Mahoney, Patricia – Central African Republic – August 2021

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:                  Central African Republic

CANDIDATE:     Patricia Mahoney

Patricia Mahoney, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Benin. Previously she was an Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Department of State and the Office Director, Office of Mainland Southeast Asia also in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.  Earlier, Ambassador Mahoney was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the American Embassy in Kampala, Uganda, and before that the Deputy Chief of Mission of the American Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal.  She also served as Director for South Asia at the National Security Council. Ambassador Mahoney’s strong background in African Affairs, her demonstrated success as a leader who builds effective and cohesive teams and her keen understanding of the policy making process make her a well-qualified candidate for Ambassador to the Central African Republic.

Among her other assignments, Ambassador Mahoney was the Deputy Director, Office of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, the Political Chief, U.S. Embassy, Colombo, Sri Lanka and the Political and Economic Chief, U.S. Embassy Kathmandu, Nepal. She also represented the State Department as a student at the National War College.

Ambassador Mahoney earned her B.A. cum laude from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1981 and her M.A. from the University of Hawaii in 1988.  She is a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College in Washington, D.C., receiving an M.S. degree in 2009.  She speaks French, Thai, Nepali and Lao.  She is the recipient of multiple State Department performance awards.