Meehan joined the United States Department of State as a Foreign Service officer in 2004,and began her new career as a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota,Colombia.[5] She survived a kidnapping and physical assault by armed men in Bogota in April 2006. Two of the perpetrators were arrested and sentenced to ten years in jail,while two perpetrators were never found.[7][8]
She served in Colombia for two years before volunteering to serve in Iraq. She worked at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2006 to 2007 as a Consular Officer,and for several months as Special Assistant to Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.[5] She was wounded in Baghdad,by a rocket fired by an Iran-backed militia.
Meehan was selected in 2007 as a Powell Fellow,recognized as one of the 12 most promising future leaders in the Department of State.[6]
In 2010 she returned to Washington,D.C. to work as a State Department "Line Officer",advancing the Secretary of State’s overseas travel. She then became Special Assistants to the Secretary of State.[5] In 2012,Meehan was detailed to the White House National Security Council (NSC) and in 2014 she became the spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
Meehan left the NSC in 2015 to become an adjunct professor and State Department resident fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.[9] She was recalled to the NSC to oversee the planning for President Obama's historic trip to Havana,Cuba. According to The New York Times,her appointment to this position reflected the importance the President put on the trip and the complicated nature of planning the visit.[10] She then remained at the White House as a Senior Advisor to President Obama until January 2017.
In February 2017,Meehan departed the Foreign Service to serve as the Chief International Officer at the Obama Foundation,[11] a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded by President and Mrs. Obama that seeks out to inspire,empower and connect people to change their world for the better.[12] In this role,she was responsible for developing and overseeing all international programs for the Obama Foundation,including the Obama Foundation Scholars;[13] Leaders Africa program;Leaders Asia-Pacific program;[14] and Leaders Europe program. She eventually became the Executive Vice President for Global Programs and a member of the Foundation's Executive Committee.
Meehan served on the board of advisors for Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,within the Walsh School of Foreign Service.[15] She also served on the board of advisors for Hostage US,a non-profit organization that supports families of Americans taken hostage abroad and supports hostages when they return home.[16]
United States ambassador to Chile
Meehan sworn in as Ambassador to Chile in 2022 by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman
As Ambassador,Meehan was known for a large social media following[22][23][24] and popularity among the Chilean people. She made the front page of El Mercurio,Chile's newspaper of record,when she completed a skydive with U.S. and Chilean Special Forces as part of multi-nation joint military exercise Southern Star.[25][26]
She was lauded for multiple commercial and regulatory successes including passage of the U.S.-Chile Bilateral Tax Treaty in both the U.S. and Chilean Senate after more than ten years pending in the U.S. Senate;[27] announcement of Google as lead investor of the Humboldt Cable,the first subsea cable connecting South American and the Asia-Pacific region;[28] and negotiation of a side letter to the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement protecting market access for U.S. dairy and meat exports using common names.[29][30][31][32]
During Meehan's tenure U.S. mining firms also announced significant expansions,including Freeport McMoran's $7.5 billion investment in copper mining[33] and Albemarle's expansion of lithium extraction and processing.[34]
Following the election of President Donald Trump,Meehan submitted her resignation as Ambassador effective January 10,2025,following tradition for political appointees of both parties.[35][36]
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