Kara C. McDonald serves as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor where she oversees the Bureau’s work on Europe, South and Central Asia, and the Multilateral and Global Affairs teams in DRL/MLGA.
She most recently served as U.S. Consul General Strasbourg and Deputy Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe. From 2015-2017, she was Director of Policy, Planning, and Coordination in the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Chisinau, Moldova. Her other assignments include Deputy Special Coordinator for Haiti; Director for United Nations and International Operations at the National Security Council; Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; and the Czech Republic desk. From 2009-2010, she was an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her overseas assignments also include U.S. Embassies Port-au-Prince and Bucharest. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of State, she was a Presidential Management Fellow in democracy and governance issues at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She speaks or has studied French, Romanian, and Russian.