Nancy E. Soderberg - NCAFP | National Committee on American Foreign Policy

Nancy E. Soderberg
Vice Chairman

With over thirty years of experience in foreign policy, former Ambassador Nancy Soderberg has served in the White House, the United Nations, the United States Senate and on four presidential campaigns. She also has senior level experience in the nonprofit world. She has a deep understanding of policy-making and negotiations at the highest levels of government and the United Nations. She has promoted democracy and conflict resolution worldwide.

Ambassador Soderberg is President and CEO of Soderberg Global Solutions, an international consulting firm. She is also the Director of the Public Service Leadership Program at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. She is on the Board of Advisors to the President of the Naval Postgraduate School and Naval War College. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2011, President Barack Obama appointed her as Chair of the Public Interest Declassification Board, an advisory committee established by Congress to promote public access to U.S. national security decisions, a position she held through 2014. She served on the Board of the Jacksonville Port Authority 2013 to 2015.

From 2009 to 2013, Ambassador Soderberg served as President of Connect U.S. Fund, a Washington, D.C. based foundation that promotes responsible global engagement. From 2001 to 2005, she ran the New York office of the International Crisis Group as Vice President. In that capacity, she advocated conflict prevention at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed her to serve as Alternate Representative to the United Nations as a Presidential Appointee, with the rank of Ambassador. Her responsibilities included representing the United States at the Security Council on a wide range of current national security issues, including conflict resolution, promotion of democracy abroad, trade policy, and arms control. Ambassador Soderberg represented the United States in negotiations at the Security Council, participated in missions to key conflict areas, and promoted U.S. national security policy at the United Nations and with the leadership of other nations.

From 1993 to 97, she served as the third ranking official of the National Security Council at the White House, as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, following her role as Staff Director of the National Security Council. She was responsible for day-to-day crisis management, briefing the President, developing U.S. national security policy at the highest levels of government, and handling issues regarding the press and Congress. She also served as President of the Sister Cities Program of the City of New York from 2002 to 2006.

Prior to serving at the White House, Soderberg served as the Foreign Policy Director for the Clinton/Gore 1992 Campaign, as well as the Transition Team, and worked as the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy. She has been active in national Democratic politics since the early 1980's, serving in a variety of capacities in national president campaigns since 1984.

Ambassador Soderberg publishes and speaks regularly on national security policy. Her second book, The Prosperity Agenda: What the World Wants from America–and What We Need in Return, written with Brian Katulis, was published in July 2008. It argues for American leadership in tackling the world’s challenges in exchange for the world assisting us with our threat. Her 2005 book, The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might, analyzes the use of force and diplomacy over the last decade. She is a regular commentator on national and international television and radio, having appeared on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, BBC, Fox, National Public Radio, the Lehrer News Hour, CNN Crossfire, and The Daily Show. She speaks fluent French. She earned a Masters of Science Degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Vanderbilt University.