Cynthia Kierscht
United States Ambassador to Mauritania
Assumed office
June 22, 2021
Nominated byDonald Trump
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byMichael Dodman
Personal details
NationalityAmerican
EducationCarleton College (BA)
John F. Kennedy School of Government (MPP)

Cynthia Kierscht is an official at the United States Department of State who has served as the United States Ambassador to Mauritania since June 22, 2021.[1] President Biden on January 23, 2023, announced his intent to nominate Kierscht as the next US Ambassador to Djibouti.[2]

Education

Kierscht is a 1983 graduate of Fargo North High School.[3] She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Carleton College and her Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government.[4]

Career

Kierscht is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor. She served as the Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Canadian Affairs for the State Department. She currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Canada, Haiti and the Caribbean in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.[5] She has served in different capacities at United States Embassies; From 2013 to 2016, while in Bogotá, Colombia she served as the Cultural Affairs Officer and as the Deputy Management Counselor from 2011 to 2013. Other assignments include Rabat, Morocco, and Cairo, Egypt, as well as serving in the United States Consulate in Marseille, France, and at the United States Interests Section in Tripoli, Libya. Among her other assignments at the State Department, Kierscht worked in the Executive Secretariat and the Operations Center, in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and in the Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism.[4]

Ambassador to Mauritania

On June 15, 2020, President Donald Trump nominated Kierscht to be the next United States Ambassador to Mauritania. On June 18, 2020, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[6] Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 2, 2020. She was discharged from the committee on December 22, 2022, and was confirmed via voice vote by the entire Senate that same day.[7] She was sworn in on January 27, 2021.[1] She presented her credentials to President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani on June 22, 2021.[8]

Ambassador to Djibouti

On January 23, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Kierscht to be the next ambassador to Djibouti.[2] Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 13, 2023. Her nomination was favorably reported by the committee on July 13, 2023. Her nomination is pending before the United States Senate.[9]

Personal life

Kierscht speaks Arabic, French, and Spanish.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Ambassador Cynthia Kierscht". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  2. 1 2 "President Biden Announces Key Nominees". The White House. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Hall of Fame / 2008 Inductees". Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Individuals to Key Administration Posts" White House, June 15, 2020 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ↑ "Cynthia Kierscht". United States Department of State. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Eight Nominations Sent to the Senate – The White House". trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  7. ↑ "PN2024 — Cynthia Kierscht — Department of State". U.S. Congress. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Statement of Ambassador Cynthia Kierscht after Presentation of her Credentials" (Press release). U.S. Embassy in Mauritania. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  9. ↑ "PN134 — Cynthia Kierscht — Department of State 118th Congress (2023-2024)". US Congress. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
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