In her new memoir Diversifying Diplomacy (Potomac Books, 2017), Ambassador Harriet Lee Elam-Thomas shares the story of her life as a young black woman who distinguished herself with a diplomatic career at a time when few colleagues looked like her.
Ambassador Elam-Thomas’s memoir is a firsthand account of her decades-long career in the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service, recounting her experiences of making U.S. foreign policy, culture, and values understood abroad. Elam-Thomas served as a United States ambassador to Senegal (2000–2002) and retired with the rank of career minister after forty-two years as a diplomat.
Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas currently directs a rapidly growing global initiative at the University of Central Florida, the Diplomacy Program, which features education and training for undergraduate students. From 2003-2005, she served as Diplomat in Residence at UCF under the auspices of a national U.S. Department of State program. In that capacity, she was the U.S. Department of State’s official liaison in Central Florida, conducting workshops, providing information on careers, connecting students to internship and scholarship opportunities, and speaking on policy matters.
This event is a proud partnership with the Zora Neal Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities.
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