An American Dream story: a first-generation immigrant turned the most senior Arab American career diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service. A 25-year veteran of the State Department, I served five American Presidents, advanced U.S. foreign policy priorities over five continents, and impactfully managed people, resources, and policy in ten countries. I hold the personal rank of Minister-Counselor (Senate-confirmed rank; equivalent to Major General/O-8) as well as a Top Secret Security Clearance (TS/SCI). A compassionate leader and culturally-sensitive citizen of the world, I served in Washington, Singapore, Russia, France, Italy, Armenia, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, and Haiti. Throughout, I strategically advanced the security of the United States and its allies, economic prosperity for American businesses and workers, and public-private partnerships. I currently lead the Policy division of the State Department’s Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), a Bureau with global impact, 650 employees, a yearly budget of nearly $1 billion and grants authority. I cultivated a global network over the past 25 years by engaging the most senior levels of government and business. My core competencies include national security strategy, interagency collaboration, fundraising, commercial advocacy, geopolitics, risk analysis, military & security cooperation, and international negotiations. Keen on mentoring and coaching, I enjoy public speaking, travel, and foreign languages. Fluent in Arabic (Modern Standard and dialects), English, French and Italian, I also have a working command of Russian and Creole. The President of the Republic of Italy bestowed the Order of Merit upon me in 2019 for over two decades of impactful advancement of transatlantic relations. I obtained a B.A. in French Literature (magna cum laude) and a B.S. in Biology (cum laude) from the University of California, Irvine. The U.S. Government selected me for senior training at the National War College, where I received a master’s degree in National Security Strategy in 2014.