Diplomat in Residence – Central South
(AR, LA, MS, OK)
Tours: Consulate General Guayaquil, Ecuador (Consular Officer); Embassy San Salvador, El Salvador (Consular Officer); Embassy Guatemala City, Guatemala (Economic Officer); Washington, D.C. (Desk Officer for Peru); Embassy Asuncion, Paraguay (Chief of Political and Economic Affairs / Acting DCM); Embassy Tegucigalpa, Honduras (Director for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement); Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (Analyst)
Career Track: Economics
Years of Service: 17+ with the Foreign Service; 4 with the Civil Service
Prior Experience: Mechanical Engineer for a manufacturing firm, Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives, Peace Corps Volunteer (Tanzania), Presidential Management Fellow – U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
Languages: Spanish, Swahili
Education: BS in Mechanical Engineering – Louisiana Tech University; MS in International Development Management – American University
Interesting Experience: There’s really no typical day in the Foreign Service, and I have had plenty of memorable experiences – from monitoring tense election polling centers in rural Guatemala during presidential elections to being accidentally tear-gassed while helping defuse a constitutional crisis in Paraguay to providing equipment that allowed the Honduran Police to crack a cocaine smuggling ring – no two overseas assignments are alike. One of my favorite experiences was as the Environment Officer for Embassy Guatemala City. Northern Guatemala’s Peten region is not only one of the most significant ancient Mayan territories but also one of the most dynamic Central American biodiversity hotspots under threat of deforestation from illegal logging. I had the opportunity to join a survey flight over the western Peten to document NGO progress in preventing illegal logging and reforesting large swathes of jungle along the Mexico / Guatemala border. I’ll never forget the experience – small Cessna, 1,500 feet above the jungle, NO doors – and then seeing the tip of the newly discovered El Mirador pyramid peeking above the canopy – a sight very few people have ever been lucky enough to see.
Last Post: Embassy Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Why I Chose a Foreign Service Career: I am strongly committed to public service and feel blessed to be a U.S. Citizen. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in East Africa, and upon returning home, I looked for a career in which I could continue to be of service to the American people and travel overseas. I knew very little about the Department of State or the Foreign Service. I pursued a career in international development thinking the only way to do international humanitarian work was to join a non-governmental organization. During graduate school I discovered the Presidential Management Fellowship and joined the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration as the Civil Servant refugee assistance officer for East Africa. I wanted to live and work primarily overseas, however, and that Civil Service experience led me to ultimately sit for the Foreign Service assessment and join the Foreign Service four years later.