Amb. William HeidtSenior Director, Washington DC of Vriens & Partners
Bill is Senior Director and lead of Vriens & Partners’ presence in Washington, DC. In this capacity, Bill manages the firm’s relationships with the U.S. Government, supports our clients in Washington and in Southeast Asia, and works alongside our partner firm The Scowcroft Group.
Bill is a recognized expert on international trade, investment, and development policy. He served multiple assignments ASEAN countries during his 35-year Foreign Service career and was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia from 2015 to 2018. During his tenure, Bill launched initiatives to expand trade
and investment between the U.S. and Cambodia, strengthen respect for human rights and democracy, build Cambodia’s nascent technology sector, and empower Cambodia’s women entrepreneurs.
Prior to his service in Cambodia, Bill served as Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the Department of State. In that role, Bill helped shape U.S. global engagement on international economic, energy, and environmental issues, including Secretarial
initiatives on wildlife trafficking, ocean conservation, and economic diplomacy.
Bill’s other overseas Foreign Service tours include assignments in Jakarta, Indonesia; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Warsaw, Poland and Poznan, Poland. In Jakarta, Bill served successive tours from 2000-07 as Finance and Development Officer and then as Economic Counselor. Earlier in his career, Bill was awarded the joint Department of State-Department of Labor “Excellence in Labor Diplomacy” award in recognition of his outstanding work in support of workers’ rights and independent trade unions in
Cambodia. Bill also completed domestic economic policy assignments in Washington and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York.
After his completing his assignment as Ambassador, Bill served as Deputy Commandant and International Affairs Advisor at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, a component of the National Defense University.
Billis holds a B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in International Relations from George Washington University. He and his wife live in Arlington, Virginia and have one son.
