Home2020 Certificates of Competency for Nominees to be Chiefs of Mission ...Kenna, Lisa – Republic of Peru – May 2020 hide Kenna, Lisa – Republic of Peru – May 2020 Certificate of Competency May 14, 2020 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: Republic of Peru CANDIDATE: Lisa Kenna Lisa Kenna, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, is the Executive Secretary of the Department of State and a Senior Adviser. She previously served as the Executive Assistant to the Secretary of State, and before that was Political Adviser to the Secretary of Defense. She was Director of the Iraq Office on the National Security Council at the White House, and Deputy Director of the Iraq Political Office at the Department of State. Ms. Kenna was chief of the Political Section at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, and earlier served at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt as a Political/Military officer. Ms. Kenna’s extensive inter-agency background and senior leadership experience make her an excellent candidate to be the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Peru. Earlier in her career, Ms. Kenna served at the U.S. Embassy in Mbabane, Swaziland, and the U.S. Consulate General in Peshawar, Pakistan. Before joining the Foreign Service, she served for nine years as a Central Intelligence Agency officer. Before joining the government, she was an attorney in private practice. Ms. Kenna earned her B.A. degree at Middlebury College and a J.D. at the University of Connecticut School of Law. The recipient of numerous State Department Awards, she speaks Arabic, Persian and Urdu.
