The State of the State Department & Public Diplomacy

WorldBoston’s annual State of the State Department is an opportunity to consider the U.S. State Department and American diplomacy within the context of U.S. national interests. This year’s program focuses on Public Diplomacy, and its relevance in a time of global challenges to democracy.

For this discussion of Public Diplomacy, we are delighted to feature Stacy White, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges at the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and Farah Pandith, Fellow of the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard University’s Belfer Center, former first Special Representative to Muslim Communities at the U.S. Department of State; and bestselling author of How We Win: How Cutting Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat.

This program is presented in partnership by the Boston Public Library, WorldBoston, the Lowell Institute, and the GBH Forum Network. To attend, please register here: https://www.worldboston.org/calendar/2022/6/23/the-state-of-the-state-department-public-diplomacy.

Stacy E. White joined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges. In that role, she is responsible for overseeing a broad array of professional, youth, cultural, sports and tech camp exchange programs for U.S. and international participants, including those supported by the Offices of International Visitors and Citizen Exchanges.

Since 1988, Ms. White has served as an American diplomat abroad at U.S. embassies in Canada, Mexico, Finland, Panama, Malaysia and Indonesia. Most recently, Ms. White was Minister Counselor for Public Affairs in Ottawa, Canada.

In Washington, D.C., Ms. White has served in the Bureau of the Western Hemisphere and in the Foreign Service Institute as the Deputy Director of Public Diplomacy Training. In 2005, she represented the State Department as its Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council. She previously served as the Director of the Office of International Visitors (2016-2018) and the Chief of Cultural Programs in the Office of Citizen Exchanges (2012-2015). She is a great believer in the transformational power of people-to-people exchanges.

Before entering the Foreign Service, Ms. White was an award-winning broadcast journalist in Texas and Oklahoma.

Farah Pandith is a world-leading expert and pioneer in countering violent extremism. She is a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and she is a Senior Advisor at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Her book is How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat. A foreign policy strategist and diplomatic entrepreneur, she is driving efforts to counter extremism through new organizations, programs, and initiatives. Most recently, the Muhammad Ali Center named Pandith the first-ever Muhammad Ali Global Peace Laureate for her proven track record of and commitment to promoting diversity, cohesion, and respect.

Ms. Pandith has served as a political appointee in the George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack H. Obama administrations. Ms. Pandith was appointed the first-ever special representative to Muslim Communities in June 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, serving under both Secretaries Clinton and John Kerry. The Office of the Special Representative was responsible for engaging with Muslims around the world both organizationally and individually. Reporting directly to the secretary of state, Ms. Pandith traveled to nearly one hundred countries and launched youth-focused initiatives, while also playing a central role in the creation of the Women in Public Service Project. In January 2013, she was awarded the Secretary's Distinguished Honor Award.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Pandith was senior advisor to the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. From December 2004 to February 2007, Ms. Pandith served as the director for Middle East Regional Initiatives for the National Security Council. Prior to joining the NSC, Ms. Pandith was chief of staff of the Bureau for Asia and the Near East for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2004, she spent two months in Afghanistan developing a public outreach strategy. She also served at USAID from 1990–1993 on the administrator’s staff and as the special assistant to the director of policy. From 1997 to 2003, Ms. Pandith was Vice President of International Business for ML Strategies, LLC in Boston, Massachusetts, and served as a Commissioner on Governor Paul A. Cellucci’s bi-partisan Asian Advisory Commission.

Ms. Pandith has consulted for organizations in the public, private, and non-profit sectors and has served in leadership positions on several boards with a focus on international affairs, women’s empowerment, education, and cultural diplomacy. She was a member of Secretary Jeh Johnson’s Homeland Security Advisory Council where she chaired its task force on countering violent extremism (2015-2017). She also served as a Commissioner and Strategic Advisor on the Center for Strategic and International Studies CVE Commission, which produced the report Turning Point. She was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics (Spring 2014) and a Fisher Family Fellow (Fall 2014).

Ms. Pandith received a Master’s degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she specialized in International Security Studies, Islamic Civilizations and Southwest Asia, and International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She received an A.B. in Government and Psychology from Smith College, where she was president of the student body. She is currently a member of the Board of Advisors of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Ms. Pandith was born in Srinagar, Kashmir, India, and was raised in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

About the BPL's COVID-19 health and safety protocols:

• Program attendees are recommended to wear masks covering the nose and mouth.
• Read the BPL's latest COVID-19 guidelines for visiting the library.
• Program performer will remove their mask during the program.

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