Home2019 Certificates of Competency for Nominees to be Chiefs of Mission ...Clark, Sandra E. – Burkina Faso – October 2019 hide Clark, Sandra E. – Burkina Faso – October 2019 Certificate of Competency October 11, 2019 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: Burkina Faso CANDIDATE: Sandra E. Clark Sandra E. Clark, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, has served as the Director of the Office of West African Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs since 2017. In that role she has been deeply involved in shaping and managing the U.S. government’s relationship to Burkina Faso and other regional states. Prior to that, she was the U.S. Department of State’s Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Washington DC. She also was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S Embassy Dakar, Senegal; the State Department’s Deputy Coordinator of Assistance to Europe and Eurasia; and the Director, Office of Economic Policy and Public Diplomacy in the State Department. Ms. Clark’s strong record of leadership, coupled with her considerable experience in African affairs and on issues of economic policy and development, make her an excellent candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso. Among Ms. Clark’s other assignments was service as the Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy London; as the Special Assistant, Under Secretary for Economic and Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State; and as Deputy Director, Office of North Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State. She also served in the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, the U.S. Embassy Paris, France, the U.S. Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, and as a Financial Economist in the Office of Monetary Affairs at the State Department. Prior to joining the State Department, Ms. Clark worked as a lawyer in New York, New York. Ms. Clark earned her B.A. degree from Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and her J.D. degree from Columbia University School of Law, New York. She is the recipient of multiple State Department awards. Ms. Clark speaks French and Russian.
