The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Tracey Ann Jacobson is an American diplomat and a former United States ambassador to Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kosovo and Ethiopia. She served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from January 2017 through October 2017. She retired then returned to active duty in 2021 as the State Department's Director of the Afghanistan Task Force, and then as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In January 2024, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the United States ambassador to Iraq.
Hady Amr is an American government official serving as special representative for Palestinian affairs since 22 November 2022. He was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the U.S. Department of State. The new position is a significant upgrade in relations with Palestine. He was appointed to the role under President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. He was born in Lebanon, and has close ties to the region, being praised by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders alike.
Liliana Ayalde is the former United States Ambassador to Brazil and was previously the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for the United States State Department with responsibility for the Offices of Caribbean Affairs, Central American Affairs and Cuban Affairs. From January 2017 to September 2019 she served as the Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor for the United States Southern Command.
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.
Nisha Biswal née Desai is an American businesswoman and public official in the United States. Biswal is the Deputy CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. She previously served as Senior Vice President for international strategy and global initiatives and oversees South Asia programs at the United States Chamber of Commerce. Prior to this, she served as the President of the US-India Business Council at the US Chamber of Commerce. Previously, she has also served as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in the United States Department of State under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017. Biswal was the first South-Asian American to hold this position. She oversaw the U.S.–India strategic partnership during a period of unprecedented cooperation, including the launch of an annual U.S.–India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue. Biswal was awarded the prestigious Samman Award by the President of India in January 2017. Biswal was also instrumental in launching the US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue, the C5+1 Dialogue between the United States and the Central Asian States of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Biswal also serves on the United States Institute of Peace International Advisory Council, on the Afghanistan Study Group and is on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Sustainable Communities, the Leadership Council for Women in National Security and is active in Democratic politics.
Gayle Elizabeth Smith is the former CEO of the One Campaign. Smith was formerly Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security at the U.S. Department of State. and was the former Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.
Bathsheba "Sheba" Nell Crocker is an American diplomat who is currently serving as the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 2014 to 2017.
The administrator of the United States Agency for International Development is the head of the United States federal government's Agency for International Development (USAID).
Bonnie Glick is an American diplomat and businesswoman who served as the Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2019 to 2020. Nominated for the post by President Donald Trump in April 2018, she was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent in January 2019. On September 21, 2021, Glick was announced as the inaugural CEO of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue during the Concordia Summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
Alina L. Romanowski is an American career diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Iraq since June 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Kuwait from February 2020 to April 2022.
Elizabeth Marie Allen is an American political advisor who serves as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in the Biden administration. She previously served as assistant secretary of state for global public affairs and as White House deputy communications director during the Obama administration.
Carla Ravi Koppell is an American academic who serves as interim Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. As part of her work she collaborates with the Volcker Alliance to spearhead the University Leadership Council on Diversity and Inclusion in International Affairs. In that role, she works with deans of graduate schools of public policy and international affairs to incorporate attention to diversity and inclusion in their curricula and programs.
Sharon L. Cromer is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the Gambia since March 2022.
Julianne Smith is an American foreign policy advisor and diplomat who serves as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO in the Biden administration. She previously served as deputy national security advisor to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama administration.
Marcela X. Escobari is a Bolivian-American government official and diplomat who serving as an immigration advisor in the National Security Council. Prior to her NSC position she served as the Assistant Administrator of the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from January 2022 to April 2024. She previously worked as a Senior Fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where she led the Workforce of the Future initiative.
Ann Marie Yastishock is an American diplomat who is serving as the United States ambassador to Papua New Guinea, along with the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Arthur W. Brown is an American diplomat who is serving as the United States ambassador to Ecuador.
