Lesbian Leaders in Diplomacy

March 8, 2022 – To mark International Women’s Day, and following the confirmation of Ambassador Chantale Wong, our country’s first open lesbian ambassador, we want to celebrate rising stars in the United States Foreign Service. These distinguished women – lesbian diplomats serving across the State Department – are a few terrific examples of the range of perspectives underrepresented in diplomatic leadership.

Elizabeth Lee

Consul General in Thessaloniki, Greece

Elizabeth Lee is a career member of the Foreign Service with fourteen years’ experience as a foreign policy leader, manager, and negotiator on a diverse range of regions and issues, including the Middle East, East Asia, and the United Nations Security Council.  Previous assignments include the U.S. Embassies in Seoul and Baghdad, the former U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City, and the Israel and Palestinian Affairs Desk at the State Department in Washington D.C. She was the President of glifaa (LGBT+ Pride in Foreign Affairs Agencies) from 2018-2019.

Eliza Al-Laham

Consul General in Guadalajara, Mexico

Prior to her arrival in Mexico in August 2020 as the Consul General to Guadalajara, Eliza F. Al-Laham was serving in the joint Executive Office for the Bureaus of Near East Asian Affairs and South and Central Asian Affairs as the Regional Programs Coordinator, conducting strategic planning for the overseas support platform that serves 30 diplomatic missions.  From 2018 to 2019, she was the Supervisory Post Management Officer where she coordinated a whole of government strategy in Iraq as well as the evacuation of three posts.  Earlier in her career, Eliza served in the Iraq Support Unit in Amman, Jordan; at the American Institute in Taiwan; and at posts in Shanghai, Cairo, and Mumbai.

Kerri Hannan

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Policy, Planning, and Coordination in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Kerri S. Hannan, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Policy, Planning, and Coordination, and covers issues related to the People’s Republic of China for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Ms. Hannan previously served as the Director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg, and Senior Advisor in the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources (R/PPR) for the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

Lucia Piazza

Director of the Foreign Service Board of Examiners, U.S. Department of State

Lucia Piazza is an experienced senior Foreign Service Officer currently charged with the Board of Examiners, the division of the State Department responsible for the evaluation and selection of candidates for the Foreign Service. Over the course of her 20-year career, she has served as the Consul General in Calgary, Canada and held postings in Tunisia, Nigeria, Togo, and Uganda, where she accompanied Bono during his 2002 trip to the country.

Lynn Sicade

Senior Advisor for Multilateral and Global Human Rights Policy, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at U.S. Department of State

While Lynn Sicade spent her early career with the US Foreign Service, influential time advocating for indigenous rights at the United Nations inspired her to leave the Service to become a full-time human rights expert in the civil service. She has now served the Department of State for over 14 years, supporting human rights diplomacy at the United Nations and around the world.

Jessica Stern

U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

Jessica Stern was appointed by President Biden as the Special Envoy in June 2021. Prior to joining the State Department, Special Envoy Stern led OutRight Action International, a leading global LGBTQI+ human rights organization, as its Executive Director for ten years. There, she supported the legal registration of LGBTQI organizations globally, helped secure the mandate of the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, expanded UN General Assembly resolutions to include gender identity, and co-founded the UN LGBTI Core Group.

Special Envoy Stern has been a researcher at Human Rights Watch, a Ralph Bunche Fellow at Amnesty International, a program director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs. Stern is the recipient of numerous honors including from Attitude Magazine, Crain’s New York Business, Gay City News, and the Metropolitan Community Church.