Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

Career talk with Farah Pandith

Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Career talk with Farah Pandith, former Special Represenative to Muslim Communities, U.S. Department of State. She is a diplomatic entrepreneur and foreign policy strategist. She is currently a member of Secretary Jeh Johnson’s Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) and chairs its subcommittee on countering violent extremism (CVE).

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Farah Pandith

About

Farah Pandith is a Senior Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.She is a diplomatic entrepreneur and foreign policy strategist. She is currently a member of Secretary Jeh Johnson’s Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) and chairs its subcommittee on countering violent extremism (CVE). She is also a Commissioner and Strategic Advisor on the Center for Strategic and International Studies CVE Commission. She is writing her first book and driving efforts to counter extremism through new organizations, programs and initiatives, most notably Halcyon, a new innovative global organization she has co-founded dedicated to mobilizing youth against extremist ideologies. Ms. Pandith has served as a political appointee in the George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack H. Obama administrations. Ms. Pandith was appointed the first-ever special representative to Muslim Communities in June 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, serving under both Secretaries Clinton and John Kerry. The Office of the Special Representative was responsible for engaging with Muslims around the world both organizationally and individually. Reporting directly to the secretary of state, Ms. Pandith traveled to nearly one hundred countries and launched youth-focused initiatives, while also playing a central role in the creation of the Women in Public Service Project. In January 2013, she was awarded the Secretary's Distinguished Honor Award. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Pandith was senior advisor to the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs. From December 2004 to February 2007, Ms. Pandith served as the director for Middle East Regional Initiatives for the National Security Council. Prior to joining the NSC, Ms. Pandith was chief of staff of the Bureau for Asia and the Near East for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2004, she spent two months in Afghanistan developing a public outreach strategy. She also served at USAID from 1990–1993 on the administrator’s staff and as the special assistant to the director of policy. From 1997 to 2003, Ms. Pandith was Vice President of International Business for MLStrategies, LLC in Boston, Massachusetts, and served as a Commissioner on Governor Paul A. Cellucci’s bi- partisan Asian Advisory Commission. Ms. Pandith has consulted to organizations in the public, private, and non-profit sectors and has served in leadership positions on several boards with a focus on international affairs, women’s empowerment, education, and cultural diplomacy. These organizations include the Tribeca Film Institute, We Are Family Foundation, Risk Assistance Network + Exchange, Women in Public Service Project, and America Abroad Media. Ms. Pandith received a Master’s degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she specialized in International Security Studies, Islamic Civilizations and Southwest Asia, and International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She received an A.B. in Government and Psychology from Smith College, where she was president of the student body. She is currently a member of the Board of Overseers of The Fletcher School. She was awarded the Smith College Medal in 2014 and the Distinguished Achievement Award by Tufts University in 2013. Ms. Pandith was born in Srinagar,