Ambassador Jessye Lapenn

2026 - present

Ambassador Jessye Lapenn is based in South Africa and serves in a number of advisory roles, including with Audere Capital, Busara Advisors, ForSea Invest, Interpeace and the University of the Witwatersrand. 
 She recently retired from the U.S. State Department after a thirty year global career. As a senior diplomat, she was the U.S. Ambassador to the African Union and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; the Chargé d’Affaires (Acting Ambassador) in South Africa, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Rwanda. In addition, as the inaugural Senior Coordinator for Atlantic Cooperation, she established the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, increasing cooperation among 40+ Atlantic coastal countries. Born and raised in New York City, Ambassador Lapenn received a BA with Honors in Women’s Studies from Harvard College and an M.Phil in International Development from Cambridge University. She is the mother a seventeen year old son.