Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz serves as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago. She previously served as the Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, and as the Senior Trade and Investment Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Jen has also served as the Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State, responsible for his engagement in the Western Hemisphere and on global issues related to civilian security, democracy, development, and human rights.
She has also served as Deputy Director for East Asia in the U.S. Department of State’s Human Rights Bureau. Other overseas assignments include Hanoi, Manila, Lisbon, and San Salvador. She holds a Ph.D. in international relations from American University, and she speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and Vietnamese. Jen and her husband, Juan, have three children.