Home2019 Certificates of Competency for Nominees to be Chiefs of Mission ...Degnan, Kelly Colleen – Georgia – October 2019 hide Degnan, Kelly Colleen – Georgia – October 2019 Certificate of Competency October 7, 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: Georgia CANDIDATE: Kelly Colleen Degnan Kelly Colleen Degnan, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, is currently the Political Advisor to Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe – U.S. Naval Forces Africa. Previously she served as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Mission to Italy in Rome, Italy (2015 – 2019), as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, Kosovo (2012-2014), and as Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium (2009-2012). She has also held senior positions at the Department of State including Deputy Executive Secretary (2014-2015), Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs (2004-2005), and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (1999-2000). Her distinguished record of leadership, coupled with her extensive experience in European political, economic and military affairs, make her an excellent candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Georgia. Among her earlier assignments, Ms. Degnan was the Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Senior Civilian Representative to Brigade Combat Team Salerno in Khost, Afghanistan, Political/Economic officer at the U.S. Embassy in Gaborone, Botswana, and Management/Political Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan . Before joining the Foreign Service, Ms. Degnan worked as an attorney in San Jose, California, for the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau, and for the Chuuk State Legislature of the Federated States of Micronesia. She was also a legislative affairs assistant at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Ms. Degnan earned a B.S. in Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (1979), and a J.D. at the University of Southern California Law Center in Los Angeles, California (1983). She is the recipient of more than a dozen senior State Department awards, including the Secretary’s Expeditionary Service Award in 2012. She speaks Italian, French, Turkish and Urdu.
