Uzra Zeya

Zeya was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to immigrants from Bihar, India.{{Cite web|date=2019-03-15|title=Uzra Zeya|url=https://isd.georgetown.edu/2019/03/15/talk-with-uzra-zeya/|access-date=2021-01-17|website=ISD|language=en-US}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/desi-diplomats-dont-have-it-easy/article6258867.ece|title='Desi' diplomats don't have it easy|newspaper=The Hindu|date=July 29, 2014|last1=Haidar|first1=Suhasini}}{{Cite web|last1=Chidan|first1=Rajghatta|date=Sep 25, 2018|title=Indian-American diplomat Uzra Zeya quits state department, calling out racist and gender bias in Trump administration - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/indian-american-diplomat-uzra-zeya-quits-state-department-calling-out-racist-and-gender-bias-in-trump-administration/articleshow/65938594.cms|access-date=2021-01-17|website=The Times of India|language=en}} Zeya's sister, Rena Golden (née Rena Shaheen Zeya), died in 2013 due to lymphoma. Zeya graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.{{Cite web|title=Uzra Zeya|url=https://isd.georgetown.edu/profile/uzra-zeya/|access-date=2021-01-17|website=ISD|language=en-US|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120061544/https://isd.georgetown.edu/profile/uzra-zeya/|url-status=dead}}

File:Secretary Kerry, Embassy Paris DCM Zeya Sit With French Foreign Minister Ayrault During First Meeting at Quai d'Orsay in Paris (25117767194).jpg and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in 2016]]

Uzra Zeya worked as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service for 27 years. During the Obama administration, Zeya served as the acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. She also worked in the Embassy of the United States, Paris, from 2014 to 2017.{{cite web |title=Alumni Profile: Uzra Zeya |url=https://msfs.georgetown.edu/profile/uzra-zeya/ |website=Master of Science in Foreign Service |publisher=Georgetown University |access-date=22 April 2021}}

In 2013, Zeya was suspected to have been involved in the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade.{{Cite web|last=Krishnankutty|first=Pia|date=2021-01-19|title=Biden's pick Uzra Zeya had 'helped' Indian diplomat Khobragade's maid during 2013 row|url=https://theprint.in/world/bidens-pick-uzra-zeya-had-helped-indian-diplomat-khobragades-maid-during-2013-row/588146/|access-date=2021-01-22|website=ThePrint|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Service|first=Tribune News|title=Joe Biden keeps Dems with RSS-BJP links out|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/addition-201733|access-date=2021-01-22|website=Tribuneindia News Service|language=en}} Zeya was accused of helping evacuate the domestic help's kin out of India,{{Clarify|reason="the domestic help's kin" is a very odd phrase|date=February 2021}} just two days prior to Khobragade's arrest.{{Cite web|date=2013-12-22|title=US official 'assisted' in maid's kin evacuation|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/131222/news-current-affairs/article/us-official-%E2%80%98assisted%E2%80%99-maid%E2%80%99s-kin-evacuation|access-date=2021-01-22|website=Deccan Chronicle|language=en}}

In 2018, Zeya wrote in Politico wrote that she left the State Department after not being promoted because she did not pass the Trump administration's "Breitbart test" due to her race and gender.{{cite news |last1=Zeya |first1=Uzra |title=Trump Is Making American Diplomacy White Again |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/09/17/america-is-making-diplomacy-white-and-male-again-219977/ |access-date=22 April 2021 |work=Politico Magazine |date=17 September 2018}}

From 2019 through 2021, Zeya served as the president and CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a network of organizations working to end violent conflict worldwide.{{cite web |title=The Alliance for Peacebuilding's Board of Directors Endorses Uzra Zeya for Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights in the U.S. Department of State |url=https://www.allianceforpeacebuilding.org/afp-publications/afp-2021-statement-board-endorsement-uzra-zeya |website=Alliance for Peacebuilding |date=April 14, 2021 |access-date=22 April 2021}} Zeya also worked for the Albright Stonebridge Group, a Washington, D.C.–based consulting firm co-founded by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.{{cite news |last1=Meyer |first1=Theodoric |title=The Blob abides |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/transition-playbook/2021/03/23/the-blob-abides-492214 |access-date=26 November 2023 |work=Politico |date=2021-03-23}}

File:Under Secretary Zeya Meets With UNHCR Special Envoy Jolie (51942861677) (cropped2).jpg Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in 2022]]

President Joe Biden nominated Zeya to be Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights in March 2021. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on her nomination on April 15, 2021. The committee favorably reported the nomination to the U.S. Senate on April 21, 2021. Zeya was confirmed on July 13, 2021, by a vote of 73–24,{{cite web |title=On the Nomination (Confirmation: Uzra Zeya, of Virginia, to be an Under Secretary of State (Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights)) |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1171/vote_117_1_00254.htm |website=US Senate |access-date=26 March 2022}} and assumed office on July 14.{{cite web |title=Uzra Zeya |url=https://www.state.gov/biographies/uzra-zeya/ |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=26 March 2022}}

On December 20, 2021, Zeya was designated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to serve concurrently as the United States special coordinator for Tibetan issues.{{Cite web|title=Designation of Under Secretary Uzra Zeya as the U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues|url=https://www.state.gov/designation-of-under-secretary-uzra-zeya-as-the-u-s-special-coordinator-for-tibetan-issues/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=United States Department of State|language=en}} Zeya met with Tibetan exile leader Penpa Tsering in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2022, in the first of a series of meetings to promote freedoms in Tibet.{{Cite web |title=Tibetan exile leader arrives in Washington for talks |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/leader-04262022131657.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Radio Free Asia |language=en}}

In April 2025, Zeya was announced as the next President and CEO of Human Rights First, a leading international human rights organization founded in 1978 to advance freedom and protect rights.{{Cite web |title=Human Rights First Names Uzra Zeya as President and CEO |url=https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/human-rights-first-names-uzra-zeya-as-president-and-ceo/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Human Rights First |language=en-US}}

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Category:American people of Indian descent

Category:Women diplomats for the United States

Category:Biden administration personnel

Category:Georgetown University alumni

Category:Obama administration personnel

Category:Living people

Category:People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Category:Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni

Category:United States Department of State publications

Category:United States under secretaries of state

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

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