Title: Event | A Conversation with Ambassador (ret.) Alexander Arvizu

Please join us Thursday, September 22, from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST via Zoom for the next Diverse Diplomacy Leaders Speaker Series with Ambassador (ret.) Alexander Arvizu.

A Conversation with Alexander Arvizu

Former U.S. Ambassador to Albania and

Current Director of the Donald F. McHenry Global Public Service Fellows Program at Georgetown University

Date: Thursday, September 22
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST

RSVP Here

Join us for a conversation with Ambassador (ret.) Alexander Arvizu. Ambassador (ret.) Arvizu will share his insights on diversity at State, and offer advice for a successful career in foreign policy.

Ambassador (ret.) Alexander Arvizu

Alexander Arvizu spent 36 years as a Foreign Service officer with the Department of State, retiring in 2017 with the rank of Minister-Counselor. Most of his overseas assignments were in the Asia-Pacific region. As a young political officer in Seoul, Korea (1985-88) and Bangkok, Thailand (1991-94), he worked on US Embassy teams that supported democracy advocates and human rights activists.

Mr. Arvizu’s last overseas assignment was as US Ambassador to Albania (2010-15). While in Tirana and traveling across the country, he developed great admiration and respect for the ongoing courage of the Albanian people to overcome the legacy of decades of harsh dictatorial communist rule.

Mr. Arvizu’s Washington tours included a detail assignment to the National Security Council as Director for Asian Affairs (1998-99), where he helped coordinate the interagency response to the Asian Financial Crisis as well as the struggle for East Timorese independence. Later, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (2015-17), he directed US assistance efforts in support of criminal justice reform and anti-corruption measures in the Middle East (with the largest program being in the West Bank) and Africa.

Currently, Mr. Arvizu is the Director of the Donald F. McHenry Fellows Program at Georgetown University. In that capacity, he works as an administrator, instructor, and mentor/coach for a select cohort of master’s degree students in the School of Foreign Service who have dedicated themselves to pursuing transformative careers in global public service.

Mr. Arvizu holds a B.A. from Georgetown University.