Tours: Orientation Coordinator – Foreign Service Instiutute; Senior Advisor – Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Desk (EUR/EE); Senior Israel Desk Officer (NEA/IPA), Public Diplomacy Desk Officer for Central Europe (EUR/PD); Deputy Public Affairs Officer – Stockholm, Sweden; Cultural Affairs Officer – Kabul, Afghanistan; Political Officer – Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina; Consular Section Chief – Reykjavik, Iceland

Career Track: Public Diplomacy

Years of Service: 18

Prior Experience: Prior to joining the Foreign Service, I worked as an attorney in NYC and DC and as a political assistant on Capitol Hill.

Languages: Swedish, Dari, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, French and Finnish

Education: BA in International Studies, American University; JD American University Washington College of Law

Interesting Experience: This career offers experiences and opportunities like no other. In service as a U.S. diplomat I have: rescued stranded American citizens from glaciers; worked with forensic anthropologists to identify the mass-grave remains of genocide victims; taken a band on tour in Afghanistan; arranged a press conference for the Secretary of State in a mine a mile underground; organized a U.S.-Israeli ministerial-level summit; worked to counter disinformation and preserve human rights; and coordinated the State Department’s first-ever virtual and largest ever Foreign Service Orientation class. Oh, and of course, there was also that time in Minnesota when the motocade I was in with the King and Queen of Sweden got pulled over for speeding…

Last Post: Orientation Coordinator, Foreign Service Institute

Why I Chose a Foreign Service Career: This was always my dream job. International exchanges in high school and college offered opportunities to share what I love most about the United States and the American people, while building lifelong relationships and learning about other cultures. Now I get paid to do the same thing. There’s a large world to explore, and every few years I get to start a new job, with new challenges, in a new place, and all with amazing colleagues. No two tours in the Foreign Service are ever the same, and it is rarely, if ever, what anyone could call boring. Though faces and places change, there are also the important constants of job security and the incredible pride that comes from serving our nation. It is an uncommon and unparalleled career.