24 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Vice President Kamala Harris swears-in Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, February 24, 2021, in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. LTG: When I came in in 1982, the State Department was being sued by women Foreign Service officers in Palmer v. U.S. Department of State and by Black Foreign Service members in Thomas v. U.S. Department of State. That Thomas was not me; it was Walter Thomas. But I felt a bit intimidated to come into service where the two identities that I represented were suing the organization I was joining. And I didn’t quite understand it. You asked if I felt supported or isolated: I truly felt isolated. I felt that I was out of my depth seeing the backgrounds of many of the people who were at State with me. There were a lot who were Yale, pale, and male; but there were also a lot of women who were pale and Yale, and there were not a lot of people of color. I came from Louisiana State University, a state college that didn’t really have a big name except for in athletics and football, so I was out of place and I was isolated. I eventually found my place. I found people I could relate to, and I had mentors who certainly helped me get through the first couple of years, which were extraordinarily difficult for me. Lessons in Leadership FSJ: You subsequently held important roles at the department. Given your leadership in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration from 2004 to 2006, how do you view current efforts to shrink and restructure the bureau, and what advice would you offer to the administration on maintaining U.S. leadership on refugee issues? LTG: You know, one of the things I was so proud of throughout my career—in particular during the period when I worked on refugee affairs, and that leadership role was my fifth refugee job— WHITE HOUSE/LAWRENCE JACKSON U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield visited Ghana August 5-6, 2022, to discuss U.S.-Africa partnership, continued bilateral cooperation, and food security with government and civil society leaders. U.S. EMBASSY GHANA/ARCHIBALD SACKEY
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