Rosemarie Skelly

Rosemarie (Rosie) Skelly joined the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Affairs as the Deputy Officer Director in July 2023.  Ms. Skelly advises the Ambassador-at-Large on optimizing our internal resources and promoting women’s economic security goals. 

Previously Ms. Skelly served in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (2021-2023), where she coordinated U.S. cooperation with Chile, a valued partner in the Americas for more than 200 years, to promote democracy and human rights, address regional migration, combat climate change, increase economic development and trade, and strengthen national security.  

Her most recent overseas assignment (2018-2021) was as Acting Consul General at U.S. Embassy Lima where she led the team to evacuate 14,000 Americans from Peru in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a Foreign Service Officer with over 20 years of experience of public service, Ms. Skelly served domestically and overseas in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru to implement U.S. immigration policy, provide efficient client-based consular operations, assist Americans in crisis, and promote compliance with international humanitarian law.

Before joining the State Department, she managed multimillion dollar working capital fund budgets at the Department of Justice.  She credits growing up in the DC area in a bicultural family with inspiring her interest in U.S. foreign policy in Latin America.   She speaks Spanish and Portuguese fluently and holds a dual degree Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature and Psychology from Vanderbilt University.