Tours: Consulate Shenyang, China (Consular Officer); Embassy Vatican (Public Affairs Officer); Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs (Foreign Scientific Affairs Officer); Foreign Service Economic Studies Course (w/ a Practicum at General Electric’s Global Government Affairs & Policy Office); Embassy Belmopan, Belize (Political/Economic Section Chief; Acting Deputy Chief of Mission); Embassy Mexico City (Assistant General Services Officer)

Career Track: Management (Secondary Skill Code – Economics)

Years of Service: 15

Prior Experience: I worked for an international satellite telecommunications company and later taught English in Xinjiang, China for nearly two years.

Languages: Mandarin, Italian, and Spanish

Education: BS in Business Administration – Louisiana College; MA in Diplomacy and International Relations – Seton Hall University; MA in Asian Studies – Seton Hall University

Interesting Experience: One of the most interesting things about the Foreign Service is that each tour is a new and unique chapter in your life book. In my “China Chapter,” one of my most memorable moments was seeing an American who was wrongfully imprisoned finally get released after I had continually raised the details of his case to much higher levels within both of our governments. In my “Vatican Chapter” I had the opportunity to meet the Pope – a figure I had always seen draped on a cloth above my grandma’s bed. As the Public Affairs Officer, I also brought over a Gospel Choir from Harlem and worked with a Pontifical institution to host a fundraiser which raised close to $10k for the 2010 Haiti earthquake relief activities.

In my “Belize Chapter,” I managed grants geared towards “at-risk” youth, and as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, I accompanied Belizean government officials on a Louisiana tour to learn about the Louisiana National Guard Youth Challenge Program – after which they implemented a similar program in their own country. In my “Mexican Chapter,” I coordinated all of the logistics for a Vice-Presidential visit to attend the swearing-in of the new Mexican President.

My most recent “mini-Chapter” took me to the Solomon Islands (who goes to the Solomon Islands???) to be the sole U.S. diplomat there for a month as we try to expand our engagement with the South Pacific island nation. I remember looking at my location one evening on Google maps, and zooming out to see that I was literally in the middle of the gigantic Pacific Ocean. This is the kind of life book that only the Foreign Service can help you write…and I look forward to my next chapters.

Last Post: Embassy Mexico City

Why I Chose a Foreign Service Career: Both of my parents served in the U.S. Army. So as a “military brat” (born overseas), the idea of government service and the ability to move around every so often while living in new and foreign environments came quite natural to me. I spent most of my youth between northwest and southwest Louisiana, but my parents encouraged me to get out and see the world once I got older. I participated in a couple of study abroad programs in college and realized how much I loved not just visiting other countries, but actually living and being immersed in other cultures…learning their languages, their history, their customs, their food, etc… I studied abroad in London and Hong Kong, and also taught English in the far northwest region of China called Xinjiang. I didn’t even know about the Foreign Service until l was studying in Hong Kong and I happened to see an advertisement about it in The Black Collegian magazine. The advertisement read “Be the Face of America to the World.” At that time, I had just finished being the “Face of America” to Xinjiang, China (especially the African-American face), so I thought I’d like to do that on a more official/professional level. Soon after, I began my journey to join the Foreign Service.