Matt Castelli grew up in Upstate New York, down the road from a dairy farm. His mother is a lifelong Republican and his father is a lifelong Democrat, and they taught him the importance of putting differences aside and working together. Castelli served in the CIA, where he led intelligence collection and counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. He then became the Director for Counterterrorism on President Obama’s National Security Council. Castelli stayed in this role for the first year of President Trump’s administration before returning to CIA.