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Tashawna S. Smith is a U.S.Diplomat with two decades of experience as an expert in international affairs. In 2004, Mrs. Smith was appointed by the President of the United States and Congress to represent the President of the United as a Diplomat. She has worked in embassies all over the world building diplomacy, economic opportunities, commercial wealth, pillars of democracy to support political stability, will and support for human rights. She speaks French, Spanish, and Turkish, and has studied Arabic, Japanese and Wolof.
Tashawna is from the Jersey Shore and graduated from Spelman College, Suma Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a degree in Spanish/International Affairs and Drama. Before completing her Master’s Degree at American University in U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security, she was recruited by Goldman Sachs (GS) as a Global Analyst and ultimately served as a rescue team coordinator for GS emergency relief efforts following the September 2011 terrorist attacks. Before joining the Diplomatic Corps in 2004, she launched a web design company and became the website designer and host for The Source Magazine, the number one Hip-Hop magazine in America. Mrs. Smith’s first assignment was in Istanbul, Turkey where she served as Vice Consul and Acting American Citizens Services Chief during the Lebanon evacuation, where she received a Superior Honor Award for her heroic efforts. She received a Meritorious Honor Award from the Deputy Assistant Secretary in her onward assignment as the Desk Officer and Policy Advisor for Chad and Central African Republic for her efforts during the 2008 failed coup d’état and evacuation of the U.S. Embassy.
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Following her growing interest in conflict regions, she went on to serve in Banjul, The Gambia as the Political and Economic Chief, launching the first US Chamber of Commerce in the country and establishing the first Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy. As the country’s first Public Affairs Officer she launched a marketing campaign that “tripled the U.S. Government’s economic and public diplomacy efforts” according to the 2009 Inspector General’s report. Tashawna was the first American non-ambassador to receive a national award and be honored with dual citizenship by President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh of The Gambia in a televised ceremony and parade. She opened the first American resource/library center in the country and founded the first women’s non-profit focused on entrepreneurship. She introduced and expanded the local taxi cab business, instituted a poetry night at the embassy and established a connection between the embassy to the descendants of the Kunta Kinteh family. She helped declare James Island, the original island of the Slave Trade, as a UNESCO heritage site, brought solar energy to the community on James Island, and identified cashews as an export commodity for The Gambia, working with USAID to develop the country’s full productive capacity..
As the Public Affairs Officer in Algiers, Algeria, Tashawna was part of the White House’s pilot program on Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism and was awarded the U.S. Department of State’s Public Affairs Officer of the Year Award for Outstanding Public Diplomacy in 2013. As the official spokesperson for the US Embassy, she worked with Algerian youth to enhance various academic programs, established internet café’s, libraries, music concerts, rap battles, poetry readings, interview workshops, skateboarding events, making the US Embassy one of the most popular places to be in the city. She successfully brought famous culinary Food Network Star Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes. She also established an English learning program with Berlitz, which has helped hundreds of Algerian students learn English for free. She expanded the American after school programs by 13% and provided the first ever cap and gown graduation ceremony in the country. She also won the Department’s global contest for having the largest and fastest social media growth. In just two months she was able to grow the social media presence by more than 250% using innovative content, working with the private sector on advertising, and creating a popular online talent competition called America’s Got Talent.
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Following her assignment in Algeria, Tashawna was appointed as the Consul to Western France to the U.S. Consulate in Rennes, France. Tashawna exudes interpersonal skills. Tashawna used her interpersonal skills to repair U.S. relations that had soured between the only French-American institute left in the country. The Mayor of Rennes, France wrote her a letter commending her for having single-handedly repaired U.S.-French relations in the area. As the Consul of Western France, Tashawna orchestrated an aggressive outreach campaign aimed at young French students in high schools throughout her district. For most of the students, it was the first time they had ever met an American or an African American. She worked with the Franco-American Institute to establish a high school outreach speakers program, the first of its kind and the first time in 20 years the Franco-American Institute had brought a speakers program outside the walls of the Institute.
Mrs. Smith was the first African American to ever serve in that role, as well as first female and youngest diplomat to ever serve at that post. Tashawna has worked with hundreds of businesses in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and helped them recover from the financial damages of bilateral sanctions. She led the coordination of the African Leadership Summit in the Bureau of African as a Policy Advisor on President Obama’s policy team (no political affiliation) and received a Meritorious Honor Award for her work. She went on to serve as one of five UN Security Council Experts at the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York City, she drafted policy for Pulitzer Prize winner Ambassador Samantha Power and former Governor of South Carolina and current 2024 presidential candidate Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Tashawna is currently serving as a Senior Economic Advisor in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs in the Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement and works to foster innovation and protect trillions of dollars of Intellectual Property owned by American businesses. Two years ago she began the crusade of teaching financial literacy, representing the award winning NY Stock Exchange traded company, Primerica. Mrs. Smith is the Co-Founder of Think Creative NYC, a fashion brand inspired by African descent. She is also active in her community, serving as PTA President and cheerleading coach in Mercer County. She is a newly certified Happiness Coach and Etiquette Instructor. She is patent-pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is a member of the esteemed Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She has two amazing children: Elahni (10) and Shamarr (6).