Ambassador Jenkins currently serves as the Department of State’s Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. She is also the U.S. Representative to the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (WMD) and currently Chairs the Global Partnership in 2012. She is the Department of State lead on the Nuclear Security Summit, and she coordinates the Department of State’s activities related to the four-year effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material. Ambassador Jenkins coordinates Department of State Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs and helps to ensure a coordinated approach when promoting these programs internationally. Ambassador Jenkins engages in outreach efforts and regularly briefs United States Combatant Commands about WMD programs in their Area of Responsibility, works closely with relevant international organizations and multilateral initiatives, has focused efforts in countries in Africa and Latin America related to these programs, and works closely with Nongovernmental Organizations engaged in CTR-related activities.
Prior to rejoining the U.S. Government, Ambassador Jenkins most recently served as the Program Officer for U.S. Foreign and Security policy at the Ford Foundation. Her grant-making responsibilities sought to strengthen public engagement in U.S. foreign and security policy debate and formulation, promoting support for multilateralism, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the international rule of law. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ambassador Jenkins served as counsel on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, more commonly known as the “9-11 Commission.” She was the lead Commission staff member on counterterrorism policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on U.S. military plans targeting al Qaeda prior to 9-11.
Ambassador Jenkins also served as General Counsel to the U.S. Commission to assess the organization of the Federal Government to combat proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and as a consultant to the 2000 National Commission on Terrorism. Additionally she worked at the RAND Corporation in their National Security Division. A retired Naval Reserve officer, she completed a year-long deployment to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). She has received numerous awards in her time as an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves.
Ambassador Jenkins is an expert on arms control and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and she served for nine years as legal advisor to U.S. Ambassadors and delegations negotiating arms control and nonproliferation treaties during her time as a legal advisor in the Office of General Council at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. She has been a legal advisor on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty among others. She also served as U.S. legal advisor on relevant treaty implementing bodies, such as the CTBT Organization (CTBTO), and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Ambassador Jenkins has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School. She was a fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. During her years at Belfer, she served as an advisor at Harvard Law School’s Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising. Ambassador Jenkins has a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Virginia; an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from the Georgetown University Law Center; an M.P.A. from the State University of New York at Albany; a J.D. from Albany Law School; and a B.A. from Amherst College. She also attended The Hague Academy for International Law.
