Karen E. Johnson

Deputy Chief Mission Karen E. Johnson (State Dept. photo)

Ms Johnson assumed the position of Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Mission to the UN in Rome in February 2011.  A career member of the Senior Foreign Service she was Consul General in Hamburg, Germany from 2007 to 2010, and Director of the U.S. Embassy’s Provincial Reconstruction Team Office in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007.

She was previously the Deputy Director of the Peacekeeping and Sanctions Office in the Department of State’s International Organizations Bureau and the political officer at the U.S. Mission in Geneva responsible for ensuring that Helms-Biden legislated fiscal and oversight reforms were implemented in the UN’s Specialized Agencies.  Her portfolio included human rights and International Committee of the Red Cross issues and she co-chaired the Geneva Group.

Ms Johnson has also served in Seoul, Korea and Munich, Germany. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of State, she worked for the Department of Defense, taught high school in the U.S., and was a marketing executive with Hospital Corporation of America.

A native Texan, Ms Johnson earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Lamar University, an MEd  in Counseling and Human Services from Boston University, and a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C