Stephen P. Payne President of Worldwide Strategic Partners, Inc. and Worldwide Strategic Energy Since becoming the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Latvia in 1999, Mr. Payne has been a key part of Latvia's Diplomatic Corps in the United States. He serves as Latvia's official diplomatic liaison to the South Central region of the United States, working closely with the Latvian leadership. Payne was instrumental in helping Latvia secure NATO membership and was also key in implementing the U.S. Visa waiver status for Latvians visiting the United States. Payne remains highly involved in the development of Latvia’s energy industries. In recognition of Payne’s tireless efforts on behalf of Latvia, in 2004, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga awarded Payne the Order of the Three Stars – Latvia’s highest honor. Professionally, Payne is an accomplished governmental and international affairs consultant with vast experience as a corporate and political advisor and foreign diplomat. His extensive clientele roster ranges from large international corporations, including Morgan-Stanley, Nextel Communications, Yukos Oil, Boeing, J.P. Morgan and Lockheed Martin. Stephen’s experience ranges from serving NASA as a Senior Advisor to guiding diplomatic negotiations for foreign heads of state in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Mr. Payne has established strong diplomatic relationships with top officials in the U.S. and internationally, with particular emphasis on relations with and projects in Pakistan, U.A.E ., Iraq, Libya, Turkey, Azerbaijan, India, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Russia, Thailand and China, as well as leading energy security talks for the 2006 NATO Summit. Payne began his career in government and politics in the late 1980s in the Texas State Senate. During the 1988 Bush for President Campaign, Payne served as George W. Bush's travel aide. In 1993, Mr. Payne worked on the special election campaign for then State Treasurer Kay Hutchison. After Ms. Hutchison's election to the United States Senate, he served as the State Director of Special Projects and Deputy Director of the Southeast Texas region for her. Payne was also a Senior Presidential Advance Representative and traveled regularly with President Bush. Mr. Payne accompanied President Bush to Jordan for the Red Sea Summit (Israeli / Palestinian peace talks) in June 2003 and to Europe in 2001. In 2002, he traveled with Vice President Cheney to the Middle East and Afghanistan for the historic inauguration of Afghan President Karzai. Payne was a Board Member of the National Defense University Foundation, a Republican National Finance Committee Member, and in July 2007, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff appointed Mr. Payne to the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Since 2005, Mr. Payne has been working in Libya and in April 2011, he co-led a private, non-official U.S. diplomacy delegation to Libya just after the February 17th uprising. His was the first delegation in Tripoli to publicly call for Muammar Gaddafi to step down. Due to his long relationship with Libya, he remains close to many NTC leaders. Stephen currently resides in Houston, Texas, has three children (Stephanie, Stephen Jr., and Stuart). Payne is engaged to Stephanie Cole.