Kristie Kenney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kristie Anne Kenney (born on 1955 in Washington, D.C.) is the current US ambassador to the The Philippines. She was nominated by US President George W. Bush on November 03, 2005, confirmed by the United States Senate on February 16, 2006, and sworn in to office by Secretary Condoleezza Rice on March 06, 2006. Eleven days after on March 17, Kenney arrived in the Philippines to assume her duties as the first female ambassador to this former US colony in Asia. On March 22, she submitted her credentials to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She was preceded by Francis J. Ricciardone.

Prior to that, Mrs. Kenney served as the US ambassador to Ecuador. She holds a Masters degree in Latin American Studies from Tulane University and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Clemson University. Before working for the US foreign services, she worked as a Senate page, a tour guide in the US Capitol, an intern in the United States House of Representatives, and as a staff member of the Senate Human Resources Committee.

At the State Department, she was appointed overseas as Economic Counselor at the United States Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, and Consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica. Back home, she was appointed as Director of the State Department Operations Center, a detail to the White House as a member of the National Security Council staff, and Political-Military Officer in the Office of NATO Affairs.

Mrs. Kenney served as Executive Secretary of the State Department before becomingh Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. She worked for both Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell and led the State Department's transition team from the Clinton to Bush Administrations.

She is married to the current ambassador to Venezuela William R. Brownfield. She speaks both Spanish and French.