Navigating the international system - so your voice is heard where it matters
Founded by Ben Wallis, a digital policy specialist with experience from all sides of the multilateral landscape
About
Most of the organizations I work with already have a sense of when something important is happening - it could be a new international framework taking shape, a policy process quietly gathering momentum, a set of discussions that could eventually constrain or enable what they do. What they often lack is enough bandwidth, or specialist knowledge, to engage.
That gap matters more than it might seem. Outputs from UN bodies, multilateral institutions, and multistakeholder forums, have a way of working their way into national policy, legislation, and regulation, often sooner than expected. Those who aren't in the room - or don't know which room to be in - tend to find themselves responding to outcomes rather than shaping them.
I set up LionBridge Consulting to address that challenge. I help organizations understand what is happening in the international system, where the points of real influence are, and how to engage effectively - whether the goal is to shape a developing policy, protect an existing interest, or build the relationships and visibility that make future engagement possible. My aim is to bridge the gap between organizations and the international system in a way that is practical, targeted, and grounded in how these processes actually work.
My clients include technology companies, government agencies, international organizations, and think tanks. The common thread is that they are working on issues where the international dimension matters, and they need someone who understands both the substance and the process.
Representing the private sector in a meeting with the UN Secretary-General at the 2019 Internet Governance Forum
Services
I work with organizations at every stage of international policy engagement - from initial orientation through to active representation in multilateral processes. I also support international bodies seeking to better understand national and regional contexts, or to expand engagement with their stakeholders.
My work typically falls into three areas:
Understanding the landscape
International policy is discussed across a complex web of bodies and processes - UN agencies, the OECD, regional frameworks, multistakeholder forums - and they don't all work the same way or carry the same weight. I help organizations map where a given issue is being discussed, how different processes relate to each other, and what the realistic points of influence are. This includes translating what is happening at the international level into concrete implications for national policy, regulation, and strategy.
Developing a strategy and positioning
Knowing where to engage is only part of the challenge. I work with organizations to develop clear positions, identify the right moments and forums for intervention, and build the narratives and coalitions that give those interventions the best chance of landing. This includes preparing briefings, drafting contributions, and advising on how to work effectively within the political and procedural dynamics of specific processes.
Active engagement and representation
For organizations that need more than advice, I can engage directly on their behalf - attending meetings, delivering interventions, negotiating text, and building the relationships that make sustained influence possible. I have represented government, private sector, and civil society organizations across ITU meetings, UN processes, the OECD, and other multilateral and multistakeholder forums - and I understand how to operate effectively within them.
About Ben Wallis
I have spent my career working on international and digital policy from almost every angle - as a regulator, as a government delegate, in the private sector, in the European institutions, and for civil society. That breadth wasn't planned, but it has become the most useful thing I bring to my work. Having sat on different sides of the same processes, I understand not just how they work procedurally, but how the different actors within them think, what they want, and where they are willing to move.
My experience includes negotiating treaty text at the UN, working on EU legislation, contributing to OECD policy work as both a delegate and a consultant, and leading campaigns through trade associations and coalitions to advance specific policy outcomes. For nine years I worked in Microsoft's UN and International Organizations team, where I developed a detailed understanding of how a major private sector actor engages with the multilateral system - and what effective engagement actually looks like in practice.
I believe in the value of international cooperation, and in the importance of multistakeholder participation in shaping the frameworks that govern our digital lives. That belief informs how I work - I am not simply trying to help clients get what they want from the international system, but to engage with it constructively, building the kind of credibility that makes sustained influence possible.
I am based in Seattle, though my work has regularly taken me to the multilateral hubs of Geneva, New York, Paris, and Washington D.C., and I have lived and worked in London and Brussels. I speak French and Spanish alongside English, which has opened doors and conversations that might otherwise have stayed closed.
For a full overview of my professional background, you can download my CV.
Get in Touch
If something here resonates, I’d be happy to talk.