Congressman Karen Bass (D-CA), chairwoman of the African Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement today after President-elect Joe Biden announced that he would officially nominate Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who serves as the leading U.S. diplomat. held. African affairs in the Obama administration, to be its ambassador to the United Nations.
‘To know Linda is to know an incredibly smart, caring and informative diplomat who is committed to improving this country and the relationships our country has with others around the world.
“The experience of Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield on the international stage deserves respect from all corners of the world. She brings 35 years of foreign service experience to the role, including overseeing the Bureau of African Affairs during the Obama administration and as Director-General of the Foreign Service, in which she led a team responsible for the 70,000 people of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
‘In these roles, I have now started working with Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. We have traveled to the mainland many times together and I have always admired her leadership. She has spoken at events I have hosted here in Washington, DC about opportunities and growth on the African continent and has always presented herself as a valuable source for our legislative efforts here in the House of Representatives.
“What contributes to her record is her work and reputation beyond our borders. She has served this country around the world, including in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, Gambia, Nigeria, Jamaica and most recently in Liberia.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield is more than qualified for this role. Her grace and her mind will serve this country well. We are safer with her in this position. I wish her all the best. ”
Read the full biography of Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield here or below:
Retired Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat, returns to the civil service after retiring from a 35-year career in the U.S. State Department in 2017. From 2013 to 2017, she served as Assistant Secretary to the Bureau of African Affairs, where she led the bureau and focused on the development and management of U.S. policy toward sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to this appointment, he was Director-General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012-2013), leading a team responsible for the 70,000 staff members of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s leading career in foreign services includes an ambassadorship in Liberia (2008-2012), and posts in Switzerland (at the US Mission to the United Nations), Pakistan, Kenya, Gambia, Nigeria and Jamaica. In Washington, she serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Bureau of African Affairs (2006-2008), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (2004-2006).
Since 2017, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has led Africa Practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategic trade diplomacy firm chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She was also the first Distinguished Resident Fellow in African Studies at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy from the fall of 2017 until the spring of 2019. She joined ISD in the spring of 2017 as a Senior Fellow of the State Department. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield holds a BA from Louisiana State University and an MA from the University of Wisconsin, where she is working on a PhD. In May 2018, she earned an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Wisconsin.