Kate Canavan was a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State for more than 35 years. After a distinguished career, she retired in November 2011 with the rank of Career Minister, the second-highest in the Foreign Service. Since retiring, she has supported a number of military exercises and courses as a subject matter expert, particularly those which emphasize comprehensive, non-combat approaches incorporating various U.S. Government agencies, international and non-governmental organizations.
In her last posting (2008-2011), Canavan served as the Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to Admiral James G. Stavridis, the Commander of the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. From 2005–2008 she served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana, while simultaneously serving as the Secretary of State’s Special Representative to the Southern African Development Community. Prior to that, she served as Director of the Foreign Service Institute (2001-2005) and Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho (1998-2001).
Kate entered the Foreign Service in 1976, after spending three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). She spent the first three-and-a-half years of her career in the Bureau of African Affairs, serving as a regional affairs officer, staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary, desk officer and press officer. She has served in a number of positions in Washington and overseas, including Non-immigrant Visa Chief in Kingston, Jamaica (1979-1981), Chief of American Citizen Services in Tijuana, Mexico (1987-1990), and Deputy Chief of Mission in Windhoek, Namibia (1993-1996).
Ambassador Canavan’s exceptionally unique qualifications and skills in foreign affairs, diplomacy, military affairs and inter-agency processes make her invaluable as a Stellar Advisor supporting customer critical needs.
Security Clearance: TS and NATO Secret
American Academy of Diplomacy bio: available here
