We are pleased to announce five U.S. Department of State leaders who will speak at the Global Ties U.S. 2024 National Meeting, taking place March 5-8 in the Washington, DC-area.
Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Lee Satterfield, oversees the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, which administers a wide range of programs to advance U.S. foreign policy through educational, professional, cultural, and sports exchanges, including the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).
A career international exchange leader and civil servant, she previously served under Presidents Obama and Clinton, and then as President and Chief Operating Officer at Meridian International Center, prior to rejoining the U.S. Department of State in 2021 under the Biden Administration.
Assistant Secretary Satterfield will be the keynote speaker at the Thursday, March 7 evening reception taking place at the U.S. Department of State. This invitation-only event will celebrate and engage the Global Ties Network, an extraordinary community of exchange professionals whose organizations represent all 50 U.S. states and provide the domestic infrastructure for the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program.
Scott Weinhold is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. He joined ECA from the leadership team of the U.S. Department of State’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE), where he previously served as Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2020-2021 and managed the team during the August 2021 civilian evacuation of over 124,000 people from the HKIA airfield.
PDAS Weinhold joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1992 and is a career member with the rank of Minister Counselor. He will deliver remarks on Wednesday, March 6 at the Opening Plenary.
Nicole Elkon is the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Professional and Cultural Exchanges. Her portfolio encompasses a broad array of professional, youth, cultural, and sports exchange programs for U.S. and international participants. In 2021, she rejoined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs after serving for several years at Human Rights First, an independent advocacy organization focused on human rights and the rule of law, and at Results for America, a nonprofit organization focused on advancing data-driven, evidence-based public policy.
DAS Elkon will deliver remarks on Friday, March 8 at the Closing Plenary.
Kristin Kane is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) for the Bureau of Global Public Affairs (GPA). A career U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, she joined GPA after serving as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at Embassy Lisbon (2019-2022). Prior foreign assignments included policy and public affairs work at the U.S. embassies in Brazil, France, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Senegal, and domestically, at the Office of the Inspector General and at the Bureau of International Organizations, both in Washington, DC.
Before joining the U.S. Department of State, PDAS Kane was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea, a travel writer, and an NGO worker. She will deliver remarks on Thursday, March 7.
Donald Lu is Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA). He joined SCA in 2021, following previous postings as the U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic (2018-2021) and to the Republic of Albania (2015-2018), and as the Deputy Coordinator for Ebola Response in the U.S. Department of State immediately prior.
A career U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Assistant Secretary Lu has more than 30 years of U.S. Government experience, including service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone. He’ll deliver remarks on Wednesday, March 6 at the Raising Global Voices Plenary, which celebrates how alumni of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) are creating change in their communities.
Registration for the Global Ties U.S. 2024 National Meeting is open to the public and available until February 23. This is the premier annual gathering of international exchange and public diplomacy professionals and supporters from government agencies, the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and academia. The 2024 National Meeting theme is Diplomacy in Action: Raising Community Voices.