Cari McCachren-Shah serves as Acting Coordinator for Digital Freedom in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP).
Previously, she led the bureau’s cyber policy engagement in the Americas, including bilateral and multilateral outreach to promote the U.S. vision for the Internet and cyberspace. In the State Department’s former Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, her portfolios included cyber capacity building, Internet freedom, public diplomacy, and cyber engagement in Africa. Ms. McCachren-Shah began her Civil Service career in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. She has also served as a Special Assistant on Cyber Issues to the Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.
Before joining the Department in 2011, Ms. McCachren-Shah worked in the non-profit sector in policy, programming, and advocacy focusing on women, youth engagement, and children’s issues in Latin America and Africa.
She holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a minor in Spanish and a focus on Women’s Studies. She earned an M.A. in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service where she specialized in Human Rights and Peace and Conflict Resolution. She lives with her husband and daughter.