Dr. Jung H. Pak is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and is responsible for overseeing relations with Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. She also serves as the Deputy Special Representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Prior to arriving at State, she was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where she focused on Korean Peninsula issues, East Asia regional dynamics, and transnational threats related to proliferation, cybersecurity, and climate change. While at Brookings, she authored Becoming Kim Jong Un, which has been translated into multiple languages and draws from her deep knowledge and experience as an intelligence officer. Pak has held senior positions at the Central Intelligence Agency, receiving several awards for contributions to the President’s Daily Brief, superior analytic accomplishments, and service to advance workforce development. As the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Korea at the National Intelligence Council, she led the Intelligence Community’s production of strategic analysis. Before her career in national security, Dr. Pak taught U.S. history in New York City. She received her PhD from Columbia University and studied in South Korea as a Fulbright Scholar. --- The Diverse Diplomacy Speaker Series is made possible by the Una Chapman Cox Foundation and is part of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy’s broader mandate to connect students with foreign policy practitioners and professionals to better understand the challenges and opportunities of these careers. Please visit www.diversediplomacy.com for more video content, information, and updates.

Join us for a conversation with Ambassador Richard Buangan. Ambassador Buangan will share his insights on diversity at State, and offer advice for a successful career in foreign policy. Ambassador Richard Buangan is a public diplomacy-coned career member of the Senior Foreign Service who joined the Department of State in 1999. He is currently serving as U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar. Amb. Buangan's overseas assignments have included Public Affairs Officer at ConGen Jerusalem, Press Attaché at Embassy Beijing, as well as entry level assignments in Paris and Abidjan. He most recently served in the Bureau of Global Public Affairs (GPA) as Acting Assistant Secretary and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. He previously was a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Regional Security Policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and served as an Executive Assistant to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo. He has held other positions in GPA, including Managing Director for International Media and Director of the Office of Digital Engagement, and he has worked on the Executive Secretariat Staff as a Line Officer. Amb. Buangan has received numerous State Department awards and honors. Born and raised in San Diego, California, Amb. Buangan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, and speaks French, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.

Join us for a conversation with Ambassador Yuri Kim as she shares her insights on diversity at State, and offers advice for a successful career in foreign policy. Ambassador Yuri Kim arrived in Tirana as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Albania in January 2020. A career diplomat, Ambassador Kim has worked on key foreign policy and national security challenges across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. She was director of Southern European Affairs, responsible for Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and the broader Eastern Mediterranean region, as well as director of the Office of European Security and Political-Military Affairs, responsible for NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). She was also previously Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State and director of the Center for the Study of the Conduct of Diplomacy. Earlier in her career, she was Special Assistant to Secretary Colin Powell as well as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Overseas assignments include Turkey, Iraq, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and China. Yuri Kim holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Phil. from Cambridge University. Visit our website at diversediplomacy.com to learn more about the speaker series!

Join us for a conversation with Ambassador (ret.) Alexander Arvizu. Ambassador (ret.) Arvizu will share his insights on diversity at State, and offer advice for a successful career in foreign policy. Ambassador (ret.) Alexander Arvizu spent 36 years as a Foreign Service officer with the Department of State, retiring in 2017 with the rank of Minister-Counselor. Most of his overseas assignments were in the Asia-Pacific region. As a young political officer in Seoul, Korea (1985-88) and Bangkok, Thailand (1991-94), he worked on US Embassy teams that supported democracy advocates and human rights activists. Mr. Arvizu’s last overseas assignment was as US Ambassador to Albania (2010-15). While in Tirana and traveling across the country, he developed great admiration and respect for the ongoing courage of the Albanian people to overcome the legacy of decades of harsh dictatorial communist rule. Mr. Arvizu’s Washington tours included a detail assignment to the National Security Council as Director for Asian Affairs (1998-99), where he helped coordinate the interagency response to the Asian Financial Crisis as well as the struggle for East Timorese independence. Later, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (2015-17), he directed US assistance efforts in support of criminal justice reform and anti-corruption measures in the Middle East (with the largest program being in the West Bank) and Africa. Currently, Mr. Arvizu is the Director of the Donald F. McHenry Fellows Program at Georgetown University. In that capacity, he works as an administrator, instructor, and mentor/coach for a select cohort of master’s degree students in the School of Foreign Service who have dedicated themselves to pursuing transformative careers in global public service. Mr. Arvizu holds a B.A. from Georgetown University.

Join us for a panel discussion on retention rates with mid-level Foreign Service Officers Maryum Saifee and Anupama Prattipati, moderated by Heera Kamboj. They will share insights on diversity and retention at the State Department and offer advice for a successful career in foreign policy. Maryum Saifee is a Foreign Service Officer currently serving as senior advisor in the Secretary’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Ms. Saifee started her career in Cairo during the early days of the Arab Spring in 2011 and later served in Baghdad during the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq and spokesperson for the U.S. Consulate in Lahore. In Washington, she was a policy advisor in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, and the Secretary’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs. Prior to joining the State Department, she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jordan and an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Seattle. She also consulted for the United Nations Development Program, Acumen Fund, and the Ford Foundation. In 2018, Ms. Saifee took a sabbatical from the State Department to pursue a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship. In her personal capacity, she also led a 30-person task force on State Department reform as a senior visiting fellow at the Truman Center for National Policy. She is a 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar and a 2021 Women inPower Fellow. Ms. Saifee is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Anu Prattipati is the Political and Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague. Prior to that she was a Deputy Office Director in the Office of European Union and Regional Affairs at the Department of State. As deputy she covered European economic issues, including trade, macroeconomic issues, sanctions, energy, digital and privacy issues, and science and technology. Prior to her assignment in EUR, Anu served as the Deputy Office Director on the Pakistan Desk from 2016-2018, overseeing political and political military affairs. She has also been posted to U.S. Embassies in Pakistan, Nigeria, and China. In addition to these overseas assignments, Ms. Prattipati served in the State Department in the Office of the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, the Operations Center, and the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. She graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in International Business and received an MBA and M.A. from The George Washington University in International Business and International Trade and Investment Policy. Heera Kamboj is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, and was a 2020-2021 Rusk Fellow at ISD. She has served in Washington, D.C., Dubai, Chennai, Mexico City, and Kabul. Heera won the 2012 Swanee Hunt Award for Advancing Women’s Role in Policy Formulation for her work in Afghanistan. She was a recipient of the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship and is an alumna of the International Career Advancement Program. She is fluent in Farsi, Dari, Spanish, and Punjabi and is a graduate of George Washington University and the Harvard Kennedy School. https://www.diversediplomacy.com/

Stacey Berg is a serving as the Legislative Affairs Special Assistant for the Bureau for Diplomatic Security (DS), where she serves as the liaison between Congress and the Department of State for Security policy and legislation. Kevin O. Gonzalez is the Regional Security Officer (RSO) at the U.S. Embassy in Ireland. As the senior U.S. law enforcement attaché, Mr. Gonzalez is the principal security and law enforcement advisor to the Chief of Mission. He is responsible for the direction of embassy security resources, budget, and personnel to facilitate the safe and successful conduct of U.S. diplomacy in Ireland. They will share insights on their Foreign Service careers, their work on diversity and inclusion, and offer advice for a successful career in foreign policy. The Diverse Diplomacy Leaders Speaker Series connects current and former career Civil and Foreign Service Officers with those considering or entering careers in foreign policy. This event is brought to you as part of an Una Chapman Cox Foundation project on American Diplomacy and the Foreign Service. Learn more about Diverse Diplomacy at diversediplomacy.com.

Dereck J. Hogan is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service. Prior to being sworn in as Ambassador to U.S. Embassy Moldova, he served as the Deputy Executive Secretary of the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Hogan previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’affaires in U.S. Embassy Baku, Azerbaijan. Mr. Hogan’s other senior positions in the U.S. State Department include Director of the Central European Affairs and Nordic and Baltic Affairs Offices and Senior Advisor to the President’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He previously served as the U.S. Department of State Representative on two civilian-military Provincial Reconstruction Teams in southern and eastern Afghanistan. His other overseas assignments include Russia, Belarus, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. In Washington, Mr. Hogan served as Special Assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell and a Watch Officer in the State Department’s Operations Center. Mr. Hogan has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He speaks Russian, Spanish, and Romanian. Recorded: October 8, 2020

Mid-level Foreign Service Officers Lia Miller and Christina Tilghman, both of whom served as President of the Pickering and Rangel Fellows Association, share how they leveraged their leadership in the Employee Affinity Group to promote diversity and inclusion at the State Department, and advice for successful careers in foreign policy. Read Lia and Christina's recent article with Ana Escrogima in the Foreign Service Journal, "Diversity at State: A Dream Deferred and a Collective Responsibility": https://www.afsa.org/diversity-state-dream-deferred-and-collective-responsibility Recorded: November 20, 2020

ISD's Diverse Diplomacy Leaders Speaker Series connects the Georgetown community with current and former Civil and Foreign Service officers. Senior practitioners share insights on their careers and diversity and inclusion at the State Department and answer questions from students considering careers in foreign policy. Watch the full conversation with Ambassador Hogan: https://youtu.be/bp0bhx9UmAY Dereck J. Hogan is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service. Prior to being sworn in as Ambassador to U.S. Embassy Moldova, he served as the Deputy Executive Secretary of the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Hogan previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’affaires in U.S. Embassy Baku, Azerbaijan. Mr. Hogan’s other senior positions in the U.S. State Department include Director of the Central European Affairs and Nordic and Baltic Affairs Offices and Senior Advisor to the President’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He previously served as the U.S. Department of State Representative on two civilian-military Provincial Reconstruction Teams in southern and eastern Afghanistan. His other overseas assignments include Russia, Belarus, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. In Washington, Mr. Hogan served as Special Assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell and a Watch Officer in the State Department’s Operations Center. Mr. Hogan has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He speaks Russian, Spanish, and Romanian. Mr. Hogan is married to Anny Hogan and they have a daughter named Hannah. https://www.diversediplomacy.com/