Dan Restrepo was one of the principal advisors to President Barack Obama on issues related to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, serving as special assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council from March 2009 to July 2012. He was also an advisor and surrogate for President Obama during the 2008 and 2012 campaigns. Restrepo is currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he created and directed The Americas Project, which focuses on Latin America and on the role of Hispanic people in the United States, their future and the implications for public policy.