Board Member – Ambassador Liliana Ayalde retired from the U.S. Foreign Service following a distinguished 38-year career with assignments in Washington, D.C. and abroad.

From 2017 to 2019, Amb. Ayalde served as Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor at the United States Southern Command in Miami. Prior to that role, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil (2013-2016). She previously held roles as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Earlier in her career, Ambassador Ayalde was the USAID Mission Director in Colombia and the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay. She has held assignments in Bangladesh, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Bolivia with USAID.
Amb. Ayalde is currently a Senior Advisor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a member of Southern Command’s Advisory Group, the Brazil Institute of the Wilson Center, the board of the Wilson Center’s Latin American Program, the board of IREX, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including USAID’s Distinguished Career Award, the Department of State’s Distinguished Service Honor Award, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award. Amb. Ayalde has been honored with recognitions by governments, including the Order of San Carlos by the Government of Colombia, the Order for Gran Cruz by the Government of Paraguay, and several high level recognitions by the governments of Brazil and Bolivia.

Ambassador Ayalde earned her BA from the School of International Studies at American University and a Master of Public Health from Tulane University.