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Theresa A. Loar Coordinator for International Women's Issues

Biography President Clinton appointed Theresa Loar as Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State in July 1996. Her mandate is to promote internationally the advancement of women and to encourage follow-up to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995. Ms. Loar also serves as Director of the President's Interagency Council on Women. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is the Honorary Chair of the Council and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright serves as Chair. President Clinton established the Council to coordinate implementation of the Platform for Action adopted at Beijing, including U.S. commitments announced at the Women's Conference. As Director of the Council, Ms. Loar designs and oversees a number of multi-agency initiatives. She serves as the Director of the Vital Voices Global Democracy Initiative. Vital Voices is a public-private partnership started by the U.S. Government to support and encourage the full participation of women in the economic and political progress of their countries. Ms. Loar, in conjunction with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, has successfully launched three regional Vital Voices initiatives over the past 2 years which have generated over $10 million in follow-up projects to support women as democracy builders. Ms. Loar also directs the U.S. Government Interagency Working Group to Combat the Trafficking of Women and Children worldwide, focusing on the areas of prevention, protection of the victims, and prosecution of the traffickers. Ms. Loar was a member of the official U.S. delegation to the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, and served as Director of the Global Conference Secretariat at the State Department from June 1994 to September 1995. The Secretariat was responsible for all U.S. Government policy and preparation for the UN Women's Conference. Currently, Ms. Loar oversees U.S. Government policy, outreach, and activities leading up to the 5-year anniversary of the conference in 2000. Ms. Loar served abroad in diplomatic posts in Mexico and Korea, and the Latin American Bureau in Washington, DC. Prior to directing the Global Conference Secretariat, she was Special Assistant to Under Secretary of State Timothy Wirth, where she handled counterterrorism, counternarcotics, and refugee issues. Ms. Loar was a member of the Foreign Service from 1986 to 1996 and was awarded Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. Prior to her tenure at the Department of State, Ms. Loar worked in communications in New York City from 1980 to 1986. She was account supervisor at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample Advertising, now part of Saatchi & Saatchi, involved in national campaigns such as "Where's the Beef?" for Wendy's International. While working in New York as an advertising executive, Ms. Loar founded and managed a small business, Flemington Country Cookies. From 1976 to 1980, Ms. Loar worked for the Phillips Academy Andover Bicentennial Campaign -- at that time, the largest capital fundraising campaign for a secondary school. Ms. Loar is a graduate of Rutgers College in New Jersey. She is married and has two sons. Biographies of Principal Officers | Department of State