J. Peter Pham served as the first-ever United States Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa with the personal rank of Ambassador from 2020-2021. The position was created as “the lead in shaping, devising, and coordinating U.S. strategy on the cross-border security, political, economic, assistance, and social issues arising in the Sahel.” He previously served as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa from 2018-2020.

Prior to serving in the Trump Administration, Ambassador Pham was vice president for research and regional initiatives at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, and director of the Council’s Africa Center. Earlier in his career, he was a tenured associate professor of justice studies, political science, and Africana studies at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he was director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He is the author of several books and more than 300 articles, essays and reviews on African politics, security, and economic issues.

Ambassador Pham served on the Senior Advisory Group of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) from 2008-2013. 

Ambassador Pham is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a Senior Advisor at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University. He is also a member of the Board of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, a Non-Executive Director of Africell Global Holdings and of Rainbow Rare Earths Limited, as well as a Strategic Advisor to dClimate and to High Power Exploration (HPX).

Ambassador Pham is the recipient of state honors and awards from many African countries in recognition of the contributions made over the course of his career to strengthening relations between the United States and Africa. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy in 2022.