Robert Nicholas Burns is an American diplomat and academic who has served as the United States ambassador to China since 2022.
Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church. She was the second woman elevated to the position of bishop within the United Methodist Church,and the first African American woman.
Bernadette Mary Allen is a retired United States foreign service officer and a former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Niger.
Gayleatha Beatrice Brown was a United States foreign service officer and ambassador. She served in several diplomatic posts during her career with the U.S. Department of State including U.S. ambassador to Benin.
Bismarck Myrick is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia (1999–2002) and Lesotho (1995–1998). He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and a decorated Vietnam War hero. He represented the U.S. at the swearing in of South Africa's first democratic parliament,led by Nelson Mandela. The Kingdom of Lesotho conferred on him the Kingdom's highest honor to a non-citizen. Liberia's major newspapers and civil society organizations named him "Diplomat of the Year" or "Man of the Year" for three consecutive years. The City Council appointed him Goodwill Ambassador for Goree Island,Senegal in 2008. Portsmouth named two streets in his honor in 2001 and selected him as a 2006 "Portsmouth Notable" –the city's highest honor. He is featured in the March,2013 edition of "The Citizen of Chesapeake" Newspaper. Active in community service,he is on a number of boards,such as the World Affairs Council.
John William Blaney was a United States State Department official and former U.S. Ambassador to Liberia. Ambassador Blaney led successfully U.S. efforts to end Liberia's long civil war,including crossing no man's land in 2003 to negotiate an end to the fighting,which enabled the formal peace process in Ghana to conclude successfully the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. For his achievements in Liberia,Ambassador Blaney was awarded the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award,the highest diplomatic honor of his nation. Previous diplomatic assignments included Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in South Africa,Director for Southern African Affairs at the State Department,Presidential designation as the U.S. Deputy Representative to the ECOSOC of the United Nations,Minister-Counselor at U.S. Embassy Moscow,and positions working on several nuclear arms control negotiations. He also served as a Legislative Assistant in both houses of Congress,and as an economist at the U.S. Treasury and State Departments. During the course of his career,Ambassador Blaney received many State Department honors as well as Presidential and foreign awards,including Liberia's Order of the Knight Great Band,and an honorary doctorate in Political Science. He is the author/editor of Successor States to the USSR,and many journal articles including,"The Art of Strategy Creation for Complex Situations". Prior to his diplomatic career,Blaney served as an officer in the U.S. Army.
Francis Terry McNamara is a retired career Foreign Service Officer,ambassador and author.
Ahmet Üzümcü is a Turkish career diplomat,who previously served as the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Brooke D. Anderson is an American diplomat who served as a U.S. ambassador at the United Nations,as Chief of Staff and Counselor for the White House National Security Council,and as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs on the Iran Nuclear Negotiations. She has served as a trusted advisor to U.S. presidents,Cabinet Secretaries,members of Congress,presidential candidates,philanthropists and business leaders.
Ruth A. Davis is an American diplomat. Davis served as the 24th director general of the United States Foreign Service. She is the first woman of color to be appointed as Director General of the Foreign Service and the first African-American Director of the Foreign Service Institute. In 2002,she became a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and a Career Ambassador. She was the Chief of Staff of the Africa Bureau of the U.S. Department of State.
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.
Frankie Annette Reed is an American diplomat. She is currently the United States Consul-General in Melbourne. From 2011 to 2015 she was the United States Ambassador to Fiji,Kiribati,Nauru,Tonga,and Tuvalu. She has a BA in journalism from Howard University and a doctorate in law from the University of California,Berkeley.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield is an American diplomat who serves as the United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden. She served as the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2013 to 2017. Thomas-Greenfield then worked in the private sector as a senior vice president at business strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington,D.C.
Arlene Render is an American former diplomat. An officer of the United States Foreign Service,she served as the United States Ambassador to the Gambia,Zambia,and Ivory Coast. She was also noted for her role amidst the initial onset of the Rwandan genocide.
Lucy Tamlyn is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo since February 2023. She previously served as chargéd'affaires to Sudan;as United States ambassador to the Central African Republic;and as United States ambassador to Benin.
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.
Cynthia Helena Shepard Perry is an American educator and diplomat. She served as U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone and Burundi and as American Executive Director of the African Development Bank. Throughout her career Perry promoted racial and gender equality,international cooperation,and African economic development.
Wayne E. Neill is an American retired diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Benin from 2003 to 2006.
Elizabeth Adjei is a Ghanaian diplomat. In September 2002,she was appointed as the director of the Ghana Immigration Service,making her the first woman to occupy such a position. She is served as Ghana's Ambassador to Spain,a position she held from 2015 to 2020.
