Ms. Leila Elmergawi, Economic Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of State, The Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues (S/GWI)
Born in the United States, Ms. Elmergawi spent a significant number of years living in the Middle East (in Syria, Egypt and Libya), which made her a native speaker of Arabic language. She also has experience in Europe and Asia Pacific, and has received education in both French and Japanese languages, and has knowledge in all six official languages of the United Nations.
In 2013 and 2014 Ms. Elmergawi had several by-lines on the front page of The Wall Street Journal from the time when she was a reporter in Cairo.
Prior to this position, Ms. Elmergawi was a Special Assistant for ICT to Keith Krach, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, and prior to that an Economic Officer at the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau. She also worked at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo in 2014 and 2015, and in 2010 she worked at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
Ms. Elmergawi's experience in international affairs is joined with an M.A. from Duke University's Graduate School, a Certificate in International Development Policy from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, and a Certificate in International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.
Ms. Elmergawi mentored Duke affiliated startups as a Judge on the Duke Startup Challenge, using her IT and entrepreneurial skills gained through a previous career at Apple, where she advised Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) on technological solutions, and a recent stint in tech policy consulting at Access Partnership, where she advised leading global tech companies on regulatory and policy issues in the U.S. and abroad. She first learned how to code when she was 11 years old while she lived in Aleppo, Syria.
