Michele Jeanne Sison is an American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service serving as the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs. She has previously served in various other diplomatic posts around the world on behalf of the United States, including ambassador to Haiti. Sison holds the personal rank of career ambassador.
Carol Lee van Voorst is an American diplomat who served as the former United States Ambassador to Iceland. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 18, 2005, after being nominated by President George W. Bush on October 28, 2005. Her mission was terminated on January 20, 2009.
Hugo Llorens is a retired American diplomat. He is a former U.S. Special Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, (2016–17) and United States Ambassador to Honduras (2008–2011). In his 36-year career he was posted to numerous countries spanning 6 continents. In 2002–2003, he joined the White House staff and served as Director of Andean Affairs advising the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.
Stephen D. Mull is a Senior Foreign Service officer who was most recently the Acting Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. He previously served as United States Ambassador to Poland, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and United States Ambassador to Lithuania.
Earl Anthony Wayne is an American diplomat. Formerly Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Ambassador to Argentina and Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wayne served nearly four years as Ambassador to Mexico. He was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate in August, 2011. He departed Mexico City for Washington July 31, 2015 and retired from the State Department on September 30, 2015. Wayne attained the highest rank in the U.S. diplomatic service: Career Ambassador. He is currently a Professorial Lecturer and Distinguished Diplomat in Residence at American University's School of International Service where he teaches courses related to diplomacy and US foreign policy. Wayne also works with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Atlantic Council, the Center for Strategic and International Studies,. Wayne is co-chair of the Mexico Institute's Advisory Board at the Wilson Center. He is also on the board of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Public Diplomacy Council of America. Wayne is an independent consultant, speaker and writer and works with several not-for-profit professional associations. He was an adviser for HSBC Latin America on improving management of financial crime risk from 2015 until 2019 and served on the board of the American Foreign Service Association from 2017 to 2019.
Patricia Marie Haslach is an American diplomat. She served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, from January 2017 to September 2017. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Ethiopia from August 4, 2013 through September 2016.
Teddy Bernard Taylor is a United States diplomat. A member of the Senior Foreign Service, Taylor served as the United States Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. He was succeeded by Walter E. North on November 7, 2012.
Sharon P. Wilkinson is an American diplomat. She served as United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso from 1996 to 1999 and United States Ambassador to Mozambique from 2000 to 2003.
African-Americans in foreign policy in the United States catalogs distinguished African Americans who have and continue to contribute to international development, diplomacy, and defense through their work with the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Information Agency, and the U.S. Congress, and other notable agencies and non-governmental organizations. The creators acknowledge the presence of the interagency contributions to the foreign affairs realm, and welcome additional content to showcase the achievements of African-Americans in other relevant USG agencies.
Roberta S. Jacobson is an American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Mexico from June 2016 to May 2018. She previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs from March 30, 2012, to May 5, 2016. The United States Senate approved her nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico on April 28, 2016. In March 2018, Jacobson announced her resignation effective May 5. Foreign Policy reported on January 18, 2021, that Jacobson would be in charge of Mexico–United States border affairs at the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.
Robert Frank Godec is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Thailand since October 2022. He formerly served as the United States ambassador to Kenya from 2013 to 2019 and the United States ambassador to Tunisia from 2006 to 2009. He also served as acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs from January to September 2021.
Richard Merrill Mills Jr. is an American diplomat who serves as the United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations. He served as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires and Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations between January 20, 2021, and February 24, 2021, when Linda Thomas-Greenfield became ambassador. In July 2022, he was announced as the nominee to serve as the United States ambassador to Nigeria.
Todd Crawford Chapman is an American career diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Brazil from 2020 to 2021 and as the United States ambassador to Ecuador from 2016 to 2019.
Joan A. Polaschik is a diplomat who has served as Director of the Foreign Service Institute since 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Algeria from 2014 to 2017.
Virginia Evelyn Palmer is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Ghana since 2022. Palmer is the former United States ambassador to Malawi. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate, beginning the assignment in January 2015.
Lisa J. Peterson is an American diplomat who has served United States Ambassador to Burundi since June 27, 2024. She had served United States Ambassador to Eswatini Between January 20 and July 14, 2021, she served in the Biden administration as the Acting Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights in 2021.
Makila James is an American diplomat who has been a career Foreign Service Officer within the U.S. State Department. Beginning in 1988, she has had a series of postings and roles related to the Caribbean and Africa, leading to her being the Director of the Office of Caribbean Affairs from 2009 to 2012. She then served as the United States Ambassador to Swaziland from 2012 to 2016. Later, she was Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Africa and the Sudans from 2018 to 2020.
Gillian Arlette Milovanovic is an American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Macedonia from 2005 to 2007 succeeding Lawrence Butler, and ambassador to Mali from 2007 to 2011. In 2012 Milovanovic was appointed the chair of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme on behalf of the United States, the first woman to hold that position.
Francisco "Paco" Palmieri is an American diplomat who previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, leading the State Department’s efforts to advance U.S. foreign policy goals in the region from January 2017 to November 2018. Palmieri managed the successful 2018 Summit of the Americas in Peru, U.S. engagement with the Lima Group unifying 15 Western Hemisphere democracies in a multilateral diplomatic response to the crisis in Venezuela, the reorientation of U.S. foreign assistance in support of the Colombia peace process, the formulation and adoption of a new comprehensive U.S. political and economic Caribbean 2020 strategy, the launch of the renegotiation of the 50-year old Columbia River Treaty with Canada, and the multi-agency response to the ongoing migration challenges emanating from Central America. He also was responsible for the daily management of the Bureau’s 53 overseas U.S. diplomatic missions, 12,000 employees, and implementation of the Hemisphere’s $1.58 billion foreign assistance and $290 million operating budgets. He recently served as the Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to Admiral Craig S. Faller at United States Southern Command, succeeding former Ambassador Jean Elizabeth Manes in July 2021.
Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath is an American diplomat who is serving US Ambassador to Peru since June 20, 2024. She most recently served as Deputy Chief of Mission to Mexico.
