Leora Falk

Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State

Leora Falk serves as a gender policy advisor covering the Americas and the Caribbean in the State Department’s Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. In that capacity, she works with U.S. government colleagues and with foreign governments to elevate understanding of the intersection of gender and foreign policy and to implement policies that are gender sensitive and responsive to the needs and talents of women and girls. This includes promoting Women, Peace and Security efforts, combating gender-based violence, advocating for women’s economic empowerment and addressing the gendered elements of migration to the United States, democracy, economic and political stability, and COVID-19 response.  As part of her work in the Office of Global Women’s issues, Leora teaches gender analysis to her colleagues in the State Department. She is passionate about addressing the root causes of poverty and about gender as both a domestic and international concern. Previously, she was the senior Africa energy officer in the State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources, where she worked on electricity access and management of oil and gas resources in sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining the civil service, Leora worked as a journalist covering domestic and local efforts to address climate change. Leora has a MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in English, with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in political science, from Barnard College.