Kenneth Lee Salazar is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martínez (R-Florida) were the first Hispanic U.S. senators since 1977; they were joined by Bob Menendez in 2006. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, he served as Attorney General of Colorado from 1999 to 2005.
The United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice is the head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the United States Department of State. The ambassador-at-large advises the United States Secretary of State and the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights directly and formulates U.S. policy responses to atrocities committed in areas of conflict and elsewhere throughout the world. As the President’s envoy, this Ambassador travels worldwide engaging heads of state and international organizations to build bilateral and international support for U.S. policies. As part of this, the Ambassador visits affected countries and engages a range of diplomatic, legal, economic, military, and intelligence tools to help secure peace and stability and build the rule of law. As the head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice, this Ambassador also has the rank of Assistant Secretary.
Melanne Verveer, born on June 24, 1944, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, is the executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security at Georgetown University. She also holds positions as a founding partner of Seneca Point Global, a women's strategy firm, and as a co-founder of Seneca Women. Verveer co-authored the book "Fast Forward: How Women Can Achieve Power and Purpose" with Kim Azzarelli.
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.
Thomas Alfred Shannon Jr. is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018. In early 2017, Shannon served as acting United States Secretary of State until President Donald Trump's nominee, Rex Tillerson, was confirmed. He was also acting Deputy Secretary of State of the United States until the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee, John J. Sullivan.
Kristie Anne Kenney is a former senior U.S. diplomat who served as the 32nd Counselor of the United States Department of State from 2016 to 2017. She is a recipient of the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award and held the nation's highest diplomatic rank of Career Ambassador in the United States Foreign Service. She served as the Department of State Transition Coordinator for the 2016–17 transition.
Stephen J. Rapp is an American lawyer and the former United States ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice.
Cynthia Dyer is an American attorney who has served as Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons since January 2023. She formerly served as director of the Office on Violence Against Women from 2007 to 2009.
Catherine Mary Russell is an American attorney and political adviser who is the Executive Director of UNICEF as of 2022. Russell previously served as Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, and Chief of Staff to then-Second Lady of the United States Jill Biden.
Barack Obama assumed office as President of the United States on January 20, 2009, and his term ended on January 20, 2017. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
The White House Council on Women and Girls was an advisory council within the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It was established by Executive Order 13506 on March 11, 2009, with a broad mandate to advise the president on issues relating to the welfare of women and girls in order to ensure gender equality. It also ensured that other White House agencies acted in a manner to allow all things to be possible for all people. The Council was chaired by Valerie Jarrett and included the heads of every federal agency and major White House office.
Geeta Rao Gupta is a leader on gender, women's issues, and HIV/AIDS who is serving as United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues since May 2023. She previously served as executive director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation since 2017. She is frequently consulted on issues related to AIDS prevention and women's vulnerability to HIV and is an advocate for women's economic and social empowerment to fight disease, poverty and hunger.
The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism is an office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the United States Department of State. The office "advances U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism" by developing and implementing policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism.
The Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues is located within the United States Department of State. In 2009, Melanne Verveer was appointed to be the first Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. From September 2013 to May, 2017, Catherine M. Russell was appointed to this position. From May 2017 through December 2019, there was no ambassador for this office. Kelley Currie, a political appointee, joined the Global Women's Issues Office as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large in January 2020. Geeta Rao Gupta is the current Ambassador-at-Large for the office as of May 18, 2023.
Randy William Berry is an American diplomat and the United States ambassador to Namibia since February 9, 2023. He has previously served as the United States ambassador to Nepal and the first U.S. special envoy for the human rights of LGBTI persons.
Pamela K. Hamamoto is an American diplomat who served as the 18th United States Ambassador as Representative of the United States to the European Office of the United Nations in Geneva.
Kelley Eckels Currie (née Eckels) is an American human rights lawyer and former government official who served as the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues from 2020 to 2021. She previously served as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and as the Acting Deputy Representative of the U.S. to the U.N., after Michele Sison's departure. Before assuming her role as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, she was a senior fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank focused on security issues and public policy in Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. She previously held senior public policy positions with the United States Department of State and several international and nongovernmental human rights and humanitarian organizations. Currie also served as foreign operations appropriations associate and staff director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus for Representative John Porter.
