Brewer, Maria E. – Kingdom of Lesotho – April 2021

REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE

REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

UNITED STATES SENATE

SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of
Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service
Act, Section 304(a)(4)

POST: Kingdom of Lesotho

CANDIDATE: Maria E. Brewer

Maria E. Brewer, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, recently served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Sierra Leone. Prior to that, Brewer held senior leadership positions as the Deputy Director, Career Development and Assignments, Bureau of Human Resources, U.S. Department of State, and as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé a.i. of the U.S. Embassy Abuja, Nigeria. She also was part of the management leadership team at the U.S. Embassy Islamabad, Pakistan. Over the course of her career, Brewer has demonstrated the ability to work at the highest levels with foreign partners and has guided high-threat posts in Nigeria and Pakistan through, for example, the Ebola crisis, the aftermath of the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction by Boko Haram and the threat of Al-Qaeda. In Nigeria she also oversaw a $500 million annual PEPFAR program as part of a global campaign to fight HIV/AIDS. Her extensive knowledge of Africa, her ability to lead interagency teams successfully in pursuit of American interest, and her broad Washington experience all combine to make her an excellent candidate for U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Earlier in her career, Brewer served in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mumbai, India, Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Lagos, Nigeria. At the State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., Brewer served as Deputy Executive Director and Supervisory Post Management Officer in the Bureau of African Affairs, as Special Assistant for the Under Secretary for Management, and as Special Assistant for the Assistant Secretary for Administration.

Brewer earned a B.A. from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana and a M.S. from the National Defense University Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Washington, DC. She is the recipient of many senior State Department awards, including the Distinguished Honor Award. She speaks Spanish.