Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American diplomat,public official,and foreign policy expert who served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001–2009) and the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007–2009). A specialist in Central/East European affairs and the former Soviet Union,trans-Atlantic relations,and political-military affairs,Dobriansky held key senior roles in the administrations of five U.S. presidents.
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.
Nancy Eileen McEldowney is an American academic and diplomat who served as the national security advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris from January 20,2021 to March 21,2022. She was previously a career Foreign Service officer,served as United States ambassador to Bulgaria (2008–2009),and was director of the Foreign Service Institute from February 2013 until June 2017.
Pamela Jo Howell Slutz was a career member of the United States Foreign Service who served as U.S. Ambassador to Burundi,and as U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia. Over the course of her career,she has also served in various diplomatic posts in Kenya,Taiwan,Indonesia,and China. She was the recipient of two U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Awards and the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive. After retiring in 2012,Slutz continued to work part-time for the Office of the Inspector General,U.S. Department of State. Since 2019,she has served as president of The Mongolia Society.
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley is an American diplomat,attorney,political activist and philanthropist who is the United States ambassador to Brazil in the Biden administration. She previously served as the United States ambassador to Portugal from 1994 to 1997.
Gordon Gray III is the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at George Washington University. He was previously a professor of practice at Penn State's School of International Affairs. He is a retired United States Foreign Service Officer and former career member of the Senior Foreign Service who attained the rank of minister-counselor. He joined the faculty of the National War College in July 2012 and held the positions of deputy commandant and international affairs advisor from June 2014 to June 2015. He was the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia,having been sworn in on August 20,2009,after his appointment to the position by President Barack Obama,and served until July 5,2012.
Michael A. Hammer is an American diplomat who is serving as the United States Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa as of 2022. A career member of the United States Foreign Service,Hammer previously served as the United States ambassador to Chile from 2014 to 2016 and the United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2018 to 2022.
Daniel R. Russel is an American diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2013 to 2017. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary,Russel was Special Assistant to the President and National Security Staff Senior Director for Asian Affairs. He was a major figure in the Obama administration's "pivot towards Asia" strategy.
Ferial Govashiri is an Iranian-American political aide who served as the Personal Secretary to U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House from May 2014 through January 20,2017. Govashiri is currently Chief of Staff to the Chief Content Officer at Netflix.
Nasrin As'ad Ibrahim,better known by the nom de guerreUmm Sayyaf,is the widow of Abu Sayyaf. She was captured in May 2015 by US Delta Force soldiers on the mission where they killed her husband,a suspected leader of the Islamic State.
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.
Mary Catherine "Molly" Phee is an American diplomat who has served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs since September 2021. She previously served as the U.S. ambassador to South Sudan from 2015 to 2017. She is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of minister counselor.
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.
Kelly Ann Keiderling-Franz is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Uruguay from 2016 to 2019 and has served as Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova since 2022.
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.
Francis Joseph Meehan was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to several of the Eastern Bloc states during his career. His final posting was as United States Ambassador to East Germany.
Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath is an American diplomat who is the nominee to be the next US Ambassador to Peru. She most recently served as Deputy Chief of Mission to Mexico.
Julia Nesheiwat is an American national security adviser who served as the 10th homeland security advisor in the Trump administration from 2020 to 2021. She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.
Catherine M. Croft is a United States Department of State official who has served as a special advisor for Ukraine both in the State Department and on the United States National Security Council. Croft testified in closed-door hearings before the House Intelligence,Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees in October 2019.
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.
