Investment Management for a total of 14 years at the SEC. Dalia has received the SEC’s Distinguished Service Award and the Manuel F. Cohen Award. Dalia was also named in Barron’s inaugural list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance.

In addition to her time at the SEC, Dalia was in private practice at the law firm Ropes & Gray where she advised on a broad range of investment fund, private equity, and regulatory matters. Earlier in her career, she practiced regulatory law at O’Melveny and Meyers in Washington, D.C., and corporate law at Shearman & Sterling in New York and London.

Dalia earned a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. She received her B.A. in international studies from the American University and studied political science at the American University in Cairo.