Ambassador Kamissa Camara will join the Ford School of Public Policy as a professor of practice. She is also a Senior Africa Advisor at the United States Institute of Peace and a Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute. Camara brings 15 years of professional experience with foreign policy and socio-political and security issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. She is the former Foreign Minister of Mali and the youngest person to have ever held the position in Mali’s history. Camara most recently served as Chief of Staff to the President of Mali. Camara also spent time as the Minister of Digital Economy and Planning for Mali and Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Mali.
In fall 2023, Camara will teach a graduate course, “Great Power Rivalry and the International Order.”
“We are thrilled to be adding to the strength of our Weiser Diplomacy Center by welcoming Kamissa as a professor of practice in international diplomacy,” said Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes. “Her level and breadth of practical experience in diplomacy and foreign affairs combined with her academic expertise will be an asset to our community.”
Before her time in the administration, Camara held several leadership positions in Washington, D.C., including at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and PartnersGlobal. She writes and provides commentary for media across the world, including, CNN, Aljazeera, The Washington Post, France 24, TV5 Monde, BBC Africa, The Broker Online, Good Governance Africam Jeune Afrique, World Politics Review, Le Monde Afrique, African Arguments, among others. Camara speaks French, English, Bambara, and German. She studied at Université de Paris for her bachelor’s degree in international relations and Université Grenoble Alpes for her master’s in international economics and globalization.
