UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)
POST: Republic of Zambia
CANDIDATE: Michael C. Gonzales
Michael C. Gonzales is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor. He currently serves as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs in the U.S. Department of State. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Gonzales was the Director of Analysis of Africa in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Overseas, he held leadership positions as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal and of the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi, and as the Political and Economic Counselor of the U.S. Embassies in Harare, Zimbabwe and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mr. Gonzales’s demonstrated success as a leader coupled with his current role as a senior policy maker on African affairs and over 20 years of experience studying, researching, and working on African issues both on the continent and in Washington, make him a well-qualified candidate to serve as Ambassador to the Republic of Zambia.
Among other assignments, Mr. Gonzales served as Spokesperson and Information Officer at the U.S Embassy in Addas Ababa, Ethiopia. Earlier he was the Ethiopia Desk Officer in the State Department; Deputy Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda; and a Consular Officer, and then Economic Officer, at the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prior to joining the State Department Mr. Gonzales was an Antitrust Analyst for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mr. Gonzales earned a B.A. Degree from Occidental College, Los Angeles, California and an M.A. Degree from American University’s School of International Service, Washington, D.C. He is the recipient of multiple State Department performance awards. Mr. Gonzales speaks Spanish and French.