Farah Pandith

Farah Pandith is a diplomatic entrepreneur, foreign policy strategist, and former diplomat. A world-leading expert and pioneer in countering violent extremism, she is a frequent media commentator and public speaker. She served as a politica appointee under Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, and she was the first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities, serving both Secretaries Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. Under President George W. Bush, Pandith was the director for Middle East Regional Initiatives at the National Security Council and the chief of staff at the United States Agency for International Development's Bureau for Asia and the Near East. She has also served on the Homeland Security Advisory Council, chairing its task force on countering violent extremism. She currently serves as a senior fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government as well as an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Pandith divides her time between Washington, D.C.; London; and Cambridge, Massachusetts.