up, bonnie jenkins,

u.s. under secretary of state for arms control and international security participated in a conversation about african-american leadership in foreign policy. during the discussion she talks about her career path and offers advice for aspiring foreign policy professionals. this event was hosted by the atlantic council. ♪

♪ >> good morning, everyone. thank you for joining us this morning for a discussion with the honorable ambassador bonnie jenkins, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security at the u.s. department of state. our theme is the future of black voices in international policy, an important topic as we recognize the value of diverse american voices and representation in u.s. foreign policy. and what better time for today's

theme than during black history month? today's event is presented by the atlantic council black employee network to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of black leaders in shaping the global future in manner that ot equality. our featured speaker ambassador bonnie jenkins is a true example in trailblazer in this regard with a rich mosaic of experiences and public service that contribute to shaping u.s. foreign policy in shaping the global future. it is hard to quickly digest this, her vast a biography, but let me summarize and hit some of the high points. she is the u.s. secretary of state for ar control and international security and has a phd and in her role at the state department she it currently oversees and leads the arms control compliance verification bureau, international security and nonproliferation bureau, and the political military affairs bureau, and since may 2023, she

was named by secretary blinken as a senior official to lead the department's efforts on a u.k.-u.s. implementation and she previously served in the obama administration as a special envoy and coordinator for threat reduction programs in and bureau of international security and nonproliferation and she was the lead for all four knickers security summits from 2010-2016, as well as the u.s. representative to the g-7 global partnership against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction. she was a legal advisor to u.s. arms control disarmament agency where she provided advice to ambassadors and delegations arms control and nonproliferation treaties and has provided legal advice to implementation bodies including chemical weapons convention, comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty, open skies treaty, and mitchell's forces --

conventional forces treaty among other spiritual has worked with the international atomic energy agency, the who, the organization for the prohibition of chemicalmore. from 2014-20 17 ambassador jenkins let our diplomatic efforts to promote global heth security for a group of 70 countries, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations and private sector companies that built countries capacity to respond to infectious disease threats such as ebola and zika virus. in 2016, she was a nominee for the secretary's award for excellent sin international security affairs and she has also in her earlier career served as a program officer for the ford foundation and the u.s. foreign security policy and conflicts. um, she also is the founder and

executive director bed women of color advancing peace, security, and conflict transformation, which was a leading advocacy organization supporting women of color insecurity and peace building and she served as a professor, adjunct professor at georgetown university law school, as well as the university's the george washington l.a. school of international affairs. she has been a nonresident fellow at the brookings institution and she has a phd in international relations in llm, has a mpa, jad and has attended the hague academy for international and a retired u.s. naval reserve officer with many awards. in addition to having ambassador jenkins with those, we are privileged to have this morning as a moderator, who brings her

own set of excellence to our van and began as a peace corps volunteer teaching english in cambodia. throughout her career she has advised and trained several members of congress, leading diplomats, corporate ceos, and several local elected officials nationwide. in 2021, she became e man to see as principal deputy spokesperson at the united states department of state. she has received a number of awards and recognitions including one of the top 35 black americans in national security and foreign policy, recipient of williams award from the united states peace corps. she was featured as one of the most influential african-americans in front of the to10americans in foreign poy the u.s. global leadership coalition. she attended howard er universid oxford in an active member in the council for no donations --

foreign relations and dedicated her life to being a global citizen and says she's of the service is the rent we pay for living on this beautiful planet earth. with that, i will turn it over to our featured speakers this morning to begin the program. thank you. >> thank you. good morning, everyone. >> good morning. >> wait a minute. i think we need to do that again. good morning, everyone. >> good morning. >> tha y'all can say it back. y'all can say it back. it is such a privilege and the light to be here with the honorable ambassador bonnie jenkins who i have had a delight learn from and work with for a number of years and would like to thank the atlantic council and black employee network and seeing the importance of black voices in international security

, so today we will facilitate a moderated discussion followed by q and a from the audience. ambassador jenkins, take us from the beginning, what inspired your very storied careerlet me r your service, because it is not easy and often times public servants don't hear that enough, so thank you for your service. what started off your career and foreign policy, a specific person or a chain of events? amb. jenkins: first of all, thank you atlantic cou for inviting me. it is a great opportunity. i always love speaking in this form, so thank you for that. thank you for such a nice introduction. always a pleasure to be here with you. um, so i guess very briefly, you know, when i grew up i grew up in bronx, new york, and from the beginning since i can remember i have always been interested in public service. i knew i wanted to work in the federal government in washington and within virginia. that was my thing. work in washington and live in

virginia. so i path was to learn about government from different perspectives, so i started working in new york city government, then i went to albany to school -- state government, then made it down to washington to the fellowship program. and at that time, i was not really, i did not know exactly what all i wanted to do -- law i wanted to do because i just finished my law degree but knew i wanted to be in public service was of the program i landed was in the department of defense, and while i was there i went to a meeting my mentor was having and i sat in and what he was doing is he was providing legal advice to delegations overseas negotiating treaties on weapons of mass destruction, and i had never really thought about weapons of mass destruction issues that paul, so -- at all, so a light went off and i said i

wanted to -- law. i wanted to work with delegations overseas, providing guidance for negotiations, so i went to an agency where that is where if you wanted to do that, that is where you went so the arms-control disarmament agency, i joined them as a lawyer, and then that is what started my path. really i just happen to gotomeeting because i was actually kind of bored that day, and i said well let me see where my mentor is going and i followed him. jalina: that is a wonderful story. alignment and mentorship. we will come back to that. at a certain point, you decided to take a break from government and focus on impact, where our work collided when he founded women of color advancing peace, security, and conflict transformation and i can remember it just like it was yesterday.

i was at the headquarters with your launch event. you saw there was a significant gap in representation and international security, so walk us through you addressing that cap and then fixing that cap, and tell us how year old as founder and executive director has impacted your role now. amb. jenkins: so where i was working in public service, particularly federal government, i recognize a the takei in those fields that i do and i got concerned because i really was the only black person in almost everything and also person of color. there were not a lot of other people of color in these fields was that that was the first thing i realized i needed to do something about that, so after i left the obama administration, i decided that was a good time to try to do something, but also leading up to that point, i was also working in other areas of

peace and security, so when i was at the ford foundation, i had a portfolio in addition to u.s. foreign security portfolios called conflicts, and in this portfolio i funded organizations doing work on what they call self security issues, peacekeeping, you know, other types of you know security, things like that, so my and security overall.uch ac so i had two ideas. one was to bring more people of color, particular women, because i was always the one in the room, lacking others of color on panels and things like that, so to bring women into the heart security fields, that even in the self security fields, they still were not at the top, they still were not in positions of leadership,, so that is really why i started it. i also wanted to develop a

support system. jalina: right. amb. jenkins: so women don't le they can reach up to and even if they're not in the same field as other women who they can you know talk to and help stay in the field, because we lose people because they often don't see enough of themselves. for young women who can see young women who are more seasoned in these fields, they can say to themselves if they can dot, i can do it too, because it does matter to see that. and also, just to have this network, and so we don't have too anymore say we don't know any women who can be on this panel or that panel. we can say no, we have lots of women who specialize in these areas but we don't know who they are how to get them so it was for those reasons i did it. jalina: you make a fabulous point retention is a direct representative of that, so thank you and i know we have work to do on that. i want to take a point of

personal privilege right now. something that was not in your bio, i don't know if it is the same on the state department website, but if it is this very important point. just last year, you joined the most illustrious party on planet earth, delta thickness, kate i am poor paraded and for those of you who may not know, it is an international public service sorority founded at howard university where i pledged by the way, and what we know that tenants of delta are schocial action, so when you think about what deltas have done, you being as historic you ares you came with aistori supre ketanji brown jackson, so many other people, so this was monumental for you to come in here and put delta on this pedestal. we know for as long as we can remember of voting rights,

democracy, lots of social issues have been on the plate and frankly it is what helps catalyze the president into his role, and was the work of deltas, afrin american women who helped him solidify this presidency was a what would you cite is the value of black women specifically in foreign policy and national security and how can we continue to elevate black women in the space? amb. jenkins: thank you. the bio needs to be updated. jalina: we have to put that on the bio. amb. jenkins: yeah, briefly, it was great. i was accepted as an honorary member of delta along with an illustrious line of other women, and it really did, it is great to be part of this wonderful organization. but you know, being around all these other you know, black women, i have had an opportunity to do a number of activities with delta the power of black wn working together. i know that the deltas were also

a strong proponent of course of supreme court justice ketanji brown jackson getting in her position as well, and very supportive of these causes, voting rights, as you said. we were instrumental in the early days of that for women. so it is just a reminder of just the power of women, the power of black women, fighting for a cause. jalina: yes. amb. jenkins: and so i am just very blessed to be a part of this and a very committed member now. jalina: right. amb. jenkins: i do as much as i can to women, black women, in these fields of foreign policy and national security, bring more of that light to the organization. jalina: we thank you. we appreciate you. so you are at historic figure. you are the first black under secretary of state ever. mic drop, ever, so we can probably get a round of applause for that. [applause]

that is very very significant. it is no secret that in foreign policy and international affairs that there have been significant barriers to entry for black women, other minorities, from every level, from entry-level, internship, fellowship, to the senior level, something ambassador, greenfield has written about former congressman now mayor karen bass is written about. i wrote about it last year on an intimate level. andy tells about the challenges -- can you tells about the challenges you have faced is thf state as a leader but also advocating for more women of color in this space? amb. jenkins: first of all, that me congratulate you for your own accomplishments. i mentioned it earlier today. um, you know, i think, you know, it is come again know, when you get the less they where i am in terms of being the undersecretary, first, i was surprised that i was the first. jalina: rig.

in 2021. amb. jenkins: right. that was really a surprise. but a number of things are important to me. one is that i not the last. jalina: yeah. amb. jenkins: i am hoping i can odel for people i know and people i don't know who can also aspire to be in judicial roles in government. but it also means i have had to, you know, i have share of having to prove myself 15 times over and i don't think that goes away. i think if you are african-american,cz particularly in areas of national security where there are fewer people of color, you know, it kind of comes with the territory that you are always running into people who may not appreciate what you have, what you bring to the table and you have toing thg again. i think the difference is that as you get into that situation so many times you don't really spend too much time about

proving yourself, because you don't have time for that. you just do your work and people can accept that or not but you don't necessary worry about that because you have to get stuff done. so, you know, but i think it is important in terms of helping younger people understand the challenges that you know that women feel particular, women of color feel, in these faces because you are always going to be challenged and you have to get to a point where you have to be persistent and you cap let that really take you off your game. because if you are going to be susfn fields where there are not that many people who look like me, that is part of the territory, but by doing that you open the door for others because whenáx others see that,t won't be so different. in no i think people corrupt as you know, i think people grow up seeing a certain thing on tv or around them and they immediately see a certain look and when they see outlook is not what they are used to for all their lives, it makes them even feel a little

uncomfortable because, wait a minute, that is not the culture that i've learned. and so, some peopleier at adjusting to bet than others so that is why it is important to have different diversity so people can see that there is no one looked to be good at something. certain people have more privileges and so they can be in those positions more, and that is one of the reasons the fact that a certain group does not take a long bear so seeing that hopefully -- does not belong there, so hopefully think that i am some of that others can see like, ok, i have not seen that on tv in movies, but hey, it can happen and you know, it is not a bad thing. jalina: absolutely. i will take another point of personal privilege here because something that was impactful for me being my true self in the workplace is coming to senior staff meetings and seeing you where your braids and natural

hair, something i do the same and i did it while i was there too, and that was taboo, not only to be these black women, but embrace who we are and, it was important for me because when i worked tre, i worked on the crown act, creating respectful world for natural hair so we can dismantle this termination on afro-textured hair, because we know housing, military once discriminated the way our hair comes out of our heads, so it is very important to walk in your truth self and not to get political, but marianne williamson, the author, she said when you shine your light you give permission for other people to sign the lights of thank you for signing your light. amb. jenkins: yeah, i have found that i have not found that to be fortunately for me not to be a real issue. and i think sometimes, like i said come to speak to you are because you do your best help when you are who you are. jalina:■k;s■r absolutely.

and you inspire other people when you do it. amb. jenkins: you don't have tf others'concerns. just be who you are. like you said, when you are your true self, you are your best self. lutely. i will switch gears here. something that is often i would say discuss but at least discussed publicly is how do we really cultivate you know systems of support in the workplace, especially in this field where we are still not seeing lots of people like us, lots of diversity? you mention your mentors, so having workplace sponsors and mentors, as well as having professional development in the workplace for people at every level. amb. jenkins: t things are important. one is inclusiveness. people have to feel as if they are included. we talked about de ia, and diversity is important but once you get diverse and keeping people end is important and a lot of that is about you know people feeling included in

different workspaces, so that is very important, and mentorships, support systems, something i always say is you have to have a support system and people who have your back. who'd you can go to if you'ay. i think it is important, that the workplace recognize that you know people have different perceptions and different reactions to things. one, something i started was organizations that solidarity. the reason why i started at that, which is an offshoot of women of color advancing peace, security, and conflict transformation, is because after the george floyd murder, some people were saying that they were upset that the organizations they were part of did not really understand how they felt the next day. ■fand some organizations were vy helpful in that opportunities for people to express their disappointment, concern, or

whatever they were feeling. and that is what you do if you really want to show that people are included, people respect them, that people care about their viewpoints, you know, about being black in america or being person of color in america is not a wheeze easy, you know, and you have regular challenges, so those of the kinds of things that help you feel included and should be part of what, you know, what people are able to have. jalina: absolutely. you were als known for that. whenever you do interviews and make public appearances, you always make an effort to talk about the pipeline, and again, thank you for that, because i appreciate the fact you take building the bench, as we like to say, seriously. appreciate that the state department is doing now for efforts first state diplomacy. we know you're from the bronx,

so how have you been able to inspire and coach the next generation that does hometown leaders from the bronx or other small towns across the country? amb. jenkins: one thing i like doing overseas but also in the u.s. is when i go for official visits, i go to colleges, universities, or other schools to meet with people and talk about my work. very often, as i said, growing up in the bronx, i did not often meet people who did the type of work i d now or think much about the foreign service or international security issues. i think that for a lot of communities it is different now with you know, globalization, they are a lot more aware, but still it is important to do that, so i make an effort to engage young people whenever i use no, whether by travel domestically or internationally. if all of us did that, if all of

us in these fields could do that, we could really touch a lot more people more directly than say through the internet. jalina: absolr(ely. amb. jenkins: yeah. jalina: so i have a question and the plug so bear with me. so in the spirit of inclusion, help what advice do you have for young people of color who are wondering how to get in this field, how they are navigating internships and fellowships, and in that spirit, sharing is caring. i think when i was coming and it was all about thisity family had done anything like this, so actually a colleague of state department colleagues share this information about the william dick clark diplomatic security fellowship and they are encouraging everyone to apply so please join the information sessionn february 22 at 8:00 p.m., and they have their information online. i was privy to the bunch fellowship and the pain

fellowship, and you know, this covers if you want to go to grad school. this is a wonderful opportunity, and as you know diplomatic security is really important, so what advice you have for people just getting her feet that? amb. jenkins: well, certainly getting information. it is like you said. some of these things exist and don't know they exist. there is then, other fellowship. it was easier when i was growing up to get information about fellowships. you know you still have college offices that do, you know, looking at careers and things like that but you have it so much easier now because you have the internet and you don't have to do the long research i had to do when i was growing up. so really it is about research. it is amazing how much youan jut kind of internship success -- exist. so i knew a because i was told about pmf when i went

school let me know about it, so i got excited about it because i wanted to get down to washington. but really just do your research. you really have to go and look and see and if your school does have you know study abroad programs, please take advantage of those because it and experience the world. it is amazing how once your mind opens up to these things things to you and you meet people who knows these things. jalina: absolutely. amb. jenkins: so much that it is what people can tell you but really do the research and take the time to find out that if you have a passion and the passion is international relations or international security or any type of peace and security, lots of departments and agencies have internships. the state department has summer internships. we have year-around internships. jalina: great..

amb. jenkins: yeah. i have four interns and one is here today and she helped to prepare this. the internships, they provide housing. jalina: wonderful. amb. jenkins: as well. jalina:amb. jenkins: do the res. it is worth the time. jalina: absolutely. i want to shift gears again. can you tell us what are your most difficult challenges in your role right now, and can you share just one story of overcoming one of them? am j um, well, i mean come on the substance -- we look at the field of international security, there are a lot of changes happening right now. i think the biggest challenge for all my bureaus in the work that i do is the changing international landscape almost in any way you can seetalking ae big changes what is going on with ukraine, israel, gaza

situation. you're talking about emerging technologies, which are amazing things for the good, but they can also be misused by everything else. you know, so there is, we are in a spirit of change and that's the biggest challenge, but what i feel positive i see people come to work every day in my bureaus to find answers and, without knowing how these things will end up. we don't know what will happen between russia and ukraine. we don't know how that will end up, but we can't wait to see. we have to think about what is that were going to look like. what will the world look like with different parts of the world with different technologies? so that gives mez hope, despite all the changes. we have gone through changes in the past and have made it through, so we will figure all this out. jalina: absolutely. i think with all the changes

what we have heard online and kind of going back and forth with this new generation is you know, threats of ai, and you know, this generation being on tiktok or not being on tiktok and how they filter information. do you see that type of emerging technology being a threat? i think when this new generation is coming up right now, i think a lot think of foreign policy and do not think it is an attractive and sexy feel. theyoo influencers, entertainers, actors and actresses who tapped into policy and politics when it is convenient for them to come to washington and meet with decision-makers, but what can we do to really convince this generation this is a worthwhile career field, that it is exciting? of course it has its challenges but what can we do to garner that generation? we talked about retention and recruitment is one thing but

retention is another. amb. jenkins: well, two things. i think it is important that we have the older generation to understand the impact of the new technology. you know, you know, we have our perspective and the younger generation has their perspective based on what they know and what they have experience which is different from what we know and what we experience it is important for us to understand as much as we can how they are perceiving these and we can help talk about them. but also you know, influencers are influencers and maybe we should also do thai was talkingr who is really passion about nuclear energy. jalina: right. amb. jenkins: and so it was great having her on the panel because she was saying she was also a model and she was and people ask me why do i talk about nuclear injury and she said because it interests me. i can be an influencer but that

does not mean i don't care about what is going on the■5 world, because that is real. they understand climate change and they understand nuclear energy is part of a mixed that countries can use for sustainability. people say new care and they think of my god, nuclear war, but there are positive aspects to it so it was greatav panel bn influence people. part of it is helping young people understand how do you influence not just the social side, you know you can have influencers talking about real issues and why we should care about these things, so we have to better understand this whole new area. it's not new, but it is kind of new, tiktok and these kinds of things. jalina: yeah. amb. jenkins: and maybe that should be the influencers of policy. jalina: yeah. amb. jenkins: foreign policy. jalina: to sum it up, it is celebrating the diversity of messengers, right?

and we will always look to experts like you and other experts within the government, but they are everyday people and there are influencers who truly care and want to learn and want to share your work, so i am glad to hear you say at. so i have one more question before we transition to the audience q&a. if there ig you help people in the audience due today as a result of what you have shared in this conversation, what would you say? amb. jenkins: um, that everyone can carry forth the importance of understanding why we need to have diversity of thought, of and international security, because we are faced by a lot of challenges. when you're talking about clate change, food security, weapons of mass destruction, we will not find the answers we need unless we have all the intelligent people at the table, and that means you have to open

it up for everybody. i always say we never know if we missed out on finding the cure for cancer, because we have kept people from the table. we have kept people from the table who could have expertise, because of our system, and making it challenging for different, for everyone to get access, equal access to excel at their capabilities. we are losing out. we are losing out on answers sobody could be bringing to the table but they don't have the same opportunities, so we do ourselves a disservice by not making sure we have everybody who could add to the answers we need for these huge global challenges, so if everybody could just like understand that andognize that it is better for us to have more people than less, it is better for us to promote inclusion, and please come here, what are your thoughts, what can you add? we all bring what we have experienced.

we all bring our life expenses with those and our intellect and our viewpoints and the best policy will be the policy based on one that is representative of what everybody can bring to the table. and we are at the point where we have no choice. we have to do that if we are going to have to deal with the challenges. jalina: you sparked a question in me because you are right the way the world is moving, the global majority is like this room, so by 2050, you know, we will not be the minority anymore, so what piece of advice or what suggestions do you have for people i like to call our advocates or allies, who are not people of color? what can they do to help garner us, welcome us, and sponsor us in these things? amb. jenkins: one thing they can do is to help educate their fellow man, woman on these issues who may not be people of

color, because very often we are the ones who have to carry the message and keep pushing it out, but it should not just people of color, not just women, because it is about the global community, so we need everyone. no one should sit back and feel like i am safe, i am good, because we are all in this together. jalina: absolutely. amb. jenkins: helping others to understand to be educators to work with us because we are not the only one carrying the torch and understanding they have responsibility as well. jalina: thank you for that. we will move to our audience q&a. when discussing young people looking into the field, ambassador jenkinstr these opportunities, which i agree with, but how to encourage more people of color to garner interest in the space and know they have an voice in shaping international policy? amb. jenkins: one is what i said

before, well, it is two things. one is to encourage all of those of us in the field are getting into the field to encourage young women, young, about the excitement of this work. that being part of our responsibility, i think it is really important. and the other one is to continue to bring people up into the ranks. it is important to me to bring more people up who are people of color so everyone can see more of this because as i said, it is amazing that when people see that and they do not see, you don't got is just that you don't have the courage. i mean i did not see a lot of people in this field but i just love doing it so much that i stayed in it.. amb. jenkins: but if you don't have that desire to stay regardless, it can be veryd befe is a role model. you don't have to be seasoned to be a role model.

everyone is a role model. so taking that seriously and playing that role of helping others understand why this is important work i think will be very helpful. jalina: yeah, absolutely, and i think, i can say this, being the first and that only is the hardest, but you leave a blueprint, you leave a trail for others to follow, and you do make a difference. you make a difference in your creativity, your thought process, and all the research you did that comes to life,, so leave people here knowing that you don the spaces. the next question is with a lot of the global and social issues around the world being shared social media and the internet so quickly, many young people and especially communities of color often have distrust for the government or do not feel confident they canake a change in public service. what would you say that could change their minds?

that is a very good question. amb. jenkins: i am not a social media expert, but i think there is a lot of positive advocates on social media. i mean there are a lot of things people can dislike, not just the government, but a lot of other things based on what people are seeing on social media. i think the important thing is to be critical thinkers about what they see. my fear is that because social media is so fast, people have just a little bit of amount of time. if you are young and that is your perspective because you don't have the perspective of having been on the earth for very long, basically, and able to put things in a context, so it is very easy, i would assume, to see things and just keep going, ok, this is this, but the issue is you have to be critical thinkers. you have to, you know, things are very fast and it is easy to get news from social media, but

you always have to be critical thinkers as well. you can't just assume that what you read is right, and there is a lot of positives about being in government, doing foreign relations issues, foreign service issues, but a lot of that does not get told because it's not the sexy stuff. the sexy stuff is the bad stuff. people like reading about that. in the news as well. they love reading the bad stuff. i don't think we had a culture where we were just like let's talk about what is positive in the world. and that is what people get geared to in our culture. -- it is no question if that happens. we need to be critical thinkers and say ok, well, what is everybody else saying? take a moment to say that is very interesting but let's see what everyone else doesn't do a

little bit more research, if you're interested, do a little research. i tell my nieces google it. it is so much easier than when i grew up with encyclopedias. you don't have to go to the library. you get the encyclopedia and read everything. you just google it and confined for five different sources on the same thing so just take the time to do that and you will find ok, maybe there is a little bit more to this than i thought, or maybe this perspective is based on this person's own particular self-interest, so let me find out that the little bit more detail. social media is what it is. you're not going backwards and that is ok too but at least be critical thinkers and police asked the question, maybe i should check a few more sources. jalina: check more sources. challenge even in newsrooms and outlets that may be very popular because like i said coming as a communicator who works very closely with the press, they come from there on perspectives and biases.

we talked about a local perspective, there are a lot of local reporters are work with their perspective is different than beltway, washington post and everyone we know who we see on tv, or even internationally, the way like i said we are talking about russia-ukraine, and europe you're looking bbc and france 24, which is different than how our outlets are talking about that, so that is why having that perspective and diversity of thought is so important. and again, contact your member of congress. you are represented. you voted these people in for a reason. email them and right them letters, and that's another way you can influence policy. what would yous undersecretary? there are so many, so take your time. amb. jenkins: um. you know, i guess there are two

things. number one, for me, being undersecretary means different things for different people, so for me i want to number one, be a role model for others and i want to practice what i preach, for example. on diversity. it was very orton to me to have a staff -- important for me to have a staff that looks diverse because i wanted to be a role model for every one of my ■pm-bureaus to say this is whatt can look like. you know, this is what all of the bureaus could look like. we have, you know, i have really qualified people in my staff, and not only is it a great support system, but it is a role model for everybody else, so that is very important to me. that has been a great accomplishment because it has never really been done in the international security field because of the fact there are so few of us and it is so heavily white male dominated.

the other thing is, you know, for me, it is about management. it is about having people in my three bureaus in the bureau who are able to feel as though they can come into their jobs, you know?i'm not a person , a lot of pomp and circumstance. i am a dow-ef and the people who work for me to in a, be able to -- you know, come to work and do their jobs and keep a lot of the bureaucratic, you can only deal with so much government or academia or whatever. that is just the nature of things. but for me, it is about representing them to the seventh floor. that is where the secretary and the deputy secretary reside.

to let the people in the state department know the great work that is being done in the two bureaus because they are like those of the tech people, or security people deal with all the hard stuff. we are going to stay over here. [indiscernible] i think it was important to me from the beginning for people to understand the great work the bureaus do, and i think i have been morsuccessful at that than i had hoped, at least i think. even things like doing the these are wonderful things that these folks are doing, so for me, it's not so much you know putting a shining star out there , because i feel like i have done that. i feel like i have done that already. for me, it is more making sure that i take care of my people. jalina: and you do. i follow you on twitter and you are always promoting the work of

your bureaus and i am sure they are grateful for that. the next question i have is with all the major global issues happening across the world today, what role does the black american perspective have on international policy and security? amb. jenkins: well, i think the black perspective should have everybody's perspective should be mentioned, but i think the black perspective is important because our culture, it is interesting, we obviously have a long history in america th h li, has never been acknowledged enough. i think black history month is a great opportunity every year to do this, but i think it should be done on a regular basis, not just one month, so it is important for people to understand the role we have had in american history, but also the impact in the row we can

have and what we are doing today. and that is why i promote and note the black perspective and the foreign policy work wecausee perspective based on our history in america. so i think it is important. i think as i said, the people of color have a perspective that is important when we talk about foreign policy, because our policies affect so many parts of the world that is represented by people of color. i also think that we have a unique perspective as african-americans. jalina: next question says in raising the next generation of influential black leaders,see c, children not to see color? amb. jenkins: for me what is important is to recognize that there are diverse people in

uamerica, and there are people s i said, you have a history in america that has not really ever been in my view acknowledged enough, as i said. you know, one of the things that is great about black history month is that there is this great twitter site that every date there is a new something new about black history or black americans, the first of this or the first of that. nobody learns it in school. i am still learning. jalina: absolutely. amb. jenkins: and it is a shame. so, i think themportant thing for me is to recognize that that exist. i know some people worry that if we do that we are sectioning people away. no, we are just recognizing american history. that is all it is. it's not being separatists or anything, it is just recognizing a history that we bring that has not been acknowledged and there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that, so for me that is the most important thing. jalina: absolutely.

color and foreign policy have shaped your approach to this work in this field? amb. jenkins: i have role models who are not as heavy in my field. i have always you know, you know, harriet tubman is my ultimate role model. marian anderson. ■um, billie holiday. they are not in my field, but these are women who have, you know, i can't even imagine. i know being a black american now, but i can imagine what it was like back then, trying to accomplish what they accomplished, and accomplishing it enough that they are the ones we do hear about, you that is a lot. and i admire people who have made it through tough times and have persevered. so men and women who i look at as role models, and those are some of the top three. jalina: ok. that is wonderful.

we have so many more questions and we are up on time, so i am going to choose one out of these amazing questions. yeah, let us just pick the last one. it says on a lighter note, aside from this event, what fun activities have you done or will you do for black history month, and in what ways do usages people can celebrate? amb. jenkins: fun? i enjoyed this kind of thing. jalina: we are having fun. amb. jenkins: [indiscernible] no, i enjoy, as i said, there is great stuff coming out on twitter, on linked in, all of platforms about history. there is so much more now than i guess year there is more as we find more ways to educate, even while there is you know, cities and states that want to take books off the shelf.

fortunately we have things like the internet. we can still find things out and you can still learn history. but, you know, i see some really funny video celebrating black history in a positive way. you know, doing these kinds of events which is always fun. and just having a month of you know, just learn. i like to learn. just learn about our history. that is always good. éñlina: thank you. well, thank you so much for your time, your service, your excellence, everything about you. i appreciate you being with us here today. i will give it hurt for closing remarks. b. thank you as well. >> we want to thank them for their time and insights today. so many gems and food for

thought as we supplied on foreign policy and its intersectionality with people of color. as we celebrate black history month let's do so through empowerment and honor our power in a position of influence in the communities we serve. let's take agency to ce space for other perspectives to be heard and represented for the value they bring the global policy. i think it is understood that diversity is not an option for inclusion in foreign policy, but is a necessity to ensure we are advocating for the right type of change in advocating the voices of those equally important to be heard and brought to the forefront of policy in the decision-making table. i want to take a special moment to thank kiana cunningham and the black and play network, the ambassador -- come a jeannie scott, jane, linda, and our evidence team for the role in making this a successful event. and thank you all for joining us today for this and important conversation.

stay balanced and stay blessed. [applause]