Josette Sheeran
Under-Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, United States Department of State
Ambassador Josette Sheeran currently serves as Under-Secretary of State for Economic, Business
and Agricultural Affairs where she is responsible for economic issues including development,
trade, agriculture, finance, energy, telecommunications and transportation. She was recently selected
as the next head of the UN World Food Program, which provides assistance to millions of hungry
people around the world. Ambassador Sheeran has developed several important U.S. initiatives
and has been a leader in reconstruction responses for Afghanistan, the Pakistan earthquake, Lebanon
and elsewhere. Prior to her appointment, Ambassador Sheeran served as Deputy United States
Trade Representative in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Ambassador Sheeran
has a 20-year proven track record as a management leader, including overseeing the State Department’s
economic diplomatic corps of 2,000. Before joining USTR, she was managing director of
Starpoint Solutions, a leading Wall Street technology firm. She also served as President and CEO
of Empower America, a Washington DC think tank. Ambassador Sheeran has a distinguished
background in media. During her tenure as managing editor of the Washington Times, she was a
regular commentator on programs such as CNN, Nightline and the McLaughlin Group. She has
been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations for more than a decade and has served on its
Washington advisory board. In 1997, Washingtonian magazine named Ambassador Sheeran as
one of Washington’s 100 Most Powerful Women.